Why you can't pay your phone bill over the amount owed

[greensinestro]

I used to work in customer service for the phone company. One of the biggest headaches I dealt with there were customers that overpaid the bill. We're not talking about overpaying it by a few pennies to the nearest dollar, we're talking sometimes $20, $50, or even hundreds of dollars over the amount due. Mainly it was because the customer was so careless, they ended up sending in their mortgage payment, or their car payment, anything other than the phone bill. This would then result in the customer calling back, bitching about how we have their money and why didn't anyone notice this when the payment was processed. Pardon me, but I don't have time to review your bank account and how much you're paying. I have thousands of other customers to deal with. However, when the customer was red enough over it, we then had to submit a refund ticket, which then took another six weeks to get back. By the time this happened, the customer's new bill was due!

Now, if you call in to pay your bill, they will not allow you to pay one penny over the amount because of this. I used to like rounding it to the nearest penny just so I could balance my checkbook easily, but now, it's impossible. Thank you so much to you customers out there who don't pay attention to how they pay their bills! Kudos!

[4Gifts4Lisa]

Heehee...I just accidentally double paid both my credit card (and for a rather large amount) and my electric bill. The electric bill I don't care about...it will just be a credit next month, so that is fine. The credit card, however, was a payoff, and I need the money back. Did I get ticked off and fly off the handle. Um, no, b/c it was MY fault. It will take two weeks to get back. Again, my fault. Fortunately, I have the money in savings to cover it, but I am equally sure that if I did NOT, my bank would definintely work with me. Why do I feel that way? B/c I am NOT an SC...I would have calmly stated the problem and asked for help. I have ALWAYS been able to get help that way. People usually want to help you when you admit your mistakes and ask for help. WHY can SCs NOT understand that???

[greensinestro]

Well said, Lisa. Too bad you're the point oh-five percent of the population that uses their brain. lol

[chainedbarista]

i overpaid our telephone (we use it locally only, so the charges are always low) because i paid the amount due on the cable bill (through the same company as the phone) on the phone; while we had a nice credit balance on the phone (which was nice for about five months of not worrying about that bill), we were short on the cable, which i corrected and sent in asap. did i blame the company? nope, just my inattention to details and almost total lack of patience.

i've never understood how someone can 'forget' bills for months at a time, then blame the company they owe, but i'm also not a sc.

[TennesseePieman]

I personally overpay my gas bill nearly every month on purpose. I send in $80 every month, even the summer months, even though the gas bill during the summer is only $8 (just enough to keep the pilot light on the furnace lit). That way, when I get to the winter months I have a substantial credit and I don't have to fight my way financially through Christmas paying a huge gas bill and buying presents. The credit, plus the $80/month I keep sending, lasts me most of the way through winter.

[Retail Associate]

I never 'overpay' because I can barely afford to pay the amonut owed. But one time I sent my payment to Sears only to find out a week later that I had forgotten to write and include a check. (They believed me, too...'cause I'm old.)

[Seanette]

I personally overpay my gas bill nearly every month on purpose. I send in $80 every month, even the summer months, even though the gas bill during the summer is only $8 (just enough to keep the pilot light on the furnace lit).

We usually just shut off the heater pilot light once the weather gets warm enough that we don't need heat. Summer gas bill is usually less than $5/month (that covers the stove/oven's pilot lights and cooking). Winter gets up to $20-ish/month (I don't think it's ever gotten above $30/month). It's a small apartment, so not much space to heat, we're not supporting the water heater or laundry equipment, and we prefer the temperature around 70F (give or take a couple of degrees), rather than 75 or so as our older neighbors would. I do cook more using the stove/oven in winter. In summer, it gets so [beep] hot here I don't want to dump any heat into the air I don't *have* to.

[Banrion]

i've never understood how someone can 'forget' bills for months at a time, then blame the company they owe, but i'm also not a sc.

I'm fessing up right now that I forgot to pay my gas bill for 4 mos recently . I honestly did not get the bill, and I thought it was set up for auto-pay like all the other utilities. Then I noticed that I had never seen a debit from Bay State Gas. So I called them. Paid them then and there the full balance a whopping $108.00 and did get the auto-pay set up!! They didn't seem to bothered by it, and I apologized profusely.

*note: Our typical winter bill for one month can reach the $250-$300 range, so 4 months totalling $108 really is small potatoes on our account. Everything is gas in our apartment. Hot water heater, heat, dryer, stove/oven.

[Gurndigarn]

I usually round up all bills to the next dollar or ten dollars, just so it's simple to balance the checkbook. Yeah, I can do mental math, and better than most people... but why bother if I don't need to?

[Horsetuna]

I overpaid my last electricity bill before I moved. I now am In another city and I'm STIL waiting on the refund....

I wonder if they ever intend to send it. I had my power shut off at the place in AUGUST.

[pbmods]

I love auto-pay. Never have to worry about bills again!

On the other had, I HATE paperless billing. I have to have some kind of physical statement!

Sob story, here we go. Way back when I was a little younger and was suffering for some of the bad decisions I made when I was 18, I had a LOT of credit card debt. The interest was killing me, so I did what every rational American would do: I opened up a new credit card account with a promotional 0% APR and maxed it out with a balance transfer. And then I made the STUPID mistake of switching to paperless billing.

Guess who forgot to pay his credit card bill?

Six months later, I had FINALLY gotten the new card back to where it started out!

[greensinestro]

I love auto-pay. Never have to worry about bills again!

On the other had, I HATE paperless billing. I have to have some kind of physical statement!

Sob story, here we go. Way back when I was a little younger and was suffering for some of the bad decisions I made when I was 18, I had a LOT of credit card debt. The interest was killing me, so I did what every rational American would do: I opened up a new credit card account with a promotional 0% APR and maxed it out with a balance transfer. And then I made the STUPID mistake of switching to paperless billing.

Guess who forgot to pay his credit card bill?

Six months later, I had FINALLY gotten the new card back to where it started out!

You mean to say you didn't blame somebody else for this common error? Yeah, I gotta love those. I still get those type of customers, the ones who want it done electronically, but they fail to remember the disclosure that paperless billing is exactly what the name says. Then, they will not pay their bill until this "error" is "corrected".

[Jester]

There is a note in my file with my storage company back home in Arizona. The note says, from what they have told me, "Jester is always late with his bill, but always pays it." That is not the whole story. The REAL story is that I will forget about paying them for literally months at a time, then remember them, and pay what I owe them, plus all the late fees I have accumulated. Since I have had that storage unit for over eight years now, and my history is filled with that exact pattern, AND I've never failed to pay them (eventually), they let me get away with it. Oh, and also because I am a very nice guy and don't yell at them for my own idiocy. Remember, I am the guy that often begins conversations with, "Hi, I'm an idiot, but...."

Of course, I FINALLY set up autopay on that account, so that pattern will not continue, but once I move back to Zona and get settled in, I will be cleaning out that storage unit. I think they are going to miss me and all my late fees.