Pitfalls of Automated Bill Payment 416
theodp writes "A few months ago, the NY Times' Ron Lieber extolled the virtues of allowing utilities, phone, and credit card companies to pull whatever you owe from your bank account. Big mistake. Lieber's readers fired back, telling him he was out of his mind for suggesting that they give billers unfettered access to their credit cards and bank accounts. Now Lieber goes through five of the glitches that can occur with any of the various methods of setting up automatic payments: 'You can give each biller permission to pull the full amount from your bank account. You can use the online bill system at your bank to push payments out automatically each month. Or you can charge every bill to your credit card and give only that card company permission to pull money from your bank account when the credit card bill is due. Each of these methods has its potential shortcomings ...'" What kind of payment automation do you use, and why?
D'uh (Score:5, Funny)
It is simple (Score:2, Funny)
I pay all of my bills in Linden Dollars.
Well.. (Score:2, Funny)
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Re:I use Paytrust (Score:5, Funny)
>If someone wants to alert Al Gore because I used too much electricity last month, I'd love the opportunity to laugh and slam my door in his face.
It's not Al Gore, it's the DEA and they also have a copy of that invoice of the 8 600-Watt plant lights you bought 3 months ago.
Re:I don't. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:D'uh (Score:2, Funny)
There's plenty of credit card details that can be bought for $20 on the internet. Problem solved!
And you pay the $20 by giving the site you credit card details right?
Re:I use Paytrust (Score:5, Funny)
Ha! My automated bill payment system is *much* better, and I've been using it for many years. It validates the bills when they come in, and only pays when they are due. It maintains my account balance and lets me know at any time what my balance is doing and what's coming due. It follows up with creditors with any billing errors, too, and ensures they are corrected. It even balances my checkbook every month.
The only downside is that it's pretty expensive. Yea, all my bills get paid, but most of my leftover income goes to maintaining the service!
It's called "my wife".
Re:I use Paytrust (Score:2, Funny)
I used to know a guy (back in the early 14th century, when the planet was newly cooled, and there was no internet etc...) who just let the bills pile up in his hallway. Each month, he would pay just one bill from that pile.
If anybody objected or sent the bailiffs round, he would simply offer the opportunity to refuse to participate in his lottery, in which case they wouldn't get paid.
OK, he was a hippie (as was I) but the notion was interesting nonetheless...
Re:I use Paytrust (Score:2, Funny)