A One-Time Courtesy

On Wednesday, I had one of the most hectic days I have had in a while. The highlight of this bad day was when I received the mail and noticed a letter from our electric company marked on the envelope "Urgent--please respond immediately to avoid disconnection." Stunned, because I am ALWAYS on top of paying our bills (remember, I have a system...) I ripped open the envelope.

Now I specifically remembered paying this month's electric bill because it was unusual. We did not actually receive the bill in the mail, but on the first of the month, when I pay it, I called and asked them the amount and asked if I could pay by check over the phone since I had not received the paper bill. I remembered double checking every single number to make sure it was right. I even had a confirmation number for this little transaction.

My friendly letter informed me that my "check" had been returned. That didn't make any sense, because I knew I had plenty of money in my account to cover the check....and I had my confirmation number!!!! It also said I was being charged a $25 return fee, and to only pay with cash or money order from now on.

I called the company.

"Welcome to **Your Friendly Electric Company** (names changed to protect the not-so-innocent). Which do you have available...your account number, your home phone number or your driver's license number?"

I had all three available, but opted to key in my account number. "I'm sorry, but I did not hear your response...please re-enter your account number," the little recording said.

Annoyed, I re-keyed all ten numbers in again. "Thank you...someone will be with you shortly." And then I held until someone answered who spoke with an accent so thick I could barely discern the words as English.

I explained the situation to him. I told him that it made no sense. "Ma'am I am going to need your account number," he said.

My account number? The one that I had keyed in twice? Was he serious?

I gave it to him. Then I gave him my name and all of the other five things he wanted to know.

Finally, he said, "Ma'am, you will have to contact your bank and see why the transaction was returned."

What? He had no information?

"I have a confirmation number, does that matter?" I asked, hopefully.

"Yes, let me have that number."

I gave it to him, he put me on hold for a minute and then came back. "Ma'am you will have to contact your bank and see what the problem was and then call us back and let us know."

Okay, so a confirmation number confirms you wasted ink and time.....

"So you don't know what the problem was?" I asked.

"No, ma'am."

So I hung up and called my bank, which thankfully is very small-town and full of twangy-Texan that I understand. I learned that when "Your Friendly Electric" sent in the transaction, they did not send in a complete bank account number or a name for the account, so the bank had asked them for a name but "YFE" just chose to consider that as a returned transaction. So by this point I was livid. And I wanted it resolved.

I called the electric company back and went through their little system again, once again entering my account number twice because it didn't recognize it the first time and got a woman with a similar accent.

"May I have your account number please?" she asked. (Now I ask you, why do I have to enter it over and over if obviously it doesn't even help them to know who they are talking to?)

I explained the whole situation over and again and then added the part that the bank had shared with me. "So, what would you like to do?" the lady asked me.

Umm...clear this little matter up, perhaps?

"Well, I would like for you to remove the $25 fee you charged me and I would like to get my bill paid so that this is cleared up," I responded.

"The fee is because of the returned check," she said.

"Yes, but the check was returned because of your error. I want it removed," I insisted.

"Let me put you on hold and speak with my supervisor," she said.

Finally she came back and said "As a one-time courtesy, we are willing to remove this charge from your bill. Just remember this is a one-time courtesy."

A courtesy???? Was she serious?

"You can pay for your bill by credit card," she continued.

"Are you telling me that I can no longer write you guys a check for my electric bills? This check was not returned due to lack of funds. It was due to my bank not receiving the correct information from your company!" I responded.

She again asked to put me on hold.

"As a one-time courtesy, we will allow you to continue to pay by check," she replied.

Thanks for be so courteous about your mistake, I thought.

Ultimately I opted to pay the bill by credit card to escape the chance of the same mistake happening again with my bank.

So as soon as I paid the bill with the electric company, I got on the phone with my credit card company to make sure they had received the transaction and that my electric bill was indeed paid for. I wanted to make sure it paid without any problems...you know, as a one-time courtesy.