Business not sending payment envelopes with paper bills

[athena53]

Interesting observation- I wasn't paying much attention because I get few paper bills, mostly ones that I haven't figured out how to stop (water and sewer company). I'm fine with no envelopes. I pay on-line by having my bank send a check anyway.

It seems to me that in the 1950s/1960s the return envelopes were postage-paid. Now only the charities do that!

 

[badatmath]

Paper checks, eww... Who does that?

The person in front of me at Target today pulled out a checkbook but I see online it says they stopped accepting checks earlier this year so IDK. They don't seem to like cash much IMO. None at self checkouts and the run the bills through a little verifier to make sure they aren't fake. Definitely not my favorite store anyway (though that is partly due to location being inconvenient for me). I can get stuff they sell closer to home.

 

[badatmath]

Most companies give you a choice how to pay and I choose the way I prefer. I do not prefer passwords, 2FA, site down for admin maintenance, my bank sitting on the payment for days. . . etc. I will usually pay with a credit card if no fee (for the points). And there are no charges (yet) for anyone sending me paper bills. . . though if there were perhaps I'd change my mind. Having your bank send a check seems very strange to me (no offense meant). Kind of like my neighbor who found the mortgage company never paid the HO insurance. . . and it got cancelled. . .

I reuse any excess envelopes as scratch paper.

Anyway how anyone here thinks I SHOULD pay is not really relevant. It isn't like I am going to change my mind.

I just thought it odd. It isn't as if they gave me notice it would be missing envelopes in the future.

I see quite a few people here paying utilities in person. . . I have never used one but I think they take cash.

 

[CaliKid]

I prefer paperless. I hate wasting paper and postage.

 

[MC Rider]

^^^ And time.

 

[athena53]

I prefer paperless. I hate wasting paper and postage.

I agree. I nearly fell over when I bought stamps at Costco last week- 100 stamps for just under $75. For me it's mostly letters at Christmas and Garden Club business. I'm the Treasurer and I tried to set the bank account up for on-line bill payments and they wanted to CHARGE for it. At 75 cents per stamp I think I'm about ready to track how many I use and include it in my charitable deductions since we're a 501(c)(3).

 

[MC Rider]

I kept track of postage I bought for business expenses back when. It was not much but....

 

[CaptTom]

...I just have to go through the drudgery of downloading the statements...

Which is another thing. I sometimes wonder if I'm the only who who actually looks at, never mind downloads, statements.

I'm old school. Every account, reconciled monthly (or, for some long-term stuff, quarterly.) I download and retain every statement (in .pdf format) organized by account and named to include the date.

I notice it's getting harder to even find the statements on the web sites. And when you do, the process to download feels clunky and not very well thought out. An afterthought by the web site designer. As if nobody uses them any more.

I guess it makes sense. You can go onto a web site or app and see up-to-the-minute account activity any time you want. You can (and I do) get alerts when there are any charges. I'm not really sure why I keep the statements. Maybe it's just a silly habit.

 

[CaptTom]

For me it's mostly letters at Christmas and Garden Club business.

I'm secretary of a club. I just recently finally got the membership to vote to allow sending the required annual mailings via e-mail. It took a by-laws change. Got rid of some very obsolete language which forced an intense, tedious and expensive process of printing and mailing a sizable package of paperwork. I know there's one guy in his 90s who doesn't have e-mail. I'll probably hand-deliver his. But so far everyone else has agreed to opt in on electronic delivery. Huge relief!

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Which is another thing. I sometimes wonder if I'm the only who who actually looks at, never mind downloads, statements.

You're not the only one, I check my online statements every month, or for my most used accounts I check the transactions every day or two. And I download my statements for everything once a year.

 

[TheWizard]

I cannot remember the last time we rec'd a hard copy bill, let alone one with a return envelope. It has been years.

I seem to recall seeing that one of our suppliers charges extra for paper billing.

About the only time we see an envelope is in an unsolicitied mailing for donations of some sort. Even then...most often the mailing goes into the recycle bin unopened.

My quarterly property tax bills and water/sewer bills all come this way, paper with envelope...

 

[Texas Proud]

I'm confused. It seems to me, that is 100% helpful. It solves every problem. There are so many advantages to online bill pay. You have a record and near instant confirmation, nothing to get lost in the USPS, a few mouse clicks (or even easier with an auto-pay setting), no stamp to apply (unless return postage included), no envelope to seal (I never feel confident that glue is going to hold). And since you do it 'sometimes', it's clear you know how.

So how is it not helpful to just do it online?

Well, things DO get lost in the USPS... I sent a check to someone and they never got it... had to send another... he said that they put the money back in 90 days... I will check and see.. but it is a printed check sent by mail...

 

[Time2]

My quarterly property tax bills and water/sewer bills all come this way, paper with envelope...

My city has yet to get setup for electronic transfers from the bank. I do electronic bill pay of my utility bill, water/sewer/garbage, but then the banks sends an actual check to the city, which takes a few days to arrive. I ask them in 2018 why the can't get setup for electronic transfer, and was told, that they are working on it. I ask again in 2021 and was told they have a person working on this. I think it is time to ask again. The city utility bill arrives in the mail 10 days before it is due, so if I don't pay it electronically within about 5 days it will be late for the banks check to arrive at the city.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

My garbage service still mails out coupon books every year and expects you to return each month’s coupon with a check. I set up a monthly automatic payment with my checking account billpay and they seem ok with that, although they sit on the check every month for a week.

 

[Dtail]

I pay everything online, but did notice a few bills have stopped sending envelopes, but did specifically state that they noticed that I was paying online as the reasoning.

 

[athena53]

My quarterly property tax bills and water/sewer bills all come this way, paper with envelope...

Mine do, too- except one year the property tax bills never arrived. (I get one for my property and one much smaller bill for my share of the HOA common property.) We have problems with mail box thefts, especially near the end of the year, which is when the bills arrive- I now have a PO Box. By the time I realized it and got on-line to check the amount and send a payment through my bank, I was 6 days late and was slammed with a 10% penalty.

Now I get on-line well before year-end.

 

[badatmath]

I called one of the 2 places that didn't send envelopes and one said "buy your own". The other said "of course we will send one".

I must be the only one whose email never is missing too. . .

 

[RetMD21]

I have a few payments to make to businesses/ government entities that won't send electronic statements and either have poor or no online payment options. They get a paper check mailed by my bank including my account number. Initially I was worried about not mailing in the returnable portion of the bill but it hasn't been a problem.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I'm on autopay on most monthly bills. I get an e-mail when the bill is produced with the amount and the approximate date my payment will be pulled from my bank or charged to my credit card. If I want to see the actual bill then I need to login to my account which I only do if it seems to be higher than normal. I do get a bill from the water/garbage company at my request but I can't remember why I did that. They do include an envelope which goes straight in the trash since I have my bank mail the payment so it's a complete waste of paper and also taxpayer dollars and since I'm now thinking about it, I really need to switch this one back to autopay.

 

[Koolau]

I also prefer the envelopes. Much easier than addressing it myself. YMMV

 

[Pointby2]

Whenever I throw out the envelopes and pay on line, I wish they'd stop sending them. Such a waste.

 

[euro]

I prefer paperless. I hate wasting paper and postage.

agreed! I bet 90%+ of the envelopes that DO get mailed are tossed in the trash

 

[Deuce]

Bill Pay is your friend.

 

[tulak]

I recycle the envelopes. It’s a waste for me. I haven’t mailed a bill payment in 10+ years. The less mail I get, the better.

 

[rayvt]

I stopped sending checks in the mail 20+ years ago when stamps cost $0.32. That last month I spent almost $5 in stamps.

Everything now gets paid online. I find it annoying that half my billers send a useless return envelope.

One of them included a not once: "We see you have been paying online, so we are ceasing to include a return envelope."