Upset about online bill pay *vent*

**kitkat0649** · 12-29-2010, 10:56 PM

So today I got a notice(4 weeks later) that my December rent payment was not received. I have it sent to go out on the 16th of every month for the following months payment, so the payment sent 11-16 was lost in the mail. The money is auto withdrawn the day the check is sent by my bank. I checked it and it showed as processed, so I thought everything was okay until I got the notice today that they hadnt received my rent and a $50 late fee was assessed. I filed a claim with wells fargo, and called my property management company to explain to her what happened. Apparently they just received my check for Jan. and assumed it was for Dec, so now Dec is squared away but January is due in 2 days and the money was already taken out of my acct for the check that was lost. I canceled the check, but they said it will take 3-5 days for the money to be posted. The property manager couldnt understand the concept of auto withdraw on online bill pay, so when I tried to explain to her that the money wasnt in my account, she seemed to think that I just blew the money on something else and went off on me about not being a prudent renter. I just remembered that were getting paid on the 31st this month, so now I dont have to worry about being late for January, but Im just upset that someone (especially my landlord) would think that Im so financially irresponsible that I wouldnt pay my bills on time. Ive never had a late payment in my life! Plus Im just pregnant and hormonal so dealing with all this just makes me want to cry. *end vent*.

**forHISglory** · 12-29-2010, 11:24 PM

So sorry this is happening! It happened to me with a bill, once. For some reason, it just didn't get to where it was supposed to go. At the time, I really could not afford the late fee. Plus, I thought I had done everything correctly and responsibly, and here it backfired. I actually asked the bank to write and verify that the check was sent, plus I made screenshots of my computer screen to prove that I wasn't a deadbeat loser. Most of time my bill pay works great, but when it doesn't..... what a hassle....

**madhen** · 12-29-2010, 11:26 PM

Keep on Wells Fargo. They SHOULD cover the late fee, and they will typically contact your landlord (or whoever else got the short end due to their mistake) and let her know that the error was on their part, not yours.

**kitkat0649** · 12-29-2010, 11:39 PM

thank you ladies! wells fargo said they would cover the late fee, but they would have to contact the property manager, which could take up to ten days. I was freaking out about getting another late fee for January, until I realized we are getting paid on Friday since the first is a Saturday. The property manager just acted really annoyed with me, and said there was no point in wells fargo calling her, that I should just reissue the check. I told her they would still need to call to verify the late fee etc, but I think she really just didnt want to hear it.

**jenloveschip2001** · 12-30-2010, 08:29 AM

Don't beat yourself up over this. It sound to me like this property manger dosen't have very good customer service skills. Looks like with this being your first ever late payment she should give you the benifit of doubt. She is going to get her late fee no matter if it is you or the bank that pays it. Acting like that is no way to keep good dependable renters like you.

**Telephus44** · 12-30-2010, 09:00 AM

I would be more upset with the property manager for thinking I was a flake and couldn't pay my rent. Sorry you're going through this!

**mommybean73** · 12-30-2010, 11:04 AM

No matter if the situation is resolved or not, I would make sure to keep documentation of everything from your bank, just in case your landlord ever tries to use the incident against you in the future. It's always better to be safe than sorry!

**Rebookie** · 12-30-2010, 11:35 AM

AWW I am sorry!

**craftypam** · 12-30-2010, 01:27 PM

I am finding this is a problem with paying online. Anything that my bank has to send a check out for is posted to my account. It's posted just like it would be in my check register; BUT it has not been cashed by whomever you sent it to. How can the bank not know if a check they sent has or has not been cashed?

**walker24** · 12-30-2010, 01:36 PM

Sounds like the property manager is being less than helpful. I hope it gets worked out quickly. We used to bank with Wells and they were always pretty good to deal with.

**McD** · 12-30-2010, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by craftypam

I am finding this is a problem with paying online. Anything that my bank has to send a check out for is posted to my account. It's posted just like it would be in my check register; BUT it has not been cashed by whomever you sent it to. How can the bank not know if a check they sent has or has not been cashed?

I hated that when I worked at Vantus. The way they explained it to me was that they swept the money from the customer's account into one of their accounts 'to show the customer that it went through' into one of their processing accounts. Then they issue the check from their processing account. The front level staff (personal bankers, tellers, etc.) don't typically have access to the processing accounts so they may not be able to see if it had cleared, but if they did some digging they should be bale to tell you if it has or not.

It seems really stupid and backwards to me. Hated it.

**Lynn4** · 12-30-2010, 11:41 PM

Sorry you had to go through this. I understand how stressful this is when you are responsible and always try do the right thing. I recently had--for the first time--my mortgage check not show up at the mortgage company. I started to panic when it wasn't posting to my checking account by the due date. I called the mortgage company a few days before...well the check apparently surfaced like 4 weeks later! In the mean time I wracked up $100 in late charges, stop pays, pay over the phone fee. It was the one time that I made a really large additional principal payment and I couldn't just not put a stop pay on the check not knowing where it was. I've NEVER made a late mortgage payment and this just really upset me. I'm still trying to get over the loss of $100! I'm coming up with a new strategy to ensure this never happens again!

**craftypam** · 12-31-2010, 12:46 AM

Originally Posted by Lynn4

Sorry you had to go through this. I understand how stressful this is when you are responsible and always try do the right thing. I recently had--for the first time--my mortgage check not show up at the mortgage company. I started to panic when it wasn't posting to my checking account by the due date. I called the mortgage company a few days before...well the check apparently surfaced like 4 weeks later! In the mean time I wracked up $100 in late charges, stop pays, pay over the phone fee. It was the one time that I made a really large additional principal payment and I couldn't just not put a stop pay on the check not knowing where it was. I've NEVER made a late mortgage payment and this just really upset me. I'm still trying to get over the loss of $100! I'm coming up with a new strategy to ensure this never happens again!

Did you check to see if your bank would do anything about the fees. Sometimes when it is a one time thing they will help you out. Not sure if this is true anymore because of all the problems the banks have been having.

**Lynn4** · 12-31-2010, 12:36 PM

I talked to them on the phone several times during this, I didn't ask them directly but I told them I was distressed about never having had a late payment and incurring these charges. They just stuck by the book. My guess is that right now they are making a lot in fees and they don't want to waive them. Can't wait until the darn thing is paid off--a few more years!!

**mommynurse** · 12-31-2010, 09:07 PM

I love online bill pay, but I never thought about this potential problem. That's awful to have something like that happen. I don't do auto bill pay- I pay each bill individually and screenprint the confirmation.