"One Click" warning

[imoldernu]

Maybe this is much ado about nothing, but it surely bothered me. It's an Email from Amazon, which says that by a single click, I would be enrolled in paperless billing. I don't want that, but think that it would have been easy to do the "one click"...
If this kind of "one click" commitment catches on, what next? Sign up for credit cards? Purchases? Donations?

 

[Mulligan]

I finally have started to pay many of my bills online. And they are constantly trying to trick me into paperless billing so they can save postage. Unlike Amazons above benefit being "avoid losing paper statements in the clutter", I am more likely to lose email notification in my email clutter. I have never missed a bill in 35 years from a mailing, so they are going to keep mailing the bill to me.


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[zinger1457]

Received an email from my credit card company today to do a one click to register to get 5X points for purchases.

 

[aja8888]

I finally have started to pay many of my bills online. And they are constantly trying to trick me into paperless billing so they can save postage. Unlike Amazons above benefit being "avoid losing paper statements in the clutter", I am more likely to lose email notification in my email clutter. I have never missed a bill in 35 years from a mailing, so they are going to keep mailing the bill to me.


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We put every billing service we can on paperless!

We have such unreliable postal service here, and we live near a town with 4 million people in it. We routinely have new postal delivery folks and some appear to be less than quality conscious. We just went for 4 days with no mail (the whole street). Come to find out after going to the post office since they won't answer the phone, our "normal" delivery person was re-assigned and no one really did much about re-establishing service.

In the last year I have had envelopes with Amazon gift cards not show up, have gotten someone else's mail order prescription, had a new cell phone disappear, have had packages show "delivered" on the internet tracking and not show up for several days after, and on and on. Our neighbors are suffering the same lack of service.

So, if they want to steal or mis-deliver my remaining junk mail, have at it!

Anything new I buy from an internet vendor, I specify UPS or FedEx where I can and pay the extra freight.

 

[Meadbh]

I have everything possible on paperless billing, including Amazon. The information is still accessible, trees are saved, and I avoid the unnecessary hassle of opening envelopes, filing their contents, and eventually shredding and recycling paper. Of course, millions of people like me are responsible for the streamlining of Canada Post's mail delivery services and the decline of the lumber industry.

 

[audreyh1]

Totally paperless here. I hate getting paper in the mail!!!

 

[easysurfer]

What am I missing? I've never heard of paperless billing on Amazon.

For credit cards, utilities, yes. But not Amazon. Any chance the email could be a phishing scam?

 

[Mulligan]

We put every billing service we can on paperless!

We have such unreliable postal service here, and we live near a town with 4 million people in it. We routinely have new postal delivery folks and some appear to be less than quality conscious. We just went for 4 days with no mail (the whole street). Come to find out after going to the post office since they won't answer the phone, our "normal" delivery person was re-assigned and no one really did much about re-establishing service.

In the last year I have had envelopes with Amazon gift cards not show up, have gotten someone else's mail order prescription, had a new cell phone disappear, have had packages show "delivered" on the internet tracking and not show up for several days after, and on and on. Our neighbors are suffering the same lack of service.

So, if they want to steal or mis-deliver my remaining junk mail, have at it!

Anything new I buy from an internet vendor, I specify UPS or FedEx where I can and pay the extra freight.

Well I can definitely see why you would want to do that, Aja. I live in a small town of about 5k, and I have a PO Box at the Post Office. I have never lost anything, but having my mail at the PO box instead of my house is one less opportunity they have to lose it.


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[Major Tom]

I also am paperless on all of my bills, with the exception of one - a USAA credit card. They don't offer paperless billing. I hardly ever user that card anyway, so almost never receive a paper bill in the mail.

My cell phone and DSL service are automatically paid by my credit card every month. That just leaves 2 credit cards, and the landline. I used to think that without a paper bill, I might forget to pay, but with so few recurring bills, it is easy to keep track of, especially as I get e-mail notifications directly from the companies, and also from my bank when they are due.

It is all much more convenient than fiddling around with checks, postage stamps and envelopes. I can even pay them on my cellphone if I want. Easy peasy!

 

[ERD50]

What am I missing? I've never heard of paperless billing on Amazon.

For credit cards, utilities, yes. But not Amazon. Any chance the email could be a phishing scam?

Right, this is what I read into the OP, not really about 'paperless billing' at all.

Be extremely cautious before clicking any link in an email. I avoid it, but I will when it has info that only the source would know. For example, our Amazon account is in DW's name. If they include her name, I know it isn't a scammer.

-ERD50

 

[bUU]

We've been paperless for about five years. Any paper coming into the house gets scanned and shredded. We have two file cabinets full of paper records going back 40 years, but nothing in there from the last five years except stuff with raised seals - mortgage satisfaction statements and such. And by all rights those things should probably be a safekeeping rather than filing cabinets.

 

[audreyh1]

What am I missing? I've never heard of paperless billing on Amazon.

For credit cards, utilities, yes. But not Amazon. Any chance the email could be a phishing scam?

That's what I was wondering too. I don't get bills from Amazon.

I recently got the Amazon Store Card, and have paperless billing, but I was passed to a different site to set that up. That email didn't mention the store card.

 

[donheff]

Refusing to click on links you are not expecting in emails is a good practice.

 

[grasshopper]

I don't have mail delivery and the PO is a 35 mile round trip. You bet I am totally paperless.

 

[txtig]

I still get a few paper bills in the mail. I open them up, take a picture of the bill with my iPhone and then shred it. I pull up the picture later when I'm paying my bills online. I would love to get to the point of being totally paperless.


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[Mulligan]

I don't have mail delivery and the PO is a 35 mile round trip. You bet I am totally paperless.

Your unique situation excluded, after due reflection with a drink of java, I suspect the debate about paperless vs. paper is actually a proxy debate for "willingness to change vs. unwillingness to change". Unfortunately my fellow "pro paper" advocates are unable to support me, because they do not own computers....


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[Gabieta]

I also am paperless on all of my bills, with the exception of one - a USAA credit card. They don't offer paperless billing. I hardly ever user that card anyway, so almost never receive a paper bill in the mail.

Hi Major Tom -- USAA does offer paperless credit card billing, this was my first paperless bill to sign up for -- probably almost 10 years ago.

 

[H2ODude]

Pretty much paperless on all utilities, cell phone, landline, insurance that goes to Amex, etc. The one thing I want paper on is the Amex, our preferred method of paying for everything (love that 2% back). It's just a habit that when I get the paper Amex bill I reconcile it to Quicken where I record all purchase every few days. Sure I could print it off if I went paperless, but it's just the way I have become habituated.

I'm not sure I understand OP on paperless Amazon. We just buy everything on A and pay with Amex, not sure what a "bill" from Amazon would look like.

 

[Tadpole]

I'm not sure what a bill from Amazon is either. I decided last year to get an Synchrony Amazon card. I especially like the low limit allowed on the card and it is the only card I have registered on the website. (If I need more, which I probably won't, I can always use another card.) Paying the bill is trivial. I get an emailed notice that the bill is posted and I just go over to Synchrony (Amazon) and pay it. The only weirdness is that they won't allow you to put the Prime subscription on the Amazon card.

 

[Car-Guy]

I pay most of my bills on line and all of them are trying to get me to go paperless. I've resisted so far but am considering going paperless since I'm finding I'm starting to not even open the bills I receive in the mail. I just toss them in a stack and shred them when the pile is big enough. My brokerage firms, banks, phone co, electrical co-op, etc all offer paperless billing with their on line customers and in all case I can look up my accounts and see my current statements and look back at least 12 months as well as print them off if I want to. They all send my an email when the new bill or statement is ready for viewing and that's usually several days before I get the US mail copy.

I think I just talked myself into going paperless. I guess I can always print off a copy of my brokerage and bank accounts once or twice a year if I feel I need that hard copy security blanket.

 

[imoldernu]

The original post was meant to be about "one click"... not necessarily paperless billing.

If you look back at the email jpg, you'll see that it isn't all that simple. Note that by just doing a quick click, that you are also agreeing that you have read and agree with terms and conditions, and that you agree to receive electronic communications regarding your account. Of course, since you always read every word of every agreement, you would not be caught short, or get involved in anything that could compromise your privacy.

It's not about Amazon, or paperless billing at all, but simply the idea that "one click" could involve almost anything. Anyone who has gone to a political website, or just to contact a congressman, has likely found that they will receive correspondence from many sources, and even on news websites, it is common to receive "One Click" petition requests. My concern also goes beyond my own handling of email. DW shares my Email, and is more trusting than I.

For those who have medicare, the idea of going "paperless" would imply that you have a very good memory. Medical bills... Doctor, Medicare, and Medicare Supplement... almost always involve many pieces of correspondence, and sometimes take three or more months of billing to resolve. Double billing from doctors often results in overpayments that somehow, never get caught. 15 years of experience in this tells me that this is not uncommon.

Trust is wearing thin. After putting my Comcast agreement (and its sub links) into the "Word Count" website, the number of words exceeds 19,000. The idea that a single click online might constitute a legal contract bothers me.

And so, I have no quarrel with paperless billing, if that is the choice... I just don't like being presented with a legal agreement, based on what looks to be a simple big button, but which has small print. Today paperless billing... tomorrow, who knows?

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

The original post was meant to be about "one click"... not necessarily paperless billing.

If you look back at the email jpg, you'll see that it isn't all that simple. Note that by just doing a quick click, that you are also agreeing that you have read and agree with terms and conditions, and that you agree to receive electronic communications regarding your account. Of course, since you always read every word of every agreement, you would not be caught short, or get involved in anything that could compromise your privacy.

It's not about Amazon, or paperless billing at all, but simply the idea that "one click" could involve almost anything. Anyone who has gone to a political website, or just to contact a congressman, has likely found that they will receive correspondence from many sources, and even on news websites, it is common to receive "One Click" petition requests. My concern also goes beyond my own handling of email. DW shares my Email, and is more trusting than I.

For those who have medicare, the idea of going "paperless" would imply that you have a very good memory. Medical bills... Doctor, Medicare, and Medicare Supplement... almost always involve many pieces of correspondence, and sometimes take three or more months of billing to resolve. Double billing from doctors often results in overpayments that somehow, never get caught. 15 years of experience in this tells me that this is not uncommon.

Trust is wearing thin. After putting my Comcast agreement (and its sub links) into the "Word Count" website, the number of words exceeds 19,000.

And so, I have no quarrel with paperless billing, if that is the choice... I don't like being presented with a legal agreement, based on what looks to be a simple big button, but which has small print.

Not to belittle your concern, but this is the way of the future. Unfortunately if you REALLY don't like it, then you will have to eventually cut the internet cord, which as you probably already know is quite difficult if not impossible.

For me, I personally have no issues with this. I am able to read the legal disclosures easier online (as I can zoom in to read) whereas when a new card shows up in the mail, the legal disclosure is 5"x3" and still has 19,000 words in it that I can't read.

Truth be told, if I could just TURN OFF my physical mail, I would.

Speaking of Amazon cards, I had a card through Chase for several years. It was closed about a year ago for lack of use but when I try to open a new account for the $60 statement credit, the site *thinks* I still have a card and won't let me apply.

 

[bUU]

Trust is wearing thin. After putting my Comcast agreement (and its sub links) into the "Word Count" website, the number of words exceeds 19,000. The idea that a single click online might constitute a legal contract bothers me.

Behind every agreement is the pricing model predicated on that agreement. If Paragraph 23 is worth $X per $100 in sales, and Paragraph 23 is removed, then market forces should naturally raise prices X%. The American consumer is far more price sensitive than condition or quality sensitive, probably by orders of magnitude. And the thing that I find really surprising is that the American consumer prefers complaining about being exploited than incurring the reasonable costs of preventing being exploited.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Maybe this is much ado about nothing, but it surely bothered me. It's an Email from Amazon, which says that by a single click, I would be enrolled in paperless billing. I don't want that, but think that it would have been easy to do the "one click"...
If this kind of "one click" commitment catches on, what next? Sign up for credit cards? Purchases? Donations?

Isn't 1-click just Amazon's express checkout option that you set up with them with whatever credit card you want to use, nothing to do with paperless billing?
Amazon.com Help: 1-Click Ordering

I think the email could well be bogus.

 

[vince]

I'm not sure what a bill from Amazon is either. I decided last year to get an Synchrony Amazon card. I especially like the low limit allowed on the card and it is the only card I have registered on the website. (If I need more, which I probably won't, I can always use another card.) Paying the bill is trivial. I get an emailed notice that the bill is posted and I just go over to Synchrony (Amazon) and pay it. The only weirdness is that they won't allow you to put the Prime subscription on the Amazon card.

I noticed the same thing about the Prime subscription. The 5% back on all purchases is a better deal than the Amazon rewards card by Visa too. Synchrony also gave me 50 bucks to sign up.