[WXC/VFX] New Late Payment Fees

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Zeon

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Topic # 191936 21-Feb-2016 20:42

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Hey guys,

So I've been a loyal customer of WxC for probably nearing on 8 years now including moving a number of clients in past roles to their services and making recommendations to many others (including on this forum). But their latest "policy" on late payments now means I will be shifting (recommendations welcome!). So in some instances I have paid 2-3 days late. Not due to lack of funds but because too-busy etc. This results on an average of 25% late payment fee.

While I appreciate the due date is in fact a due date, the reality is that no other supplier operates like this and I wouldn't treat a loyal customer like this.

Wondering if anyone else has experienced? I presume its a Vodafone thing...

tardtasticx

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Reply # 1496699 21-Feb-2016 20:49

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Don't most providers have late fees of some sort? Just setup an AP or something and let it do its thing. I'd be more surprised to find a provider that DIDNT have a late fee tbh.

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sidders80

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Reply # 1496702 21-Feb-2016 21:04

My recommendation is to pay bills on time to avoid late payment fee. As pointed out most of the operators charge this so don't know Vodafone has got to do with it. Set up an AP or DD and then you don't have a problem. If you are really loyal to a company then paying their invoices on time should be your top priority.

Sid

mattwnz

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Reply # 1496715 21-Feb-2016 22:19

What are the fees? I thought they had to be fair reflection of the actual losses incurred when apartment isn't made in time plus costs in collecting.

Zeon

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Reply # 1496724 21-Feb-2016 23:54

sidders80:

My recommendation is to pay bills on time to avoid late payment fee. As pointed out most of the operators charge this so don't know Vodafone has got to do with it. Set up an AP or DD and then you don't have a problem. If you are really loyal to a company then paying their invoices on time should be your top priority.

True - I would love to pay on time. but in most cases its maybe 2-3 days max. It is most definitely not my top priority - perhaps the 200th priority - wish I could get onto it quicker but trying to cover 3-4 positions with just myself currently!

The thing is that I don't know any other supplier that operates like this. Most of our clients are heavily late but we would never push high penalties for this. The policy was suspiciously close for WxC to their Vodafone acquisition so considering their reputation had made the link of this coming from them.

Jase2985

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Reply # 1496749 22-Feb-2016 05:30

Here are 3 other ISP's as an example, all apply a fee when you pay late. why not just setup a direct debit. you are obviously able to pay it you just forget about it, and a direct debit solves that.

About Vodafone's late payment fee

Most people pay their bill when it's due, however when people don't pay on time the cost for us to chase overdue bills is substantial. To help recover these costs a $17.25 ($15 excl GST) late payment fee is applied to all overdue mobile and landline and internet bills. This means that if your bill is late you will see a $17.25 ($15 excl GST) late payment fee on your next month's bill.

Spark Late Payment Fee

The late payment fee only applies to customers who pay late and is necessary to mainly cover the large cost of obtaining money relating to unpaid bills. Avoid late payment fees by paying your account in full by the due date on the statement.

Current charges are:

Residential $16.00 Plus GST ( $18.40 Incl GST)

Business $16.00 Plus GST or 1.66% of the outstanding bill, whichever is greater Note: The interest charge is applied to the GST inclusive overdue balance,however the fee itself is GST exempt

2 Degrees Late and missed payments

When payments are missed, the cost for us to chase overdue bills can be significant. So to help recover these costs, a late payment fee is applied to all overdue bills or when a payment is made after the due date.

This means if your payment is late you will see a $7.50 (incl. GST) late payment fee on your next month's bill. The easiest way to avoid an overdue payment and a subsequent late payment fee is to set up a Direct Debit or Credit/Debit Card Authority, which means your bill will be paid automatically every month. You can set up a Direct Debit or Credit/Debit Card Authority in Your 2degrees.

riahon

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Reply # 1496750 22-Feb-2016 05:54

Loyal: "having or showing complete and constant support for someone or something" Merriam Webster.

When will people get it through their heads in business there is no such thing as 'loyalty'? Employees get laid off after being "loyal" to a company for 30+ years. Customers have been with the same company for 30+ years and if they pay their account late by one day, they get charged a late fee.

There is no way a company can exclude a group of customers based on loyalty - years with a company, does not equal loyalty. I really struggle to understand why people think they should be treated with special privilege when all you have engaged in is a simple business transaction. Your 8 years gives you no more entitlement than someone who has joined them today - in some cases the person joining today is better off.

E3xtc

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Reply # 1496754 22-Feb-2016 07:17

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If you can pay the bill 2-3 days late, then why not rejig yourself to pay it 2-3 days early. Moaning - for want of a better word :) - about late payment fees is about as productive as moaning about how high credit card interest rates are....At the end of the day, you have the power to make the difference yourself.

FWIW - I was also a customer of WxC for over a decade and got sick of the poor ratio between cost and performance. Jumped to 2D a number of months back and been loving the faster and cheaper products. #Win!

andrew027

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Reply # 1496791 22-Feb-2016 08:37

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If your business connection failed and WXC didn't get around to looking at it for two or three days, how would you feel? Because that's what you're doing to them. When you sign up with a supplier you enter into a contract. In the most basic terms, WXC agree to provide you a with a service and you agree to pay for it.

WXC have fulfilled their side of the deal, in fact they've been so good to you that you have stayed with them for eight years, used them for client business, and recommended them to many other people.

You have not fulfilled your side of the deal. You pay your bill when you remember, or when you get around to it, not at the agreed time. I appreciate you're busy - we're all busy - but if you're not paying your bills on time it's not WXC or Vodafone's fault. You can change supplier, but if you continue missing payment dates they'll hit you with late fees too. Instead of ditching WXC, whose service you've been very happy with for eight years, perhaps you need to work out a system that helps you meet your side of the contract.

clinty

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Reply # 1496796 22-Feb-2016 08:49

For the record, VNGS (WxC) late payment clause from their latest T&Cs:

You will pay each account by the due date. If you do not pay by the due date, we may charge you a late payment fee of $12 including GST ($10.43 excluding GST) each month the balance is outstanding. If you are a non-residential account the late payment fee is either $12 including GST ($10.43 excluding GST) or 2% of the outstanding balance – whichever is the higher. We will apply the late payment fee where a balance outstanding has not been paid by the due date. We may also recover from you all legal and other costs incurred by us arising from the collection of any amount which you owe us.

Cheaper than Voda or Spark

Clint

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Reply # 1496798 22-Feb-2016 08:52

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This thread now probably seems like a pile-up on the OP, but I can see why! Why on earth have you not set up your bill to be paid automatically? It's 2016 - one doesn't have to write a cheque or visit a bank to manage these things anymore. You'll have taken longer to have made these payments manually, and then to write it here on GZ, than it would have taken to set up an automatic payment. And any cost associated with setting this up will have no doubt been less than the late fees you've been charged...

Cloudy

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Reply # 1496802 22-Feb-2016 08:57

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Auto payment = never late.

DaveDog

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Reply # 1496861 22-Feb-2016 10:48

I agree with the others here... Pay on time...

Sideface

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Reply # 1496889 22-Feb-2016 11:46

Cloudy:

Auto payment = never late.

Pay online the day you get the bill = never late. No reminders required.

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Zeon

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Reply # 1496925 22-Feb-2016 12:48

andrew027:

If your business connection failed and WXC didn't get around to looking at it for two or three days, how would you feel? Because that's what you're doing to them. When you sign up with a supplier you enter into a contract. In the most basic terms, WXC agree to provide you a with a service and you agree to pay for it.

WXC have fulfilled their side of the deal, in fact they've been so good to you that you have stayed with them for eight years, used them for client business, and recommended them to many other people.

You have not fulfilled your side of the deal. You pay your bill when you remember, or when you get around to it, not at the agreed time. I appreciate you're busy - we're all busy - but if you're not paying your bills on time it's not WXC or Vodafone's fault. You can change supplier, but if you continue missing payment dates they'll hit you with late fees too. Instead of ditching WXC, whose service you've been very happy with for eight years, perhaps you need to work out a system that helps you meet your side of the contract.

I agree, the reality is that our process requires someone (currently me) to sign off on any supplier payment so we do not do direct debits or automatic payment (not sure how automatic payment would work though as the amount changes every month).

The service has failed from WxC in the past and I haven't been at their necks etc. about it even though its disruptive...

Probably my biggest gripe is that this was never in the contract I signed up with them under - they unilaterally modified the contract and added it in....

Jase2985

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Reply # 1496939 22-Feb-2016 13:09

Zeon:

Probably my biggest gripe is that this was never in the contract I signed up with them under - they unilaterally modified the contract and added it in....

and there is probably a clause in there that allows them to do that too.

sounds like your processes need changing