Paying bills?

[gracielle]

We may see the day when our utility companies do the same. It's an unnecessary waste of paper in the digital age, and they know it.

I gladly pay a fee to have paper statements mailed to me as I do in California. I only live there 90 days out of the year and my neighbor picks up my mail and pays my bills.

 

[jantango]

Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates micro-climates, changes colors with the seasons, and self-replicates.

Well, why don’t we knock that down and write on it? William McDonough

 

[lunar]

I gladly pay a fee to have paper statements mailed to me as I do in California. I only live there 90 days out of the year and my neighbor picks up my mail and pays my bills.

Banks that issue Banelco debit card use pagomiscuentas.com as a bill payment system. After you pay your bill the very first time, pagomiscuentas keeps your account info/customer id with this company and does "bill presentment" after that. Your subsequent charges appear on pagomiscuentas site automatically (not bills themselves, only the amounts). You still have to log in and click on "Pay" button manually, but you know when and how much do you have to pay. And it sends reminders as well.

 

[jantango]

I gladly pay a fee to have paper statements mailed to me as I do in California. I only live there 90 days out of the year and my neighbor picks up my mail and pays my bills.

Then you are responsible for paying your bills for three months, and the rest of the year your neighbor has the responsibility to get your bills paid on time. Does she go to a currency exchange to pay them? Does she write a personal check? Does she go to the company offices with cash? How many bills does she take care of all these years you're in BA? Isn't automatic debit available with all your accounts since you probably maintain a bank account in California?

 

[jantango]

MetroGAS completely revised their online system for customers which now includes four years of bills. Payment is finally accepted by debit card at the site. Edesur also has an online bill archive with all the information you need. All this is available to customers when they register with the virtual office. You don't have to shuffle papers when you can access what you need online.

 

[gracielle]

Then you are responsible for paying your bills for three months, and the rest of the year your neighbor has the responsibility to get your bills paid on time.
YES, only my utility bills in California

Does she go to a currency exchange to pay them?
My next door neighbor of 40 years lives in California. Why would she need to go to a currency exchange?

How many bills does she take care of all these years you're in BA?
Water, electricity, and gas x 9 months per year x 15 years so far.

Does she write a personal check?
I leave her blank signed checks corresponding to my US (Calif) checking/savings account.

Does she go to the company offices with cash?
NO, she mails my checks via USPS along with hers.

Isn't automatic debit available with all your accounts?
NOT for utility bills, which are the only charges related to my home which I incur in Calif year round.

 

[jantango]

Edesur sent e-factura today at 2:00am by email that is due June 8. I clicked the green button within the message that gets me to the Oficina virtual page (user identification) where my user name and password are stored. That page offers a new option for customers using the oficina virtual who do not have an email account. However, if you want a payment receipt, you will want to enter an email address to receive it.

Pagá sin usuario

Si querés realizar un pago y no posees una cuenta de usuario, sólo ingresá a continuación con tu Número de cliente y Medidor realizando un click aquí. (Estos datos podés encontrarlos fácilmente en tu factura).

Pay without user

If you want to make a payment and do not have a user account, just enter below with your Customer Number and Meter by clicking here. (You can easily find this information on your invoice).

I have to wait a day or two before this new bill due June 8 is available on the system to pay on-line by debit card.

 

[jantango]

Also read my thread posted this afternoon....
Due to quarantine restrictions of meter readings: Metrogas and Edesur/Edenor bills with "projected" amounts

an update by email today from Edesur

You can upload the photo of your meter
The last invoices were estimated by disposition of the ENRE due to the quarantine. We want to inform you that you can upload a legible photo of your meter to report your actual consumption and practice the corresponding adjustments. Do it from our Virtual Office.

At the end of May, the authorities again allowed the activity of our [meter readers], who have already resumed their usual tasks. The new records will correct the estimates made.

 

[gracielle]

an update by email today from Edesur

You can upload the photo of your meter
The last invoices were estimated by disposition of the ENRE due to the quarantine. We want to inform you that you can upload a legible photo of your meter to report your actual consumption and practice the corresponding adjustments. Do it from our Virtual Office.

At the end of May, the authorities again allowed the activity of our [meter readers], who have already resumed their usual tasks. The new records will correct the estimates made.

Thanks. I have been doing that anyway on the 1st of the month, every 2 months since 2019. Then I submit the data to MetroGas via e-mail, long before the pandemic. I live in a 6-unit bldg. Each PH has an individual meter box in the common corridor. Previously a MetroGas meter reader would come by every 2 months to take the readings. If none of the 6 owners happen to be home at the time to allow him to enter, he would key onto his reader..."estimate amount". Metrogas would then use the same number of kilowatts for each unit that were utilized on the same month of the previous year. Since last year our "system" has been working out so well for our building that MetroGas will no longer be sending a meter reader, even after the pandemic is over.

 

[jantango]

This is information for those receiving Edesur and MetroGas bills through email who pay them through the website which takes only a few minutes to complete.

After entering your billing information for payment to Edesur, you may receive a prompt that states your payment was rejected. The first time this happened to me, I processed payment a second time. Then I checked my bank account and saw that both payments had cleared. Edesur called me personally to let me know they would credit the next bill. I told the woman that the payment was rejected online, or so I thought. I processed another online payment on July 30, got the same rejection prompt, but checked my bank account first. The Edesur payment cleared immediately. I recommend doing the same and not processing another bill payment.

I have tried for days to pay my bill due August 18 to MetroGas, but the system says try at another time. I have tried for days to pay it. They are probably changing the system and give no information about the reason a payment cannot be processed. I'll keep trying until the due date. The utilities want to receive payments, so they have to get their online system running.

I received a recorded phone call from Movistar Hogar about a discount on the next phone bill, a gesture to help people who aren't working during the pandemic, but I couldn't find any more information on the website.