I may have mentioned this before, but when we relocated from one house to another in Arapaho, the automatic payment system we had in place couldn’t follow us. I had apparently been grandfathered in to a payment method they no longer had.

But have no fear! They had a new payment system. The only catch was that it cost a $6 a month “convenience” fee. I’m not going to fret too much over $6 a month, especially when our electricity bills were effectively cut in half with the move, but it always kind of irked me.

You know what’s convenient? Getting paid every month on time. That’s convenient.

But perhaps not as profitable as $6 a month or hoping people make their payments late and getting late fees added up.


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28 Responses to For Your Convenience

  1. Mike Hunt Rice says:

    1) I know this is a moot point now, but $72 a year for them to process your payments is robbery. My bank offers free bill-pay with my checking account. Doesn’t yours?

    2) If you have ESPNU, Rutgers is playing Fresno State at 1030. Even if you don’t, the game is still at 1030…

    • trumwill says:

      1) I can and do for stable check amounts. For instance, the cell phone bill is $x a month, so I can tell the bank to pay them $x a month. Or if my cell phone provider has an arrangement with my bank, I can do that automatically to. My cell phone company does, but the power company doesn’t.

      2) Not doing cable/satellite this year due to budgetary constraints.

      PS Did your comment go through the first time?

      • Mike Hunt Rice says:

        1) My bank allows variable payment amounts and they will cut a physical check if the payee doesn’t accept electronic payments.

        They are a “national” bank but they are popular in some DMA’s but not others. They are popular in NYC and in Colosse. If you want to know who they are, just email me.

        2) Ouch at having no cable. Especially being a SAHD.

        PS My comment went through with no problems.

        • trumwill says:

          1) I assume you have to tell them the amount of the check, right? Once I have to keep track of that, I feel like I might as well just write a check. Now that we’re settled and things are a bit less hectic, writing a monthly check is not as big of a deal.

          2) It was my choice. As nice as it was to have all the games, it was kind of a frivolous expense. I may get a subscription to CBS All-Access and between that and ESPN3, I’ll have a lot of games to watch.

          Towson just spanked UConn. Not a good start for AmCon.

          • trumwill says:

            Southern Utah, which has had two (2) winning seasons since moving up from Division II to FCS in the early nineties, just beat FBS South Alabama.

            Fortunately for USA, nobody was in the stands to actually watch it.

          • Mike Hunt Rice says:

            1) Well you would type in the amount of the check. I find that easier than writing a physical check, getting a stamp, etc.

            I literally write ONE check a year: my car registration. I only do that because the NJMVC charges a “convenience” fee to use a credit card online. Using a credit card at an actual MVC office carries no fee, but going to the MVC is torture.

            2) You might want to double check that you have access to ESPN3 if you don’t have cable.

            Yes cable is frivolous, but WELL worth it. Don’t be cheap for the sake of being cheap.

            Fresno State scored on their opening drive. Rutgers returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD. 7-7

            BTW, I was VERY surprised to see the MWC logo on the field; apparently they joined last year.

          • trumwill says:

            1) I used to feel the same way, but back in Arapaho I had to write three or four checks a month. So I got used to it. Before Arapaho, it was months in between checks.

            2) ESPN3 is tethered to your ISP. WatchESPN is tethered to cable. So I can watch UCF/Akron, but not Rutgers/Fresno.

            Fresno joined the MWC shortly after Boise State. Not sure if you were following it at the time, but the WAC was very big on getting BYU to leave the MWC in order to convince Boise State not to go. They thought the departure of Utah and BYU (especially if the latter went to the WAC for non-football) would tip the scales and they’d be able to start picking off MWC schools. They had a solidarity compact where all of the WAC teams (except LaTech) agreed not to accept a MWC invite.

            Then BYU bolted and it took Fresno and Nevada two minutes to reneg on their promise. That was the beginning of the end of the WAC. A lot of people blame Fresno and Nevada in particular for it.

  2. Mike Hunt Rice says:

    1) My bank allows variable payment amounts and they will cut a physical check if the payee doesn’t accept electronic payments.

    They are a “national” bank but they are popular in some DMA’s but not others. They are popular in NYC and in Colosse. If you want to know who they are, just email me.

    2) Ouch at having no cable. Especially being a SAHD.

    PS My comment went through with no problems.

  3. Mr. Blue says:

    I was about to say that South Alabama has only been in FBS for a year. Looking them up, though, it’s crazy. They won their first 17 games ever. If I’d known that, I would have wanted the Tigers to hire their coach.

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