Comcast charges me a $5.99 “convenience fee”

I wrote about the fact that I missed my initial payment because Comcast did not email my bill to the address I gave the installer and who assured me would be used for all emails from Comcast. When I received a phone call from Comcast telling me my account was past due two months after the installation I immediately paid via a credit card.

So imagine my surprise today when I received an email from Comcast telling me my bill would be $5.99 more than I expected because of a “Convenience Fee”. What the fuck is a “convenience fee”? Apparently they expect me to pay 12% more this month for the “convenience” of paying in full for my first two months of service after they fucked up notifying me that my bill was due the first month.

I now understand why Comcast has been rated the most hated company in America. I intend to call Comcast tomorrow and tell them where they can stick that $5.99 “convenience fee”.

P.S., I’ve filed this under “politics” because companies like Comcast do not see enough government regulation of their practices in my opinion.

Update 2015-09-24: I called Comcast customer support this afternoon and asked what a “convenience charge” was. The support rep didn’t answer that question but did say there was a note on my account that there should not be a convenience charge as a result of my prior payment and they would remove it from my current bill. I then noticed on the Comcast web site that the link to pay your bill by calling them had a note saying extra charges might apply. So apparently Comcast adds $5.99 to your bill if you pay via credit card by calling them (or them calling you) but not if you pay via their web site or by sending them a check. Greedy amoral assholes is the nicest thing I can say about the company executives who think up such policies.