Paid Under Protest

I think it would be better to call and protest the bill. Companies are at a point where they do not want to lose anyone's business so they are willing to make concessions. We have done a lot of calling of utility companies lately and gotten discounts. Recently we got our credit card bill which charged us $45 for what they called an interest rate fee. What the heck? I checked last year's bill around that time and saw we were charged $35. Previous years I believe we were charged an annual fee to our credit card. I got my husband to call and question this $45 charge. Apparently we are paying an annual fee to have a low interest rate on our credit card - 10% as opposed to 19%. Well, we always, ALWAYS pay our credit card in full. In fact, I round it up to the nearest dollar and overpay because I know there are more charges on the account. So they have credited us the $45 back but we now sit at a 19% interest rate if we don't pay our bill or are late. But, I wouldn't be surprised if they sent us our bill late on purpose so that we could be charged a late fee. But I always argue that too. Our phone company has asked us to receive e-billing or get charged $2 for a paper bill (this is where the postal service should be complaining). When I didn't receive my cell phone e-bill on time I made dang sure they didn't charge me a late fee. Also, I received a paper bill with a $2 charge AFTER I was on the e-bill system. Had to get credit back for that too. We spent a lot of time on the phone complaining to these companies but it is worth it in the end. I emailed the head office of my grocery store this week and between emails and phone calls I am getting a refund on a fruit tray that fell on the floor because the new lids are too hard to close; and I was told to take the box of zippered baggies back (empty or full) to the store and get a refund for that as well. By the way, the fruit tray that fell on the floor was $8.99. I went to get another one today and the price has gone up to $9.99. I am TRYING to eat healthy but the grocers aren't making it easy. Consumers are getting gouged left, right and centre and it riles me. "Let's raise our prices but not pay our employees more." Sorry if I went off on a rant but honestly, they are killing us and we can get things changed if we take the time to complain. They're not losing much if they accommodate one customer out of the thousands they serve.

I had never heard of that and I don't know what good it really does because you'd still be paying, right? I suspect that with a lot of facilities, so many checks are run through that no one pays attention to the memo line, but maybe someone would see it. If it makes you feel better, though, by all means, do it! I probably would.