Ken, how are you scanning those checks in? What billing system are you integrating that with and how? -Ty
-Ty On Wed, Nov 11, 2015 at 11:56 AM, Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > I love auto bill pay, where the customer sets up for the bank to > automatically mail a check each month to arrive on or before the payment > due date. I stress to customers that unlike other bills with phony fees > and taxes, our bill is exactly the same each month so they can use auto > bill pay. We often get an envelope full of these checks, they always scan > correctly, and they seem never to bounce (I think the bank deducts them > from the customer’s account before mailing them). I know some of the folks > here don’t like processing them, but I just don’t understand that, it’s > minimal work. > > This method saves the customer a stamp, and given our rural area, a > customer mailing a check by putting it out for the mail carrier involves > lots of risks. Like soaked by rain, chewed by mice, or lost somewhere > between their mailbox and the post office. > > We did for awhile have ACH indirectly through a third party payment > portal, and I was surprised to discover exactly what you described, I did > not realize an ACH payment could bounce just like a check. > > It is always the problem customers who want special payment methods. I > reluctantly set up payment via PayPal for one problem customer to pay, and > I guess if PayPal accepts ACH that would be a way to accept ACH. I assume > though if the ACH payment bounced, Paypal would claw back the money from > you. Or maybe delay availability to make sure it cleared. I hate the > Paypal method anyway because we have to finagle the payment manually in our > billing system and then either get a check periodically from Paypal or use > it to buy stuff on eBay. > > Unfortunately, no one seems to understand budgeting anymore, except the > seniors on Social Security. They want to see how long it takes for their > Internet to be turned off, then look in the couch cushions for change or > see if they have any gift cards with money on them. But somehow when you > go to their house to repo the radio, the power is on, their cellphone > works, they have food on the table and gas in the car. Internet is at the > top of life’s necessities, except when it comes to paying bills. > > I always wonder at the lines in front of the RedBox kiosks. Who pays $1 > to rent a movie when you can get a Netflix subscription? I assume it’s the > pay-as-you-go economy. You go to the grocery store, and at the end if you > have a dollar bill in your pocket, you rent a movie. If not, no movie. > It’s too hard to know if you can afford $9 each and every month. And if > your job is driving for Uber, maybe I can understand how you just can’t > plan your income. > > > *From:* Jeremy <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Wednesday, November 11, 2015 10:41 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Steer customers to ACH (vs CC)? > > I originally loved ACH, for the cost savings. Now I have realized that it > is the only way that a customer can defraud us with our current billing > method. They login and run an ACH on a delinquent account, get it turned > back on automagically, and then it bounces, we add a fee, they repeat the > process, we turn it off, add another fee, rinse, lather, repeat. Finally > we give up and go get the equipment and now we're out like $250. Being a > prepaid service we usually shut them off after 20 days and so that would be > the most that anyone could possibly hit us for (20 days of service). With > checks they can bounce the install and then play the re-activation game for > two months before we get frustrated and pull out. > > We have yet to start sending customers to collections. For those of you > that are, how does it work out? Are the reclamation of these minor amounts > worth the slanderous hate speech that is sure to come from that customer > for life after you hit their credit? We have been eating the cost, cutting > ties, and moving on. > > As far as how we push them toward ACH, I simply explain how bad bill pay > sucks. It is like sending cash in the mail and it goes through a third > party. If they are late mailing it then service gets shut off, and late > fees get added. I also tell them that credit cards cost us more to process > than checks. I basically just tell them that we prefer ACH, but we will > take anything. I regularly question whether ACH is a good idea or not. We > have more problem customers on ACH than any other payment method. > > On Wed, Nov 11, 2015 at 8:41 AM, Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Our bank wants a $25/mo minimum fee for us to process ACH payments, so we >> don’t accept ACH. The per transaction fee is not bad, but the minimum is a >> problem. >> >> *From:* Justin Wilson - MTIN <[email protected]> >> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 11, 2015 9:29 AM >> *To:* [email protected] >> *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Steer customers to ACH (vs CC)? >> >> Give them a discount. Much of it depends on the bank. We had folks who >> absolutely hated ACH because their bank would charge an overdraft if the >> ACH failed. They like the CC, even if it was a debit card, because if the >> money wasn’t there it just declines it. No $30 fee or whatever. But, it >> depends on the bank. This is what wasn’t attractive to us was banks treated >> it different. Credit card either runs or it doesn’t. ACH typically is not >> as smooth for a variety of reasons. >> >> Justin Wilson >> [email protected] >> >> --- >> http://www.mtin.net >> <http://t.sidekickopen27.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XZs3N1JKKW1p8b7-63BmqTW64k9XR56dWxNf8vBN2802?si=5679648505069568π=E0BF5AA5-EFD6-40A2-B53F-749AC8A25C0A&t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emtin%2Enet> >> Owner/CEO >> xISP Solutions- Consulting – Data Centers - Bandwidth >> >> http://www.midwest-ix.com >> <http://t.sidekickopen27.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XZs3N1JKKW1p8b7-63BmqTW64k9XR56dWxNf8vBN2802?si=5679648505069568π=E0BF5AA5-EFD6-40A2-B53F-749AC8A25C0A&t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emidwest%2Dix%2Ecom> >> COO/Chairman >> Internet Exchange - Peering - Distributed Fabric >> >> >> On Nov 11, 2015, at 10:21 AM, Christopher Gray < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> For the people who accept both ACH and CC payments, do you do anything to >> promote the use of ACH (to reduce your costs)? >> >> Thanks - Chris >> >> >> >
