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Does anyone actually *like* paper billing?

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How do you guys who don't use autodraw do it? I can't imagine having to manually pay bills every month. I'd always be worried about forgetting and being late. I rather it be out of sight out of mind. If by chance there's an error I can deal with it then. I never had any issues.
 
Red Squirrel said:
How do you guys who don't use autodraw do it? I can't imagine having to manually pay bills every month. I'd always be worried about forgetting and being late. I rather it be out of sight out of mind. If by chance there's an error I can deal with it then. I never had any issues.
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Same way I did it when there was no www. I get a bill, and then pay it, but without the craptastic checks. I've had problems with autopay, and it also promotes lazy thinking. Companies will put BS charges on the bill, and since it gets paid by magic, it takes longer to notice.
 
Red Squirrel said:
How do you guys who don't use autodraw do it? I can't imagine having to manually pay bills every month. I'd always be worried about forgetting and being late. I rather it be out of sight out of mind. If by chance there's an error I can deal with it then. I never had any issues.
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When I get a bill, I pay the bill that day. It's a policy in my house - get a bill, pay a bill (provided it's accurate).

Once you have a problem you'll understand why having a paper trail is so important. Giving others the ability to take money from your account is really asking for it, it will only take once to change your mind.

They'll TAKE money easily. If there is a mistake it's difficult to RECEIVE that money back. I don't want to deal with that shit ever again, hence why I only do paper billing. I want the physical hard proof, because it will be up to you to prove the mistake, not them.

Your out of sight, out of mind is putting control of your money in other people. That's not a very good idea.
 
That's a pain in the ass though, for something that happens every month I rather automate it. I don't know what kind of companies you guys deal with if you have to constantly babysit them for mistakes.
 
Red Squirrel said:
How do you guys who don't use autodraw do it? I can't imagine having to manually pay bills every month. I'd always be worried about forgetting and being late. I rather it be out of sight out of mind. If by chance there's an error I can deal with it then. I never had any issues.
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Never known anything else really. Tried electronic stuff when it came out, but it was wonky and always a pain in the ass. Too many company errors, too much unknown.

1st and 15th are bill days. Sit down, look at everything from the previous two weeks and pay it. If I'm gone one of those days I do it just before. After 25 years of doing it that way there really is no 'forgetting', and this way I maintain control.
 
Red Squirrel said:
That's a pain in the ass though, for something that happens every month I rather automate it. I don't know what kind of companies you guys deal with if you have to constantly babysit them for mistakes.
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Most companies I've ever dealt with are error prone. It's one reason I hate companies so much. They just suck 9 times out of 10.
 
Red Squirrel said:
That's a pain in the ass though, for something that happens every month I rather automate it. I don't know what kind of companies you guys deal with if you have to constantly babysit them for mistakes.
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Let it happen to you once and you'll understand.

It's a matter of trust. I only trust myself and my wife with the ability to take money from me. You just haven't gotten bit yet.

When the inevitable mistake happens you will have to prove the mistake. They already have your money. Why would they try to disprove the cash in their hand?
 
lxskllr said:
I hate paper, but I also hate autobill. I like getting an E-statement, and I then pay that individual bill. I can appreciate PoW's routine, but I'm not currently willing to go all over to pay everything in cash. I do for some things though.
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To be honest I do use money orders when absolutely necessary, but they almost never are. Just my student loans, and my child support really, plus a couple in the past.
 
I like paper billing. While I'm usually on top of things, occasionally, I let emails slide. It is too easy to let an emailed bill go unpaid. But a stack of bills right on my desk in my way is impossible to miss. They don't get out of my way until they are paid (usually the same day they come in, but sometimes I don't have that time). More than once I've glanced down at my desk to find out that I only have a day to pay a bill. I wouldn't have seen it with an online only bill.

Plus, I like to keep bills for tax purposes. Paper ones are far easier for taxes (at least for me).

If any bills ever passed on the savings to me, I might reconsider. But they don't. The companies keep the savings.
 
I am paperless with the bills PDF'd to my email. I still issue everything from my bank bill pay though. No one auto withdraws from my accounts.
 
I don't like mail in general and am thinking about getting rid of the mailbox at my house.

I use auto pay for utility bills. I have no way to really verify if the amounts are correct anyway so I don't worry about it. For Comcast and everything else I get the e-bills and look them over before paying online through my bank.

I have been pretty frustrated with the amount of horseshit that a lot of companies make you go through to get your bill online.
 
I keep all my paperless bills saved in PDF format for the past 2-3 years, much easier to manage than a stack of paper. Haven't mailed anything with a stamp on it in a long time.
 
I like paper bills so they remind me to pay on time. Although I do all my bills online. Im always working and need to pay my bills on time but I can't do it at work since most sites are blocked. So I keep the paper bills on my table at home so I remember to log in and pay them.
 
spidey07 said:
Let it happen to you once and you'll understand.

It's a matter of trust. I only trust myself and my wife with the ability to take money from me. You just haven't gotten bit yet.

When the inevitable mistake happens you will have to prove the mistake. They already have your money. Why would they try to disprove the cash in their hand?
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I guess here in Canada companies are not as evil as in the states. If a mistake happens they'll ackholedge it and refund or credit your account.

I'm on equal billing for gas and hydro, sometimes I pay more than what I used, so they just credit me for the next set of months by making my bill lower. If they were evil they could easily just charge me more without saying why, but they don't.

It's so nice to automate repetitious things in life such as paying bills.
 
Estatements and autopay for everything but my mortgage for me.

Never had a single issue that wasnt resolved instantly. Cable company charged me for my modem lease even after i turned it back it. 3 minutes on the phone and i had it credited back to my account (why wouldnt i credit it...just means 5 bucks cheaper next month)

Only dont do the mortgage cause i pay it differently each month. Sometimes first paycheck is the credit card, other times second paycheck is the credit card. So just depends when it gets paid so i manually pay it.

Red Squirrel said:
I guess here in Canada companies are not as evil as in the states. If a mistake happens they'll ackholedge it and refund or credit your account.

I'm on equal billing for gas and hydro, sometimes I pay more than what I used, so they just credit me for the next set of months by making my bill lower. If they were evil they could easily just charge me more without saying why, but they don't.

It's so nice to automate repetitious things in life such as paying bills.
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Ive yet to have a bad experience with any company here. Quick phone call gets anything sorted out. And like you any overpaying just gets creditted. I royally messed up with my garbage payment and paid basically for a whole year in advance (100% my fault) and all the company did was credit my account with what i overpaid with
 
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Red Squirrel said:
How do you guys who don't use autodraw do it? I can't imagine having to manually pay bills every month. I'd always be worried about forgetting and being late. I rather it be out of sight out of mind. If by chance there's an error I can deal with it then. I never had any issues.
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I use google calendar extensively. I can access it anywhere so I can view & make updates anywhere. When I get a bill in the mail, I make sure the due date is marked on my calendar and file it in a to-be-paid folder. When the date comes around (calendar email reminder), I make sure I have sufficient funds in joint, then go to their website to pay it and update the calendar with the confirmation number, then move the paper bill into the appropriate folder (ie. utilities).

Typing all that out took probably the same amount of time I would've been done with the whole process. There really isn't a lot every month. Mortgage, 1 credit card site, FIOS, and electric/gas. Payment from bank info is already saved on the respective sites so most are just 1-click.

On another note, my water district insists on charging a fee for paying online. But since it's once every 3 months, I just write a check and drop it off.
 
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Red Squirrel said:
I guess here in Canada companies are not as evil as in the states. If a mistake happens they'll ackholedge it and refund or credit your account.

I'm on equal billing for gas and hydro, sometimes I pay more than what I used, so they just credit me for the next set of months by making my bill lower. If they were evil they could easily just charge me more without saying why, but they don't.

It's so nice to automate repetitious things in life such as paying bills.
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That works until a meter problem causes the power company to try and take and auto pay of $9000 out of your checking account causing a massive negative + bank fines + other bounced transactions. Happened to a friend here where the meter reader mistyped the numbers in the little pad thing they carry.

It got fixed but took a couple of weeks to clear everything up with all the other bills that bounced in the mean time since he didnt have the 9k + outstanding bill amounts sitting in a saving account to move over.
 
Admittedly I've grown used to having my credit card bills on paper, I pay them manually and keep them by my desk as a reminder. I've never had a situation that made me glad to pay them manually though.

Almost everything else is electronic and auto-paid.
 
I sometimes prefer it as a reminder. I also hate that companies peddle it as something green when in fact they are doing it to save money, so to a small degree I continue to do it with one or two utilities as punishment for their deceit. If they won't give me a $.40 discount each month screw em. I realize this is somewhat childish but I don't care.
 
we prefer paper bills. I keep everything for 7 years according to tax law. Actually helped me a few times too...
 
spidey07 said:
Let it happen to you once and you'll understand.

It's a matter of trust. I only trust myself and my wife with the ability to take money from me. You just haven't gotten bit yet.

When the inevitable mistake happens you will have to prove the mistake. They already have your money. Why would they try to disprove the cash in their hand?
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I'd just get the bank to pull the money back but I live in an evil socialist country with strong consumer protection laws so YMMV.
 
WelshBloke said:
I'd just get the bank to pull the money back but I live in an evil socialist country with strong consumer protection laws so YMMV.
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So you still put your money and trust to somebody else.

You fail and fuck you socialist. Fuck you and death to you.

We killed you and will do so again if needed. Fuck you.

Dial back on the caffeine, the 4-letter words and the threats.
admin allisolm
 
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