Be careful about overpaying your bills online.

[techs]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/joseph-azzem-refund-comcast_n_1858646.html?ref=topbar

Joseph Azzem Scores $6,000 Refund From Comcast After Bill Mishap

An 86-year-old man in Alabama is getting a $6,000-plus refund from Comcast after a mistake with his cable bill.

While paying online, Joseph Azzem accidentally sent the company $6,453 instead of the $64.53 he owed after he left out a decimal point, WKRG-5 in Alabama reports.

Comcast had initially told Azzem that they would not send a refund and could only give him a credit toward future payments, according to his daughter Lisa, but pressure from the local television station WKRG-5 caused Comcast to reverse course, releasing the statement, "We are issuing a full refund to Mr. Azzem."


PSA

 

[amdhunter]

lol. Sprint did that for me. I hit submit twice and those dicks said there would be a $30 charge to issue a refund. My Sprint bill is like $51.

 

[frostedflakes]

Comcast had initially told Azzem that they would not send a refund and could only give him a credit toward future payments

LOL, wow

 

[waggy]

/facepalm

good that pressure got to Comcast but shit that should never have happened they should have given a refund right off the bat.

 

[xanis]

Comcast had initially told Azzem that they would not send a refund and could only give him a credit toward future payments

 

[Vdubchaos]

I don't do auto bill pay, always fill out amounts myself/every month.

 

[Merad]

This is SOP for utility companies, but, as in this case enough pressure will usually make them back down.

 

[olds]

Comcast is the devil. I have to use them for Internet but as soon as something else becomes available...

 

[trmiv]

A lot of companies will take your money easily, then resist giving it back. I remember a few years ago when the original Xbox was still out, and the 360 was new, I bought a 360. This is back when they had a short warranty, so to avoid issues I bought an extended warranty from Microsoft. A week later I get the info in the mail, and they had somehow given me a warranty for an original xbox, even though I verified the info multiple times, and they had the damn serial. I wanted them to just credit my credit card, and I'd buy the other one. They refused, and said they had to issue me a manual check that would take 4-6 weeks to process. After going back and forth, I told them to shove it, called Discover and disputed the charge. Discover credited me immediately and settled with Microsoft later on.

 

[JimKiler]

A lot of companies will take your money easily, then resist giving it back. I remember a few years ago when the original Xbox was out, and the 360 was new, I bought a 360. This is back when they had a short warranty, so to avoid issues I bought an extended warranty from Microsoft. A week later I get the info in the mail, and they had somehow given me a warranty for an original xbox, even though I verified the info multiple times, and they had the damn serial. I wanted them to just credit my credit card, and I'd buy the other one. They refused, and said they had to issue me a manual check that would take 4-6 weeks to process. After going back and forth, I told them to shove it, called Discover and disputed the charge. Discover credited me immediately and settled with Microsoft later on.

Gotta love credit card companies...sometimes.

 

[rh71]

I don't do auto bill pay, always fill out amounts myself/every month.

this... also because my wife and I use a joint account for which we manually deposit to (twice a month) anytime a bill of every kind is due. Even our mortgage. I want to be in control of where money is and goes because it prevents overdraft and the like.

 

[MontyAC]

The daughter should take over the bill paying from now on.

 

[Dulanic]

He could have just disputed it. Any billpay from his account would go through ACH. ACH is governed by NACHA and he could then revoke authorization per their rules.

 

[AstroManLuca]

A lot of companies will take your money easily, then resist giving it back. I remember a few years ago when the original Xbox was still out, and the 360 was new, I bought a 360. This is back when they had a short warranty, so to avoid issues I bought an extended warranty from Microsoft. A week later I get the info in the mail, and they had somehow given me a warranty for an original xbox, even though I verified the info multiple times, and they had the damn serial. I wanted them to just credit my credit card, and I'd buy the other one. They refused, and said they had to issue me a manual check that would take 4-6 weeks to process. After going back and forth, I told them to shove it, called Discover and disputed the charge. Discover credited me immediately and settled with Microsoft later on.

First rule of acquisition.

Anyway, I've had recurring minor problems ever since I started and canceled two different cell phone lines. First was T-Mobile (canceled within 14-day return window due to poor coverage), second was Verizon (ordered through Amazon Wireless and learned after I ordered that I couldn't convert a single-line plan into a family plan so I had to place a second order for two phones). In both cases I continued getting bills in the mail long after I canceled, even after calling them up and having them zero out the balances on the accounts. It's stupid, these companies are ridiculously disorganized.

 

[TheKub]

I don't do auto bill pay, always fill out amounts myself/every month.

The problem was caused by HIS mistake not the auto bill pay system. So in this instance if he had auto pay there wouldnt have been a problem.

 

[OutHouse]

He could have just disputed it. Any billpay from his account would go through ACH. ACH is governed by NACHA and he could then revoke authorization per their rules.

are you suggesting the NACHA remove comcast from the ACH network from one complaint?

 

[Dulanic]

are you suggesting the NACHA remove comcast from the ACH network from one complaint?

Ummmm what? I suggested he could have just disputed the transaction. Millions of disputes happen each year. Doesn't mean a company is removed from anything.

 

[fatpat268]

Never had a problem with misplacing a decimal here. Besides, every bill I pay online has a confirmation screen before the payment actually gets submitted.

 

[Imp]

I deliberately overpay my Visa to avoid feeling "guilty" about spending - thanks mom. I usually keep it to $500 or less though in case my card gets stolen or shit happens.

 

[Zenmervolt]

I wanted them to just credit my credit card, and I'd buy the other one. They refused, and said they had to issue me a manual check that would take 4-6 weeks to process.

I fail to see how this is in any way unreasonable.

Their system was not set up to handle refunds directly to credit cards and they offered you a refund the only way their system was set up to process refunds. The idea that a company can just automagically do whatever they want just isn't realistic.

This wasn't about them "holding on to your money," it was about them having an older payment processing system (or, more likely, having the payment processing outsourced and handled by a third party where they don't perform daily audits) that batch processed multiple checks all at once rather than a one-off check on demand. Processing a single check on demand can cost a company upwards of $50 and it just doesn't make sense to do that in most situations.

ZV

 

[mvbighead]

I fail to see how this is in any way unreasonable.

Their system was not set up to handle refunds directly to credit cards and they offered you a refund the only way their system was set up to process refunds. The idea that a company can just automagically do whatever they want just isn't realistic.

This wasn't about them "holding on to your money," it was about them having an older payment processing system (or, more likely, having the payment processing outsourced and handled by a third party where they don't perform daily audits) that batch processed multiple checks all at once rather than a one-off check on demand. Processing a single check on demand can cost a company upwards of $50 and it just doesn't make sense to do that in most situations.

ZV

Their system? This is Microsoft we're talking about. I could understand a mom and pop shop not being able to handle such a request, but Microsoft? A multi-billion dollar corporation not being able to have a CS agent either produce a refund or process a simple "in store" credit against what the OP needs to purchase doesn't seem to be something that would be out of the realm of possibility.

If the purchase can be debited from the card, it should be able to be credited back to the card. Newegg can do it, Amazon can do it, nearly anyone can do it.

 

[Train]

I don't do auto bill pay, always fill out amounts myself/every month.

So you are subseptible to this type of error.

I auto pay most bills using my CC's, then manually pay the CC's each month. I like to be able to pick the date and amount exactly. Would just pay the "statement balance" but I always subtract the cash back I am redeeming that month.

 

[abaez]

So you are subseptible to this type of error.

I auto pay most bills using my CC's, then manually pay the CC's each month. I like to be able to pick the date and amount exactly. Would just pay the "statement balance" but I always subtract the cash back I am redeeming that month.

Susceptible yes, but absolutely NO ONE expects a company won't give you your money back if you overpay.

Besides I'd rather have it my error than some company accidentally auto paying my bill $800 instead of $80 (which happened to me one electric bill).

 

[Train]

Susceptible yes, but absolutely NO ONE expects a company won't give you your money back if you overpay.

Besides I'd rather have it my error than some company accidentally auto paying my bill $800 instead of $80 (which happened to me one electric bill).

I would just cancel the charge. Problem solved.

 

[waggy]

This is SOP for utility companies, but, as in this case enough pressure will usually make them back down.

correct. though in a 6k case i think common sense should have kicked in well before the pressure mounted.