CenturyLink and online payments (insurance, credit, loan)

[Quietude]

(Asking here because it seems to be a local phenomenon.)

Does anyone here (1) have CenturyLink and (2) use online bill pay to pay them? And, more to the point, (3) have trouble with the process?

I pay CL from my Bellco account like all of my other bills. Said other bills clear and register as paid with the recipient within about 2 business days - sometimes 1, or even same-day, it seems.

CenturyLink has, for five months now, taken 6 to 14 days to register these payments. It bit me on the second one, which was late as a result. So now I have to work from a calendar tickle to issue payment before I even get the bill in the mail, to allow 10 days or more for them to credit it. Serious Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot, here.

I mean, it's 2018 and they are a technologically adept company. (Hush, you. Just hush.) Does anyone have a clue why they are 1986-slow with this process? Anyone have better luck with another (larger) bank?

[headingtoDenver]

I've never experienced anything like that, but then again I just pay from their mobile app. Usually, it is out of my actual bank account in a couple of days.

[BarryK123]

I never let anyone debit money from my bank account. There's just too much tat could go wrong.
And when I give the IRS my account info on the 1040 for a tax refund (doesn't happen often - I prefer to owe them money, rather than give them an interest-free loan, but sometimes it happens to avoid an underestimation penalty), I use a rarely used account with a balance less than $10.
Trust no one! :-)

[Vision67]

I think your problem is that you must be using a bill paying feature of your Bellco account so the payment is a push. The transaction needs to move through the bank to bank clearing system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_Clearing_House

I have Century Link debit my Credit Union account (a pull) and the transaction is always timely. I've been doing this for about 5 years and have never had a problem.

[Quietude]

Originally Posted by BarryK123

I never let anyone debit money from my bank account. There's just too much tat could go wrong.

I never give direct-debit authorization. I had to for home and auto insurance when I moved here - crap-azz company will not take payment any other way - and either the agent or the company mixed up the initial payment/continuing payment accounts and completely flattened my only accessible cash for almost ten days. I was left with about forty bucks in my wallet and had to borrow gas money from a friend of a friend. NEVER again, and I should have known better. (This was during the transition and my accounts in CT were all but inaccessible.)

Originally Posted by Vision67

I think your problem is that you must be using a bill paying feature of your Bellco account so the payment is a push. The transaction needs to move through the bank to bank clearing system.

Which it does for five other bills in what I consider a normal time in these days of instant transactions. (I worked for banks back in the moving-paper days; I understand the process then and now.)

I have Century Link debit my Credit Union account (a pull) and the transaction is always timely. I've been doing this for about 5 years and have never had a problem.

Many people do. I refuse on principle and bad experience to grant such authorizations.

[2bindenver]

I use a reloadable visa for all bill pay - two actually. one personal and one for business.

[Quietude]

Figured it out, I think. Exasperation level no lower.

Despite its size as a billing agency and provider, and its panoply of electronic pay options... Bellco can only pay CL by mailing a check. As if it's some mom-n-pop shoppe in Finley, North Dakota.

Sigh.

I'll just have to use their login/payment portal from now on. Switching to big C real soon now.

[BarryK123]

I use Wells Fargo electronic billpay (via Quicken). They guarantee arrival date and will cover any late fees if payment arrives late. Most of my payments are done electronically, but there are still a few to whom they send paper checks.

[Quietude]

All banks are pretty much equal on that basis these days - the big guys have their own department, and the little ones like Bellco contract with a provider. It's up to the recipient company to sign into the system, and the only reason I can think of why CenturyLink wouldn't - when they are a network/technology company that takes every other direction of e-pay directly - is a pretty cynical one.

But then, I opt to pay $10 more in lieu of their auto-pay "discount," so I don't think much of their business practices anyway.