City Of Leesburg Natural Gas Bill "EXTRA CHARGES"
 

I noticed on my City Of Leesburg Natural Gas bill that "utility payments made with a credit/debit card will incur a transaction fee of $3.50. ACH/Echeck payments will incur a $1.00 transaction fee."

How can I avoid these "add-on fees"? I have never had any business charge me extra for using automatic payment features (whether it was automatically billed on my credit card or taken out of my bank account)!

Even paying the bill with a personal check and sent by USPS mail each month (which would seem to avoid City Of Leesburg's nasty transaction fees) would cost 73 cents for the postage stamp!

Anybody know how to handle this at the least cost? Please chime in!

:doh::rant-rave::swear::confused::$:

The Villages utility billing system incorporated similar charges about a year ago. I believe the options available to me are:

• - Write a check - cost of check, envelope, and stamp
• - automatic withdrawal from checking account - NO fee
• - ACH initiated by customer (Echeck) - fee
• - Credit card payment - fee
• - Bill pay through bank services - No fee (EDIT: can be manual or automatic)

I use automatic withdrawal from my account, others have talked about using a bank's bill pay services.

Again, this is for the Villages utility billing system used in Sumter County. The fees for the Leesburg system may be different.

I receive my Leesburg electric bill and my District water bill via email. I pay both bills using an ACH E-check directly from my personal checking account using the free Truist bill pay system. In the case of my water bill, I avoid the $0.95 charge assessed by the vender, Invoice Cloud. If Leesburg adds a vender to their online payment system, hopefully I will be able avoid any vender charges by continuing to use my personal bank bill pay system. Time will tell.

Note that I pay the water bill "manually" using Truist's ACH E-check bill pay system. There is no automatic withdrawal and no fee.

I believe you noted in the past that if you initiated an ACH from Invoice Cloud there would be a fee. It may have to do with where the transfer is initiated or there may be some other difference behind the scenes.

(I corrected my post above to remove "automatic")

Yes, Invoice Cloud will charge $0.95 for every payment. But, I receive the bill via email, I write down the total amount due, and then I log in to Truist and make a bill payment directly to the District account. The money is sent via ACH E-check and there is no fee from Truist, Invoice Cloud, or the District. It takes less than a minute to make the payment.

And I have Invoice Cloud configured to automatically withdraw from my bank account. I receive an email but I write nothing down, I log into nothing, and I don't have to watch for typos. It takes zero time and I'm confident the bill will be paid with absolutely no effort on my part.

I have never had a problem paying with automatic withdrawals whether from the bank or from a credit card. Others may have had a different experience. The next time I have a problem will be the first time I've had a problem and might change my mind.

To be fair, I do manage the withdrawal account carefully and keep the balance low just in case something unfortunate were to occur.

If it works for you, great. I try to avoid autopay anytime I can. Old school.

I do the exact same thing with many of my bills. It may take a few days - up to a week, but the Truist Bill Pay system works.

No. You should be able to make ACH E-check payments for free if you have a checking account with bill pay. It sounds like Leesburg may have hired a vendor to process online payments like the District has done with the water bill. The vendor charges a fee if you decide to make your payments through the vendor.

Another option: find out what's good to eat in Leesburg, and once a month, GO there and pay your bill in person. And enjoy your lunch nearby.

I printed your message to show a friend who lives in Leesburg. It cost me a new color ink jet cartridge.

And here I was thinking he was just being an LGTBQ++ warrior.

use bill pay from your bank, no fee charged

TECO has a similar charge. I just overpay in January and charge $1,000 on my card. I am hit with the fee, but its a once a year charge and less than what you are being asked to pay.

:evil6::evil6::1rotfl::1rotfl::
everyone pay bill with loose pennies !

I use “autopay” with the City of Leesburg. There is no fee for the service.

I would call the gas company. You may also call your credit card company. I think Ben Franklin said watch the pennies and the dollars take care of themselves. I will bet you will get replies don't be so cheap. SO FROM ME THANKS FOR POINTING IT OUT.

I've seen, noticed more of this recently. I know or perhaps KNEW that to take credit cards is EXPENSIVE like forty cents for every transaction and 2% of the bill amount. Those percent back deals do not come out of thin air. I do not think it has changed. To take credit cards, you sign a contract with the credit card company and you cannot charge a fee for using a credit card or offer a discount for CASH.

FUNNY? Not really. Due to INFLATION, a penny is worth a penny and a half in scrap copper.
It is ILLEGAL to destroy them. HUM could get you three meals a day, medical care and an orange jumpsuit.

HUM Isn't the slogan the Villages is friendly. Overpay any bill by a penny. It costs a small fortune to deal with an overpay. Calls, letters etc. Computers do not think. It will keep notifying you they owe you a penny.

My bank sends bill payments via check without me incurring any postage. Capital One

By the way you do realize credit card companies charge two and a half to 3% to the vendor for accepting cards.
Leesburg is just passing it on to you

Cost of a stamp? Fees under a dollar?

And I thought I was careful with money!

[QUOTE=WiseSpender;2401247]I noticed on my City Of Leesburg Natural Gas bill that "utility payments made with a credit/debit card will incur a transaction fee of $3.50. ACH/Echeck payments will incur a $1.00 transaction fee."

How can I avoid these "add-on fees"? I have never had any business charge me extra for using automatic payment features (whether it was automatically billed on my credit card or taken out of my bank account)!

Even paying the bill with a personal check and sent by USPS mail each month (which would seem to avoid City Of Leesburg's nasty transaction fees) would cost 73 cents for the postage stamp!

Anybody know how to handle this at the least cost? Please chime in!


We have noticed this happening more and more in just the last few months, and YES, even charges for using automatic payments directly from bank account. Guess businesses are just fed up with incurring "usual and customary" costs of doing business, and have decided it would MUCH more convenient and much more PROFITABLE to move those costs to the customers ! In the case of businesses like utilities, they know it is highly unlikely any customer is going to STOP their utility account and go "pioneer"....lol... also, cutting the option of having a physical location and a human being in that location to accept in person payments is an excellent business decision for the BUSINESS, not the so much for the "customers". Welcome to the new world of artificial "intelligence"....MUCH more to come get ready.