Comments on: Saving Pennies… Wasting Dollars

By: Red

Red — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:52:35 +0000

My grandmother actually had the same problem with AT&T! I've never heard of this happening to anyone else before reading your post, but earlier this year, I was trying to help my grandmother cut some of her costs on her bills. On her AT&T bill, I noticed TWO charges that she couldn't explain. I called up AT&T, and they told me they couldn't tell me what the charges were, that I'd have to call the company that has been charging her. I called, and one of the companies even had the NAME wrong! The service was registered under a totally different name than my grandmother's but was being charged to her phone number. In both cases, I had the subscriptions canceled and refunded entirely. She had been paying for one for eight months! It's so important to check your bill detail.

By: One Frugal Girl

One Frugal Girl — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:21:00 +0000

@kansas mom — how do you get the details of the doctor’s claims? I rarely see details like the codes you mentioned. Do you have to ask for these specifically, and who do you ask the insurance company or the doctor?

By: Kansas Mom

Kansas Mom — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:02:00 +0000

I’m a stickler and always read over all my statements (even the ones online). I’ve caught a few things, but the biggest have all been on doctor’s bills. I’ve had lots of things typed in incorrectly. Since billing offices use codes, a little type (3 instead of 4) can make a big difference in the charge. Most people probably don’t notice or just let the insurance pay it, but since we have a 20% copay, it makes a big difference for us (and I think it’s only fair the insurance company pay for services actually rendered).

By: punk cents

punk cents — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:44:00 +0000

i’m going through something similar with sprint, though i wouldn’t have ever caught the fees if they hadn’t redesigned their statements. two months ago, the brand new statement arrived and highlighted that we have been paying taxes on our cell phones for two states and had been doing this for almost a year! sprint has ‘opened a claim’ on our account to look into it, but i have a sneaking suspicion that the money is long gone. lesson begrudgingly learned indeed.

By: One Frugal Girl

One Frugal Girl — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:56:00 +0000

@rachel -- We do read our credit card bills in detail, but thanks for the heads up on insurance. I've never heard of that before.

@drip investments -- That's an interesting point, although my online bills are now more accessible, I seem to read through them less often. But I certainly learned my lesson this time. There is nothing that irks me more than paying for something I do not want!

For those of you who read your statements from cover to cover like fabulously broke... kudos... For those of you who don't you might want to start glancing over them. You might find misc. charges like I did.

By: drip investments

drip investments — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:20:00 +0000

With online bill pay and automated payments, its harder to keep up with statements because that step of scanning the paper bill before you pay it is missing. I no longer reconcile things like I use to.

By: Fabulously Broke

Fabulously Broke — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:54:00 +0000

So it’s GOOD that I’m paranoid about checking my statements then? 🙂

By: Rachel @ Master Your Card

Rachel @ Master Your Card — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:58:00 +0000

What a very useful lesson for us all to learn. Another one to check is that you are not paying insurance on your credit card to help you with repayments if you are out of work. If you pay the balance off each month, then you ar eunlikley to struggle to cover the bill even if you are out of work for a while.