US mail - I get a letter 3 months late!

[Muse]

WTF! To make matters worse, there's a bad charge on the bill from a restaurant. I ordered an $8 plate for supper and nothing else and the charge was $19.67. I guess I'll walk into the restaurant and complain and show them the bill but this was December 29 and don't know how credible I'll sound.

The credit card bill was for activity from 12/12/08 to 1/11/09 and I should have received it middle of January. Got it yesterday. Chase Mastercard. Called Chase CS and they can't explain it.

I figure I should bitch to the postal service. Do they have an office I can call where I can find anything out or at least lodge a complaint that will be registered and have hopefully some real affect?

 

[DeadByDawn]

Originally posted by: Muse


I figure I should bitch to the postal service. Do they have an office I can call where I can find anything out or at least lodge a complaint that will be registered and have hopefully some real affect?

:laugh:

 

[Brainonska511]

So you didn't pay your bill or something? Don't you also have online access?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Don't you get email notifications about your monthly statement being available and then pay online?

That's what I do with my Chase CC.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: DeadByDawn

Originally posted by: Muse


I figure I should bitch to the postal service. Do they have an office I can call where I can find anything out or at least lodge a complaint that will be registered and have hopefully some real affect?

:laugh:

Believe it or not there are channels. I had a mysteriously disappeared letter a number of years ago and IIRC they had discovered a bag of mail sitting in a room. Don't remember how I contacted them.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511
So you didn't pay your bill or something? Don't you also have online access?

The bill was payed because I have automatic payment through my checking account. Therefore I never noticed it.

 

[Modelworks]

I keep a list every month of what I have to pay. You went 3 months and didn't make a payment or think it odd you didn't get a bill ?

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Don't you get email notifications about your monthly statement being available and then pay online?

That's what I do with my Chase CC.

I like paper statements. I can make notes of them and later use those papers/notes at tax time, have something for reference at a later date should I want it. It doesn't cost me anything.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Don't you get email notifications about your monthly statement being available and then pay online?

That's what I do with my Chase CC.

I like paper statements. I can make notes of them and later use those papers/notes at tax time, have something for reference at a later date should I want it. It doesn't cost me anything.

You can download, print, etc your online statements you know. Import them into Mint.com, Quicken, etc and make notes, etc...

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I keep a list every month of what I have to pay. You went 3 months and didn't make a payment or think it odd you didn't get a bill ?

I just didn't notice. I have several credit cards and get statements from each. The payment was automatic from my checking account.

 

[mugs]

How do you remember what you ate 4 months ago? Is it a restaurant you rarely go to?

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Don't you get email notifications about your monthly statement being available and then pay online?

That's what I do with my Chase CC.

I like paper statements. I can make notes of them and later use those papers/notes at tax time, have something for reference at a later date should I want it. It doesn't cost me anything.

You can download, print, etc your online statements you know.

Right, but do you do that? It's a hassle. You have to log in, navigate to your statement, turn on your printer, print... too much monkey business. I'd rather have it come in the mail.

 

[AMDZen]

Wow, technically challenged. Are you a grandpa? I'd rather have all my statements online backed up a few places and know where they are at all times then waste paper. You don't have to print them out, I mean don't you do your taxes online or at least turbotax?

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: mugs
How do you remember what you ate 4 months ago? Is it a restaurant you rarely go to?

I've never been their before. My cousin from NY came to the coast and there was a musical gathering at my sister's house and one of the musicians was in a band playing in a day or two at that restaurant, a gig they do monthly, no cover charge at a taqueria. I bought an $8 plate of food, no drink. I even remember what I ordered (just looked up their menu online):

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.sporq.com/oakland/bajataqueria/4070piedmontave">Cajun Fish Taco Platter $7.95
</a>

It's on the flip side (Click Next)

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Don't you get email notifications about your monthly statement being available and then pay online?

That's what I do with my Chase CC.

I like paper statements. I can make notes of them and later use those papers/notes at tax time, have something for reference at a later date should I want it. It doesn't cost me anything.

You can download, print, etc your online statements you know.

Right, but do you do that? It's a hassle. You have to log in, navigate to your statement, turn on your printer, print... too much monkey business. I'd rather have it come in the mail.

I actually import my transactions into Quicken every few months and reconcile/re-categorize my cc and bank accounts. Less monkey business than holding onto paper bank statements.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: AMDZen
Wow, technically challenged. Are you a grandpa? I'd rather have all my statements online backed up a few places and know where they are at all times then waste paper. You don't have to print them out, I mean don't you do your taxes online or at least turbotax?

Dude, everybody's technically challenged these days. I use Turbotax every year. You back up your statements online? What do you mean? You download them? Most of the things on my statements have nothing to do with my taxes. It's only deductible stuff. I can keep track of that without having it stored electronically. I do track some of my expenses on my computer but not in Quicken, but in my custom designed database. It's actually pretty neat. Those are just calculations I need for my taxes and I do that at tax time.

If I kept all my transactions in something like Quicken I'd have to either enter them or download them into it but I'd still have to categorize them to make use of the info. I don't know why I'd want to. I read my statements, I know what I'm doing, but if the mail is 3 months late it's fucked up.

 

[GeekDrew]

The post office took a few months to deliver a letter? Now *there's news*! :roll:

My agency sends out letters and postcards on a daily basis - sometimes individually, sometimes tens of thousands at once. Last fall, I received a bounced card that we'd mailed out in 2005. The best part? There was no reason for the bounce, the recipient lived there when it was mailed, still lived there, and has never had a different mailing address. How am I sure? Because it was a friend of mine. And no, that's not out of the ordinary. We routinely get mail returned to us that we'd sent out weeks or months prior -- and occasionally years. USPS is altogether unreliable and I don't understand how *anyone*, much less the government and all businesses/banks/utilities/etc use it as means of failsafe communication.

 

[mrrman]

get online statements....thats the new way to do things

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I keep a list every month of what I have to pay. You went 3 months and didn't make a payment or think it odd you didn't get a bill ?

I only do that if I'm in a squeeze (i.e. not sure my checking account won't be overdrawn).

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: Muse
I read my statements, I know what I'm doing, but if the mail is 3 months late it's fucked up.

So why not just get the statements online?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: AMDZen
Wow, technically challenged. Are you a grandpa? I'd rather have all my statements online backed up a few places and know where they are at all times then waste paper. You don't have to print them out, I mean don't you do your taxes online or at least turbotax?

Dude, everybody's technically challenged these days. I use Turbotax every year. You back up your statements online? What do you mean? You download them? Most of the things on my statements have nothing to do with my taxes. It's only deductible stuff. I can keep track of that without having it stored electronically. I do track some of my expenses on my computer but not in Quicken, but in my custom designed database. It's actually pretty neat. Those are just calculations I need for my taxes and I do that at tax time.

If I kept all my transactions in something like Quicken I'd have to either enter them or download them into it but I'd still have to categorize them to make use of the info. I don't know why I'd want to. I read my statements, I know what I'm doing, but if the mail is 3 months late it's fucked up.

Importing your transactions into Quicken takes zero time and you can categorize only the tax transactions for easy reporting or importing into Turbotax at the end of the year. Technology noobs ftl.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I keep a list every month of what I have to pay. You went 3 months and didn't make a payment or think it odd you didn't get a bill ?

I only do that if I'm in a squeeze (i.e. not sure my checking account won't be overdrawn).

I would start doing it. Not knowing exactly what should be coming out of your bank account every month is setting yourself up to be a fraud target.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: mrrman
get online statements....thats the new way to do things

I may have to do that. Is that different from just looking up your account info online? At the very lease I'll have to make sure my statement came in the mail if I continue to get mailed statements.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I keep a list every month of what I have to pay. You went 3 months and didn't make a payment or think it odd you didn't get a bill ?

I only do that if I'm in a squeeze (i.e. not sure my checking account won't be overdrawn).

I would start doing it. Not knowing exactly what should be coming out of your bank account every month is setting yourself up to be a fraud target.

Well, I do check out everything that's coming out of my checking account and make sure it's OK, every single item. I likewise carefully inspect my credit card bills and make sure all charges are valid. In this case I got fucked sort of because the damned bill came 3 months late. :|

Actually there was fraud on this credit card a couple of weeks ago. I got a call from Chase Mastercard asking me if I had ordered an Ipod online within the last 24 hours! They said the attempted charge had been denied by the vendor because the supplied expiration date was incorrect. You see, coincidently my expiration date changed about two weeks before. They had also charged a song on iTunes for a buck. So, my card was canceled and they sent me a new one.

 

[AMDZen]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: AMDZen
Wow, technically challenged. Are you a grandpa? I'd rather have all my statements online backed up a few places and know where they are at all times then waste paper. You don't have to print them out, I mean don't you do your taxes online or at least turbotax?

Dude, everybody's technically challenged these days.

Personally I thought it was the opposite, especially for this board. I do all my banking and CC stuff online, I also have things that pay automatically but I have yet to see a single credit card that you can't check statements online. You had to set up the auto-bill pay so I'm sure you've been to the site before. I go to mine every month, actually more like once a week or two weeks for those I use frequently to make sure all the transactions are valid. Most people I know do this