It is remarkably convenient to pay bills online. There is need to hunt for an envelope, address and return address it, or if one is provided, to make sure the address is in the window. (I have had to open tons of envelopes where the address is no where near the window and I've had to reseal with scotch tape). As a bonus, you also save the 44 cent stamp!
There is one drawback. Credit card companies seem to find reasons to send new cards. Recently I received a phone call from a card company saying my card had been compromised so I wouldn't be able to use it for a few days. I was not to worry, nothing had been changed to my account. It is not often I'm told not to worry so, when I am, I do as I am told and promptly out it out of my mind. A few days later I received a new card with a new number. If I were more organized I would have a complete list handy of all the places that needed to be notified, like PayPal and, for me, especially the E-Z Pass, fast lane transponder.
Mine has been set up to draw $20 from my credit card whenever the balance in the drawn reserve gets low. However, if I fail to notify the transponder officials and they are unable to get paid for charges, there is a $50 fine. I'm sure my regular readers can guess where I am heading with this one.....
Four days ago I drove to Maine and used the E-Z Pass on the bridge at Portsmouth, NH, and the Maine Turnpike. It is easy when using it to forget about fees because they are automatically charged to my credit card. I know when it reads low balance, they will tap my card for another hit of $20. I don't travel on the Turnpikes frequently, but when I do it comes in very handily. There is no fishing for change or bills that have to be changed. This allowed me to sail through all the way from near Boston to halfway down the NJ Turnpike a few months ago.
Today I took a friend to Logan Airport. On my way in I was getting a reading of low balance. On the way back I got a message to call the service rep and didn't see that bright green thank you come up again.. Naturally I was unable to do that while on the road but phoned shortly after reaching home. Life is never made easy by automated service reps. In order to reach a solution to add my new card, I was asked for my four digit password. That was no problem. Next I was asked to give my account number. Again, no problem as it appears on the paper statement sent frequently. However, the next question asks what is the credit card number with which you are registered. I couldn't answer this because it had been cut in two months ago and felt like Charley on the MTA. This took about 15 minutes of getting hung up on because I wasn't answering fast enough until I just leaned on the 'O' key, tapping a bazillion times before I was told I would be connected with a service representative.
The happy ending is that I was able to talk to other than a robot, got the new card registered (I would have preferred they just take it from my checking account but I will have to make yet another call to another department to be able to do that). With companies that have service reps all over the country and out of it, I drag my heels because I know that it will take a long time. The minute I've been holding long enough to have a reasonable expectation that a human will shortly answer (because, after all, the voice keeps telling me my call is important), I hear the bleep of call waiting. Conflict sets in...shall I gamble I can find out who is on before the rep answers, dare I risk it? Whenever I do it confirms why I should never gamble.
The moral of this blog is that you should be aware as soon as you change banks or credit cards to notify sites online where you have 1-click checkout, like Amazon, or any other to which you may use your card for easy transactions.
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