Online bill payment problem (Wells Fargo, pay, suing, credit)

[Jimrob1]

I recently joined a credit union. I was with a bank before. I used the online bill paying to pay my Water Bill. Something I have done for years with banks with no problems. It was scheduled for Dec 31 and shows a Jan 7 arrival date. So that was fine with me. Well the 7th came and I found the amount still in my checking acct so I called the utility company. It didn't arrive and I was told it should be any time now it would be posted. Well the 8th thru the 11th came I was told the same thing. I also was checking with the credit union that sent the payment. This is when I really noticed the problem. The online payment screen still shows delivery date Jan 7, but when I went in the credit union office they told me its now Jan 18 arrival date. To me that is deceiving. They told me to go pay the bill at the water company and the credit union would canx the online payment. Which would prevent a duplicate payment. So I did. I paid it Jan 11 in person. I was also given papers from the Credit Union showing that I had made the online payment, but evidently it was not received so it is now a stopped payment. That Customer has decided to pay in person. So this water company knows that.

So I then drove 20 miles and paid my water bill at their office and gave them the papers showing a previous payment never showed up and was now canx. Everything was fine I was told. I also signed up for auto pay as I don't trust this credit union now.

Today I get a letter from the Water company almost 3 weeks after going there to pay the bill, and having notified them of me stopping payment on what would be a duplicate check. The letter tells me they have just received the stop payment for the bill from the credit union. So I am being charged the bill a 2nd time plus $50 for me stopping the payment from the credit union. Plus I can no longer write a check I must pay in cash or money order. As I mentioned this bill was already paid by me by check in their office. That checked cleared 2 days later So my acct was paid in full. . Today I notified the credit union and they told me there really is nothing they can do. This whole thing seems so unprofessional on both ends the credit union and the water company. I can't tell you how many time is Florida I have struggled with the most crap customer service on earth. I don't want to get all upset but really I'm at a loss as to what to do. Even when I asked for the supervisor at the credit union I got no help or a way to remedy thisj. Nothing its not their problem. Something does need to be done by them a phone call or something to correct this. Since I was told they canx the payment to the water company how did the canx payment end up at the water company? Why would the water company be penalizing me when the payment was already made. How do I fix this? I have a perfect payment record with this water company. Thanks

[KaraG]

This is why I pay on the utility company's website instead of depending on a bill pay service to get it there on time.

I guess you're just going to have to go back in person and explain what happened and see if they will reverse the charges. I think most times they have the power to help out customers if it's a one time mistake.

But on the other hand, understand that right now there are so many staff shortages everywhere and at some places the employees are not the best, so more mistakes seem to be occurring.

[Mary2014]

Recently had an issue with a check that got lost in the mail. I mailed it January 3rd and it was not showing up as cashed 23 days later. The due date was February 1st. To avoid issuing a stop payment and then a possible charge for a returned check by the company, I called customer service at AAA. She suggested I pay over the phone with a credit card. She put a note on my account that if the missing check was eventually received and processed they would issue a refund to my credit card.

This seems the best way to avoid a late payment when the check or scheduled payment has not processed.

Anytime you open a new account at a bank there is a chance something may be keyed in incorrectly (an incorrect routing number for example). It could be at the bank end or the receiving end. Sometimes there is a glitch in their system. It happens. It is annoying.

It is important to make sure a check or automated payment processes when expected. If it does not try to catch it before the actual due date of the payment. I think customer service at AAA had the best way to avoid late fees if you suspect a lost check or processing error.

[evening sun]

Is charging it to a credit card an option, our water bill is charged to a credit card, which I pay off each month. If they don't want checks any more ( which is not fair) it may be an option. You have every right to be angry & that credit union needs better customer service. They should have the ability to let the water company know what happened.
You could try sending a letter of explanation to both the water company & the cu, & see what happens.

[Parnassia]

I've been with federal credit unions for decades but haven't had this problem. Basically, I prefer to pay each individual company's bills directly using their own electronic system. It makes it easier to review/reconcile their statements and charges before authorizing payment and the transactions pass through fewer hands. Often, but not always, there is a financial incentive to do so. Yes, saving paper and the energy required to transport it from one place to another is a thing for me. Living in remote areas taught me a few unpleasant lessons about paper mail timeliness too. Stuff happens along the way.

This isn't hard...these bills are predictable...I know they're coming up. Haven't paid routine bills by check in years. The only purchases I pay by check these days are to small mom-pop vendors that don't offer electronic or cc payments or something I might want a cancelled hard copy check record for. If a bill is a pre-set amount every month (WiFi, phone, mortgage, etc) I MAY authorize auto billing. If the amount is variable I create an electronic reminder for myself several days in advance, go to the company's website to review the current charges, and authorize payment of that invoice only. I always schedule payments to arrive a couple of days before the due date. Don't worry about hiccups due to weekends, holidays, or billing cycle drift that way.

[Jimrob1]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I appreciate them as I was boiling mad yesterday and needed to vent. Things are good now and this problem has been taken care of. I spoke to the water Company and I was told to disregard the letter, that I never should have received it. That my acct is current and my future payments are on autopay, so I no longer will have to deal with this torture with the credit union bill pay.

I had actually tried to pay the water bill on the water company website prior to using bill pay. Everytime I tried to pay it I would get the system is down try later. I will have to say in all my years paying bills on bill pay with Wells Fargo I never once had an issue. I'd have remained with WF had they not sent out letters, saying they were closing the branch where I live. That's how I ended up joining this credit union. This area of Florida seems to have a number of credit unions but the banks are not well represented here. So I've learned my lesson using the local credit union online bill paying system. I won't ever use it again. I agree I think businesses today want us all on autopay or so it seems. Thanks again for your comments.