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Thread: gotta love the utilities

  1. #1

    gotta love the utilities

    Just got my natural gas bill, with a 2 year comparison and our new equal-pay amount...

    This year I paid less for gas than last year-
    This year I used less gas than last year-

    My equal pay went UP $4 a month...
    ========================================
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  2. #2
    Don't feel so bad. We now have Duke Energy. Bills go to Charlotte with post office promising second day delivery. But it takes a week or more for your payment to post to your account. So even if you paid your bill on time, and post office delivered it on time, you can be hit with a late charge. Every other business in the world has to post payments as of the day they are received. I have two properties, each with a separate account. Both bills are mailed in one envelope, and paid in a single check. One was on time, and the other late. How the heck can this be? Eventually some class action lawyer is going after Duke for this practice, and it isn't going to be pretty. Easily could cost Duke BILLIONS, not millions. PS in addition to being a rate payer, we are stock holders in Duke

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Wrenn View Post
    Don't feel so bad. We now have Duke Energy. Bills go to Charlotte with post office promising second day delivery. But it takes a week or more for your payment to post to your account. So even if you paid your bill on time, and post office delivered it on time, you can be hit with a late charge. Every other business in the world has to post payments as of the day they are received. I have two properties, each with a separate account. Both bills are mailed in one envelope, and paid in a single check. One was on time, and the other late. How the heck can this be? Eventually some class action lawyer is going after Duke for this practice, and it isn't going to be pretty. Easily could cost Duke BILLIONS, not millions. PS in addition to being a rate payer, we are stock holders in Duke


    We have had the same problem. They will post the full amount of the check to only one account (over paid) and make the other late.
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
    - Rick Dale

  4. #4
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    I have two properties, each with a separate account. Both bills are mailed in one envelope, and paid in a single check.
    Well there is the problem, no one in their payment receiving department is able to do simple algebra. (see other post)

    Could they handle two checks in the same envelope? They might not be able to figure out which one is for which bill.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Well there is the problem, no one in their payment receiving department is able to do simple algebra. (see other post)

    Could they handle two checks in the same envelope? They might not be able to figure out which one is for which bill.

    jtk
    Did the two check thing once. My guess they were stuck together because only one got entered.
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
    - Rick Dale

  6. #6
    Can you use online bill pay from your bank?
    All my utilities accept ach that way, except water/sewer. But I still pay using bill pay and instead of an ach the bank sends a certified check and includes account info. If you made separate payments in that manner, perhaps you could avoid the issue.

  7. #7
    Have ABSOLUTELY no desire to do online bill pay. Several years back, our younger son paid all his bills using online. Money was deducted from his account, but none of them reached their destination. Took several months to figure out what happened to his money. When he went to purchase a new home, all these late bills showed up on his credit report. Used to use a bill paying service to pay power bill. It was located in pawn shop, so at least once a month, I could check out their inventory. Remember that this bill pay machine was owned by power company. On three different occasions, machine would void my check and spit out a receipt showing bill was payed. But somehow machine didn't communicate with payment office, and we would get letters threatening to "cut off power." Gave them number on receipt, and they would say no such receipt existed. Take check, and receipt, go back to pay station, and machine wouldn't read check as it had voided it the first time. Oh yeah money came out of my account with no problem, but didn't reach billing center.
    Last edited by Bruce Wrenn; 08-29-2018 at 9:11 PM.

  8. #8
    Well, apparently checks don't work either, so short of handing them cash in person I'm out of ideas.

    Re: online bill pay. None of mine are automated and I check each statement from each bill I need to pay to ensure the last payment was applied. Things happen, and you still need to have oversight of those accounts. I've never had an issue with a bill pay payment from my bank in the 10-ish years I've been doing it, and I like the convenience. I couldn't imagine going back to writing checks out for everything.

  9. #9
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    We pay all but a two of our bills online. A few have been set up to deduct automatically during the month.

    We do not use a second party bill payment service. We do not allow the bank to "take care" of our bill payment.

    The biggest problem is my wife has difficulty remembering all the different account names and passwords, even though there are only 4 of them at this time.

    Paying bills isn't rocket science. If a utility can not handle two bills and one or two checks in a payment envelope, then someone needs to talk to a supervisor. Make it clear to the supervisor your next stop will be the state commission of public utilities if they can not figure out a simple way for you to pay your bill without having to use two stamps.

    Is there still a local newspaper in your area?

    In my area electricity is distributed by the county public utilities district. The board members are elected. When the power is out, they know people are thinking of them. If there is incompetency in the billing office, people are thinking of them.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  10. Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    [snip]

    The biggest problem is my wife has difficulty remembering all the different account names and passwords, even though there are only 4 of them at this time.

    [snip]
    jtk
    Perhaps a look at LastPass might help with that: https://www.lastpass.com/

    Works well; all data is encrypted on your machine before being backed up on line; only one password to remember and all your on-line passwords are incredibly strong (and obscure). It's free, too. I've found it solid and reliable and every site I have a logon with has a different, highly unique password. No affiliation, just a long-time user.
    Fair winds and following seas,
    Jim Waldron

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post

    .

    Paying bills isn't rocket science. If a utility can not handle two bills and one or two checks in a payment envelope, then someone needs to talk to a supervisor. Make it clear to the supervisor your next stop will be the state commission of public utilities if they can not figure out a simple way for you to pay your bill without having to use two stamps.

    jtk
    Duke Energy is the LARGEST utility in the country. Supervisor reads from same script as lower employees. Because they are LARGE political contributors (state and local,) utilities commission is WORTHLESS. They quickly tell you to resolve it with Duke. They even brushed of local TV investigative reporter who was doing a story on late posting of payments. Google "complaints about Duke" and you will see thousands of complaints. They could care less as they are a state sanctioned monopoly. Do business their way, or do without, it's your choice.
    Last edited by Bruce Wrenn; 08-30-2018 at 9:17 PM.

  12. #12
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    I've used online billpay for maybe 10 years and have never had a problem; probably a couple thousand transactions. I'd recommend giving it another chance.

    OTOH, my business law course 25 years ago said that mail was considered delivered on the postmark date. I don't know how your utility gets away with ignoring that.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Wade Lippman View Post
    I've used online billpay for maybe 10 years and have never had a problem; probably a couple thousand transactions. I'd recommend giving it another chance.

    OTOH, my business law course 25 years ago said that mail was considered delivered on the postmark date. I don't know how your utility gets away with ignoring that.
    I've used the electronic payment system through my bank for at least 25 years and never had a problem. If the recipient can't accept an electronic payment, the bank will mail them a check and the bank pays the postage.

    The default in law is that delivery is upon receipt by a common carrier - unless you agree with the other party that it will only count as receipt upon delivery - at least that's what I remember from my b-law course. Always best to pay early and avoid an argument.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    Just got my natural gas bill, with a 2 year comparison and our new equal-pay amount...

    This year I paid less for gas than last year-
    This year I used less gas than last year-

    My equal pay went UP $4 a month...
    If the $4 increase on a equal pay/budget plan bothers you that much you could just pay them what you owe every month instead.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    If the $4 increase on a equal pay/budget plan bothers you that much you could just pay them what you owe every month instead.
    It took a lot of work for my wife to understand this. We were actually paying in to a credit because last winter was warmer than usual. We recently had the tank topped off for winter. We still have a bit of credit.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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