Golly gee whiz, I was asking someone in the sewer dept. if I could pay my water/sewer bill by debit card, and I can't. Cash or check only.
And I do believe he also said that I can't pay it on line, on the city's website.
They really don't make it easy on us ratepayers ... but I get the reasons why it is the way it is. Enterprise depts. and all that stuff ...
I'm thinking of going cash or check only. I've had it with Bank of America (I got into it with them again, about an hour ago), electronic banking and online statements that are inaccurate.
The good thing about the way things were is that it forced people like me to be accountable for my own account and the bank could not take advantage.
"All the big banks do it," today's customer service rep. informed me about authorizing charges without sufficient funds (which I still claim I had).
I won't go into the yelling and verbal abuse that ensued. But since he was a lot nicer than the woman from earlier this week, he did not get any F-bombs.
I would not want that job.
Friday, February 27, 2009
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2 comments:
Gillian, if Newburyport is anything like our town, you'll be happy to know that, although no one was cut back or laid off, we outsourced our bill collections to a lockbox company with a PO Box closer to Boston. So on top of not being able to pay our utilities online, we're losing money with no benefit to our taxpayers!!! I have so little faith in those who are making such decisions, it's pathetic.
Hi Gillian,
One of the difficulties of paying municipal bills with credit card or debit card payment is that there is a discount charged to the account of the receiving party, usually in the range of 3 to 5% (sometimes lower for heavy volume customers). Businesses are willing to absorb that discount as a cost of providing a convenience to their customers, or factor it in to their pricing structures.
I am not sure how the City would absorb the credit card discount, other than to put it back onto the rate charged for water and sewer, or by adding it back onto your bill. Something tells me that those who pay by check or cash wouldn't be happy with this arrangement.
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