Re: Bank "late fees"

AlanK622720 · ‎04-18-2020

We pay our bills the day they arrive and drop the check at the main post office a few blocks away. It seems like the checks are not getting to the company on time and we receive a notice of unpaid bill with a nice "LATE FEE".

This happened at US Bank and we sent a check for the total amount then due. The "missing" check turned up and was credited to our account. They resolved the fees and it is OK.

Today we got a statement from Sam's Club that they hadn't received payment along with a $28.00 LATE FEE. We won't be able to review this with our bank and Sam's Club till Monday.

Has anyone else noticed his happening? Is the Post Office losing the mail? Are the banks losing the letters? Is this a way for banks to increase their income by slowly processing bills? We have sent the payments well in advance of when they are due. Do we need to send the bills CERTIFIED to prove when and to whom the letters were sent?

fffred · ‎04-19-2020

I would say that you are doing everything right... paying your bills immediately so they are "on time", mailing at the post office (I do not fully trust off-site mail drops, they can be burgled on occasion).

This has happened twice? If only twice I consider that a "coincidence" and not a "trend". Especially as the one check finally showed up at the bank; this would seem to show a problem either with the postal delivery or at the bank's internal operations.

In any case, remember that this may only be a rare coincidence. I really doubt that this is a new thing that companies are doing in order to drum up more fees (some may, and if so I would not be dealing with them any longer)

Should it keep happening, then you might try dropping at a different post office. Or stop in to the counter at your usual one and discuss with them.

You can check your bank account on-line (should you have access) and check for when the checks clear. Once posted you can rest easy (on that one). And if it doesn't show up in a timely basis you can take other action to ensure that a payment is made on-time.

What works for me, and i have done this for roughly 30 years, is to have as many of my regular bills as possible paid "automatically". This ensures that I never forget or procrastinate too long, and I have never had a problem with this. Or you can use your bank's on-line "bill pay" system should they have one (and nowadays there is no reason that they should not). There are various methods to pay on-line, including manually like a check (but you still have to remember to pay), automatic like I have it set up (and this gives me immense peace of mind), and some other modes. You can read through this thread for tips: https://community.aarp.org/t5/Budget-Savings/Are-You-Still-Using-Personal-Checks/td-p/2220570

Good luck

@AlanK622720 wrote:
We pay our bills the day they arrive and drop the check at the main post office a few blocks away. It seems like the checks are not getting to the company on time and we receive a notice of unpaid bill with a nice "LATE FEE".

This happened at US Bank and we sent a check for the total amount then due. The "missing" check turned up and was credited to our account. They resolved the fees and it is OK.

Today we got a statement from Sam's Club that they hadn't received payment along with a $28.00 LATE FEE. We won't be able to review this with our bank and Sam's Club till Monday.

Has anyone else noticed his happening? Is the Post Office losing the mail? Are the banks losing the letters? Is this a way for banks to increase their income by slowly processing bills? We have sent the payments well in advance of when they are due. Do we need to send the bills CERTIFIED to prove when and to whom the letters were sent?