Take my money! Please!

Okay, so last October/November, I filled out the paperwork and mailed it in to have my long-distance carrier (CREDO) pay itself via automatic withdrawal from my checking account. The fact that I even still have a land line with a long distance carrier is truly a testimony to my sentimental nature. I do also have a cell like the rest of the world, I just have a cheap pre-pay one so it's not attached to my head; I only use it when I need to.

Well, it's three months later and they still haven't paid themselves. Moreover, I'm now locked out of being able to make an electronic payment so I can't pay them, either. I receive no paper bill and their East Coast office hours when I could possibly call in and dial my way through phone maze hell to find someway to pay the bill via telephone doesn't work with my West Coast hours. Lastly, I totally forget about them on the weekends because I'm slammed with homework. You know, I'm just too busy to not act immediately on business that needs to be taken care of. Otherwise, I forget and more pressing business gets taken care of, instead (like weekly homework deadlines).

I like CREDO. I think I liked it better when it was Working Assets and I could sit here at 10:30 at night balancing my checkbook and notice that the bill still hasn't been paid and just call them because they *used* to have customer service at reasonable hours. I mean, who takes care of personal business during the day? All mine happens after I get home, wind down, have dinner, do homework, watch a little TV, turn off the TV, take a shower, and then, then, maybe I have a few minutes to attend to domestic issues like paying bills and balancing the checkbook. And then it's always like 10p.m. - 2a.m.

So, CREDO and I have been emailing back and forth. Really, they seem to be nice people and I still totally support all of their lovely left wing, rah-rah causes (cause I'm oppositional that way, too), they're just not quite getting it. Um... Can I pay you now, please? It's really messing up my checkbook and I hate that this keeps coming up; I need closure! So, here's a copy and paste of my email correspondence with them over the last 3 weeks. We'll see what happens with the next one...:

"Hello again! I see that autopay still hasn't kicked in like we thought it might. That makes me now three months behind in paying my bill. Did I mention that I don't like to be behind in bill paying? Well, your phoning in hours don't work for me because 1) I'm asleep when you open, and 2) then I'm at work, and 3) you're closed when I get home from work because I'm on Pacific Time. So, now that I can't make an online payment, and now that you're still not paying yourselves, I'm not quite sure what to do to get this bill paid. Any other suggestions?

I'd like to pay it, but I'm not getting up an extra 1/2 hour early because I already don't get enough sleep from school, work, dr./vet appointments and volunteering. I don't think I'm being unreasonable since I've given Credo complete access to my checking account and, really, it can just take the money anytime it wants -- it's just choosing not to and not allowing me to easily rectify the situation.

Maybe... could you please send me a paper bill in the mail? I'm signed up for paperless, but if you send me one stinkin' paper bill, I'll pay the whole dang thing from it. As it is, I now have three transactions spread out over the last three months in my checkbook that are causing it to not balance because I keep going in and dutifully deducting the amount due each month from my checkbook thinking that this time *this time* will be the month that gets paid. No cigar, yet. I've had friends who[se] births are less suspenseful. That's really annoying and just ever so slightly entertaining enough to blog about.

I mean, I like the Credo cause and all that, but this whole taking three months to get autopay set-up is getting ridiculous. Anyway, please let me know if you can send me a paper bill so that I can pay this three month's worth of phone bill while I sit here and wait for the auto payment function to kick in. And then in another three months I'll ask for another paper bill... Thanks, Susan

--- On Fri, 1/16/09, yourcredobillyadayadayada [changed for privacy]wrote:

From: yourcredobillyadayadayada[changed for privacy]
Subject:
RE: Member XXXXXXXX[changed for privacy]
Date: Friday, January 16, 2009, 9:39 AM


Dear Susan:

Thank you for your re[p]ly. I certainly apologize for the confusion this has
caused you. With automatic withdrawal the system (online bill) will advise that
you are on automatic withdrawal and it will not let you submit a payment once it
has been added to your account. However, the process does take from 30-90 days
to become active and the online bill will still tell you that you are on
automatic withdrawal even though the payments are not being removed. I do
apologize, but we generally advise our members that it may be necessary to send
a payment via the regular mail or give us a call with a credit card payment to
be sure you do not go past due. I am sorry you were not aware of these
procedures.

Currently the automatic withdrawal is now pending to remove the full balance as
of February 4, 2009. Your credit history is not in jeopardy as our billing
system is internal only.

You are not able to submit a payment online now. As I advised in the above
paragraph you are able to send a payment to us or give us a call with a credit
card payment.

Our billing address is:

[changed for privacy]

Again, I do apologize for any inconvenience and frustration this has caused
you.

To view your online bill, please go to:
[changed for privacy]

If you have any further questions or concerns about CREDO Long Distance please
feel free to email me directly. Or call [changed for privacy]

Thanks for your continuing support for CREDO Long Distance where you make a
difference every day.

Regards,

Nancy
Customer Relations
CREDO Long Distance



-----Original Message-----
From: Susan
Posted At: Thursday, January 15, 2009 11:46 PM
Posted To: WA I-Billing
Conversation: [changed for privacy]
Subject: RE: [changed for privacy]

Right. I get that the automatic payment is scheduled. What I'm saying
is that it's not happening regardless of being scheduled. It was scheduled
in December, and scheduled in January, too, and didn't happen then,
either. (I'd actually round up to the nearest dollar, so $43, if it
actually happens this month.) I mean, I had no control over not paying in
December. I can't -- the system won't let me. I don't want to
wait until the auto payment date comes and goes without the payment actually
going through, again. I would like it to get paid now, please. I don't
like having late payments on my record in any way, shape or form. I have good
credit for a reason.

Thank you,

Susan


--- On Thu, 1/15/09, yourcyadayadayada[changed for privacy]wrote:
From: yourcredobillyadayadayada[changed for privacy]
Subject: RE: Member 956549
To: [changed for privacy]
Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009, 12:18 PM

Dear Susan[changed for privacy]

First we'd like to thank you for your 9 ½ years of continued support.
With the support of customers like you, we've donated over $60 million to
progressive causes.

I am sorry to hear about the trouble you have experienced with automatic
payment. Upon viewing your account I see there is a pending payment to be
deducted from your account on 02/04/09; the pending payment for 02/04/09 is for
the balance of $42.85. Please note with automatic payment it can take 30-90
days for your information to be entered, verified and functioning in our
system.
The automatic payment information was received on 11/16/08.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

If you have any further questions or concerns about CREDO Long Distance please
feel free to email me directly. Or call [changed for privacy]

Did you know we also have mobile service? If you would like to learn about
CREDO Mobile, go to www.credomobile.com. We have a wide range of cool phones
and
competitive plans to suit you. And we'll donate 1% of your charges to
worthy
nonprofits--at not extra cost to you.

Thanks for your continuing support for CREDO Long Distance where you make a
difference every day.

Regards,

Ken
Customer Relations
CREDO Long Distance



-----Original Message-----
From: Susan
Posted At: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 11:15 PM
Conversation: Autopayment not working
Subject: Autopayment not working

Member Name:
Susan
Member Number:
XXXXXXXX[blocked out for my own privacy]

Hi, my bill didn't get paid last month or the month before. It's in
auto payment, so I figured it would correct itself because the website
won't
let me make a payment. Also, I have paperless billing so have no bill to pay
from with a check, either. I'm happy to pay my bill. Just please allow
me to do it. I thought that auto-pay would be easy here, as I have many of my
bills set up that way. Apparently, I was mistaken. Please remove bill
autopay since it doesn't work. Or, of course, you could also fix it, and
I'd be happy. I don't like to have to chase my bills; I'm
perfectly happy with them just getting paid automatically so I don't have
to
worry about it.

At any rate, please pay yourself, or allow me to.

Thank you,

Susan