Paying Bills Online

[skysidhe]

I like online bill pay but if I do it from the bank it takes too long and the money is in the pending que too long and I don't like that. I found this annoying but I didn't know that was what was happening so your post bruce explains that. Thanks

I always go straight to the service providers website I feel better knowing they know the payment is coming and it does seem to take less time.

The paying by card at the gas station is the worst. It always is a good several days to a week before the transaction is shown as paid.

Originally Posted by Juniper

I had this problem with a mortgage payment, multiple times.

Now I just write checks.

Sometimes,I like to go straight to the bank and ask them to cut a me cashiers check. The larger the check the better.

Sometimes it is nice to make a major down payment or rents and deposits that way. It gets the money out of your account quickly and efficiently and you don't have to wait days for the payment to be processed.


....and they better not even pretend to have my best interests at heart by reminding me I have bill pay either.


It's very empowering. Everyone should try it at least once.

[Glinda]

Originally Posted by skysidhe

I always go straight to the service providers website I feel better knowing they know the payment is coming and it does seem to take less time.

I did this with my mortgage payment, with the same idea in mind. BIG mistake.

On the 4th of the month, I went to my mortgage lender's website and paid the mortgage online. A few days later the money was still in my bank account, so I tried calling the company to ask what the holdup was. Their phone queue put me in an endless loop.

A few days later, I tried again. Same result.

The "late payment" date came and went. Money is still in my account. Two days later, I receive a letter from the mortgage company claiming that my account is past due and late charges have been filed (how nice of them to wait till after the late payment date to let me know there was a problem - they had TWO FUCKING WEEKS to inform me before the late fees kicked in).

I try calling again, and eventually manage to speak to a real person, who tells me that the bank account number I entered was incorrect. I go back to the website and type in the first number of my bank account; the auto-complete feature kicks in and BOOM, there's my account number. My CORRECT account number.

I argue with the a-hole that the auto-complete function PROVES that I entered the correct account number, but they insist I entered the number wrong, and the only documentation I can offer is my computer (which I'm not about to send them). I end up having to pay the late fees, just to keep a black mark off my record. (As it turns out, the mortgage company was going bankrupt at the time, so I have no doubt that all this crap was just their way of squeezing a few more dollars out of me before they went belly up. FUCKERS.)

So now I ALWAYS use my bank's bill pay feature - at least that way I have all the documentation I need to prove when/if I paid a bill.