In the past reviewing a bill was never something I did, I either paid it or couldn't and that was how it worked out.
I've been getting better at it but not 100%. Today I opened my cell phone bill and to my surprise it was almost $415. I know shocker huh? I thought I know I spoke to my best friend in Canada a couple of times OMG what did I do? I decided to review my bill. I had thought I had it caught up so I didn't understand. It turns out that last month some how it their system says I cancelled my account and started a new one and they charged me lots of fees for that including new deposit fees. In their system it says it was cancelled at my request. Ummm no it wasn't.
I called my cell provider and talked to them all of 10 minuets at most before they decided to fix it all. They are not sure what happened and neither am I but my bill is MUCH lower now (thankfully). I also made an arrangement to pay it late it is due now but I had those pesky unexpected expenses. There will be a late fee but that is less than $5 I can handle that and I am working to have that emergency account funded so one day those things don't come out of my bill money.
This is a huge lesson though, I wonder how often these types of things have happened that have gone unnoticed by me. I will be checking every bill from here on out to see what is going on with it and if my charges and balance is correct. I need to set up a system to compare the charges (a filing system).
So review your bills (I'm sure most of you do this because most of you are PF bloggers to begin with), we can all learn from each other here.
I'm going to get off of here, still thinking on what to post for WWYD Wednesday. I had my dental work done today and they couldn't get me numb all the way so it wasn't all that pleasant that is for sure. What was supposed to be 1 1/2 hour procedure turned into 3 1/2 hours and I had a difficult tooth to deal with there was a lot more in there than the x-rays showed. I slept for a bit but I do have to go back to work tomorrow, wish me luck!
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I've had things like this happen - not to this degree, but I've had small charges slip in that shouldn't be there. I keep a file with my most recent copy of every bill. So, when my cell phone bill comes in, it goes in the file and I compare it to the previous month (usually just a 2 second spot check, unless something is wrong.) The old bill then goes into my 2009 shoebox of all bills and receipts for this year. Good for you for calling them and getting that taken care of!
ReplyDeleteDawn, that is exactly what I'm thinking of doing.
ReplyDeleteI also went in and traded phones Friday. My old phone only worked if it had an internet plan I let myself get carried away with the bells and whistles. Now I have a phone that doesn't require that and lowered my bill. I explained to them my situation and going into bankruptcy. I told them I'd like to continue to be a customer but I can't afford the bill that high. The guy worked with me and even gave me the free 'upgrade' and I got the new phone for free but had to sign a new contract. That's okay this one was only 6 months old.