Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

For those wishing to avoid the time lost in lines to pay untility bills, is there any reason one couldn't pay an incremental amount, say an estimated amount to cover the next two billing cycles, to reduce the time in lines?

This way total time in lines would be reduced by two thirds for the small cost of the time value of a small amount of funds...

Jan 4, 2007, 6:24 AM

Post #2 of 50 (2830 views)

Re: [whistler] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

You stand to lose more than you save in time if you pay your utility bills in advance. Bills are inaccurate (and sometimes grossly inaccurate) often enough that it's not wise to ante up more than the current amount due.

Case in point: friends in Ajijic decided to avoid standing in line to pay their electric bill by arranging for its payment directly from their bank account. They receive a bi-monthly electric bill that usually totals approximately 2900 pesos per two-month period. They simply receive a statement that shows it's paid.

When they received their October 2006 bill, the September/October amount billed (that the bank had paid) was 18,000+ pesos. They're still working with the electric company to understand what error was made and how that amount was calculated. They won't receive a refund, although the electric company's current position (more than two months later) is that some sort of mistake might have happened. MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED. If an adjustment is made, they will receive a credit to their bill.

If you pay an estimated amount in advance, you take the same risk. My friends have literally spent days with the electric company trying to resolve this situation. This is not an isolated incident.

Case in point: when I received my electric bill in Guadalajara for the same September/October period, it totaled 1470 pesos. My bill is never more than 600 pesos for two months. I hied myself off to the electric company and discovered that, although the bill showed that the total was for a single two-month period, in fact the electric company had added old amounts due from 2004-2005 to the current bill, without showing any indication that the excess amount was from a time when I did not live here. If I had paid the full bill in advance, I would still be dickering with the CFE (electric company) to figure out what was wrong.

Their usual point of view is: you paid it, you must have owed it.

Caveat emptor.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

whistler

Jan 4, 2007, 7:30 AM

Post #3 of 50 (2813 views)

Re: [esperanza] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Your argument to endure the lines is compelling!

caldwelld

Jan 4, 2007, 9:42 AM

Post #4 of 50 (2785 views)

Re: [whistler] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Where I live all the major banks and the Telegraph office will take your electric bill. No standing in line necessary. CFE also have an electronic teller in their offices where you can pay your bill. It is like using an ATM. Usually no line. In any case standing in line is a national passtime and you risk losing a good opportunity to practice your Spanish and learning the latest gossip in town while waiting your 2 hours.
dondon

db52

Jan 5, 2007, 2:07 AM

Post #5 of 50 (2702 views)

Re: [esperanza] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Just a point of curiosity...I live in Michigan and have no experience with the Mexican Electric Company...but as far as Detroit Edison goes, I can walk outside and look at the meter and confirm that the numbers are correct with regard to usage. Can folks do the same in Mexico?

Jan 5, 2007, 4:00 AM

Post #6 of 50 (2697 views)

Re: [db52] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Yes, you can go outside and read the meter. In fact, you have to do that before you go talk to the CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad, the electric company) about any discrepancy--if you don't have a current reading in hand, they'll generally send you home to take one before they'll talk with you.

Problems arise when the reading doesn't reflect actual electric usage--for example, in my case, the latest bill included
2004-2005 charges which were billed not as an old balance due, but in the current charges. In the case of my friends' enormous charges for two months of residential usage (18,000+ pesos), who knows! I saw these friends yesterday and the problem is ongoing. It may never be resolved, and because the bill was paid by the bank, there may never be any sort of refund or credit to their account.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Jan 5, 2007, 10:44 PM

Post #7 of 50 (2608 views)

Re: [esperanza] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

saw these friends yesterday and the problem is ongoing. It may never be resolved, and because the bill was paid by the bank, there may never be any sort of refund or credit to their account.

That´s pretty scary stuff, Esperanza. For those of us who have two separate residences in Mexico, in our case separated by some 1,400 kilometers, the fact that the banks will pay the electric and phone bills is a godsend. Your point, therefore, that any resolution of a dispute over meter readings is made more complicated since the bank has already paid the bill is pretty scary. Also, how do you read the meter to demonstrate electrical usage if you are not in town for three months.

In December, while we were in one home and, therefore using virtually no electricity in our other home, the bill for the other home that we were not using was the same as our normal December electrical bill which means, I suppose, that they don´t really read the meters but simply estimate what one uses based upon past experience. If that´s true, that´s a scary thought. Our bank paid the bill well before we ever looked at it by going to the bank and requesting a copy. The thought of disputing a bill for $1,000 Pesos or less by confronting (civily) the CFE beast, is unpleasant to say the least.

I´ve never given this any thought but I wonder if one can get one´s electrical and telephone bills on line and pay those bills remotely at any CFE or Telmex office. They cut you off so quickly here without warning for non-payment, life may be too short to take a chance with that. But, $18,000 Pesos for two months??? Maybe they left on the electric bathroom heater for two months without realizing it.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Jan 5, 2007, 10:46 PM)

sfmacaws

Jan 5, 2007, 11:04 PM

Post #8 of 50 (2604 views)

Re: [Bubba] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

You can pay your Telmex bill online, I did it for years before I finally sold the line.

They don't really read the meters in the US either. They estimate and bill you and check them every 3 or 4 months if you are lucky. I spent months trying to straighten out and separate the SoCal Edison bill on a duplex in Cat City, I never got it done. My wonderful friend there who is a tiger to deal with when she wants to be, finally got them straightened out and the old bills removed and sent to the previous owner. He was sure not happy. Anyway, it's a PITA to deal with this kind of company anywhere. Don't get me started on the damn cable companies, I really hate them. It was a great day when we sold our residence and I canceled that cable account.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

johanson

Jan 5, 2007, 11:32 PM

Post #9 of 50 (2599 views)

Re: [sfmacaws] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Hey Jonna: good news. Last summer before I sold the summer home in NW Washington, the power company installed a new self reading meter. (Yes I have been drinking, you would too if you had to be in Seattle during this bad weather, but no, I am not making it up) There are meters now that can be read from afar, I presume from the billing center. That may sound impossible to you, but remember internet service providers are now experimenting providing internet server over the power lines. And the power companies using like methodology are able to check power consumption from these new meters from afar.

What does this have to do with Mexico? Not too much. But remember I have been drinking :). Perhaps some day CFE will do the same.

Jan 6, 2007, 4:32 AM

Post #10 of 50 (2589 views)

Re: [Bubba] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

The bi-monthly CFE bill is often an estimate rather than an actual meter reading.

If you have a Bancomer checking account, you can indeed pay your CFE and Telmex bills on line, and a large number of other bills as well. I have no personal experience with other banks here in Mexico.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Papirex

Jan 6, 2007, 6:28 AM

Post #11 of 50 (2573 views)

Re: [johanson] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Pete, 8 or 10 years ago, the power company in Anchorage, Alaska installed new power meters that are read electronically. A truck must cruise past the building; electronic equipment on the truck interrogates each meter it passes to get an accurate reading instantly.

The power company in the Anchorage area is a consumer owned co-operative, the human meter readers were eliminated as a cost saving strategy. The name of the electric utility is Chugach Electric; it is a very efficient operation. After twenty years as a member, dividends are paid to each consumer from unused funds (profits). I am still receiving small dividends every year from them.

Every city, town, village, or borough up there has its own small electric utility; there is no statewide power grid in the state. We tried to build a statewide power grid about 20 years ago. As usual, ignorant tree-huggers that don’t live in the state and have no clue of what conditions are like there, raised so much hell that the project had to be dropped.

After all, a statewide power grid would mean the end of civilization as we know it. It evokes sympathy for all the poor people in the other 49 states that are forced to live with a statewide power grid, simply so they will have a more reliable power source in times of emergency.

Rex

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

Ed and Fran

Jan 6, 2007, 6:52 AM

Post #12 of 50 (2566 views)

Re: [Bubba] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

I suppose, that they don´t really read the meters but simply estimate what one uses based upon past experience.

Depends on where you live. Here in Tuxpan they do read the meters every two months (two month billing cycle), and we see the reading and bi-monthly usage on the bill.

Regards

Ed

Rolly

Jan 6, 2007, 7:12 AM

Post #13 of 50 (2559 views)

Re: [Ed and Fran] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

The meters are read bi-monthly here in Lerdo also.

Pete, remotely read meters have been around for a long time. Our ranch in Texas had such a meter many years ago. Carrier current telemetry has been is use for more than 50 years.

Rolly Pirate

thriftqueen

Jan 6, 2007, 12:59 PM

Post #14 of 50 (2520 views)

Re: [esperanza] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Because of problems we had in the past with our electric charges my hubby learned how to read the billing, even the small print and how to interpret it. CFE reads the meters here in Alamos, Sonora. They read our meter every 59 to 60 days. John always figures what our bill should be and doesn't miss it by much. One of the best things we have learned from our Mexican friends is nunca, nunca pay anything ahead of time. As the Mexicans say, once they get your money, they ain't giv'in it back!

Jan 6, 2007, 1:55 PM

Post #15 of 50 (2508 views)

Re: [thriftqueen] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

In theory, the CFE also reads the meters at Lake Chapala every two months. In practice, estimated bills are distributed with some frequency. Mind you, they don't SAY on the bill that it's an estimate...but pressed gently to the wall, CFE admits it.

Another situation: about 18 months ago, CFE Chapala hired a young Guadalajara man to distribute the electric bills in Ajijic. The young man was totally unfamiliar with Ajijic's streets. Frustrated after trying to figure out where to distribute approximately a several-inch high stack light bills, he distributed about 50 or 60 and he threw the rest away. This is a true story: a friend of mine saw him pitch the stack of bills into a dumpster on Calle Guadalupe Victoria, just west down the street from Plaza Bugambilias. My friend was among the lucky 50 or 60 people who actually got their bills; the rest of the town never received one for that bimestre. The CFE-authorized payment desk that operates at the Prisa paint store was scrambling to help people get their bills paid.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

jerezano

Jan 6, 2007, 6:58 PM

Post #16 of 50 (2462 views)

Re: [thriftqueen] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Hello thriftqueen,

You said: As the Mexicans say, once they get your money, they ain't giv'in it back!

The idea is correct but the quote ain't.

The Mexican saying is: La música pagada suena mala.

Music paid for in advance sounds bad. ie: The musicians don't work at it, they don't deliver.

And this is the folk wisdom telling one never to pay in advance. I hear it all the time.

Adiós. jerezano.

thriftqueen

Jan 6, 2007, 7:38 PM

Post #17 of 50 (2454 views)

Re: [esperanza] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

I don't doubt your story at all about the guy throwing away the monthly bills. Until the last several cycles we never received our bill. We are the only Americanos living in our area and we assumed the fellow possibly didn't like gringos. We have wonderful neighbors who all watched out for the delivery and would ask for our recibo. Once the fellow told our friend he didn't have a bill for us, she took the stack out of his hand and located our bill. We have a buzon on our gate that is clearly marked Electrico. After John visiting the office in Navojoa several times and then visiting with the engineers at the Main CFE Distribution Center we get our bill. He had got to know the engineers when we were having our lines installed but that's another story.

As for the meter being read, we have a free standing casa on a large lot and John is out and about all day and he sees the meter being read. This month it will be read or the 8th or 9th. He told me today that he saw the meter reader in the adjacent barrio reading a friend's meter.

thriftqueen

Jan 6, 2007, 7:41 PM

Post #18 of 50 (2450 views)

Re: [jerezano] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Well perdon, it's been may years since I was a Texan but the thoughts still remain the same and apparently you got the drift. I was not attempting to say it was a verbatim Mexican phrase. :)

Jan 6, 2007, 10:44 PM

Post #19 of 50 (2430 views)

Re: [jerezano] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

The Mexican saying is: La música pagada suena mala.

Music paid for in advance sounds bad. ie: The musicians don't work at it, they don't deliver.

Ah, Jerezano, you remind me of something that really cracked me up a few years ago while we were traveling in Guatemala. We were sitting on this beautiful hotel veranda enjoying some drinks and there was this marimba band playing for the enjoyment of guests. Near us sat a contingent of German tourists who were somewhat in their cups from drinking beer and clearly, if somewhat drunkenly and loudly , enjoying the music. After about 30 minutes, the band began to pack it in and the German tourists, in jolly good mood, sent their leader to talk to the band members and proffer a rather substantial sum of Quetzals if they would continue to play. The leader handed them the Quetzals requesting in broken pidgin German/Spanish that they play another set. The band members took the money, thanked him profusely, packed up and promptly left the hotel without playing another note and, no doubt commenting among themselves as to the unusually generous propina they had received from the borracho foreigners.

Georgia

Jan 7, 2007, 6:30 AM

Post #20 of 50 (2408 views)

Re: [Bubba] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Bubba, you can check your electric bill online before you authorize the payment.

Jan 7, 2007, 1:49 PM

Post #21 of 50 (2358 views)

Re: [Georgia] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Georgia:

Enlighten me as to how to do that. Lloyd and Bancomer pay my five utility bills for electrical service and telephone on properties 1,400 kilometers apart.. I had to give both institutions blanket authority to pay all five bills and neither institution indicated that they would wait to pay my bills until they had my authorization. That would be unwieldy to say the least and would somewhat defeat the purpose of automatic bill pay. Do you have this arrangement with your bank?

Georgia

Jan 7, 2007, 3:20 PM

Post #22 of 50 (2342 views)

Re: [Bubba] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Ok, Bubba, here goes: IF you have an FM-2 you can get a Visa card from Banamex. Go to the CFE website and sign in, creating an account with a password. You can view your bill monthly, and pay on line with your Banamex Visa.

Jan 7, 2007, 9:04 PM

Post #23 of 50 (2292 views)

Re: [Georgia] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

Thanks, Georgia. I do have an FM-2 but if I go your route with a local bank credit card the auto pay feature is kaput. I´ll have to give it some thought. Everything´s a trade off I guess.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Jan 7, 2007, 9:06 PM)

Georgia

Jan 8, 2007, 5:54 AM

Post #24 of 50 (2270 views)

Re: [Bubba] Reducing time in lines to pay utility bills

Can't Post | Private Reply

The advantage, of course, is that it puts you back in control of your bill: if it should turn out to be way out of line, you can at least challenge it before your money is down the tube.

ignacio

Jan 8, 2007, 3:03 PM

Post #25 of 50 (2204 views)