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Getting to be a real hot button lately with this one. Much of the time, this is on a customer's bill not because they wrote a bad check, but because they either paid the bill on-line or had it deducted automatically from their checking account, and forgot to make sure the money was there to cover the bill. It does not matter if you're 8 or 80. If you do not know what you're doing with something like this, you should continue paying your bill the old fashioned way.
Much of the time, when I've dealt with on-line payments, it was discovered the customer transposed their account number, or the routing number on their account. Or, it was discovered that the customer failed to tell us their credit card had expired, making it impossible to accept their automatic payment.
Now, to add insult to injury, there were times when credit would be provided to these people, usually as a one time courtesy. It did not end there though. These same people not only wanted the $20 returned check fee credited, they also wanted the $29 fee charged by their bank credited. Sorry, work with your bank on that one. We are not going to give you a $49 credit being most likely, your other utility companies won't do it.
One of my favorite calls though was the lady who called raising hell about her phone being shut off. The bill amount was over $100, and she had paid this bill with a worthless check. When this happens at Bellsouth, the collections department will shut off the phone immediately without warning. When I spoke to this customer, she naturally was upset about having no service, yet she knew about the returned check because her bank had notified her the day before. She then made the payment on a credit card, and after this, I turned the phone back on. As a disclosure statement, I had advised her of the $23 restoral fee, plus the fact that $20 would be charged for the returned check. Her response to this was, "This is blackmail! Making me pay my bill so you all can collect even more money from me. I'll just have to change phone companies." I had to respond to this one, and told her, "Maam, I'm sorry, but you're saying that as if we did this to your account." She was the one who paid the bill with a worthless check, yet she would not take the blame for it and own up to it. One thing I did do was I did agree to credit the restoral fee being she had been with a us a few years without incident, but I was not about to credit her another $20 for writing a bad check, nor was I going to credit what her bank charged her either.
About six years ago, I wrote two bad checks because I forgot to transfer the money into my checking account. It took a couple of days of working with the companies I had done this with, but not once did I get mad at them because I knew it was my fault. I also had to eat $58 total for the two checks, but again, it was my fault for being careless. It's a real shame most customers don't own up to their mistakes, and they don't expect to have to fix them either. They expect others to do it for them.
Much of the time, when I've dealt with on-line payments, it was discovered the customer transposed their account number, or the routing number on their account. Or, it was discovered that the customer failed to tell us their credit card had expired, making it impossible to accept their automatic payment.
Now, to add insult to injury, there were times when credit would be provided to these people, usually as a one time courtesy. It did not end there though. These same people not only wanted the $20 returned check fee credited, they also wanted the $29 fee charged by their bank credited. Sorry, work with your bank on that one. We are not going to give you a $49 credit being most likely, your other utility companies won't do it.
One of my favorite calls though was the lady who called raising hell about her phone being shut off. The bill amount was over $100, and she had paid this bill with a worthless check. When this happens at Bellsouth, the collections department will shut off the phone immediately without warning. When I spoke to this customer, she naturally was upset about having no service, yet she knew about the returned check because her bank had notified her the day before. She then made the payment on a credit card, and after this, I turned the phone back on. As a disclosure statement, I had advised her of the $23 restoral fee, plus the fact that $20 would be charged for the returned check. Her response to this was, "This is blackmail! Making me pay my bill so you all can collect even more money from me. I'll just have to change phone companies." I had to respond to this one, and told her, "Maam, I'm sorry, but you're saying that as if we did this to your account." She was the one who paid the bill with a worthless check, yet she would not take the blame for it and own up to it. One thing I did do was I did agree to credit the restoral fee being she had been with a us a few years without incident, but I was not about to credit her another $20 for writing a bad check, nor was I going to credit what her bank charged her either.
About six years ago, I wrote two bad checks because I forgot to transfer the money into my checking account. It took a couple of days of working with the companies I had done this with, but not once did I get mad at them because I knew it was my fault. I also had to eat $58 total for the two checks, but again, it was my fault for being careless. It's a real shame most customers don't own up to their mistakes, and they don't expect to have to fix them either. They expect others to do it for them.
I called and told them what happened and asked what I should do. They had every right to charge me a late fee but they didn't. Probably because I was nice about it and took responsibility for it. Funny how that works.
. Not once, was I sucky about it
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