OT - Argh - Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!!!

I had a similar experience. The phone company changed all their
accounts' number and I
paid to my old account via ATM. After I found out my mistake, I tried
various ways to contact
the phone company. FINALLY I got a guy on the phone. He said he would
make a marker on my account and had the payment transferred from the
old account number. The accounts are with the same company. No merger,
buy out, or company name change. Just changes in all customers account
#. The hydro company did a similar trick on
me. But I managed to remember to use the new account number for
payment.
Mailing them cheques with the stubs that come with the bills will
avoid these problems.
But these days they encourage us to go paperless and pay online. Then
they turn around
and change our accounts number to make it a nusiance.

Winnie


Magic Mood Jeep© wrote:
Ok, This is a weird thing I did, but really STUPID!

I am in charge of all our bill-paying: mortgage, car loan, utilities, credit
cards, etc., etc....

Our bank of choice is Chase (actually, JP Morgan/Chase - our bank, Bank One,
was acquired by them, and they seem to be OK), and we do the online bill-pay
thing (saves us bookoo in stamps, plus, a *lot* of it is electronic
transfer, which only takes a day or two, so the money gets to the creditors
quicker than by mailing a check).

Our phone (landline) is AT&T, used to be SBC (which, about 10 years ago, was
AT&T, and why they've changed back & forth is one of those mystery things
that could only be explained by a corporate attorney, and us lay-people
*still* wouldn't understand it), and one of our credit cards is managed by
Citi Corp, but is 'sponsored' by AT&T, and the 'pay to' name is "AT&T
Universal Card".

When paying the bills online, they are listed alphabetically.

DH is a salaried employee, and they are paid monthly - on the *last
Wednesday* of the month (another one of those mysteries....)

Friday, I get a call from Citi, and they were like , "umm, we didn't get a
payment from you....", and I was "I *KNOW* I sent it"... I look in Quicken
(we don't even use a paper register anymore, the only checks we actually
write ourselves are for the auto insurance), and there it is, plain as
day..... While I have the Citi guy on the phone, I check the online
banking.... whoops! It says "AT&T" instead of "AT&T Universal Card".....
Seems that last month, while paying the bills, I sent the "AT&T Universal
Card" payment ($400) to "AT&T" the phone company, by simply clicking the
*wrong* box! This Citi guy is very nice and understanding (nothing like the
AmEx guy that someone wrote about here recently), but wants me to make a
payment over the phone. Not gonna happen. He wants to give me a phone # to
call back on - I don't even want it (how am I to know I'm not calling some
guy in a garage up the road?). I explain that I *will* make a payment, but
over *not* over the phone, it will be via my bank's online services. It
will *not* be the $400 that we sent to the wrong company, at least not until
we get it *back* from the wrong company (which they say will take *three
weeks*!!!). I did go online after discussing it with DH and sent a payment
of the minimum due, and that leaves us with a bunch of money less than we
thought we were gonna have to play with this month!

So now we will probably have a "mark" on our credit report because the
payment that I sent on Friday was about a week-and-a-half late, and all our
interest rates will more than likely go up....

But, I have found out that I can assign nicknames to the online bill payment
names, without having to change the "pay to" names - so "AT&T" the phone
company is now labeled "PHONE" so I *will not* do this again!!!

--�
The ONE and ONLY
lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde
in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)©
email me at nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com
http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep

On 18 Jul 2006 06:14:23 -0700 Winnie wrote:

I had a similar experience. The phone company changed all their
accounts' number and I
paid to my old account via ATM. After I found out my mistake, I tried
various ways to contact
the phone company. FINALLY I got a guy on the phone. He said he would
make a marker on my account and had the payment transferred from the
old account number. The accounts are with the same company. No merger,
buy out, or company name change. Just changes in all customers account
#. The hydro company did a similar trick on
me. But I managed to remember to use the new account number for
payment.
Mailing them cheques with the stubs that come with the bills will
avoid these problems.
But these days they encourage us to go paperless and pay online. Then
they turn around
and change our accounts number to make it a nusiance.


For most of my regular payments I authorize the company to charge my
bank account directly. This saves me from mistyping bank account
numbers, customer numbers, billing numbers etc. and it saves me from
remembering all the dates. The system is reasonably safe, because I
have a six-week period inside which I can prompt my bank to cancel any
transaction.

We have a lot of payments processed like this and have never
experienced any major problem. The only thing is, you must check very
carefully that all charges are legitimate.

So there is no need for me to manually take care of paying Mortgage,
gas, electricity, phone, mobile phone, TV, several insurances, car and
municipal taxes, daily newspaper, several monthly magazines, internet
provider, reserve assets for the house ... I certainly forgot some.

A lot of companies over here grant you some discount if you
participate in the system, because it saves them a lot at handling the
bills.

The only drawback is: if you change your bank acount, you have to tell
all of them the details of your new account. If you miss one or two,
they will fine you for trying to charge a non-existing account.

Squarely Yours
Michael

--
Square Dance is friendship put to music
Andrea and Michael with furballs Blacky and Merlin
More detailed info: http://www.curschmann-sachsen.de

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

Ah well. Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes
from bad judgement. I learned a lot in those first few years out
on my own. The Kirby is only one of a series of foolish decisions.

OK, but can you top this one? I lent $1300 to a friend (not a close
friend, btw) who was on the verge of losing her apartment if she
didn't pay the rent - *AFTER* she told me she had a compulsive
debting problem. How stupid is that??? I was even out of work at the
time, although I still had a lot of money in my savings account.

The chronology went like this: first she asked to borrow the money. I
said yes. Then she said she had the debting problem. But by then I
felt I'd made a promise and didn't want to break it, especially if it
would cause her to be evicted. I didn't realize at the time that this
is how she manipulates people - by creating drama and crisis in her
life and then getting people to rescue her.

At the time, a mutual friend of ours said "DON'T DO IT!!" But I
couldn't bring myself to go back on my promise to help. I should have
listened to that good advice! This woman still owes me $900 from
that, and I've been pretty broke over the past 3 years. Needless to
say, I do not consider her any kind of friend anymore. Just because I
was stupid enough to trust her, does not excuse her being a sleazoid.
Joyce

Sounds like perfect fodder for one of those Judge shows on television.
One
thing they've taught me: if you absolutely feel *compelled* to loan
someone
money, lay out the terms of repayment in a Promissory Note and both
parties
sign it. Also, do not loan cash; use a personal check or cashiers check.
On the memo line write "LOAN to name from name" so it's absolutely
clear. Make sure the bank will give you a copy of the cashed check.
(Note:
many banks now actually *charge* you to get a copy of your own check, but
if
it comes down to the difference between $1300 or a small copying fee, I'll
take the copying fee any time.)

Jill



You are so right. And be specific about when payments are due, how much
interest, what about collections fee, etc.

We had a friend ask to borrow money a couple of years ago. I'm sure he
needed it or wouldn't have asked. I'm also sure his finances are a mess due
to circumstances that are NOT beyond his control.

Didn't make the loan. As I told Charlie, we are going to lose the friend
either way. Don't want to lose the money too.

It is so hard not to let someone guilt you. Also tough with those that
start out by asking for a small favor and then start escalating it when you
seem to be hooked.

Jo

"Adrian A" wrote in message
om...
Micha wrote:
On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 18:19:29 GMT Jo Firey wrote:

Two years ago while paying my bill online for use of tax software, a
bill in excess of $500.00, I managed to leave out the decimal point.


My online-account is limited to a daily transfer rate of max.
EUR 3.000,00 (about 3.750,00 USD at the moment), regardless how much
more money would be on that account (not that there IS more - wish, it
would be). So the online system would reject the attempt of such a
transfer straight away.

OTOH, when transferring a sum higher than the daily allowance (had to
do that when I bought a car), I have to visit a bank office in person
and hand the clerk a written and signed bank transfer form, so that
they can check on the spot whether my account is credit-worthy and
approve the transfer. But handing them a written bank transfer form
costs an extra fee, while online-banking is "free".

Squarely Yours
Michael

Most of the time I could live with that amount, but once or twice in the
past I've paid a credit card bill online for more than that. I'm sure
there
are many people that would find that restrictive.
--

I usually pay my credit cards twice a month anyway. The minimum as soon as
the bill comes in, and then the balance in time to avoid interest.

And I always mark my online calendar for when to make the second payment or
just go ahead and schedule it. I hate to pay them before I have to even if
the money is sitting there.

Of course it would also save money if I made a point of wearing my glasses
and being as careful with my own as I used to be with my clients.

Made a $.10 underpayment mistake that cost my $10 in interest last month.

There is good reason why I'm retired.

Jo

Micha wrote:
On 18 Jul 2006 06:14:23 -0700 Winnie wrote:

I had a similar experience. The phone company changed all their
accounts' number and I
paid to my old account via ATM. After I found out my mistake, I tried
various ways to contact
the phone company. FINALLY I got a guy on the phone. He said he
would make a marker on my account and had the payment transferred
from the old account number. The accounts are with the same company.
No merger, buy out, or company name change. Just changes in all
customers account #. The hydro company did a similar trick on
me. But I managed to remember to use the new account number for
payment.
Mailing them cheques with the stubs that come with the bills will
avoid these problems.
But these days they encourage us to go paperless and pay online. Then
they turn around
and change our accounts number to make it a nusiance.


For most of my regular payments I authorize the company to charge my
bank account directly. This saves me from mistyping bank account
numbers, customer numbers, billing numbers etc. and it saves me from
remembering all the dates. The system is reasonably safe, because I
have a six-week period inside which I can prompt my bank to cancel any
transaction.

We have a lot of payments processed like this and have never
experienced any major problem. The only thing is, you must check very
carefully that all charges are legitimate.

So there is no need for me to manually take care of paying Mortgage,
gas, electricity, phone, mobile phone, TV, several insurances, car and
municipal taxes, daily newspaper, several monthly magazines, internet
provider, reserve assets for the house ... I certainly forgot some.

A lot of companies over here grant you some discount if you
participate in the system, because it saves them a lot at handling the
bills.

The only drawback is: if you change your bank acount, you have to tell
all of them the details of your new account. If you miss one or two,
they will fine you for trying to charge a non-existing account.

Squarely Yours
Michael

We have a similar system in the UK, called Direct Debit, which I use for all
my regular bills and one credit card, that card gets used for all my every
day purchases. As in Germany there are safeguards for the customer.
http://www.bacs.co.uk/BPSL/directdeb...ic/yourrights/
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

Jo Firey wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

Ah well. Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes
from bad judgement. I learned a lot in those first few years out
on my own. The Kirby is only one of a series of foolish
decisions.

OK, but can you top this one? I lent $1300 to a friend (not a close
friend, btw) who was on the verge of losing her apartment if she
didn't pay the rent - *AFTER* she told me she had a compulsive
debting problem. How stupid is that??? I was even out of work at the
time, although I still had a lot of money in my savings account.

The chronology went like this: first she asked to borrow the money.
I said yes. Then she said she had the debting problem. But by then I
felt I'd made a promise and didn't want to break it, especially if
it would cause her to be evicted. I didn't realize at the time that
this
is how she manipulates people - by creating drama and crisis in her
life and then getting people to rescue her.

At the time, a mutual friend of ours said "DON'T DO IT!!" But I
couldn't bring myself to go back on my promise to help. I should
have listened to that good advice! This woman still owes me $900
from
that, and I've been pretty broke over the past 3 years. Needless to
say, I do not consider her any kind of friend anymore. Just because
I was stupid enough to trust her, does not excuse her being a
sleazoid. Joyce

Sounds like perfect fodder for one of those Judge shows on
television. One
thing they've taught me: if you absolutely feel *compelled* to loan
someone
money, lay out the terms of repayment in a Promissory Note and both
parties
sign it. Also, do not loan cash; use a personal check or cashiers
check. On the memo line write "LOAN to name from name" so it's
absolutely clear. Make sure the bank will give you a copy of the
cashed check. (Note:
many banks now actually *charge* you to get a copy of your own
check, but if
it comes down to the difference between $1300 or a small copying
fee, I'll take the copying fee any time.)

Jill



You are so right. And be specific about when payments are due, how
much interest, what about collections fee, etc.

We had a friend ask to borrow money a couple of years ago. I'm sure
he needed it or wouldn't have asked. I'm also sure his finances are
a mess due to circumstances that are NOT beyond his control.

Didn't make the loan. As I told Charlie, we are going to lose the
friend either way. Don't want to lose the money too.

It is so hard not to let someone guilt you. Also tough with those
that start out by asking for a small favor and then start escalating
it when you seem to be hooked.

Jo

It's my personel policy not to lend money I can't afford to lose. Please
don't tell the people I do sometimes lend to. ;-)
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

Many years ago, when I was young and foolish, I got myself deep into
credit card debt. Very deep. Then I took a new job that had greater
opportunities, but also had a large pay cut. I moved, and wrote to
all of my credit cards, telling them about the situration, and
explaining that I WILL pay them, it will just take awhile. They all
wrote back that it was fine.

Well, I paid. I almost lost my car more than once, and the payments
were late and erratic, but I PAID them all in full. What did I get
from them? My credit rating was tanked. I couldn't borrow so much as
a cup of sugar for years because of that. It would ahve been a
shorter haul if I'd simply defaulted and went bankrupt, but I couldn't
do that. I had been raised with morals and scruples (darn parents!).

I will never understand our credit system.

Jane
- owned and operated by Princess Rita

On 2006-07-18, Jane penned:
Many years ago, when I was young and foolish, I got myself deep into
credit card debt. Very deep. Then I took a new job that had
greater opportunities, but also had a large pay cut. I moved, and
wrote to all of my credit cards, telling them about the situration,
and explaining that I WILL pay them, it will just take awhile. They
all wrote back that it was fine.

Well, I paid. I almost lost my car more than once, and the payments
were late and erratic, but I PAID them all in full. What did I get
from them? My credit rating was tanked. I couldn't borrow so much
as a cup of sugar for years because of that. It would ahve been a
shorter haul if I'd simply defaulted and went bankrupt, but I
couldn't do that. I had been raised with morals and scruples (darn
parents!).

I will never understand our credit system.

I don't know about the bit about going bankrupt ... doesn't that toast
your credit rating?

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-07-18, Jo Firey penned:

I usually pay my credit cards twice a month anyway. The minimum as
soon as the bill comes in, and then the balance in time to avoid
interest.


I'm curious -- what's the benefit of doing this if you're going to end
up paying the full amount anyway every month? To earn interest on the
money in your account? (But I assume that's not why, because you
already mentioned that you wouldn't want your clients keeping large
amounts of money in a checking account, which will have a pretty
crappy interest rate.)

And I always mark my online calendar for when to make the second
payment or just go ahead and schedule it. I hate to pay them before
I have to even if the money is sitting there.

Oh -- so it's a psychological thing? Just makes you feel better? I
could see that. In my case, I feel better when I know something's
already been taken care of, so I pay things as soon as I get the bill,
and it makes me profoundly uncomfortable if I have to wait.

Made a $.10 underpayment mistake that cost my $10 in interest last
month.

There is good reason why I'm retired.

Mistakes happen. Even to the best of us.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-07-18, penned:

What *really* stinks; what is REALLY unfair is, now our automobile
insurance rates can be determined by our credit scores. I don't get
this! Being in debt has no bearing whatsoever on whether you're a
safe driver, or a bad risk for auto insurance. And bad things can
happen to good people sometimes. Suppose your credit was damaged
from a layoff, an injury, an illness or other inability to work. It
is NOT fair to be penalized by having your auto insurance rates go
up.

I have to think this is based on statistics. On average, people with
bad credit probably have a higher incidence of accidents. Not that
that means that you, individually, do.

Suppose you were born male? You'll get a higher insurance rate until
you're married and out of your 20s. That's not fair either.

And as far as I'm concerned, jacking car insurance rates for speeding
tickets isn't fair, either. I know there are people on either side of
that argument.

If they could get away with it, insurance companies would raise their
rates when you sneeze.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca