Very unfair on those who are not computer literate or who can’t afford a computer.
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I still get paper statements - just dont opt out as asked to save the planet. It just saves them not you. Cunning eh! Bit like when they asked to choose green gas etc. Only profits the company not the planet.
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Even though I am computer literate and have a printer at home, I don’t think anyone be penalized for getting a printed statement. Some people don’t have computer or printer facilities at home. The charges are WAY too high for a printed statement anyhow.
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Many utilities and other suppliers now add a fee for paper statements so printing it out on a home on your cheap to run laser printer is usually way more cost effective.
For people who must have paper statements sent to them that is fine too, they can pay the fee and have a paper statement sent, after all that is consumer choice in a user pays world.
Many pensioners don’t have internet or mobile phones…I got a Letter from Telstra if I wanted a paper statement it will cost an extra $3.20 …Will they discount my bill by $3.20 if I go electronic? NO.
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Perhaps they are replacing now regulated excessive credit card surcharges with unregulated excessive paper bill fees to keep the dollars coming in. Next will be line items (ref electricity bills with generation, transmission, etc) for use of their aging copper, rental on their distribution boxes, electricity, etc. Truth is the trend to ding those least able to pay for the “privilege” of paper bills is becoming more widespread all the time, everywhere. BOHICA
Maybe because $6.40 is a very high margin between a single paper and electronic statement.
We get rorted by banks, government, privately owned companies in every way they can imagine to screw the last dollar out of the community. I think we just have to grin and bear it that we are set up to be screwed and the idea of user pays has been the greatest scam pulled on Australians and as more ideas for parting us from our money is dreamed up, we are going to get that thrown at us as well. A cashless society? means a cashless citizen geared to remove your last dollar.
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This is why we need to stand against those who are committing such felonies.
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Given that all the accounts I administer attract precious little in interest and bank profits continue to soar, I have given my bank a simple instruction:- Any account that attracts a fee of any sort, consider it closed.
So far, it’s working fine. Only way to deal with 'em.
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Lets talk about fair. Businesses since time immemorial have business expenses called overheads. This was simply the administrative expense for running a business, usually, though not always, not calculated into cost of goods but always calculated into it if the business was for the provision of services. Usually, a business for the selling of goods then would increase it’s gross profit margin to recoup the overhead expense. This methodology hasn’t changed in our paperless society. Businesses haven’t recalculated or decreased their gross profit margins, they have just passed on the cost of some overheads to the customer. Why should any consumer pay for the privilege of buying their own PC, printer, paper etc just so that a business can make higher profits? Older account holders are being penalised for not being with it in the computer literate world they live in. Effectively, the paperless customer pays for the service once and the postal customer pays for it twice. Fair? I don’t think so.
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Would you deny that introducing “transparency” was an opportunity taken to raise prices by stealth and blame “someone else”? Once there was a price of $X that was all inclusive as you wrote. That became Cost of [whatever] + charges [for something] that was now costing $X + $more.
There are not many companies having all those charges that seem to be struggling for profits or stopping dividends. It is purely a user pays mentality replacing what used to be models where some things had high margins and some low margins or even costs but at the end the business made money; now every individual component must have a similarly high margin to suit the shareholders and analysts so everything in the production, supply, and distribution chain has become an individual profit centre. Those who are often least able to work with the technology because of their personal situations have the privilege to pay more. Next, expect companies to charge for accepting payments no matter how tendered.
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I am currently being charged by my real estate agent for electronic statements - $2.50 every 2 weeks. The only answer I got when I queried this was “this statement fee is for all statements generated from our system. This fee is to cover the administration cost of producing the statement. and is an industry standard.”
Except that I already pay them a management fee. How does that work???
Anyone else have experience with similar situation?
No personal experience, but I would approach another agent or few with the question, and perhaps walk if the response was more customer-friendly.
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Why print them? Just download, read them, note what to pay and how. Retain on your computer if you wish. If you must have a papercopy, then print it - maybe choosing “draft” quality to save ink?
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Any advice you are getting that says you have to have paper records is unreliable.
Electronic Transactions Acts circa 1999-2001 Federal and all States says in quite simple language that you can have an electronic record of a business transaction. The only exception is if a specific piece of legislation mandates otherwise that overrides. In practice this is rare. Wills are an example I believe. I’d be very surprised if the relevant legislation for superannuation requires paper records. The managed funds would be swimming in it if it did!
Never confuse the personal preferences of an auditor/accountant/lawyer for paper with a legal requirement.
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Hugely support the extra charge for paper statements to encourage people to convert to electronic bills, statements, newsletters, etc. People should be doing this anyway. However, I also think that for access and equity reasons, paper statements should be provided without cost for those who cannot access online documents.
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My wife and I receive fortnightly help in cleaning our home through ASIT Because we receive a paper invoice which we pay each month, our fee for paying with cash at a Post Office will now cost us an additional $5. We don’t want to give our banking details to any organisation that we do not know personally. So our monthly fee has gone from $24 to $37 because the fee for service has increased from $12 per fortnightly service to $16 plus the $5 fee for paying in cash.
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@lesogorman you are obviously computer literate as you are on this site, so you could have them email you their invoice use online Bpay facilities to pay them to avoid the charge.
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