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financial strategy

Late Fees on Final Bill?

Anne Miller

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posted 2 years ago

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I called a Service Provider in November to cancel my service.

They said I had to give them a 60-day notice.

My statement mentions about cancellation though it does not say anything about a 60-day notice.

I have not used the service since November. If I do not pay the December bill and they charge a $25.00 late fee will I get bill a late fee for every month the bill is not paid?

Let's say $200.00 for December then a $25.00 late fee.

Then January I get a bill for $225.00 then another late fee. For February bill for $250 then another late fee?

Then a late fee for every month it is not paid.

I have never paid late fees and this is the first time I have been in this situation.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Steve Zoma

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posted 2 years ago

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I had this problem with a Credit Union awhile ago. I paid off the loan, but the next month I would get a bill saying I owed them $6

I would send in $6 and they said I owed them $1.34 because of a late fee

I sent them that and they said I owed them .06 cents

I could never pay the thing off because the lobby was closed for Covid. I finally sent them $25 and told them to send me the change after it was paid off.

thomas rubino

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posted 2 years ago

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Hi Anne;
I suspect somewhere in the fine print it says 60-day notice.
If it does then you will need to pay for both months, there should be no late fee as you will pay early.

Call them up and talk to a real person.
Make sure you get their name. See if they will give you a payoff price.
If it looks correct then pay them off in one payment.
Keep records of the time and person you talk to.

You could make them show you where in the fine print this 60-day notice is located.
Perhaps there is no such clause and they are hoping to get you to pay extra.

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Anne Miller

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posted 2 years ago

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Yes, I have spoken with them and have gotten the 60-day notice down to 30-days. So my account is closed as of Dec 30.
Dear hubby does not want to pay for Dec.

I really am trying to come up with a really good reason to convince him to pay Dec.

What happened is that they agreed to give me the monthly rate for 1 year. Then raised my bill in Sept. If I had known about that cancellation policy I would have canceled in Sept.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

thomas rubino

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posted 2 years ago

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Well, I sure understand his feelings about this, I would have an attitude myself!
But, if he chooses not to pay, you will be liable for late charges beyond December.
You could talk with a lawyer and see if they think you have a foot to stand on.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Dc Stewart

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posted 2 years ago

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For me, the option of refusing to pay for December comes down to a simple question: is this the battle on which I'm willing to expend my remaining life's supply of spiritual and financial reserves? A business agreement turned out to be unsatisfactory and I'll ultimately have to cough up at least one more month of payment. Does the value of the principle make it worth a protracted noble-yet-doomed fight over the dollar value?

Devoured by giant spiders without benefit of legal counsel isn't called "justice" where I come from!
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Carla Burke

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posted 2 years ago

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To quote my hubby, "Is this the hill you wanna die on?" I'd just pay it, and avoid the fees getting heaped on, which will all eventually have to be paid, or it will mess up your credit, and the longer it goes on, the higher the fees go, and the worse it looks on your credit. Speaking from the position of one with personal experience...

"The only thing...more expensive than education is ignorance."~Ben Franklin
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Anne Miller

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posted 2 years ago

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I am going to pay it.

It makes me feel good to know that no one here knows the answer to my questions.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Jan White

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posted 2 years ago

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It depends on what type of service it is and what their policy is on late payments. Some places have a high rate of non-payment, some low. That will have an effect on what their late/non payment policy is. They may send your account to collections right away, in which case the late fees would stop building up. I'm not sure if collections companies add fees on to the debt they bought or just try to collect the original debt. The company may hang on to the debt a while longer, though. In that case, late fees would keep being added, increasing amounts for older debt, or the same percentage every month, or however they do it. That's my basic understanding of the process, anyway.

Carla Burke

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posted 2 years ago

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Anne Miller wrote:I called a Service Provider in November to cancel my service.

They said I had to give them a 60-day notice.

My statement mentions about cancellation though it does not say anything about a 60-day notice.

I have not used the service since November. If I do not pay the December bill and they charge a $25.00 late fee will I get bill a late fee for every month the bill is not paid?

Yes.

Anne Miller wrote:
Let's say $200.00 for December then a $25.00 late fee.

Then January I get a bill for $225.00 then another late fee. For February bill for $250 then another late fee?

Yes - but with interest added.

Anne Miller wrote:
Then a late fee for every month it is not paid.

Yes. And the interest accumulates on all of it, so that is what you are charged the first month, then, the next month, you're paying interest on the base amount, plus the$25, plus the next month's $25, and it just keeps snowballing.

Pete Podurgiel

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posted 2 years ago

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Not sure if worth the aggrivation for you, but you can try to 'turn the tables' on them and demand that they send you a copy of the original contract/agreement showing the 60-day notice clause with your signature on it. If they can't produce this document, then I would say they are shit-outta-luck and you can wield that against any threat of it going to collections.

I'm not an attorney and not sure this will help in your situtation, but it might put them on their heels and give you some bargaining power.

Om is where the heart is.

Anne Miller

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Posts: 17548

Location: USDA Zone 8a

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posted 2 years ago

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Pete. we already went that route.

To the others that have replied:

My bill was due on 12/20 2022 (today)

I went online to paythe bill and they says I am "Past Due".

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Dc Stewart

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posted 2 years ago

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If you tried to pay in the afternoon, one possibility is that the server, if running on UTC time, had already rolled over to the 21st. That happens to me sometimes when I pay a bill after noonish local time. The webpage still offers my current day as a date option, but if I select it, I get an "invalid date" error message and have to select tomorrow's date.

Devoured by giant spiders without benefit of legal counsel isn't called "justice" where I come from!
-Amazon Women On The Moon

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