Now that the Christmas shopping season has passed, I am awaiting the credit card statements to start appearing in my mailbox. Unlike the political mailers that I have missed so much, this is possibly the only batch of mail that I can live without but find necessary to file. As I am checking my mailbox day after day, I ponder...why have I not received any? Has the credit card company forgotten about me? While the thought of it sounded great, let's be realistic...that could never happen. So, why is it that I have not received any of my statements? I look up my account online. The last time I had paid was online with my bank. In looking at account preferences, I was automatically signed up for paper-free billing. Well, I didn't plan to make all of my payments online. I hate it when businesses assume these things. I look up the FAQ area for more information in case this was a mistake. It states "Electronic payments automatically enroll an account in paper-free billing."That is weird especially when it was not paid within their web site. Further, I find that "Electronic Banking (authorizing bill payments at your bank's Web site)" constitutes as paper-free billing. Great, how do I fix this?As you may not know, I like to file certain items such as credit card statements... My four drawer filing cabinet in my home office is not just there to look pretty or make me feel important. Now this switch from paper to electronic statements makes me wonder why a company would just automatically assume to stop my mail. Is a transfer of costs the answer?If you think about it; not only am I as a consumer to pay for the amount on my statements, I am subjected to spend monies towards the paper and ink toner on my laser printer so that I can file my much needed documents in my filing cabinet. Is this really a convenience to me...or a pass of costs to the consumer? Your thoughts, please? In the meantime, I am switching back to paper bills...and saving myself some money to pay for what I have on these statements.Posted by: Widtha Grayne
