Monday, February 23, 2004

Stupid online billing

I always look at my checking statements online at least once every week. I am glad I did. The electric company automatically debited my account without my permission. I called the company and spoke with someone who had about 3 pots of coffee too many. On top of that, the woman at the utility said she could not see where I signed up for any "auto-payment" options either. I can see that things are going down the tube when even the customer service rep is confused about what is going on with your bill.

To nip that problem in the butt, I have thus removed all account information from the account and will only submit information in real time from now on.

Unless I am mistaken, they can't take money out of accounts without an account number.

To err is human. To really screw things up takes a computer.

People I know are always asking me why I do not like working on computers when I am very good at it. This is just another example of why I see things in the future are going to be so difficult to manage. The difficulty in just paying your phone bill (and don't get me started on the phone company) is going to be just as hard as trying to figure out the B.O.H.I.C.A. effect of doing your taxes. You will never get a straight answer on how to do it. Plus, no one will ever be able to help you without a law degree (and a bill for $347.00 for services rendered).


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