RANT: Phone company

[Skywalker[TSG]]

I like so many others have serious problems holding on to money - Last week I found out that my phonecompany and ISP
Do not send out monthly invoices - But quarterly !!

We are talking $200 for internet and another $2-300 for the phone for 3months - There is no way that i'm gonna have that kind of money becuase I spend it all straight away.

So I called them up today and tried to explain the situation to them , But it was futile - I told the guy that I wont be able to pay these bills and that I need monthly invoices but he didn't care.


God what a stupid company !! !! ! ! !

[GohanSSJ]

Maybe so... but what you did wasn't so smart either, surely you would of seen on your bills that your phone company hadn't billed you?

[Skywalker[TSG]]

Hey now !! I just moved in - Havn't had the phone for more then 3 weeks.

[Beemer]

Unless you can change to different service providers that will bill you monthly, you had better put a little away each month in a can for these particular bills.

What's the alternative?

Cheers!

[kranich]

It seems to me that you would benefit from a good budgeting. I am not trying to be a smart ^$# or anything but in the past I had similar money issues until I read a book called "Financial Peace" by Dave Ramsey. It has recently been updated and is now available under the title "The Total Money Makeover".

Visit Ramsey's site at :

http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/

As for your currect problem about all you can do is try to go up the ladder and work out a plan. I think you should insist on going up the ladder. If they say no then you will have to borrow or change services.

[Gomer]

We are talking $200 for internet and another $2-300 for the phone for 3months - There is no way that i'm gonna have that kind of money becuase I spend it all straight away.
...
So I called them up today and tried to explain the situation to them , But it was futile - I told the guy that I wont be able to pay these bills and that I need monthly invoices but he didn't care.

This cuts their billing costs to a quarter of what they once were. Helps keep your bills lower. Time to budget better man. You are able to pay bills every month, why not every three months? I bet if they billed you every day that would be even better!

[Skywalker[TSG]]

Originally posted by Beemer
Unless you can change to different service providers that will bill you monthly, you had better put a little away each month in a can for these particular bills.

What's the alternative?

Cheers!

LOL Alternative ?!

This is sweden man - There is no alternative

Ofcourse I COULD do a budget and pay the bill - But I would also be willing to pay a small fee to pay it monthly.

They still charge me $3 to send me the bill - Heck I dont care if they charge me that every month , But alteast then I would be in control - What If I call a bit too much one month , $1000 phone bill would sure suck!!!

[Skywalker[TSG]]

Just to make one thing clear - The problem isn't that they send their bills every quarter - The problem is that I cant choose between monthly and quarterly bills.

They told me that they will offer customers to pay monthly in March - As a service - HA ! I have to pay extra fee's and they call it a service.

They should want my money , Instead they risk getting no money at all because I spent it.

[mad1]

About two years ago I recieved my mortgage(escrow encluded for taxes) $1500.00 it was supposed to be $1000.00. After calling the mortgage company I determined that the doubled my taxes and added that to the previoius year. I went round and round with the lady at the mortgage where she finally admitted the company was in errro but there was nothing that she could or would do, finally got a fax number( did not have a phone number for the escrow department, right!) out of her. I sent a fax telling them that they could correct the problem or give the taxes to me, they chose the latter.
I next went to the bank and set up a checking account (named escrow) to pay large bills only,
home taxes
car insurance
life insurance
and other bills that I have added to this account.I added all the bills(add a couple dollars extra) and divided by 52 the multiplied by 2. I transfer money every other week from my main account to my escrow account.

[brandon184]

You being irresponsible when it comes to money is not their problem. So when you call their billing department and explain that since you have a completely avoidable spending problem that is absolutely a result of irresponsibility - what are they supposed to do? Look at it this way -- in some form, they have to pay to provide you with phone service. They have their own bills to pay, employees to compensate and shareholders to please. When they signed you up as a customer, it was under the assumption that you'd be paying your bills on time.

The solution to your quandary seems quite simple to me... Budget. Be responsible, and learn to manage your money on your own. If you KNOW that the bills will be coming up quarterly, setup a system that is conducive to that. If you have to, "pretend" that you're paying the monthly bills and set that money aside each month.

Like Beemer said -- What's the alternative?



- Brandon