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My bank doesn't know how much my bill is going to be every month, so I have to put the amount in. Fortunately, I use simple.com and paying a bill with their mo

My bank doesn't know how much my bill is going to be every month, so I have to put the amount in. Fortunately, I use simple.com and paying a bill with their mobile app takes a couple of seconds (once I have entered the companies info). Some companies have decent recurring billing via ACH, and I use that on most of my credit cards (I still check the statements each month), but my electric, water, sewer, and gas companies (all separate where I am) all have absolutely terrible websites (and the electric company just plain sucks generally), so I often find myself just paying those bills manually as they come in (after checking them for accuracy).

walshemj 9y ago
You don't have direct debits for this sort of thing ie bill is paid automatically?
- jorvi 9y ago
  Yeah this amazed me too. Usually gas and electric companies make a yearly estimate based on last year's use, then divide that by 12 months. If the estimate overshot, you get money back, otherwise you have to pay a little extra at the end of a 12 month cycle.
  - ensignavenger 9y ago
    That is an option for most of my utilities, but I haven't set it up. I moved a year ago so it would have been difficult to estimate usage at that point. I guess I could set it up now.
- ensignavenger 9y ago
  YOu have to setup the ACH/Direct Debit with each utility here, you can't just set it up at the bank. And the utilities have crappy websites/processes for doing so- if they allow you to do it at all. They have a monopoly, so why bother with improving customer service?
  - Symbiote 9y ago
    They should bother because it saves administration, and they get the money at the expected time. Most utilities companies in the UK are private and must compete, but even the few exceptions encourage people to pay using direct debit.
- nstaoe983n 9y ago
  I can't speak for others, but there's no way in hell I'm giving any company direct debit abilities to my bank account. Given the fuck-ups we see here daily by banks and businesses, I think anyone who does that is playing with fire. But if it works for you, go for it! I'll spend the 5 minutes every other week to type in the amount needed on my bank's website to send whoever an electronic payment rather than letting them pull money from my account. It's worth the time to me.
  - Symbiote 9y ago
    In the UK, and I think many other European countries, the direct debit system is very heavily slanted in favour of the customer. Here[1] is the UK Direct Debit Guarantee. It's extremely easy for the customer to reverse a transaction, and (advising the merchant) "Given the limited scope for appeals [against counterclaims] within the Direct Debit scheme, most disputes happen outside of it". https://gocardless.com/direct-debit/guarantee/ https://gocardless.com/direct-debit/guarantee/
Jemmeh 9y ago
Same, it's usually the utility companies that I have trouble getting automated. They have shoddy websites/weird rules/etc.

walshemj 9y ago

You don't have direct debits for this sort of thing ie bill is paid automatically?

jorvi 9y ago
Yeah this amazed me too. Usually gas and electric companies make a yearly estimate based on last year's use, then divide that by 12 months. If the estimate overshot, you get money back, otherwise you have to pay a little extra at the end of a 12 month cycle.
- ensignavenger 9y ago
  That is an option for most of my utilities, but I haven't set it up. I moved a year ago so it would have been difficult to estimate usage at that point. I guess I could set it up now.
ensignavenger 9y ago
YOu have to setup the ACH/Direct Debit with each utility here, you can't just set it up at the bank. And the utilities have crappy websites/processes for doing so- if they allow you to do it at all. They have a monopoly, so why bother with improving customer service?
- Symbiote 9y ago
  They should bother because it saves administration, and they get the money at the expected time. Most utilities companies in the UK are private and must compete, but even the few exceptions encourage people to pay using direct debit.
nstaoe983n 9y ago
I can't speak for others, but there's no way in hell I'm giving any company direct debit abilities to my bank account. Given the fuck-ups we see here daily by banks and businesses, I think anyone who does that is playing with fire. But if it works for you, go for it! I'll spend the 5 minutes every other week to type in the amount needed on my bank's website to send whoever an electronic payment rather than letting them pull money from my account. It's worth the time to me.
- Symbiote 9y ago
  In the UK, and I think many other European countries, the direct debit system is very heavily slanted in favour of the customer. Here[1] is the UK Direct Debit Guarantee. It's extremely easy for the customer to reverse a transaction, and (advising the merchant) "Given the limited scope for appeals [against counterclaims] within the Direct Debit scheme, most disputes happen outside of it". https://gocardless.com/direct-debit/guarantee/ https://gocardless.com/direct-debit/guarantee/

Jemmeh 9y ago

Same, it's usually the utility companies that I have trouble getting automated. They have shoddy websites/weird rules/etc.