I wanted to share a recent experience so that you, my friends, can keep an eye out for yourselves. I recently got a bill for a store charge card, and at the very bottom was a $1.99 fee...for mailing me a paper statement.
I rely on paper statements to remind me to, you know, pay my bills! I feel like this is an attempt to force consumers into adopting electronic billing, which would save credit card companies money. But if you forget to make a payment because you're used to having a statement, that would obviously impact your credit.
My first impulse was to cancel my card, but of course, doing that would also harm my credit.
I have not called the company yet, because I have anger issues and it's too early to ruin my day. I will put myself through that ordeal later. But I have emailed my congressperson and my senators, because I think a law will be necessary to stop this kind of abuse. We as consumers have been battered by inflation, and I don't think we need an additional burden placed on us. So I encourage you to be alert for sneaky fees, complain about them, and contact your elected representatives to let them know of the problem.
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CatsandCars
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I haven't dealt with this particularly issue, but my bank upgraded their computer system and changed my due date without my knowledge. I continued paying at the same time I had for years, only to discover that they'd begun charging me late fees.
I've also run into problems with an unknown doctor's office. Multiple hospitals and doctors are controlled by one large corporation and connected by the same computer system. It's convenient in that they all have access to my medical records at the touch of a button, but they recently started a new billing process. I got an email that I have a new bill. I sign on to my account and am told that I need the secret code from the paper bill in order to see the doctor's name, location, and the amount that's owed. I never got a paper bill and hadn't been to any medical facility in nearly a year! Needless to say, they're not getting paid.
That sounds typical of what goes on today, doesn't it? I like that you seem to have "healthy boundaries" and don't let it get to you. I just feel like life is hard enough without all the unnecessary incompetence and disrespect that I seem to encounter multiple times on a daily basis. It's not my imagination; things have really gone to hell lately. It really gets me angry, but it gets me down, too. I really shouldn't let it get to me, but I'm not feeling well, and you know how it is when you don't really know when you can expect to feel any better. Everything is just that much harder to cope with, and I have been struggling with being depressed for a while now.
I decided I'm going to close my charge account at the department store, because I think being able to get a statement mailed to me is part of the unwritten contract that existed when I opened that account. They are breaking that contract, so I'm done. I just have to apply for and get some other card first so that my credit doesn't take a hit.
It also reminds me that I need to change home/auto insurance agents because of poor service and feeling repeatedly disrespected by someone who works at mine. I told my husband we're changing agents. He asked me why, and I told him that if he liked I could give him the gift of not having to hear all the details. Happily, he agreed. I have been putting off that conversation, so it's a relief that I can move forward with that.
I may not be able to do much about the overall decline in customer/patient service, but I'm going to try to be thoughtful in my responses to these... insults? Disappointments? As well as to make a point of letting all the competent/considerate people that I deal with know how much I appreciate their professionalism.
Good luck with the insurance. Be prepared for them to fight you if you're sticking with the same company and just want a different agent. I switched when mine called me up SCREAMING over the phone because my payment, paid online through my bank, was a day late (for the first time in the 8 years I'd been with them). She then called me the next month, after 9 pm, to threaten me that I'd better pay my bill on time that month. The new agent didn't want to deal with me until I threatened him with finding a different provider altogether. I have no problem naming and shaming State Farm.
Ha! I'm talking about State Farm, too. 🤣 Good for you! Like insulting you is a good way to keep your business?
I've changed agents before, many years ago, because I don't put up with bad service. I didn't have much of a problem except the agent getting left cried like a little girl. 🤣
I know those little charges are annoying but the cost would trickle down to you one way or another. If they didn't charge you directly then they would have to raise prices on credit card fees because their costs are also going up. That $1.99 is what it costs them to mail it to you. And raising credit card fees would make everyone pay for statement mailings even if they don't have theirs mailed, so that wouldn't be fair to them.
I'm so glad you're among those who are irritated by these little fees that keep popping up in connection with credit cards--as well as in other situations such as some online shopping sites (they slap on a handling fee after assuring you that there is free shipping).
Recently I heard of an organization that is working hard to stop these "hidden" fees on the part of the credit cards. I can't recall which organization it was but it may have been Consumers Union.
I find it hard to believe that it costs a bank $1.99 to mail a paper statement to a customer. After all, they were mailing them regularly before electronic billing became popular, and a first class stamp is 73 cents.
Not everyone has easy access to online accounts. The credit card companies may like to pretend that every customer has online access but many senior citizens and many people with limited resources just haven't joined the electronic age.
Also, although I do use electronic billing, I prefer to have a paper statement most of the time--in addition to the one online. Computers and the Internet have a way of suddenly not working, just when you need them the most. These electronic systems aren't nearly as stable as an actual piece of paper you can hold in your hand.
Thanks. Doctor's offices are the worst offenders with the emailing you a file and calling it done. My pain doctor serves an awful lot of seniors, and I'm sure that a lot of them would be more comfortable with paper.
Speaking of senior citizens, I got a notice from my bank yesterday that starting next month all online access will be required to get a secret code texted to my cell phone. Up until now, we just had to answer the annoying secret questions online. What about the people who don't have cell phones?! Or the ones like me who habitually run out of minutes on my TracFone and don't have cell service for a few days. I complained, and the response I got was that I'll just have to leave my account open on my computer!
Don't forget the labor per hour it cost plus the paper & envelope. They also figure in the cost of the machine they are printed with. It may not add up to exactly 1.99 but it's close. The banks are charging credit card companies to be able to handle the money even though they own the cards & they in turn charge the businesses that accept the cards which is wht some businesses are charging you to use the card so they don't lose the money. Credit cards have become very costly to the business & the consumer.If you've never been in business for yourself its hard to understand all the overhead costs involved. In our business we only accept cash or check due to the cost of doing business with credit cards.
I'm sure businesses have been hurting, particularly since many of them had to make major adjustments during COVID and now are realizing how much they lost during that time. But a paper statement has always been provided, and now suddenly people are being charged for one, just because quite a few people have opted to go paperless. It isn't fair at all.
I opt for paper too, I'm old school & like to see the bill. But at the same time I know that even though a dollar is "paper" it isn't worth today what is was 4 years ago.
I just keep returning to the thought that I need that bill to remember to pay. If customers don't pay, it really doesn't hurt the company because they can hit you with late fees, whereas fir the consumer it can hurt their credit.
Nope, it's not fair. But we don't have to like it! 😆
The way this usually works is that someone posts about a problem or something that's bothering them. Then other people try to offer helpful suggestions or try to make them feel better, which is what everyone else has done. Interesting that you've decided to go another way with it! 😊
No offense to anyone here, but my CPAP supplier uses stereotypical New Yorkers. They call me up, cracking gum and jive talking with strong Brooklyn accents, and I can barely follow a word they say. 🙄
no humans to speak to either. yes it irritates me and maybe i dont have computer organized and so easy to miss. I want to be able to go back and find other bills for one reason or another.
I agree. And I really do need that physical reminder to pay my bill.
I will be the first to admit that I can't keep up with the flow of paper into my house. The pile grows on my dining room table like a malignant organism. But despite all the times I haven't felt well, or haven't been able to think straight because I'm taking so much medication to manage my symptoms, I've only missed one payment in many years. Thats the power of the paper statement!
Yes about the people who don't have cellphones! I have one but find it so hard to use that I avoid it unless I absolutely have to have it on. The screen is too small for me to be able to see what is on there (those teensy icons!), and my fingers just don't work very well when it comes to pressing the right buttons hard enough. Swiping? I'm no good at that either. I always use a stylus for the smartphone but even that isn't so easy. I'm slow but cellphones aren't. I think I'm on one screen that will wait for me and still be there but it disappears in the twinkling of an eye.
I have limited mobility (hardly go out much at all, use wheelchair much of the time), and so I see no need to have a mobile device. There are such people in the world.
I agree, companies are treating customers like unwanted stepchildren. As if they don't need us. The charge card that has me all riled up is from a retailer that has been struggling for years. As if they don't need to hang on to the customers they still have!
Yup, CatsandCats it is what it is ! Many of our cards are paid off and we get $5.89 bills for the few that are not online. For safety reasons, I prefer online because of a goofy mail carrier (especially listening to earbuds delivering sensitive mail to the wrong address! This has happened, but - I’am the caring honest person who will take it to the post office when that happens. Let us know if your legislators reply and what their thoughts are on issue. Blessings NeeC
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