ComplaintsforSteuben Lakes Regional Waste District

• Initial Complaint

  12/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They use a third party billing company called "invoice cloud" to collect online payments. Invoices are sent out monthly in the amount of $110.27 always due on the 30th of the month. Twice now I have been charged late fees on my invoice when they are paid on time, which can be verified on Invoice Cloud.Their argument is that it takes Invoice Cloud several days to process the payments from cards that are being ran, and then turn around to deposit the funds into *****'s account. So ***** requires payment to be posted UP TO 10 business days BEFORE the due date on the invoice!! That's ridiculous, and the policy needs changed. If they're going to send out invoices with a due date of the 30th of the month, and the customer pays on the 27th ... how is that "LATE?"Other municipalities that I deal with (City of ******, DeKalb County Treasurer, etc) all use Invoice Cloud as well, and they have no such ridiculous policies.As things stand right now, there is a discrepancy of $12.13 on my account that I would like adjusted accordingly. Multiple messages back and forth with this "company" have been futile. ******************************* who works in the office, as well as the superintendent, *********************, refuse to rectify the issue.(I will provide receipts and screen captures from Invoice Cloud upon request.)Also, they're listed here on the BBB as a "government agency" and they are not. It's a private company with some municipal "benefits" of providing some kind of hybrid-utility service... but they are NOT a government agency.

  Business response

  12/01/2023

  **************** called the first month he got a late fee for his money not being received in our office on time. (he paid on the online portal on 5/30) We had a lengthy conversation about the processing time of 5-7 days for our 3rd party payment processor and that it is stated on their website in many places. We also discussed that our ordinance, that we have to follow, states that a payment is not considered paid until the money reaches our office. Therefore, if you pay online on the 27th of the month, and our bills are due on the 30th of each month, there is a good chance that your money will not reach our office in time. After going over all of this, ***** agreed to waive his late fee this one time and he agreed. **************** then paid his bill on 10/27 and we didn't receive the money until 11/1 causing him to get another late fee. He was not happy about that and we reminded him of our last conversation about only waiving his late fee that one time, and of the policy again. **************** has been well informed of our policy and what our rate ordinance states and has one late fee waived. 

   

  Customer response

  12/01/2023

  I am rejecting this response because: The invoices have a firm due date on them stating they are due on the 30th of the month. If the customer posts payment on or before the 30th, it is not LATE, despite them claiming they need 5 to 7 business days to process payments. The fact that ***** chooses to use a third party payment processor that delays depositing the funds into ***** account until after the 1st of the month is NOT the consumer's problem! ***** needs to revise their policy to remove this confusion and take into consideration that customers are going to pay on or before the due date and plan accordingly or provide a grace ******* Asking a customer to pay 5 to 7 business days (up to 2 weeks!) BEFORE the stated due date on the invoices is just asinine. No other municipality or business that I've ever encountered has such foolish policies regarding payment and due dates. In this particular case, the payment was made BEFORE the due date. The receipts on Invoice Cloud back this up. The funds were taken from my account BEFORE the due date, which bank records back this up as well. Please reverse the unwarranted and erroneous $12.13 "late from" from my account. Thank you.

  Business response

  12/04/2023

  As you will see attached, the first picture shows the verbiage on our online portal. It states, in order to avoid late fees please allow 5-7 days for processing. This is not our processing time, it is Invoice ***************** time. The second attachment is the part of our ordinance that states a payment isn't considered paid until it reaches our office.

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