Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Because I retain copies of all of my bills, with proof of payment stapled to them, just in case of a question later on about billing and/or payment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ansky
All the people I know that still receive a paper bill (for any service) are older (age 55+) who just can't grasp the concept of paying online, or who just don't want to break the old habit of writing a check and putting a stamp on the envelope. Many people in that generation still don't trust doing financial activities over the internet.
I pay all my bills online, but I don't do automatic payments. I have had too many billing issues in the past and don't want money withdrawn from my account until I approve it.
I guess that you could call me a 65+ hybrid, as I want to receive hard copies in the mail, but I do online bill payment.
Recently, Wells Fargo essentially strong-armed customers into accepting online checking statements, and--of course--I print these statements in order to check their records of my account vs my records of my account. But, with this exception, everything else is mailed to me.
However, I'm sure that, as time goes on, many companies will strong-arm people in accepting online statements, just as Wells Fargo did.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
I don't do automatic payments, either. I have heard horror stories where mistakes are made and huge payments taken out and it was hard to get them corrected. I do one-time payments.
Yup!
Although I do all of my payments online, I do the "one-time" version, rather than allowing them to automatically bill me for what could be bogus charges.
Why should I use my time to to get the fire up MY computer/phone, get MY email, use MY printer with MY paper, using MY ink/laser, to printer out THEIR bill ??
I file the paper bill, it's called "Records", in a file cabinet
In case you have a question or compare bills or information on the bill.
What happens if your email mail is hacked
Your computer dies
Those that trust electronic storage solely, are asking for trouble.
have you ever tried to re-create records ? or pic? when a hard drive fails ?
Of coarse companies push online everything
It is cheaper for THEM.
They want to push THEIR expenses onto you as much as possible. make it YOUR expense
It's amazing how companies cry how it's SO expensive to print bills, well haven't you been printing bills for over 50 years?
Why is it so expensive now ?
Maybe the reason many +55 year olds don't do it, is that we are experienced and have been burned in the past, or holy hell to stop or change anything
have seen many pitfalls over the years.
know better
I've played around with online bill since Quicken had it back in the 1990's
No one has done it without massive errors at one time or another
You think online anything started last year? or with cell phones ?
Come on,
At some point the young get some life experiences and learn that their naivete is suspect.
I was young once, I learned..
Because I retain copies of all of my bills, with proof of payment stapled to them, just in case of a question later on about billing and/or payment.
I do too....in PDF on my computer + on Dropbox. proof of payment is on my american express statement every month...also available in PDF + on Dropbox
Quote:
Originally Posted by Retriever
I guess that you could call me a 65+ hybrid, as I want to receive hard copies in the mail, but I do online bill payment.
Recently, Wells Fargo essentially strong-armed customers into accepting online checking statements, and--of course--I print these statements in order to check their records of my account vs my records of my account. But, with this exception, everything else is mailed to me.
However, I'm sure that, as time goes on, many companies will strong-arm people in accepting online statements, just as Wells Fargo did.
Do you still keep records in a check registry or something? I'm not even sure what records I'd be checking against.
^^this whole post made me giggle. I remember my mother freaking out when her bank stopped mailing her her cancelled checks with the monthly statements. My credit union never did that so it didn't bother me. This is similar, just a evolution of how business is done.
As far as computers crashing, hard drives failing, email hacked - I'm guarded against that - as you should be even if you don't pay bills online. I've been paying bills online for a long time, never an issue. (knocking on wood)
ETA - i'm talking about boater1's post, not brady's...he responded while I was typing.
Why should I use my time to to get the fire up MY computer/phone, get MY email, use MY printer with MY paper, using MY ink/laser, to printer out THEIR bill ??
I file the paper bill, it's called "Records", in a file cabinet
In case you have a question or compare bills or information on the bill.
What happens if your email mail is hacked
Your computer dies
Those that trust electronic storage solely, are asking for trouble.
have you ever tried to re-create records ? or pic? when a hard drive fails ?
Of coarse companies push online everything
It is cheaper for THEM.
They want to push THEIR expenses onto you as much as possible. make it YOUR expense
It's amazing how companies cry how it's SO expensive to print bills, well haven't you been printing bills for over 50 years?
Why is it so expensive now ?
Maybe the reason many +55 year olds don't do it, is that we are experienced and have been burned in the past, or holy hell to stop or change anything have seen many pitfalls over the years. know better
I've played around with online bill since Quicken had it back in the 1990's
No one has done it without massive errors at one time or another
You think online anything started last year? or with cell phones ?
Come on,
At some point the young get some life experiences and learn that their naivete is suspect.
I was young once, I learned..
And don't get me started with CLOUD storage ..
It's not that expensive. i think it's about $1/bill for verizon. but when you have 100M customers, that's actually a sizeable chunk of change that is really just wasteful spending/printing in the grand scheme of things.
I find an electronic bill easier because i can search it. you can also download your usage into excel and do analysis on it if you wanted to. that's how i change what phone #s i have as our "Friends and Family".
The average person would have a tough time recreating records, but it's possible. If you lose your paper files or they get damaged...it's impossible to recreate them (except going to the company's website and printing a new copy )
If i have a copy of my bill in my email, on my desktop, and on dropbox, along with on my backed up hard drive...it's highly unlikely i'll ever have a "lost data" issue. Plus, the company has it, and they have it backed up. I'm not sure what the worry is.
^^this whole post made me giggle. I remember my mother freaking out when her bank stopped mailing her her cancelled checks with the monthly statements. My credit union never did that so it didn't bother me. This is similar, just a evolution of how business is done.
As far as computers crashing, hard drives failing, email hacked - I'm guarded against that - as you should be even if you don't pay bills online. I've been paying bills online for a long time, never an issue. (knocking on wood)
ETA - i'm talking about boater1's post, not brady's...he responded while I was typing.
i'm with you. my favorite new banking tool is "cashing" my checks with my smartphone app. let those old folks be all wise with their experience...they'll get "burned" when all that paper in their house catches fire!
Because I retain copies of all of my bills, with proof of payment stapled to them, just in case of a question later on about billing and/or payment.
I guess that you could call me a 65+ hybrid, as I want to receive hard copies in the mail, but I do online bill payment.
Recently, Wells Fargo essentially strong-armed customers into accepting online checking statements, and--of course--I print these statements in order to check their records of my account vs my records of my account. But, with this exception, everything else is mailed to me.
However, I'm sure that, as time goes on, many companies will strong-arm people in accepting online statements, just as Wells Fargo did.
Yup!
Although I do all of my payments online, I do the "one-time" version, rather than allowing them to automatically bill me for what could be bogus charges.
Wow, this is antiquated. You should considering having someone teach you a better way to accomplish your goals, while limiting your risk and not wasting paper. Frankly, if you're printing something to keep a record of it, you're process is extremely inefficient.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
