No. 42: Watch Your Bill
July 22nd 2009 18:48
How much?
You can identify with this: "What?--How dare them?--those thieves!!" You open up your utility, phone, credit card, or installation bill, only to suffer from STICKER SHOCK. Am I "preaching to the choir" to vent some frustration here? I just have to get some things out. Here we go --
I opened up our electric bill, a couple of months ago, and read the itemizaiton that was in the usually-smaller-print above the tear-off pay stub. In the center of such lines as Customer Charge, Energy Charge, Fuel Charge and various taxes, was the line, "interest credit on Deposit." It amounted to a credit of $10.80, which should have reduced our bill. My eyes then followed to the total charge, which registered in my mind as the amount we should pay. Upon letting my eyes drop to the payment stub, I quickly saw that the $10.80 had been added right back into the bill.
Questions: 1) What if I had not read the TOTAL bill? 2) How many others do not read the bill itemizations regularly? Most of us routinely just tear off the payment stub (trusting the large bureaucratic business to be honest) and then pay the demanded amount. Wrong!!
How many of us have been promised credits on our telephone bills, only to never see them? How do we know we never received the reimbursement? Well, one will never know unless one reads the full item-by-item statement.
Upon opening our bank statement a while back, there was another STICKER SHOCK--a Service Charge of $425.00 on the monthly statement! Immediately, I phoned the bank and was told that, according to the by-laws, we were not allowed but seven transactions per month (this included deposits)! My mistake had been in placing our insurance remittances, (from natural disasters), into the savings account and then transferring that money to the checking account. After the first seven such moves that month, the bank charged us $25.00/transaction, including every time we went to the ATM. After my anger was displayed, the charges were removed. I thank them for this, at least.
Thnk of how many times you have opened your credit card statement only to have had them credit the last payment later than expected or had the postal service delay the delivery longer than anticipated. STICKER SHOCK presented its ugly self again in the form of late, or overdraft fees.
If I have gotten your attention, please think about some of the bills that have been presented by our American President or the Congress lately. Right now, as I write, they are attempting to pass a major overhaul of the medical delivery system. It is understood that this bill consists of over 600 pages and many of our elected officials publcly state they have NO intention of reading this bill, just as they did not read the last "Stimulus" bill-- STICKER SHOCK. Pew wee! They, as well as we, will be in for another STICKER SHOCK.
My point is that we would all be well-counseled to take the time for reading our personal statements. Should we require no less of our legislators? Why the hurry? Why the push?
Please keep it between the lines.
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Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Anyone who doesn't check the little details is likely to get shafted. Our legislators are half a step above potatoes when it comes to signing bills. Are there any 12 year olds running next time? Maybe they'd do better.