Here’s what I see when I log into my Comcast account:
So…help me, Dear Reader. Do I owe them anything right this minute? How much? When is that due? Could they perhaps make this a little harder to decipher? (The answer to the last one is no, they could not make this harder.)
For what it’s worth, I absolutely know for certain I paid my previous bill (the one due in January) with cash for the exact amount on the paper bill* at a currency exchange on the due date, but it looks like someone didn’t process it until after the due date. I think.
*which is still sitting in my car and I’m too lazy to go get at the moment.
And the paper bill says that my first payment (due 1/14) wasn’t received and has nasty red scare-o-grams on it about unpaid balances and threats of cancellation…but it was printed 1/10…four days before the due date. WTF, Comcast?
It also says the New Charges (124.14) are due 2/07…a date I see nowhere in the Billing Summary I copied in the OP…
I should go add this to the “Perks of Being Poor” thread. It’s been a peaceful year, not having to decode a Comcast billing statement!
You might try calling Comcast. They could have a feature where you type in your account number or account phone number and they tell you how much is due at the moment. If not, a customer service rep could tell you if you get ahold of one.
I’ve done that for medical bills before. Not sure if I’ve paid or what…I just call and ask.
So the total due is due including current charges is due on 1/10. Yet the current billing cycle is 1/17 - 2/16. The bill is due before the billing cycle begins? It’s due, in fact, even before the previous bill was due (1/14)?
Or maybe my paper statement is right and the current charges are due 2/07…which is 9 days before the billing cycle ends. Weird billing cycle, that.
I know, right? It shouldn’t take the expertise of an accountant to figure out a cable bill.
The paper bill is a bit more comprehensible, but since the due date doesn’t match up with the online due date, I’m still not with the happy:
Monthly Statement Summary
Previous Balance 127.08
Payment 0.00
Unpaid Balance - Due Now 127.08
New Charges - Due by 02/07/12 124.14
See below for more information
Total Amount Due $251.22
At least they don’t appear to have hit me with a late fee for the bill I paid on time but they didn’t receive.
Oh, and I was wrong about one thing. I didn’t pay the bill on 1/14 when it was supposedly due. I paid it in the early morning of 1/12 (which makes sense, as we were on our way to the hospital for an inpatient stay and I wanted the bill dealt with). Have the receipt from the currency exchange, dated 1/12. So I paid it 2 days *before *the paper bill’s due date and still got nasty red ink on my next bill.
No more paying through the currency exchange, that’s for sure.
Are they doing pre-paid billing, as in you are expected to pay each month in advance? I’ve paid a lot of bills for a lot of companies, and this really is weird. The usual method is reach end of billing cycle, generate invoice based on customer’s account at the cut-off time, send invoice out with amount due and date it is due on (usually a couple of weeks from the end of the billing cycle). Comcast doesn’t seem to be doing that.
As far as I know, there’s nothing out of the ordinary about our account or billing. We signed up in December, first bill was the one that apparently posted seven days after I paid it in cash at the currency exchange. Not sure if that’s the currency exchange’s fault or Comcast’s.
I’d like to talk to someone at Comcast, but to be honest, I’m so confused I’m not even sure where to begin with articulating my confusion! Perhaps I should use the online chat and copy and paste my posts from here and hope is makes sense to the CSR…
…but at least it’s not just me. It really *is *confusing, and not because I’m stupid or missing something obvious. Good to know.
Well that explains it. It takes a couple of months for bills and payments to work into a groove with any cable company.
Don’t worry about it, just pay $124.14, and the next statement should be caught up.
I’ll note that paying your bill at a third-party location is going to take a few days before Comcast gets it. You can pay it online directly to Comcast with your debit card or from your bank account.
Yes, ComCast bills in advance. You never had a bill due on 1/17, that’s when the billing period starts – the time during which the anticipated expenses will accrue. The payment you made on 1/17 (or that they’ve credited on 1/17) was for the past month, and was due in December. You pay the amount due 1/10 now, and the next bill will probably show up in the next few days; it will show that payment, and present the charges for 2/17 - 3/16 (or thereabouts), due on 2/10. Make that payment before 2/10, and you’ll be clear for a month.
