Automatic payments?

Sunny

Sunny

SF VIP
Location
Maryland
When subscribing to a service, company, etc., do you usually click on "Paperless payments?" In other words, allowing them to automatically charge your credit card, or get a payment from your bank, without any further input from you (until you cancel?)

I notice that the companies seem to love this; why shouldn't they? It saves them tons of money mailing and processing paper mail, dealing with checks, etc. But do you trust it? What about the memberships that give you the opportunity to renew every year, without any input from you, and giving them the automatic payment from your credit card? These are not scams, they are just automatic renewals.

I have had one bad experience with a legitimate computer games company where I foolishly checked the "renew every 2 years box" and was hit by a $90 fee when the time came around. I really didn't want or need another two years, but I had agreed to it, and they already had their payment, so I was stuck with it. After that, I have made sure never to accept automatic payments, unless it is something I am absolutely positive I will still want when payment time comes around (such as my mortgage and my condo fee). I've gotten very leery about handing over control of what I am paying to someone else.

What about you? Do you pay for anything "automatically?"
 

I don't use automatic payments to renew subscriptions and services like security software because I've found that if you drag your feet they will send you discounted offers that are not offered to people who automatically renew.

I do allow my routine bills to be paid automatically in the amount requested, the only exception to that is my credit card which I've capped at a maximum payment of $1,000.00/month. I did that in case I have an unusually high bill that might overdraw the checking account if it was paid in full.
 
Most everything in and out is automatic with us
We did buy a couple chairs from a place that had 90 day same as cash deal
Hadn't financed anything in awhile, so thought we'd do that
They pushed the auto payment thing
I noticed their payment schedule didn't quite stay within the 90 day period

Called 'em
Told 'em to pay if off...now

Heh, nice try

Gotta pay attention
 

Over here it is called "Direct Debit", I use it for some
payments like regular bills for electricity and gas and
water, but not for any subscriptions, when it is set up
I know the amounts that should be paid monthly, the
people who receive the payments can change the amount
after they inform me, but I never agree to up any payment
without a discussion about it, I can always cancel the deal
if I think that it is wrong.

A couple slipped through though as the power company
didn't send me an Email, they posted a letter inside my
account and I didn't know about it till after they took some
extra money, after a few strong words on three occasions, I
left them, so they are the losers.

Mike.
 
Sunny said:
When subscribing to a service, company, etc., do you usually click on "Paperless payments?" In other words, allowing them to automatically charge your credit card, or get a payment from your bank, without any further input from you (until you cancel?)

I notice that the companies seem to love this; why shouldn't they? It saves them tons of money mailing and processing paper mail, dealing with checks, etc. But do you trust it? What about the memberships that give you the opportunity to renew every year, without any input from you, and giving them the automatic payment from your credit card? These are not scams, they are just automatic renewals.

I have had one bad experience with a legitimate computer games company where I foolishly checked the "renew every 2 years box" and was hit by a $90 fee when the time came around. I really didn't want or need another two years, but I had agreed to it, and they already had their payment, so I was stuck with it. After that, I have made sure never to accept automatic payments, unless it is something I am absolutely positive I will still want when payment time comes around (such as my mortgage and my condo fee). I've gotten very leery about handing over control of what I am paying to someone else.

What about you? Do you pay for anything "automatically?"
Click to expand...

Absolutely not, I don't trust them to consistently get things right, and getting them to correct an error is an uphill fight.
 
Going paperless doesn't mean automatic payments are deducted. Paperless means you get an electronic bill instead of a paper bill in the mail. I'm paperless on almost all my bills, but I choose when to pay and the amount. I pay bills thru my checking acct via online banking. No fee, never a problem.
 
applecruncher said:
Going paperless doesn't mean automatic payments are deducted. Paperless means you get an electronic bill instead of a paper bill in the mail. I'm paperless on almost all my bills, but I choose when to pay and the amount.
Click to expand...

That's my method of dealing with bills too. I like to hold the control of my accounts. I tell the bank when and how much each month ..no fees.
 
Thanks for all the interesting answers. I guess I used the word "paperless" wrongly. I was referring to those payments that are automatically charged to my credit card, without any input from me or advance notification.
 
Ruthanne said:
I don't have an automatic payments. I always want to see just how much I'm giving them so do it myself.
Click to expand...
Sorry I just remembered I have my car insurance and renter's insurance, pet insurance and Streaming TV on automatic payments. Only because they are always the same.
 
I have my Netflix on auto pay. Also, the mobile home park I live in recently started the auto debit from checking account. Those are the only two I pay automatically
 
I never used that automatic feature. I wanted absolute control over my accounts. THEN I got sick and was hospitalized for several months. I wasn't able to get at my computer-it's a desk one, at home. Plus, I didn't have my passwords. By the time I got back home, all kinds of stuff was getting shut off. Everything now is auto-pay.
 
Sunny said:
When subscribing to a service, company, etc., do you usually click on "Paperless payments?" In other words, allowing them to automatically charge your credit card, or get a payment from your bank, without any further input from you (until you cancel?)

I notice that the companies seem to love this; why shouldn't they? It saves them tons of money mailing and processing paper mail, dealing with checks, etc. But do you trust it? What about the memberships that give you the opportunity to renew every year, without any input from you, and giving them the automatic payment from your credit card? These are not scams, they are just automatic renewals.

I have had one bad experience with a legitimate computer games company where I foolishly checked the "renew every 2 years box" and was hit by a $90 fee when the time came around. I really didn't want or need another two years, but I had agreed to it, and they already had their payment, so I was stuck with it. After that, I have made sure never to accept automatic payments, unless it is something I am absolutely positive I will still want when payment time comes around (such as my mortgage and my condo fee). I've gotten very leery about handing over control of what I am paying to someone else.

What about you? Do you pay for anything "automatically?"
Click to expand...
Never have, I do not want anyone to have access to my private accounts.
 
I, too, was fiercely independent. Nobody , but me, was going to have access to one lousy penny of mine. And when I was hospitalized, NOBODY did. Nothing was getting paid. Plus, I was out of it. I started off by hallucinating. The molding around the ceiling was sending "death rays" at me. It progressed until I was in the ICU with tubes coming out my neck. I live alone, and no one had my passwords, so nothing was getting paid. I hadn't planned on any of this. It was also the dead of winter. If you want to maintain absolute control of your money, you should have a plan B in case you wind up like me.
 

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