I Should Have Listened To My Mother

How many times have we heard that sentence? Probably more times than we can count. Or care to admit.

Most moms give you plenty of good advice as you grow up, and lots more as an adult, whether we like it or not. I will admit that it didn't matter if I agreed with her or not, I would not challenge her on any advice. Especially if my father was within earshot. Yea, that wouldn't have turned out so well. Dad would add to mom's advice in terms you don't want to happen.

I've had some discussions with my mom on the subject of paying bills. She pays her bills either in person if it's local, and my mail if it's a business that's not. Mom will have nothing to do with paying bills online.

And she has told my siblings and me that we should be wary of paying bills online. Well, I pay most of my bills online. It's easy and I can get it done rather quickly. No paper bills, no hand writing checks, envelopes, stamps and  a trip to the mailbox to send it on its way.

Well, recently, I have been re-thinking mom's advice. There have been a few instances that have occurred lately with my online bill paying that caused my blood pressure to rise.

I changed a subscription recently, which resulted in a reduction in my monthly bill. All seemed fine until I looked at my bank statement and found out the business had charged me for the month with the original bill and then charged me again with the new rate. Had I not caught it, I would have paid three times the amount I should have. And if I didn't have enough money in the account, The bank would have charged me an overdraft fee of 35 dollars.

I had set up a one time automatic pay on another credit card with a representative on the phone. The day after the bill was automatically paid, I noticed on my bank statement that the rep had scheduled a payment for one dollar less than the payment should have been. And as quick as lighting hits, the credit card company slapped me with a 35 dollar late fee, stating that I was one dollar short.

That conversation did not go well for the person on the other end when I called the bill payment center. After many apologies from the company, the late fee was taken off and I made them assure me that they had not sent out a negative report that could affect my credit rating.

Still, I prefer to pay online, but I do pay some in person and some by mail. It makes my mom happy, and my brother too, who works for the Post Office.

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