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I am so steamed! I just paid my property taxes on line and got charged $73+ extra for paying on line!!!! What's up with that??
You would think that paying taxes online would be a logical process but it's not. When you buy something at say, a Best Buy, the store is only receiving about 97% of the cost of the item you bought. That other 3% is the "transaction fee" that Visa and Mastercard make for everything you buy. The store is accepting that 3% lower difference. Most state and federal agencies will not - they want precisely what you owe and add the transaction fee in on top of the full 100% payment. Government always wants the full amount. That's why I always mail my tax bills in. It's a lot cheaper!!
It was a "convenience fee," about 2.5 to 3% of the total. I learned a big lesson today: Pay by check and forget the charge card.
I asked by phone if I could give my credit card that way, and was told that they could not process the credit card by phone, only in person. I feel like I'm stuck in the '60's. They don't have the capacity to just punch the numbers in; they have to swipe the card.
Thanks for the moral support, though!
Has anyone had this happen to them??
Location: livin' the good life on America's favorite island
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I believe it is mentioned that there is a tranaction charge when you pay online. They use a 3rd party service to handle transaction Just another reason not to wait until last minute to pay your bill so you have option of mailing payment.
It was a "convenience fee," about 2.5 to 3% of the total. I learned a big lesson today: Pay by check and forget the charge card.
I asked by phone if I could give my credit card that way, and was told that they could not process the credit card by phone, only in person. I feel like I'm stuck in the '60's. They don't have the capacity to just punch the numbers in; they have to swipe the card.
Thanks for the moral support, though!
Has anyone had this happen to them??
Alot of places (especially UC water/sewer dept) will charge you a fee to pay by CC.....this really isn't surprising.
I believe it is mentioned that there is a tranaction charge when you pay online. They use a 3rd party service to handle transaction Just another reason not to wait until last minute to pay your bill so you have option of mailing payment.
Yes, I saw that. But I wasn't prepared for the amount! That kind of bowled me over for a while. That really smarts!
I thought this bill had been paid earlier, but come to find out there was some mix-up in the bill pay service I use (maybe it was me) and it wasn't paid. I always try to pay everything on time.
Alot of places (especially UC water/sewer dept) will charge you a fee to pay by CC.....this really isn't surprising.
caveat emptor I guess.....
No, not surprising. There was no hint of how much it would be until I got through the online pay process and hit "submit." "Submit" is quite apt wording, come to think of it!!!
There was a mention of the percentage, you just didn't see it. You have to realize that it is not UC that is charging you the extra fee. It is the credit card/bank company. That is how paypal makes their money. UC is not going to give them 2% of the taxes just because it is paid online, they would lose way too much money that way. For profit companies don't mind it because it gets more people buying and their markup is much more than that. As a taxpayer myself, I personally wouldn't want a portion of taxes owed going to a bank anyway!
Oh and edited to add: it has nothing to do with UC being in the dark ages. In reality, a credit card should be swiped to prove it was actually you. A government agency really doesn't have the resources to deal with the amount of chargebacks that would happen if they started to allow over phone credit card charges. Going through paypal puts the responsibility on paypal, not union county.
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