Most companies encourage online access for account and billing support to save on customer service and printing and mailing costs. Many companies will give a $10 or $25 gift card to encourage switching to paperless billing. So if the customer is OK with online access and billing, everybody’s happy. So why is it that if you close that account, some companies will no longer allow online access to your closed account?
The current example of this is SCANA Gas. I tried to access the recently closed account to get some account information after I got a notice of a class action settlement. Also, I would like to compare my new gas bills with my prior bills with SCANA. When I try to log on I get the message, "Our records indicate that you currently do not have any accounts eligible for online viewing." Comcast is another company that does this.
Since these companies tout all the convenience and advantages of online access and paperless billing how can they deny access after you’ve closed the account?
There are probably some costs associated with providing you with online access… Since the account is closed they now have no reason to give you online access for free.
Perhaps if you offered to pay them they would agree to provide you access, but is it worth it? Now you know to copy all historical information before you close your online account.
I guess I’ll cancel paperless billing for for all my accounts and family accounts I control and ask for at least a year’s past bills to be mailed to me for closed accounts. Why would I ever sign up for paperless billing, etc.?; I can still access online if I want but I’ll have a backup paper copy in case I close the account. I’m certainly not going to add one more thing to do (making backup copies) every month for all my accounts. :rolleyes:
Seems like my bills and notifications and legal documents should be mine. I believe I “own” my medical records. Why should billing records be any different?
From my experience, paperless billing sites usually give you the option of downloading PDF files of your statements. If you really cared about having hard copies, it was your responsibility to download them while you still had access.
rsa: I agree with you. The “convenience” of paperless billing accrues entirely to the company’s profitability through reduced mailing costs. The “convenience” for me is now I have to use my printer, toner, and paper to create my permanent filing copies. And spend the time logging on, point & clicking, etc. Much more hassle than simply opening a snail-mail envelope.
For an account access website which renders the online bill as a savable pdf one could simply save those files locally & only convert them to paper if/when needed. But that’s not the way most of my accounts’ websites work.
Private companies are in no obligation to keep them in storage (and paying to do so) for your benefit after they’ve given you the opportunity to access them.
I don’t care about having hard copies unless that is the only way I can get them. If companies are not going to allow electronic access to bills if no longer a customer, then that should be spelled out explicitly when signing up. In that case I would not sign up since the only convenience is to the company, not me.
You’re asserting that there’s a law requiring private companies to retain and give you billing statements indefinitely. I’m saying there is no such law. I’m not sure how you expect me to cite a law that doesn’t exist.
I agree with you here (although these are covered in the TOS that people NEVER read before clicking “I agree”). I guess I never expect service to continue once I’ve stopped paying a private entity. Once I’ve cancelled my service with a phone company, cable provider, the local dry clearners, etc, I don’t expect them to keep any of my records for long, and I certainly don’t expect them to hand me such records when I request them later on. I don’t expect online billing to be any different.
All of the companies I do business with (cable company, telephone company, bank, investment bank, etc.) let me download PDF versions of the monthly statements/bills. So I do that even though I have electronic access as a current customer.
I work at a bank. We keep all that information in our system for years, but you don’t get to keep online access once you close an account. If you still need information, you’re not ready to close the account yet.* It’s common sense to gather all your information and records before closing any kind of account–bank, utility, credit card, etc. Unfortunately, some people just lack common sense. But think about it: if we just left your information hanging around for years, it leaves you open to compromise. Keeping old records around in a database slows the whole thing down, and takes up space unnecessarily. Storage space costs money.
When you tell us to close an account, we assume (again, using common sense) that you don’t need to freely access the information anymore. You can contact us if you need some statements, but it’s almost certainly going to cost you.
*Exceptions exist for, say, IRS audits. You’ll still have to pay.
I guess ING Direct isn’t the bank you work at, then. I closed the last of my ING accounts in 2013, and earlier this year I needed to access Form 1098 (?) when filing taxes. Luckily my login information still granted me access to the site, and I was able to download PDF copies of the tax forms.
I asked a related question here some weeks ago about online banking. While it’s active, I certainly don’t want anyone else to gain access to my account information. But for sure I don’t want it available after I close my account or go to paper-only banking (presuming that would be a choice). I think you are encountering an advantage that you don’t appreciate.
I think that’s a special case, in that the 1099 forms aren’t available until after the end of the tax year. So either they have to give you continuing access to your account or they have to mail the forms you need to file.
I can’t even figure out why I would want copies of bills/statements after I’ve cancelled service with the companies that offer paperless billing- which in my case are utilities, newspapers,magazines, credit cards bank accounts and insurance policies . Mostly what I need to know on those bills is if I was charged correctly and if my payment was credited. Even before paperless bills , I only kept the most recent bill (with the exception of bank statements that came copies of cancelled checks).
If I know I’m going to need a copy of my statement for my taxes or something , I’ll print it when I’m looking at it- but in truth, except for 1099s and such from banks, those statements either tend not to be from places where you “cancel service” or are from places that don’t offer paperless billing. I might need copies of tuition statements or textbook orders or medical bills, but there’s really no reason to cancel my Amazon account , my kids’ colleges kept accounts active for at least 2 semesters of non-attendance (possibly much longer) and I have yet to see a medical provider who offers paperless billing.
When I get e-bills in my e-mail, I save those e-mails in a folder for a long time. When I pay the bill, or do various other kinds of on-line transactions, there is usually some kind of “confirmation” screen displayed as the last step. I take screen shots of those and hang onto those.