I would send a check, its more work for them in the end.
Every payment option has a fee
Submitted 3 days ago by sanitation@lemmy.today to mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.today/pictrs/image/f0266532-e167-418e-b6ed-1bde2782ef41.jpeg
Comments
TIEPilot@lemmy.world 3 days ago
cattywampas@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t accept checks.
TIEPilot@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Sadly nor would I but they may have to take them by gov regulation as this would be insane that you had to pay a fee to pay a fee. It counter intuitive from a normal mindset, not the mindset of a gouging insurance company. Make perfect sense to those idiot, lol
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 3 days ago
Read the image. They charge a higher premium if you don’t use their auto pay.
The only way I can see around it is if you make annual payments instead of monthly. Fewer payments, less fees.
If we’re feeling petty, though, we can accept the higher premium, and send them weekly (or even daily) check payments instead of monthly. Let them process 30 transactions per month instead of just one.
Death__BySnuSnu@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Show up with a dump truck full of pennies.
Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 3 days ago
Best part is all these payment methods, including checks incur the same processing fees since 2006 with the Check21 regulations.
This made all transactions - debit card, check, transfer, function the same way through the same processing.
So a check genuinely costs them more - from not charging thebfee, to requiring at least some manual oversight.
TIEPilot@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Oh I didn’t know that, checks it is! Fuck these bozo’s right!?!
boonhet@sopuli.xyz 2 days ago
Is that true in the US? Where I come from, card payments have a fee that the merchant has to pay, but bank transfers are free and instant.
HeyJoe@lemmy.world 3 days ago
It’s exactly what my father does for places. He can’t stand these fees and if whatever service he is paying has them then a check will be sent. He says it’s what hes uses to anyway since that is how he had done it most of his life.
I love that mentaility and wish I could do the same, but sadly I just want it to be known its paid right away and also since i live paycheck to paycheck waiting weeks on end for random checks to be cashed will be impossible for me to not accidentally use some of that money elsewhere.
TIEPilot@lemmy.world 3 days ago
And for 99.999% of utilities/etc there is no fee so paying online is great imo. But this is a BS money grab for the sake of being an easy money grab.
feannag@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
Lots of banks will send a check on your behalf. It withdraws the money that day so you can predict it rather than when the business cashes it. And you have proof the money was sent and your bank/credit Union has a stake in the fight if the business gets shay about it.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 1 day ago
certified mail w/ tracking so you can prove it was done, but yeah
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 3 days ago
Changing payment methods may result in a premium increase.
Fuck them. I would be switch companies. If they try to turn a buck on shit like this, you know they’ll try to fuck you on a claim.
InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
Allstate has, by far, the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced from a car insurance company. I personally will not willingly do business with them ever again.
BEWARE
Every time I called, it felt like I was on trial. It was like they were interrogating me, picking into every little detail, looking for ways to prove I owe them more money. At one point, they threatened to increase my rates because I have a parent living with me at the same address. A parent who has no license and is not physically able to get to the car without my help. They forced me to submit documentation to prove all this under threat of having to pay more for my insurance.
When I was looking at renewal, they sent me a quote that was an order of magnitude larger than what any other insurer quoted me. I ended my policy on the spot, and then had to fight to get a prorated refund from them for the remainder of my policy term. They still tried to charge me for the new policy, despite having cancelled.
And that’s not all, that’s just some of the “highlights”.
Good luck to you OP! May the suffering you are about to endure cleanse the karmic debts of your past lives.
LodeMike@lemmy.today 3 days ago
Exactly what I expect from a company that advertises so much
The_v@lemmy.world 3 days ago
My wife worked in Insurance for a while. The companies tend to follow two two business models:
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Advertise like crazy to get new business in. Then refuse to payout claims and pay substandard rates. Lose customers as quickly as you gain them. Mitigate these losses by having 100’s of brand names/shell companies to mask your activities.
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Do minimal advertising and rely on word of mouth and sales distribution network. Pay out fairly and give decent customer service.
Generally any company that you recognize the name from advertising is going to fuck you over. Most of the other company names you’ve never heard of are the same companies trying to fuck you over.
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BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 days ago
That’s customer service for ALL companies. Nothing works any more. Just saying you have a customer service department is enough, it doesn’t actually have to be effective. Most of them are just AI chatbots with canned answers. Many of them start with “I’m still learning, so be patient with me!” in a cheery voice. Bitch, I got a problem with your company, I don’t want an unfinished computer program, I need HELP!
foodandart@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
…That’s customer service for ALL companies. Nothing works any more…
The insurance company that we use for our cars is delightful to deal with. I haven’t even had to wait long, just leave a call back number and get a response within 15 minutes. Then again, it’s a regional insurer, (Maine, NH and MAssachusetts) not a national one.
Funny as hell, as I just got a bulk mailer for Progressive Auto insurance and it was offering me coverage as low as 67 dollars a month for a basic liability policy… For one car.
::sighs:: My dear, sweet dudes at Progressive… I pay 740 bucks a year… for TWO cars.
PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I once had to pay a fee for using PayPal. I read through paypal’s terms of service for vendors and it said they can’t do that. I complained to paypal and they gave me 5€. The vendor continued to charge a fee for using paypal.
I surmised the vendor was bringing in enough profit for paypal to not penalize them and they just gave me five bucks to shut me up. Adventures in the world of capitalism I guess.
llama@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
Target won’t let you checkout with PayPal if their margin on a specific sale is too low like their daily deals or whatever they’re called.
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 days ago
Go back to sending them a check for every payment, like my 87 year old mother insists on doing. Make them work for it.
SippyCup@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Seriously, do this.
Also, never, under any circumstances, allow a company to automatically withdraw funds directly from your bank account.
“Ope, we’ve changed the terms of service, and charged you a backdated amount based on the new terms of service you’ve already consented to by paying us”
They don’t get a dime until I know for damn sure I’m giving it to them. If an organization refuses to do business with you without direct access to your bank account, it’s because their business model depends on them being able to fuck you.
Credit cards and physical paper checks only for recurring transactions. Amex if they’ll take it. Don’t let them keep your debit card on file either.
OrgunDonor@lemmy.world 1 day ago
It is so strange and incredible reading americans having issues with auto payments. But I presume you do not have anything like Direct Debit, and the protections that some with that, like having to notify you well in advance of payment changes, or if the wrong amount is taken you get it back.
www.directdebit.co.uk/direct-debit-guarantee/
You can also cancel it directly from your bank app as well, no messing around, its a simple 2 click process.
jaschen306@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
I worked at a bank and our customers had to pay more money the more checks they brought in. Won’t be surprised if they started charging for that too.
SalmonTractor@discuss.tchncs.de 3 days ago
To directly quote a painted piece of wood in a pile of rubble on the side of the road after a big flood in Colorado in 2013: Fuck Allstate.
pr06lefs@lemmy.ml 3 days ago
glad to see that visa fees are being disclosed now. for a long time visa wouldn’t allow vendors to show the fees, and cash transactions had to cost the same as visa transactions.
webhead@lemmy.world 2 days ago
No they weren’t allowed to charge a fee before. They had to build it into the cost of doing business like every other thing that goes into the price. Visa isn’t “allowing” them to SHOW the fee, they’re being forced to allow the fee (surcharge) to be added on because of bills the feds passed.
I guarantee this isn’t working out in your favor. That’s why these businesses fought so hard to have the fee. Visa and MasterCard wanted merchants to not do this because it makes credit cards less attractive if places charge fees. The thing I’m particularly skeptical about is how much they charge. The fees are like 2 to 3 percent. Checks and debit cards are flat like a few cent fees. Allstate charging 5 dollars for debit or 2 dollars for bank transfers is fucking insane.
pr06lefs@lemmy.ml 2 days ago
It does work out in my favor if I pay cash. Which I’m in favor of, though these days you have to carry a lot of it.
dan1101@lemmy.world 3 days ago
It’s like 3%, which I don’t love but I like better than dealing with cash or checks.
Soulphite@reddthat.com 3 days ago
There must be a way to pay without fee. It might be more work for you, but it’s definitely more work for them, hence the “convenience” aspect of the fee.
In the US, some citizens go to physical locations to pay fines in coins. Hundreds of dollars in coins is very inconvenient to the establishment but they have to legally accept it. Sends a clear message to them that they suck ass.
kungen@feddit.nu 3 days ago
There must be a way to pay without fee.
According to whom? As far as I’m aware, there’s no such law in the US regarding private companies. So they can be jerks if they want to.
Serinus@lemmy.world 3 days ago
legal tender for all debts, public and private
consumerfinance.gov/…/what-is-a-convenience-fee-o…
They can charge fees, as long as there is an alternate way to pay without a fee. Usually it’s by check in the mail.
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 days ago
Now that they gotten us to accept a fee, sooner or later they’ll jack up the fee. It’s only $2 now, but in a few years, it will be $5, and then $10, and you better pay it if you want your lights to stay on.
And politicians will help them do it by passing a law that the fee can’t by larger than the actual payment, or some helpful horseshit like that.
MisterD@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
History lesson: in 1990 I worked at a computer store. If you paid by credit card you paid the listed price. If you paid with cash, you got the CASH DISCOUNT price.
Soon MasterCard and VISA went to court to prevent the cash discount practice.
Soon after, points and cash-back credit cards came out
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 days ago
There are several gas stations who offer a cash price that is about 10 cents a gallon cheaper than the credit card price.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Yeah, we really need laws defending the right to get discounts for low fee payment methods. I should pay less for using my debit card than someone using a credit card that charges a fee to the seller (which is passed on to all customers) that’s high enough to give them back 1+% of what they spend. And a further discount for cash
tonyn@lemmy.ml 3 days ago
You can always mail a check, right? Isn’t that still a thing?
SalmonTractor@discuss.tchncs.de 3 days ago
It’s so messed up that some states legally allow merchants to charge a “credit card fee”. Providers of services much like the above can charge if it’s a debit, credit, etc. even if they both say “Visa” on them. The concept of money in the US is so obfuscated now.
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 days ago
That’s because every credit card swipe carries a fee of about 2.75%, and that comes out of company profit, so they are recouping that fee. They want you to pay for the processing fee, not them.
As near as I can tell, it’s still free to send them a paper check, and that has to be the most expensive form of processing, and the least convenient for them, so send a check, and really piss them off.
victorz@lemmy.world 3 days ago
You’re saving on your premium by paying automatically with a bank account. Changing payment methods may result in a premium increase.
Explain again how I’m saving on my premium? 🤔
zewm@lemmy.world 3 days ago
It’s $2 vs $5 if you pay with bank.
$5 here is the premium price and $2 is the discounted price.
victorz@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Maybe I’m just confused by what the word “premium” means.
Jackcooper@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Time to leave Allstate
Nollij@sopuli.xyz 3 days ago
The best time to leave Allstate was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.
Also applies to most insurance companies, particularly the ones that do a lot of advertising.
phar@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I hope this BS leads to competition with Visa/MC. The fees they charge are ridiculous. Then you’re paying for stripe or whatever on top. A govt run system that’s not for profit would be awesome.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 3 days ago
We did have something resembling competition, maybe a decade or so ago, with the emergence of Venmo and Cashapp and Zelle - basically just digital front-ends for e-checks between bank accounts. They all hit major stumbling blocks, in no small part thanks to how Visa/AMEX/MC conspired to freeze them out.
Capitalism abhors competition.
COASTER1921@lemmy.ml 2 days ago
Allstate is a horrible insurance company. I was hit by someone running a red light who had Allstate, and the way they handled their insured party’s non-cooperation was terrible. Both my dashcam and a police camera recorded the collision. They called the driver but got cursed out and hung up on. I don’t think they tried anything else before denying the claim.
3abas@lemmy.world 2 days ago
All insurance companies are evil and will do everything they can to deny any claim.
Nightsoul@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Pretty sure is illegal to have a surcharge or convenience fee for ach/bank account transactions
eestileib@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
Wow that’s bullshit
RattlerSix@lemmy.world 3 days ago
My Allstate account doesn’t do that. There are no payment option fees. Is there something odd about your account? Have you had missed payments or insufficient funds when paying?
blitzen@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
The fee isn’t for the payment method, it’s for “financing” the cost of the policy over six months. I’m sure that there is no fee if you pay in full.
K1nsey6@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Financing the bill is figured into the total amount. This is a processing fee
blitzen@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
I’ve personally never seen in my own policies any kind of financing when paying monthly. It’s always been policy total / 6 = monthly payment. Then there is a modest (and yes, mildly infuriating) fee per payment. When I said the fee was the cost of financing, I didn’t mean it literally was that, but more of an “effective” cost of financing. I’d love to see someone’s policy that has a financing increase line item.
TheGoldenV@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Incorrect. You don’t get the auto pay discount if you pay in full. Seriously.
blitzen@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
That is indeed mildly infuriating. Do you get the discount AND avoid fees if you auto-pay in full?
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world 3 days ago
artwork@lemmy.world 3 days ago
[deleted]_chris@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Gargle that corporate knob harder, man. Hope it tastes good.
Fees for processing payments used to be considered “a cost of doing business”. Now they’re being passed onto the consumer as the price of convenience and another profit vector for an already predatory industry.
lIlIlIlIlIlIl@lemmy.world 3 days ago
This has to be copypasta.
Because there’s no way a real human with a real job can have these feelings, unless they were the biggest fascist pussy bootlicker the sewers have ever vomited out onto the pavement
TheGoldenV@lemmy.world 3 days ago
biggest fascist pussy bootlicker the sewers have ever vomited out onto the pavement
I just learned how to tag people. I’m going to use this as their descriptor now.
driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 3 days ago
Just bate
LongMember69@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Such a fee is absolutely normal, adequate, and simply human.
Interesting take, but also not accurate. ACH / direct bank connection costs merchants a fraction of a cent to use. Additionally even bank cards that are more expensive likely don’t exceed $1 in fees for such a transaction.
The merchant in this case is likely taking in more money than necessary to cover transaction costs i.e. they are making money on you paying them money (which is not normal, nor adequate).
emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
Domestic transactions in my country have zero fees. Because it’s a fully computerised system. Because we live in the year 2026. Catch up.
nogooduser@lemmy.world 3 days ago
And why is that “mildly infuriating”?
Charging a fee to accept payment is ridiculous. If a cost is unavoidable then it should be included in the price.
I accept that some payment providers charge more than others but there should be at least one that is free even if that means adding the cost of the cheapest one to the base price.
Ideally they would all be free and you’d just add the average cost of payment processing to the price.
There was a time in the UK when you could get a flight from Manchester to London for £8 but the final price ended up being ten times that due to additional costs that weren’t optional.
whereitsat@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
what’s stopping you from mailing a paper check? frontiersmen had no convenience but they made due. my great-great-great grandmother fought bears in utah with her bare hands to protect the family homestead.
blackn1ght@feddit.uk 3 days ago
Americans seem allergic to showing a simple single payable amount that the customer pays. It must be exhausting. It must be like trying to book RyanAir tickets, but with everything.
CombatWombat@feddit.online 3 days ago
It is exhausting. It would be nice to live somewhere with consumer protections, but shockingly those places aren’t particularly enthusiastic about taking immigrants from the US
apftwb@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Cannot be done. We are a special and unique country.
BreakerSwitch@lemmy.world 3 days ago
There WERE laws against this sort of thing. Briefly.
Sackett@thelemmy.club 3 days ago
Congress has more important things to worry about. Like who can join which basketball team.
Malyca@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
It’s exactly like that
SippyCup@lemmy.world 1 day ago
It is!
You’re really primed to expect to pay so much more than the asking price for literally every transaction. It’s fucking awful. Tax. Tip. “Estimated totals” convenience fees. Fuck you fees. Fees for the bees. You got too many fees fees. Subscription fee. “That was the price if you subscribe, it costs more if you don’t” fee.
I fucking hate this place