Dale's Ramblings

My credit card company (Citi) issued us new credit cards because they said someone had obtained the number fraudulently. Good job! The downside of course is that I had to go and update the credit card information with companies that take automatic payments from that account.

First, my company telephone: This is with Verizon, you cannot just update the information, you have to enroll in automatic payments all over again. This involves agreeing to conditions that are probably not the same as before. Its a cunning move to get out of any older agreement and get you into their latest agreement. OK, but then the surprise.. here is their confirmation text:

Your enrollment form has been successfully submitted. It will take up to 60 days for your credit card billing to start. You should continue to mail in your payment by the due date until you see "PLEASE DO NOT PAY THIS BILL." printed on the bill's Payment Page. That message is your confirmation that your bill is now being charged to your credit card.

Up to 60 days !  I entered all the data, so there is nothing for them to do. The computers can check the validity of the card in less than a second. I made a once off payment with the same card on the same website and the transaction was accepted right away. So why would anything take 60 days ?

Verizon is not alone... I went to the Comcast web site to make the changes too. The confirmation email states:

The enrollment process for recurring credit card payment can take between 30-45 days, therefore you will need to pay your current statement balance with a different method (i.e. one-time credit card payment). You also may need to pay your bill next month using an alternate method if enrollment is not complete prior to the start of your next billing cycle.

They seem a bit better 30 to 45 days..  wow! Welcome to the world of internet commerce !