Simple Bills Corporation

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: I was not informed that I needed to send confirmation from the apartment and can do that showing change in lease. I was advised that you only required to email my roomate and that was done. This is now a new version that the apartment complex sent confirmation late. I can forward you my lease.  To make it worse you are debiting my account without my authorization causing me various charges. I was not on electronic automated billing therefore why are you just opting to send payment requests to my bank? The scam does not end. I will forward my lease information that states the date I no longer resides in that apartment. That is a legal binding document that shows I was not in the apartment.  
Regards,
[redacted]

We apologize for your frustration and we hear your concerns. SimpleBills only invoices what we receive directly from the utility provider, we never adjust the bill higher or add to the bill. We are experiencing higher than normal call volume and we have hired additional staff to alleviate these...

constraints. We will have one of customer service supervisors reach out to you tomorrow morning to discuss your account and see if we can come to a solution. We recognize that college students live on a limited budget and we want to work with you. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because the response is inaccurate.
The Terms of Service DO explicitly provide that SimpleBills will provide copies of the utility bills. I am requesting a copy of the electricity bills when they are received and those have been provided in pdf. I even offered to send a self-addressed stamped envelope although your company clearly has my email address.
Again, SimpleBills is overcharging the consumers and refusing to provide documentation to support the estimates. I have provided you with the calculations averaging the past 90 days as your company claims it does and your estimates are 3 times the actual averages. To overcharge a consumer AND to refuse to provide supporting documentation is unconscionable and deceptive.
Your own representative agreed in the email that it was fine for us to pay only the actual charges to date and to pay the final invoices when they were received.
As you can see from the reviews and complaints filed in connection with SimpleBills, we are not the only consumers who believe the methodology is wrong. I have repeatedly said we are happy to pay for our son's ACTUAL expenses, but not some arbitrary estimate for which SimpleBills repeatedly refuses to provide documentation claiming that it is "secret" and "proprietary".
Most of the other consumers are young college students and feel like they have no choice but to give into your tactics. It is unfortunate because this is a serious issue and needs to be addressed and resolved.
I continue to seek an amicable resolution and it is unfortunate that your company does not.
Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I appreciate the response, but I am rejecting this response because: although the breakdown of the estimated final bill has been explained, we are still being inaccurately assessed for services we did not use. My roommates and I have not been physically living in the unit since July 9. That is almost a full month of service that the estimation accounts for, but we surely did not use. I understand that when we move out of the unit is not the concern of SimpleBills, but that dynamic goes to highlight the flaw in that billing procedure. Our utility bill would have been lower than the estimate, because we have not been on the property to use those utilities for the majority of the month of July. A charge based on an actual reading rather than an estimate would be reflective of this.
Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:see email attached, they pick and choice when to enforce there policy, that roommate was out before there time.  I only want my mom bank account remove and I will pay by mail.
Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: I went onto the Simple Bills website last night and also saw that you charge a fee of $4.00 to use your service and also charge a $3.00 to store a credit card on file.  Are you serious?  I'm not a student, but am an employee of a university and signed a summer lease in an apartment complex.  I paid my utilites along with my rent for the 1st 6 months of living at the property.  Then I get an email that says the policies have changed.  I'm settled into my apartment and am paying my uitilites.  We were basically forced to sign up with your service which reminds me of a "payday loan" predatory service.  I have lived in apartments for the better of 35 years and have never been forced to utilize this service.  Had no of been moved and settled into my apartment I would never sign up for this service as you are making a profit.  Since signing up for this service it became evident that you push payments thru our checking/cc accounts when I specifically sent emails forbidding you to not do this.  Yet you have your customer service send me verbiage where I agreed to this. 
Since you are threatening me to turn me into a collection agency for non payment and ruin my credit, with out sending me a bill to pay, this is how it's going to go down. Out of every paycheck, I'm sending you a money order for $100.00.  Since I do not know what the total owed is, I'm going to request that this be put towards my account balance. I will dispute this scam of an operation you have running here, and you will not have access to my bank account. So you will not ruin my credit or any other kind of threats I will dispute what you report.  I have an email where Simple Bills was threatening/implying my utilities would be shut off if if didn't comply.Here in Missouri, that is illegal to do.  Here is the link to that info. [redacted]JEFFERSON CITY—The Missouri Public Service Commission’s Cold Weather Rule, designed to help customers with heat-related utility bills, begins on November 1, 2015. The rule will remain in effect through March 31, 2016. The Cold Weather Rule has been a part of the Commission’s rules and regulations since 1977.The Cold Weather Rule applies to natural gas and electric utilities under PSC jurisdiction that provide heat-related service. Municipally operated systems, cooperatives and those that provide propane delivered by truck are not under PSC jurisdiction.“Costs for heating a home during the coldest months of the year can present a significant challenge for some families,” said PSC Chairman Daniel Hall. “The Cold Weather Rule is designed to help struggling consumers meet that challenge.”The Cold Weather Rule: Prohibits the disconnection of heat-related service when the temperature is predicted to drop below 32 degrees during the following 24 hour period.Provides more lenient payment terms permitting reconnection of service for natural gas and/or electric customers.Prohibits the disconnection of registered elderly and disabled customers who meet certain income guidelines who make a minimum payment.Allows a customer to register with the utility if:65 years of age or older;Disabled to the extent that the customer has filed with the utility a form submitted by a medical physician attesting that your household must have natural gas or electric utility service provided in the home to maintain life or health; orThe customer has obtained a formal award letter issued from the federal government of disability benefits.Allows customers to budget payments over 12 months.May allow customers to extend payment of pre-existing arrears beyond 12 months.Does not require a deposit if payment agreement is kept.Requires that customers be notified by mail 10 days before the date the utility intends to shut off service; that an attempt be made to contact the customer within 96 hours before the shut off; that an attempt be made to contact the customer right before the shut off; that notice is left at the home when service has been shut off.Requires the customer be notified of possible financial help in paying the utility bill.Allows for the reconnection of service for less than the full amount owed. If a customer is faced with a heat-related utility bill that they cannot pay in full, it is important that the customer: Contact the utility company.State an inability to pay the bill in full.Provide income information either by month or annual income.Make a minimum payment.Enter into a payment agreement.It is important to note that in order to receive some of the benefits of the Cold Weather Rule; a customer must sign-up (register) with their heat-related company.For more information on the PSC’s Cold Weather Rule, please see the Commission’s website at www.psc.mo.gov or call the Commission’s Consumer Services hotline at ###-###-####. Consumers can also receive Cold Weather Rule information from their local natural gas or electric company.  Again, I'm not a student and do not take your threats seriously. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: The information they presented is not factual. We were locked out of the system because it was not billing the tenants properly. Thus Simplebills reset the account and in the progress changed the date 8/30/16 either by accident or intentional. We have started the process with a lawyer after today because we beilve there was intent on simple bills to de fraud [redacted].
Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
in regards to the answer simple bills stated is incorrect they charged me 100% of the bills for the apartment from Jan 2016 to July 2016. the total $1813.10 should have been split between my son and his roommate. I talked to [redacted] at simple bills he admitted that I was charged 100% . I should have been charged $906.55. he refunded me $424.11 but would not refund me the other $482.44 because I did not discover the mistake in a timely manner. he said he could only refund three months of overcharges . I asked to talk to someone higher up in the company but he refused to let me talk to anyone. he said he was as high up as I could go. all I want is the rest of my refund. I have all of my credit card statements where simple bills charged me. thanks [redacted] ID [redacted]

[redacted], we show no record of you contacting SimpleBills prior to Monday, May 30th at 1:51pm  CST. Our office was closed due to Memorial Day, however a customer service representative responded to your voicemail on Tuesday, May 31st at 8:30 am CST, that went to voicemail. Every time that you...

have contacted SimpleBills, our records show that you have either spoken with someone or we have called you back. We record every phone call, voicemail and as well as all numbers that go to voicemail; I can find no record of you calling prior to Monday, May 30th. When you signed up with SimpleBills you agreed to allowing SimpleBills to collect payment from the payment account left on file if a bill is past due, per our Terms of Service and the SimpleBills Top Five. In your case the bill was past due. SimpleBills did not attempt to collect payment on Memorial Day, as you stated. We did process a payment on from your account on Tuesday, May 31st, for the outstanding balance, including a late fee. You received 7 notifications through email and text messages reminding you that your bill was about to be due, when it was due and when it was late and informing you that a late fee would be applied and that SimpleBills would attempt the payment account left on your SimpleBills account. Unfortunately late fees are a penalty for when a bill is past due and we are unable to waive this fee for you. In the future, if you need more time to pay we are always willing to work with our customers however, once the bill is past due we cannot void late fees.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:As stated earlier--we had trouble doing the calculations for this link. It says we are to get a refund. It looks like this complicated system you have provided is a means to not have to refund customers. I repeat--SimpleBills is not a company I recommend. If you can provide means to assist the calculations--then we can see exactly what [redacted]'s bill would be.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]

According to the lease agreement that your son signed, he is responsible for utilities through the duration of his lease agreement. Regardless of what decision is made between roommates, the property is the final say on how utility bill are split. When a resident signs up with SimpleBills they agree...

to allowing us to attempt to collect payment for any past due utility bills from the payment method on file, this is listed in our Terms of Service. Prior to this step, numerous emails and a few text messages are sent to the emails and phone numbers listed on file reminding your son of a current invoice. At any point during that time period, we were available for questions to discuss that invoice. We apologize that you are frustrated however, we were proactive in notifying those listed on the account.

Hi [redacted], we have record that 6 email reminders about your invoice were sent and received by the email address that is on your account. Unfortunately, sometimes emails are moved into a spam folder, however we have no control over that. Your bill was late and when a bill is late there is a late fee...

which we are unable to waive. When you sent in a money order it was not enough to cover entire balance (including the late fee) meaning your account was still delinquent. Due to the property that you live at and the agreement that SimpleBills has with your property, when a bill is not paid in totality and past due, the utility bill portion is sent to your property for them to collect from you. Again, notification of this process would have come to you via email. You did agree to this when you agreed to our Terms of Service to use SimpleBills.

The check box on our website is to not allow "AutoPay" with the method of payment on file, not to disable the credit card.  A method of payment is always required to be kept on file.Below is the audit log from our system that shows date and time stamps, as well as, Action Type (SMS Text message or Email message).  These would have been sent to the phone numbers and emails on file.  There is an email and text message shown on 9-5-2015, providing notice of the ForcePay on 9-7-2015.  We make every attempt to provide notifications before any action.  We explain the purpose of the "Check Box".  We believe we are not deceptive in any of the accusations mentioned in this complaint.  However, because of your frustration, we will agree to refund you your $28.00.?

Ms. [redacted],  We did not misbill you $115. We did not bill that to you. That was from your banking institution. Again, we did not collect that money. There is no credit amount to refund you. The only way to enroll in autopay is through our Customer Portal, SimpleBills staff cannot enroll anyone in autopay. Even if you were unaware of the portal, we included the notices on the email that alerted you to a new invoice, as well as the email receipt from any auto payment of an invoice. These notifications went on for 6 months. As for speaking to someone outside of Customer Service, your account has been brought to the attention of the Director of Operations and Chief Operating Officer, who in tandem, have instructed our manager and supervisors on how to proceed with your account. We consider this matter closed because there is nothing that SimpleBills can say that we have not already said to you. Have a blessed day. The SimpleBills Team

Hello,First of all, we apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. I can confirm that we received notification from you of your early Move-Out. The initial billing sent to you after that was incorrect, but it was corrected the same day we received your email. Notification of that change should...

have been sent to you, so I apologize if you did not receive it. In the future, please know that you can view your most current balance information by logging in to your SimpleBills.com account. Please also note that the email you referenced about the late fee also contained notice that your account on file would be drafted. We have reviewed the phone recording of your interaction with our Customer Service Manager. We do not agree with your characterization of his being "extremely hostile". However, we will be able to provide a refund of the overdraft fee based on the circumstances and per your request. In addition, we will be waiving the late fee and monthly service fee for your final bill. Please send documentation of the overdraft fee including the date it was charged and the amount of the fee to [redacted]@simplebills.com. In addition, please provide a permanent address so we can mail a refund check to you for these amounts. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you at this time.[redacted]VP Operations | SimpleBills[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
I am rejecting this response because:You do not have all of the facts.Please discuss with Wendy and or Megan for correct information regarding this issue.Regards,[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: even their response is rude. Are you calling me a liar? Because my manager at work was standung next me the entire hour I was on hold. Clearly you don't have fantastic customer service if I am complaining. I can't believe the response I'm getting. For future reference a sincere apology goes a long way. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
 They refuse to provide copies of the actual bills to justify their "estimated bills".  This is not only unfair, it is deceptive and perhaps even illegal.  If their methodology is so accurate why not  provide the actual utility bill in question.  They claim to only be estimating for the "future" but it is not true. They have the actual bills for the month of June and refuse to provide them.  They have not made a good faith effort to justify their estimate or to provide full disclosure.  This is unsatisfactory.  Apologizing for my frustration is not doing anything to resolve the actual problem.  Using the actual bills to calculate the share due is the only acceptable resolution.