Our credit card bill didn't come

[Nancy Waterman]

So they notified us of a late fee. Then we spent over an hour on the phone until we could get through and straighten it out. How many others will have overdue fees and fines because they never got the mail on time? This post office debacle will hit everyone. Not just late medications, late checks, and small business parts and products, but also bills and notifications coming late or not at all. Thank you for another disaster Clusterfuck45.

[Laelth]

1. And this disaster was completely intentional.

The coronavirus is one thing. Yes. Trump handled it in a criminally negligent way, and he is culpable, but he didn’t create the virus, and we might cut him some slack because he didn’t intend for the consequences of his actions to be as deadly and severe as they actually have been.

But with the USPS, something completely within his control, he deserves no quarter. This is a disaster of his own, very intentional making, and he deserves every bit of the criticism and all the legal consequences that follow from it.

-Laelth

[SheltieLover]

3. Absolutely intentional!

DeJoy is a logistics professional.

How DARE he remove & destroy sorting machines! 🤬🤬🤬

[erronis]

6. That's the thing about a good disaster; the despots will try to use it to their advantage.

There's so much that can be done when you have "emergencies". Maybe even worth manufacturing bigger ones out of smaller ones.

[lunatica]

45. His handling of the pandemic is just as criminal as

if he had started it deliberately. He doesn’t deserve an ounce of slack, and no one, as far as I know, is accusing him of creating the virus or unleashing it on the world. He deserves no slack.

[notinkansas]

81. I'm not so sure the consequences were unintentional.

I expect that Putin loves it. And so -

[CurtEastPoint]

2. If you prefer mailed bills, wait till this cluster is over and in the meantime get emailed bills.

Then revert back to paper if you can.

[Hekate]

39. My experience has been is that it is harder than hell to revert to paper once you've agreed to...

....”save paper.” They* really want the electronic system for THEIR convenience, not yours.

*They — anyone who sends or receives money, which is a vast universe.

[lunatica]

47. If you want a trail then save all the emails they send

saying they received your payment. You can create a file for paid bills and send those notifications to that file. That way you have proof of payment.

[LisaL]

48. And then when you need your driver's license renewed, they want you to bring in a bill

to prove your address.
If you are not getting any bills by mail, what are you going to bring?

[lunatica]

51. You can print your bills from your email.

And you can go online and find the older bills on their sites and print those. You can look at all your bills going back for years.

[Neema]

76. It's generally pretty easy to download a pdf of

your statement. I haven’t had paper bills in at least 10 years with no problems.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. This would be a good time to set up online payments and autopay, if possible.

That doesn't solve the larger problem, of course, but it could prevent a whole lot of hassle and inconvenience like you described.

[Nancy Waterman]

11. We have direct payment

for almost everything but we like to see the credit card bills. It might be time to change things, at least to online notification.
But what about other notifications that people get, like traffic and parking tickets that come by mail. They put late fines on those really quickly. This is going to be just one more way this debacle explodes.

[rickford66]

20. Look at the bill online and make one time payments each month.

That way you pay when you want. I hate auto pay. You could get hit when your balance is low for some reason. I pay all my bills on the first of the month this way. Plus if and when you can travel you can pay your bills any where in the world. I've paid mine in France, New Zealand and Taiwan.

[yellowdogintexas]

35. I have been doing this for several years now

I get emails of the bills, then hop over to the bank's online page and pay the bill, set it to pay in time for it to reach the biller. Then delete the email.

Also, set up user id and passwords with all your regular payees; then you can look anytime at your bills. This can be very helpful

[lunatica]

50. I like to do one time payments for some of my bills

because I get SS payments and my retirement pension at different times of the month, usually a couple of weeks apart. That way I control when I pay them. Otherwise I run the risk of overdrafts.

[PatSeg]

67. I don't like auto-pay either

If there is a mistake in the amount, it can be hell getting it resolved.

[lunatica]

52. Credit card companies will take advantage of

absolutely every single thing that gets them more money. They’re probably going into ecstatic convulsions over being able to charge late fees because they know the post office is crippled and unable to deliver efficiently now.

[PatSeg]

68. How long before Trump realizes

that his supporters also use the Postal Service. People will get late fees regardless of whether they are republicans or Democrats. Republicans also get medication and packages through the mail. Well played there Trump. What an idiot.

[LakeArenal]

7. Oddly (?) I know the due dates on all my cards.

I used to have eleven. Now just three. I never forget their date due.

[leftyladyfrommo]

84. I do, too.

I call my payments in. I just have 1 I mail.

[LakeArenal]

85. I don't understand the argument, I didn't receive the invoice.

Rent is due. Mtg is due. Car payment due.
But we need a notice?

[leftyladyfrommo]

86. I never wait for the paper bills. nt

[LAS14]

8. Ours hadn't come as normal when we had to leave for a week. I don't know...

... if it has come. We did get an e-mail urging us to go paperless because of delays in mail delivery "due to COVID-19". I could go paperless but I like getting reminded by the arrival of a handleable piece of paper. And I'm sure not going to make it easier for the post office to commit suicide!!!

[yellowdogintexas]

36. I get an email from the company with a summary of the bill

and a link to the actual statement.

[Wellstone ruled]

9. Sad to say,

you are one of millions.

BTW,Call outs Sick are on the rise here in the Las Vegas Valley. Our Carrier has been doing his route plus parts of uncovered Routes for over a month.

There was a Time Study done in May,people following Carriers with stop watches,and the effects were Implemented two weeks ago today. So folks,plan ahead with your mail in ballots. Put in place a plan to hand deliver your Ballot to a County Voter center. So far,our Village has a group effort in place to gather our Ballots and two persons will transport them to the Government Center Downtown.

[yellowdogintexas]

40. In Texas, you have to show ID when you take your ballot to a voter center

So we can't take ballots for several people to be dropped at the county elections office (the only place we can drop ballots prior to Election Day)

The same if you want to drop your mail in ballot at a voting center - you will have to surrender the ballot and vote in person. That is the only way Election Judges can handle this. We will check ID, advise the Early Voting Desk that you are surrendering the ballot; the mail in is voided; we take the ballot and put it in a special envelope and the voter votes in person.

Hopefully your state rules are different but you might want to check your county elections office to be certain

[Wellstone ruled]

56. Abbott and Patrick have

covered all the bases it seems.

Here we have drop boxes as well as taking them to or polling stations. Early Vote starts in early October for us.

[Me.]

10. Just To Say

My ballot arrived the day after the election. My husband's the day before. Luckily for us we had another option.

[diva77]

37. What was the other option? Were you given provisional ballots at a polling location?

[yellowdogintexas]

41. probably they voted in person. nt

[diva77]

53. In LA County, in previous elections, if you had a vote-by-mail ballot, you had to surrender it in

order to vote on a regular ballot (not provisional) at the polls.

I don't know what the rules will be for November, but provisional ballots may end up not being counted -- which is what Kemp did in GA to people whose names were purged from the voter rolls.

I hope people will check with their local elections officials to find out what the alternatives are if their ballots do not arrive in time.

[LeftInTX]

78. Provisional ballots are not counted unless the voter returns to the elections office

We went on a provisional ballot chase after a close election...

Went to the addresses, but many were vacant lots..(my friend drove over 150 miles looking for these residents) People were not registered or did not live where they said they were registered. None of the voters were located. These were located in abandoned oil camps.

As volunteers, we were left sour by the experience.

[Me.]

54. I Just Went And Voted Like Normal

Didn't see why I shouldn't. My husband sent his in the same day he got it. Took it right to PO. THere was a big push back because the ballots arrived too late to be properly postmarked and a judge said they could all be counted. We weren't too worried as we knew Biden had the nom, though there was the issue of delegates, and Nadler was a shoo in. It's pretty shameful that in NYC you couldn't get a ballot on time. The election was a pretty big mess.

[LisaL]

63. My state wouldn't allow me to vote as usual if I requested absentee ballot but it didn't arrive.

[CentralMass]

12. I do most of my bill paying online, including credit card payments. And..

I opt out of recieving paper when possible. So I tend to have a low volume of mail and don't check everyday. I checked yesterday and was suprized to see just two items. I normally have more then that, junk mail etc.

However, you can setup online paying or even bill pay though your bank for just everything this days. I pay my credit online. I get email alerts to remind that it is due, get alerts on charges I've made and alerts for unusual activity, etc..

[LisaL]

14. I still pay some bills by mail.

Many people do.

[CentralMass]

18. I understand. However considering what seems to be happening. It my be worth considering paying

[Sherman A1]

71. Agreed

I still receive statements in the mail, but pay online and as I have a regular payment schedule for everything I pay each month it is easy to simply check the online information and pay based upon that.

[Baked Potato]

13. I'm sure the different industries are loving everyone switching to E-billing

Saves them all big time to not pay a human to process checks, and also not having to use the USPS to mail paper bills. We have started paying online using their one-time options and still have them send paper statements for all bills.

We got burned a few years ago from a company that emptied our account in error when we allowed E-billing. Of course, it took almost a week to get our money back. It was an insurance company.

[LisaL]

15. Yes, that's my concern about e-billing.

I don't want the companies to have access to my bank account.

[Baked Potato]

19. Yeah, they are gradually forcing it on us all.

We have actually had to cancel a debit card number and get a new one to stop a recurring payment that the vendor wouldn’t timely stop. The bank won’t stop debiting the count until the vendor stops trying to get the money, only way is to change account number and get a new card.

I realize there is way more trust in e-billing now, but we are slow to trust lol.

[rickford66]

22. They have your account number from your checks.

That's the first step to hack it. And they probably already have your SSN.

[LisaL]

27. Most of the bills I pay by credit card on-line.

So they don't have my account number.

[rickford66]

34. How do you pay your credit card ?

With your bank account ? So now someone has your Credit Card, Bank Account and SSN. At least your credit card purchases are insured. Your Debit/ATM card info is the most insecure info to give out. You just have to be vigilant. A friend of mine just got hacked because of some guitar courses he subscribes to. The hacker demanded payment in BIT coins. My friend disconnected from the internet and had his computer checked out at a dealer. He also immediately contacted all of his accounts by phone and had them frozen until he fixed the problem. I check my credit card and bank accounts frequently. My Credit card has been compromised several times because of business travel but VISA corrected it immediately. A bank problem would be more difficult.

[LisaL]

46. That's the bill I pay by mail.

And it wasn't a problem until now, was it? Seems people are being bashed for not paying bills on-line, which until Trump got his tiny hands into USPS, worked just fine.

[Kaleva]

16. In the meantime, switch to getting your bills via e-mail.

[IBEWVET]

17. Going to paperless billing hurts the USPS n/t

[SWBTATTReg]

29. So? This trend has been going on for decades, what do you want us to do, stop doing ...

anything online any more?

[LisaL]

49. No, but I am trying to figure out why people are being bashed for paying bills by mail,

which wasn't an issue at all until very recently.
As if it were out fault USPS is being destroyed.

[Kaleva]

55. It's been an issue for those who are concerned about climate change

Going paperless is a small contribution most of us can make.

[SWBTATTReg]

69. You're absolutely right, in that no one should be being bashed, for their personal choices in how...

they handle their online access, if any. There are many legitimate reasons why some may continue to pay by US Mail, e.g., may not be able to afford online access (it can be pricy), may be more convenient for them to do by mail, some, like a good friend of mine, are too uncomfortable to pay bills online (or for that matter, too uncomfortable to get a 'computer') etc., etc., etc.

Their choice and I respect it, being an retired IT guy.

I've been in IT for so long, and the number of times I've had to explain online access, computers, etc. is
hundreds of times, being that I started working on online access at the phone company in my career many moons ago, dozens and dozens of times, when all that there was, was the voice world and telephones. A neat experience.

[mainer]

21. Wait till someone loses their house...

because they didn't get a tax bill.

[marie999]

23. People need to know when every bill is due.

We do and almost everything is paid online. Most of what we must pay are paid by our bank credit card so we only have to pay one bill and utilities are paid automatically by our bank account. We have 1 M/C which we use for everything we buy so we only get 1 bill which we pay online. I understand that some people do not internet access.

[stopbush]

24. Who still pays bills through the mail?

[murielm99]

25. I do.

My husband does not like computers. A few years ago, I was in the hospital for six days. I was weak and tired for a while after that. It would have been a huge disaster if I had had everything online. Maybe my son could have helped, but it is better to leave things the way they are.

My husband is 75. There is no changing him.

[stopbush]

60. I don't see how it would have been a disaster if you had everything online.

First, you can set all of your bills to auto pay. Second, you could access your online accounts via your smart phone.

I’m 65. Online is a normal part of life. Has been for 30 years.

[LAS14]

61. I get paper Mastercard bills just because I like to sit on the couch and open..

... the mail and get reminded. I do most stuff on line. But no way am I going to switch to paperless NOW. I'll wait till this flap is over.

[nancy1942]

26. Many people do.

Senior citizens tend to be very leery of the computer age in case you didn't know. I know several who think I'm stupid for paying bills on-line. Not everyone wants to join the 21st century.

[stopbush]

59. I'm 65. The computer age has been around for 30 years. I pay all my bills electronically,

some on auto pay.

As a senior, I find your suggestion that seniors don’t want to join the 21st century 20 years into that century to be insulting.

[Tanuki]

80. Not everyone has access to a computer.

[RhodeIslandOne]

31. Senior citizens like my parents

Is it that hard to comprehend??? It also comes off as dismissive of the problem.

WE SHOULD BE GETTING OUR MAIL ON TIME BUT DONALD TRUMP IS TRYING TO STEAL AN ELECTION.

[stopbush]

57. I'm a senior citizen. I pay all of my bills electronically.

Comprehend that.

[RhodeIslandOne]

73. So you have no sympathy for those who don't do as you do?

I’ve seen this question posed multiple times now. What does it matter? The postal service exists for a reason even if you don’t use it as such.

You wanted an answer, you got it. Now what?

[stopbush]

74. The point is that people are complaining about late charges on cc bills

because their bills are stuck in the snail mail, when there is a secure, no-cost solution available to everyone who has a bank account in the form of electronic payments that will never incur a late fee.

Even when the mail is on time it is susceptible to items getting lost, both inbound to the customer and outbound from the customer. If you insist on using the mails to pay your bills you accept the fact that mail gets lost and delayed in the best of times. It’s the nature of the beast. Human beings are involved at every step of the mail process and mistakes will happen.

So why complain now when the mail has slowed down? It also slows down around Xmas.

Now, if you don’t have a bank account and pay your bills by sending money orders, that’s something else. In that case you are very dependent on the mails.

[RhodeIslandOne]

77. I cannot believe you are continuing to argue this point

We know why the mail is slowing down. It ain’t Christmas either.

You’re seemingly completely unconcerned.

[stopbush]

83. Oh, I'm very concerned about the mail slowing down. I get my meds through the mail

and most of them can't be reordered more than a week or two out from when my current supply exhausts itself. But there's a solution for that: I can simply go to the pharmacy at Kaiser and pick them up there, rather than using the convenience of the mail. OR, I could sit home and complain that I'm not able to get my meds on time because the mail is slowing down due to tRump.

You might be interested to know that not all seniors sit home and complain about everything.

[Hekate]

42. We do. My husband is doing more electronic banking, but our bills come in the mail & we pay them ...

...via check.

[keithbvadu2]

28. The postmaster general has a major conflict of interest to harm the post office to benefit himself.

The postmaster general has a major conflict of interest to harm the post office to benefit himself.

“It’s deeply concerning that he has retained a fairly large portfolio that includes up to $30 million in postal service contractor XPO,” said Walter Shaub, the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics under President Obama and a top government ethics expert. “That particular contractor is a supply chain logistics company that is directly involved in the postal services processing of mail. The potential for conflict of interests are obvious and jump off the page.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/postmaster-generals-stock-holdings-come-under-renewed-scrutiny/ar-BB17Y6Zk?li=BBnb7Kz

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142560984

[LisaL]

30. I don't think this is about money.

I think the main goal is truly to prevent people from being able to vote. Sorting machines have been removed and destroyed, from what has been reported. Now we have seen mailboxes being removed. The goal as far as I am concerned is to slow USPS down so much people get their ballots too late (if at all) and not be able to actually vote.

[roamer65]

44. Goal is to slow down the mail, then invalidate ballots that arrive after November 3.

Voter supression on steroids.

[barbtries]

32. I hope they reversed the late charge.

If you can I recommend online payments. you can download your statement and pay online. I am not at all worried about the post office EXCEPT for what it will do to the election, because I do everything online, including my mortgage, utility bills, credit cards, etc.

[left-of-center2012]

33. All my bills are online, and autopay

Except my rent which must be paid at the apartment complex office by check or money order.

Being 74 and in bad health, I always worry about being in the hospital at rent time.

[Lonestarblue]

38. For those of us who can afford online access, paying bills online is easy.

But millions of poor people cannot afford computers or Internet access. For some, it may be a choice between computers and cable television. Many people would choose TV, especially the elderly poor or those who just never learned to use a computer.

The UPS provides a necessary service, but it is required to be completely self funding. From what I’ve read, taxpayer dollars are not used for its operations. Imagine of the Dept. of Defense were required to be self funding. There is not enough used equipment for them to sell to cover even a fraction of what they cost taxpayers.

[lillypaddle]

43. I haven't gotten paper bills in years

note your closing date, check online, and pay it online. I swear by it. (I also check it weekly throughout the month to make sure there is nothing untoward on it)

[Happy Hoosier]

58. Me too.

I can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t prefer paperless. It’s environmentally friendly, cheaper, and faster.

[Iggo]

65. Me, neither.

And it's not because I'm better than anyone. I'm not.

Or because I'm super-broke. I'm not.

It's because I suck at paying bills. I'm really really bad at it.

[customerserviceguy]

62. Can you have your credit card issuing bank

automatically take out a payment every month in the amount of at least the minimum payment? Then, if they don't get the payment on time, it's their fault.

[Awsi Dooger]

64. I can't imagine not receiving paper credit card bills

I tried paperless briefly and immediately despised it. I missed a payment on an American Express card and dealt with the hassle of a late fee.

I immediately switched back to all paper and am thrilled I did. It is so convenient to store them in my lower nightstand drawer and refer.

I use bill pay and the online accounts. Now my greatest hassle is avoiding one attempt at another as the credit card companies try to trick me into switching back to paperless. It is disgraceful. They'll have one land mine after another that has to be avoided, like default boxes toward paperless already checked. Sometimes this happens multiple times per visit. I have to uncheck every one. Then it will happen again the next visit. Only one company agreed to cut off those attempts completely.

Target really ticks me off. That is the only company that won't allow me to use online credit card account access along with receiving paper bills. Consequently I don't use online access. Then for years they would send me email reminders, detailing when my payment was due along with the amount. That was perfectly fine. Roughly a year ago Target realized they could tighten the screw further by not listing either the balance or the due date in those emails. The email merely says your statement is ready. Talk about low class. It was a blatant ploy to remove information so that more users would enroll in online access/paperless. I called up and laughed at them. Do you really think a maneuver like that is going to boost my opinion of Target, and not the other way around? Now I shop and spend at Target at perhaps 25% of prior level.

[spanone]

66. They should bill the White House for the late fee.

[roamer65]

70. I've set up online accounts for all my cards.

Couple of months back I got screwed by a check being stuck in the mail. Not anymore.

[Sherman A1]

72. I find it odd that something that is a regular event isn't on a regular payment schedule

Unless this was a one off type of credit card bill from some specialty store that is rarely used, you know when you paid it last month and the month before, hence you probably have a good idea of the due dates from previous activity and statements.

There should be no surprise there and statements are easy to access online from pretty much every credit card company.

[former9thward]

75. If you are posting on DU then you have internet access.

Why not go online to pay the bill? All credit cards have online bill paying.

[ecstatic]

79. Are republicans experiencing delays?

Are the mailbox and sorting machine removals only happening in Democratic strongholds? I hope someone will look into the pattern connecting which boxes and sorting machines are being removed.

Last time around, we learned that Russia knows a lot about our voters and that's how they were able to target specific voters with disinformation. What if putin gave trump/dejoy a list of which post offices to target?

[LeftInTX]

82. Hasn't been an issue in Texas

I received mail two days after it was postmarked. I've been receiving some first class letters in the last week. I've got a little pile right next to me. They were mailed from San Antonio to another part of San Antonio. (Required going through the main post office first)