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Cody Dawg · Sep 8, 2006, 08:05 AM

Bills - as in bills that arrive in your postal or mailbox and you pay them - is the point of this thread.

I scrutinize them and go over them every single month and I will call about a $3 mistake that I see. Like on my telephone bill yesterday.

My spouse thinks I'm absurd to call about $3 on our telephone bill. I had to wait on hold for about 10 minutes. Also, if I am incorrectly cashed out a grocery store and see a mistake (like being charged twice for the same item) I will go right back in and demand (nicely) my money back. When he sees me now he'll say, "Are you nickel-and-diming yourself again?" He thinks it's not worth the stress to make any sort of fuss over $3 and I disagree.

I also price compare, shop online, and I have no embarrassment whatsoever in asking a store to provide a discount comparable to a competitor, albeit in a nice way. The way I see it, I save us hundreds, and maybe a thousand or two, dollars in a year.

Is anyone else like that? Or do you think it's not worth the aggravation like he does? For the record, I don't think I'm cheap. For instance, I tip very well.

I just don't see the logic in letting multi-billion dollar corporations keeping my money when they're wealthy enough already.

Dakar · Sep 8, 2006, 08:12 AM

I agree with you husband. I don't want to get ripped off, but $2 ain't worth the hassle. Not by a long shot.

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

For instance, I tip very well.

What % do you usually drop?

(And it's completely possible to be cheap in one area and not in another. Like if you only buy generic cereals, etc.)

screamingFit · Sep 8, 2006, 08:26 AM

The only bills reoccurring I have are rent, internet, gas and electric. Two of the four remain constant each month and I'm not going to go read my meters to make sure the $30 or so I drop a month for utilities is spot on.

But, doing grocery shopping, I will notice if I something doesn't ring up right. Think there was a 20/20 special decades ago talking about the barcode scanners at grocery stores that they were just implementing scanning wrong prices. Since then, it was kind of ingrained in my head to check.

Even if the "the man" sticks me for a couple of extra bucks, my time to actually remedy the situation costs more.

rickey939 · Sep 8, 2006, 08:37 AM

I have a "range" that I know my bills should fall under month to month. If it's outside that range (on the high end of course), I'll make a point to call and rectify the situation. Sprint is FAMOUS for jacking my bill up, as I have multiple people connected to it and they don't know how to manage multiple lines.

I'm very thorough to look over the receipt when shopping at the mall or something though. Almost everything I buy is on sale, so I'm always verifying I got the right percentage taken off and everything and that the coupons have been applied successfully.

davesimondotcom · Sep 8, 2006, 08:42 AM

I'm with you, Cody. Overcharging is overcharging. Too many people these days don't bother to read their bills and might get seriously overcharged.

A penny saved is a penny earned, right?

Dakar · Sep 8, 2006, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by davesimondotcom

A penny saved is a penny earned, right?

Problem is, I look at a second the same way.

Dork. · Sep 8, 2006, 08:50 AM

My time is worth money to me, so I generally won't make uch of a fuss about a small amount of money. I do pay attention when things are run up, though, and make sure each item is at the price I think it ought to be. Department stores are notorious for having signs that say things like "50% off" in the wrong place, so you might think you're getting an item cheap when in reality it's less of a discount than you think.

I have sometimes called up vendors of services I pay monthly bills for (like Phone and Cable TV) and asked for more explanation on a charge. More often then not, though, it was a legitimate charge that I just lost track of, so I don't press the issue unless I'm sure.

Oh, and....

Go Bills!

turtle777 · Sep 8, 2006, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I scrutinize them and go over them every single month and I will call about a $3 mistake that I see. Like on my telephone bill yesterday.

I just don't have time for this.

I i'd spent checking bills for 1 hours, and I find $5, I'm still wasting too much time.
Heck, if I'd get paid $ 5 an hour, I'd do it, but an hour of free time is worth more to me than potential $ 5.

-t

Eug · Sep 8, 2006, 10:21 AM

Heh. I thought this was going to be a Bill Gates picture thread or something, with somebody posting about a missing apostrophe.

--

I will call for a $3 discrepancy, just for the principle of the thing. One point to note is that they've made the mistake once, they can repeatedly make the same mistake, month after month, so you may as well take care of it early.

Ironically, I called three times because my phone company UNDERCHARGED me by something like $200. This was when I bought a cell phone, but wasn't charged the full amount for it.

The first time I called they just said it was going to be charged. A month later I called again and they said they have all the bank info and everything was OK. I questioned them because no such charge ever showed up in any of my accounts. They gave me the bank info and account number... A) It wasn't my bank, and B) The account number was completely foreign to me. I informed them and they said they'd get their security division or whatever to look into it.

3 months later I called them back and it seems nothing was done about it, and they didn't seem interested in pursuing it. Strange. I feel sorry for whomever got charged for my phone, but 3 calls of trying to GIVE the phone company money didn't work, so I gave up.

Cody Dawg · Sep 8, 2006, 01:16 PM

Eug

I will call for a $3 discrepancy, just for the principle of the thing. One point to note is that they've made the mistake once, they can repeatedly make the same mistake, month after month, so you may as well take care of it early.

Absolutely correct!

I SAID THE SAME THING.

And, about bills like cell phones and cable, etc., ever noticed how you'll see an additional charge on the bill and you call and the company says, "Oh, that is an increase for such-and-such..." only you were never really notified about it beforehand?

That really annoys me tremendously.

Eug · Sep 8, 2006, 01:21 PM

Up here in Canada we generally get a notice beforehand from the major companies. It usually comes (a few months before it's implemented) as an additional sheet of paper with the bill, or an extra paragraph printed on the bill.

NYK Ace · Sep 8, 2006, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by Dork.

Go Bills!

yea!

OwlBoy · Sep 8, 2006, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by Dakar

I agree with you husband. I don't want to get ripped off, but $2 ain't worth the hassle. Not by a long shot.

What % do you usually drop?

(And it's completely possible to be cheap in one area and not in another. Like if you only buy generic cereals, etc.)

$2.00 every month for a year is $24 dollars they got for free, now multiply that by 100,000 customers. Is that 2.4 million dollars? or is my math wrong?

Yeah, they are just hopping no one will notice.

-Owl

SpaceMonkey · Sep 8, 2006, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by NYK Ace

Originally Posted by Dork.

yea!

Hell yeah!

SpaceMonkey · Sep 8, 2006, 08:15 PM

Back on topic: the grocery store that I frequent is ridiculously inept. I buy single bottles of Goya Malta (3 for $1!) sometimes, and this one time they charged me for 3 six packs instead of 3 singles. That got ugly.

C.A.T.S. CEO · Sep 8, 2006, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

Hell yeah!

WTF? Multi quotes?

SpaceMonkey · Sep 8, 2006, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by C.A.T.S. CEO

WTF? Multi quotes?

Hell yeah!

C.A.T.S. CEO · Sep 8, 2006, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

Hell yeah!

How did you make a Multi-quote?

USB HUB · Sep 8, 2006, 08:30 PM

He took two quotes and put them together and WA LA .. multi-quote!

Cody Dawg · Sep 8, 2006, 08:51 PM

I check my grocery bills all of the time.

My grocery store has a policy that if they ring something up and the person is incorrectly charged for it then that item is free of charge.

I scrutinize the bill for that reason alone.

USB HUB · Sep 8, 2006, 08:56 PM

Sometimes it does pay to watch out. Our company had a policy at one time that if we caught a invalid claim on our medical insurance they would re-compensate the employee if it was reported. I made $1000 out of a double billing that the insurance paid by mistake.
So I got an operation and money too. I guess that means I got paid to be cut on.

Eriamjh · Sep 8, 2006, 10:10 PM

Many people say "It's not worth their time." That's what those companies are hoping. That you don't bother.

I ask what are you doing with that time? Sitting watching TV? Sleep? Nothing? Then get the practice of demanding the mistake be corrected each time this happens.

Today it's $3. Tomorrow it could be $300. Watch out.

Cody Dawg · Sep 8, 2006, 10:17 PM

GOOD POINT ERIAMJH.

With that thought in mind, I also check my bank account every single day to see what is appearing on it via either checks or using checkcard.

Eug · Sep 8, 2006, 10:22 PM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I check my grocery bills all of the time.

My grocery store has a policy that if they ring something up and the person is incorrectly charged for it then that item is free of charge.

I scrutinize the bill for that reason alone.

It pays to watch, if not for their mistake, then for your own.

I went to get some eggplants once, and saw some cool looking striped ones and thought I'd try those instead. She rung them up... and they were something like 10 bux a pound. Ouch. Ran back and got the usual ones that were 1/5th the cost.

P.S. Off topic.... I usually go to Chinatown instead for eggplants. The Chinese ones taste better, are easier to cook, and they're relatively inexpensive.

KeriVit · Sep 8, 2006, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

GOOD POINT ERIAMJH.

With that thought in mind, I also check my bank account every single day to see what is appearing on it via either checks or using checkcard.

gota watch that. For instance, one time I had bill for $25, I tipped 5. Weel, the person cashed it out as $25 (perhaps forgetting the tip) realized the mistake and re-did it at $30. So I was charged $55.

Also, I have had double charges because people think a charge did not run.

Eug · Sep 8, 2006, 10:31 PM

Heh. I do see discrepancies all the time from restaurants, but often times they're in my favour. Most of the time it's differences in the change.

eg. I tip $5 on $25.22 for a total of $30.22, and get charged $30.00. However, I have been doubly charged once by a restaurant.

OTOH, my dad got charged a couple of hundred on his credit card at restaurant... in a city across the country. It turns out his credit card number had been hacked. He requested the bill (and they actually got the physical signed receipt), and the signature was his name in somebody else's handwriting.

P.S. My colleague got a bill for $40000 on his American Express.

It turns out his $450 textbook purchase had been charged NINETY times. Hard to miss that one.

dreamryche · Sep 9, 2006, 12:04 AM

Originally Posted by Dork.

Go Bills!

A big +1...although I can't say I'm terribly confident.

turtle777 · Sep 9, 2006, 07:23 AM

Originally Posted by USB HUB

He took two quotes and put them together and WA LA .. multi-quote!

LOL

Da mom teaching da son a lesson on teh intarwebs. Priceless.

-t

wallinbl · Sep 9, 2006, 07:23 AM

You have to decide how much your time is worth to you. If you think it's worth it to spend 5 or 10 minutes recovering $3, then it's worth it. For me, it's not. I've given money to the person in front of me at the grocery store just to get them out of the way (she was arguing that something was supposed to be $1 cheaper and the cashier was trying to find a bagger to go look on the shelf and I got bored so I gave her $1 to shut up and leave).

turtle777 · Sep 9, 2006, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by wallinbl

You have to decide how much your time is worth to you. If you think it's worth it to spend 5 or 10 minutes recovering $3, then it's worth it. For me, it's not. I've given money to the person in front of me at the grocery store just to get them out of the way (she was arguing that something was supposed to be $1 cheaper and the cashier was trying to find a bagger to go look on the shelf and I got bored so I gave her $1 to shut up and leave).

That's the way to go.

-t

alligator · Sep 9, 2006, 08:37 AM

I'm currently fighting the company that takes money for my son's school lunch. They charge a 4.9% extra fee for me to pay with a credit card. I found out this is a breach of their credit card agreement with Visa, so I'm trying to fight it. $4.9% of each transaction equals about $2. But $2 per month, per kid, times the 19 years all of my kids will be in school equals something worth fighting over.

wallinbl · Sep 9, 2006, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by alligator

I'm currently fighting the company that takes money for my son's school lunch. They charge a 4.9% extra fee for me to pay with a credit card. I found out this is a breach of their credit card agreement with Visa, so I'm trying to fight it. $4.9% of each transaction equals about $2. But $2 per month, per kid, times the 19 years all of my kids will be in school equals something worth fighting over.

Just change it from a 4.9% fee to credit card customers to a 4.7% instant rebate for cash customers.

dcmacdaddy · Sep 9, 2006, 09:42 AM

Let's see, off the top of my head I can think of the following Bills.

Buffalo
Clinton
Lambeer
Bradley
ie Jean King
Wild .... Hickock
Shatner (to those of us in the know)
Monsieur Gates (The greatest Bill of all)
"I'm Just a Bill" (from the Saturday morning cartoons)
ings, Montana
Brubaker (a guy at my organization)
et Simple (one-way rail/bus ticket in France)
ie Holliday (I am living near her old neighborhood in Brooklyn)
Berry (former drummer for REM)
Utility
Phone

Does that help?

wallinbl · Sep 9, 2006, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

Monsieur Gates (The greatest Bill of all)

Er, that would be Dollar.

TETENAL · Sep 9, 2006, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by Dakar

I agree with you husband. I don't want to get ripped off, but $2 ain't worth the hassle. Not by a long shot.

German saying: "Wer den Pfennig nicht ehrt ist des Talers nicht wert."

Who doesn't honour the penny isn't worthy of the thaler.