Posted on 12/08/2015 6:09:33 AM PST by Daffynition
It's the other kind of bill shock.
....[snip]......
The amount due was four cents.
*If you don*t pay us in full (or get in touch to arrange a payment plan) by 06 Dec 2015, we may start action to recover your debt,* the letter warned.
[snip again]
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Computerized billing
I’d opt for the payment plan.
This happened to me in college. I paid the final bill but I guess a 5 cents were added for some reason. I repaid the bill (with a check) at 7 cents. Got a 2 cent refund in the mail. lol
After being contacted by news.com.au, Energy Australia kindly wiped the debt from the customer’s account, and advised that a computer glitch was to blame for the farce.
Me too...One cent a month.
This is the result of companies outsourcing their collections. The collection companies send mindless, over-the-top threatening letters at the drop of a hat. I got one threatening to sue me when I moved and switched my cable to the new house. Instead of just keeping the account open, Comcast closed the account at my old house, shut off the automatic payment on the old account, opened a new account at my new house that didn’t show the old balance, sent the bill to the old house (for some reason, it wasn’t forwarded) and then 30 days later had a collection agency threaten to sue me because I didn’t pay the old bill (which was just one month, and I had paid the new bill). Its mindless and horrible customer relations.
Ah, the wonders of the computer age. 12 or so years ago I moved into a new apartment and obtained an Electric Company, Comcast, and Phone company accounts.
All went well, but for the COLLECTION COMPANY that has been “ROBO-calling” SOMEBODY else’s old phone number ever since. For the last eight years if I don’t contact them by “next Monday”, they will resort to legal action.
I’m not going to call.
The same stupid stuff happens even when work is not outsourced. When we moved we went through all the hoops to close down/transfer the utilites. Five months later Frontier Communications was still sending ‘bills’ showing a $ 0.00 amount due. It took a couple of phone calls to get them to stop.
“computer glitch”? No. No computer glitch. The system is designed that way. Any final bills under a dollar should be cancelled.
BTW, I would pay one cent a month until paid.
So, you add four cents to the next billing cycle. Why is that so hard to figure out?
Slightly overpaying the fine for a traffic ticket will keep points off your driving record.
The rationale:
**Remember, this advice was from a retired State Farm Insurance agent!
This system has been tried and it works in every state. If you get a speeding ticket or went through a red light or whatever the case may be, and you're going to get points on your license.
This is a method to ensure that you DO NOT get the points. When you get your fine, send in a check to pay for it. If the fine is $79.00 make the check out for $82.00 or some small amount over the fine.
The system will then have to send you back a check for the difference, however here is the trick. DO NOT CASH THE REFUND CHECK! Throw it away! Points are not assessed to your license until all financial transactions are complete. If you do not cash the check, then the transactions are NOT complete.
The system has received it's money and is satisfied and will no longer bother you.
This information comes from an unmentionable computer company that sets up the standard databases used by every state.**
Snopes says: **Status: False.**
I have no personal knowledge of this, one way or another. Underpaying or overpaying seems to create problems for automated systems. Caveat Venditor. :)
I have also sent checks for ten cents to campaigns I didn't like for the same reason.
I think I would have sent them a check for 14 cents. Let their computers and credit department waste hundreds of dollars fixing that.
My Doctor's office has determined that any bill under $5.00 that they send out costs more to them then they collect.
So they carry anything under $5.00 on their books until your next visit.
The only thing I recall, after holding for 45 mins. is screaming into the phone at some poor little rep named *Susan*, who spoke in some heavy hard to understand accent, who was fifteen thousand miles away in Bangladesh in some call center ...*What do you mean it can't be fixed. It only takes one little click by a human being to FIX this!*
{{Smiling here}}}
That actually happens outside a comedy routine?
Write 'em a cheque for $0.00, and see what happens.
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