| Newest bill shows new fee - Convenience Fee Just got my December, 2012, bill and it shows a new fee called a Convenience Fee which is $5.99. What's that all about? Anyone else see this? |
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 telcodad
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ
kudos:2
1 edit | From: »Re: [Rant] Price increase on latest bill for all tiers
Convenience Fee (for payments made by phone through a customer care representative) $5.99
EDIT: See also:
»forums.comcast.com/t5/Billing/Co···/1077329
»forums.comcast.com/t5/Billing/Do···p/978475 |
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| I have never made a payment through a phone-customer care rep. I'm on Auto pay. |
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 airwavzAlways the green wire
join:2011-09-11
Mount Juliet, TN
kudos:1 | reply to Streetlight
You should call the Comcast billing dept and ask what it's for. My last 2 bills have had a 32 cent (yes, $0.32) fee for 'Cable TV Franchise Fee', though I haven't had cable TV in over a year and a half.
Needless to say, I didn't pay it last month (I had to call - twice - to get over $300 in erroneous charges removed) and I'll be calling again this month. But hey, they certainly are being creative in their attempts to pay for that NBC acquisition.  |
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telcodad
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ
kudos:2 | reply to Streetlight
I would then call Comcast and ask them about this, then.
[Just don't make any payments while talking with the CSR!  ] |
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Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| reply to airwavz
said by airwavz:My last 2 bills have had a 32 cent (yes, $0.32) fee for 'Cable TV Franchise Fee' over a year and a half.
+1'ing this. I had the franchise fee on my Business Class Internet Only account. Had to take it to Corporate Escalation to get it removed. |
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| reply to telcodad
Of course, I intended to call Comcast.
I did so this AM (11/28/12) and a helpful rep said she immediately credited the bill for the $5.99 charge when I pointed out that I had been on Auto Pay for some years and the previous bill had been credited properly. We'll see on 12/18 when the payment is debited from my checking account.
The lesson here is: watch your bill. If you have e-billing with no paper bill, it's probably easy to overlook what's on the the bill. Folks may just go into auto pilot and never look at their bills.
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There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.
Sherlock Holmes in
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
A. C. Doyle
Strand Magazine, October 1891 |
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 pokesphIt Is Almost FastPremium
join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA
kudos:1 | said by Streetlight:...
The lesson here is: watch your bill. If you have e-billing with no paper bill, it's probably easy to overlook what's on the the bill. Folks may just go into auto pilot and never look at their bills.
That is why you NEVER use auto-pay.
In fact they push it so hard because they hope most don't look at actual bills so their little "slip-ups" and whoops fees go unnoticed. Its a great revenue stream for many companies.
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| I couldn't agree more - "pull" payments are never a good idea. Far better to push payments from your bank's bill pay service. Most allow you to schedule recurring payments, although I got caught by a change in tax rates that made my bill go up a few cents. Fortunately I made up the difference before the window closed. |
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 MSaukMSaukPremium
join:2002-01-17
Sandy, UT | reply to airwavz
My fee is .79 cents for the Franchise Fee. Yikes |
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| reply to pokesph
said by pokesph:said by Streetlight:...
The lesson here is: watch your bill. If you have e-billing with no paper bill, it's probably easy to overlook what's on the the bill. Folks may just go into auto pilot and never look at their bills.
That is why you NEVER use auto-pay. In fact they push it so hard because they hope most don't look at actual bills so their little "slip-ups" and whoops fees go unnoticed. Its a great revenue stream for many companies. I have a number of auto pay accounts with paper bill - newspapers, two credit cards, utility bill, etc. - and have never had a problem with bills being paid on time. In this case, it wouldn't have mattered whether the bill was auto pay or send-a-check-pay, the bill was wrong. I would still needed to have the bill corrected.
I think auto pay with paper billing is the way to go. The paper bill is a potent reminder that the bill is due for payment and makes it pretty easy to check for errors rather than going to the Internet to view the bill on line.
It costs plenty for Comcast to provide a paper bill, probably somewhere between $5 to $10. If they would give a $5 to $10 credit to go to paperless auto pay, I'd jump at it, but I'd still make a paper copy.
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There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.
Sherlock Holmes in
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
A. C. Doyle
Strand Magazine, October 1891 |
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andyrossPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-04
Schaumburg, IL | Even with e-billing, Comcast gives you a few weeks notice about the new bill. You can go on-line and view the FULL bill, which is just a PDF version of the paper bill.
I don't use PPV and haven't made changes in a long time, so it should be the same month-to-month, beyond normal price increases. I get mail or other notes about that a month or more in advance.
I do worry about the next month. I recently had to exchange a DTA that died. I hope the system doesn't treat it like 'new' and un-grandfather my free DTA.
Finally, mine is charged to a credit card, which gives you extra law behind it, and a buffer between any issues and when you actually have to pay for it. |
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telcodad
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ
kudos:2 | said by andyross:I do worry about the next month. I recently had to exchange a DTA that died. I hope the system doesn't treat it like 'new' and un-grandfather my free DTA.
Well, it looks like those "grandfathered" free DTAs are all being "un-grandfathered" soon: »[DTA] Formerly free DTAs are now $1.99/mo. each in the ATL |
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 NetFixerFrom my cold dead handsPremium
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
·Comcast Business..
 ·Vonage
 ·Cingular Wireless
·Comcast
| I have not received any notice in my bill about such an impending change around here, but if/when it happens, my spare DTA (the TV for which it was obtained has long since been retired from service) will be returned forthwith. In fact I may just cut the cable TV cord entirely; I really can't remember when I actually watched anything on the TV (except for the occasional DVD or a locally stored movie on my Windows server) anyway.
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We can never have enough of nature.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander. |
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 joakoPremium
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null
kudos:5
·Comcast
| reply to travelguy
said by travelguy:I couldn't agree more - "pull" payments are never a good idea. Far better to push payments from your bank's bill pay service. Most allow you to schedule recurring payments, although I got caught by a change in tax rates that made my bill go up a few cents. Fortunately I made up the difference before the window closed.
Auto-pay with a good credit card, such as American Express and chargeback any errors.
The only issue with this is for a $2 error American Express will usually eat it and not actually charge it back to the merchant, so they won't be charged a chargeback fee.
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PRescott7-2097 |
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| reply to Streetlight
said by Streetlight:I think auto pay with paper billing is the way to go. The paper bill is a potent reminder that the bill is due for payment and makes it pretty easy to check for errors rather than going to the Internet to view the bill on line. Plus I actually MAKE $$$ with my cash-back CC's; $1.75 EVERY month on just my CC bill alone. Multiply that month after month, with all my other bills I have on this CC, & it adds up nicely.  
(& before anyone asks - of course I do NOT pay ANY fees on my CC's; would defeat the purpose of cash-back) |
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 S1R1US
join:2002-08-25
Clearwater, FL | reply to mario02423
said by mario02423:said by airwavz:My last 2 bills have had a 32 cent (yes, $0.32) fee for 'Cable TV Franchise Fee' over a year and a half.
+1'ing this. I had the franchise fee on my Business Class Internet Only account. Had to take it to Corporate Escalation to get it removed. If my understanding of this fee is correct, it's valid for both of you whether you have cable television or not. I believe it relates to a cost to providers by the city you live in to A, allow them physical access to install/repair equipment on city property and B, provide funding for local channels. 100% of this fee goes straight to the city you live in. It's not a tax like it might sound, but service providers treat it as a tax in the sense that it's a charge incurred on them by an outside entity (government, city, etc), so they simply carry the charge onto customers. It's an optional fee that providers can choose to pass on or not.
I suspect if there are companies who are only just now starting to charge it, they are finding a tight budget in certain areas and recognize the legal advantage of spreading the cost out to us customers. In my opinion, I think it's appropriate. |
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 RR ConductorNWP RR Inc.,serving NW CAPremium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
kudos:1 | reply to Streetlight
You gotta love it, you pay to give money. "Yo Jo, I wanna give you some money..Okay, it'll cost you 10 bucks though"
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| said by RR Conductor:You gotta love it, you pay to give money. "Yo Jo, I wanna give you some money..Okay, it'll cost you 10 bucks though"
All cable company's do this and most phone company's also, as far as I know. Isn't it just great, that they can invent ways to nickel and dime you to death?! 
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| reply to telcodad
All DTAs now are getting charged!!! Comcast just arbitrarily began charging $1.99 per DTA (at least in the Atlanta area). So much for the 2 free DTAs to help with the switch to encrypted digital service. This is clearly a deceptive bait-and-switch. Just filed FCC complaint and encourage others to do so also. |
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