Lincolnton, NC - City Hall

I am pleased with the quality service!nPeople there are kind, compassionate as well as respectful. Thanks & Blessings! Donna Leatherman Cooke

Very small and quant

Hey Action 9, I have an issue and do not know if you could help, but wanted to send it to you guys just in case.nI live in the City of Lincolnton, which is also the same for my water utility. They also offer power, but only have my water service for them at my location. The payment is always due on the 20th and you can make it in person, or online. They are very clear that the in person payments are due before five.nHOWEVER, this is where it gets tricky. On their website, it specifies in person payments must be made before five, but for the online payments it says any payment made before 11 will be processed for same day and any payments after 11 will be processed next business day. Of course you are paying a fee, but it posts the same day. So I bite the bullet and will pay the two dollar fee to avoid the actual late fee which comes out to approximately 60 percent of my bill itself.nWhen I’m posting the payment I notice something strange. It adds on $25.00 and I’m confused because it’s before 11. It’s 10:10. I go ahead and process to be safe to avoid disconnection (this city doesn’t play, they will cut you off quick if it’s late), and will call them tomorrow.nFast forward to 4:30 I get off work and place a call. I first speak to customer specialist and then I escalate to the head of utilities. Well they both are telling me, that online payments must also be paid before five, it’s their policy. I inform them that it specifies payments are processed before 11, it isn’t late they have their money. My time stamp will still say August 20th. They aren’t having it, and neither am I. So I escalate to the boss for the head of utilities, Steve Zicafoose. He is giving me the same story. Apologizes that the website is not up to date, but I’m still out my 25 dollars.nAction 9, I’m gonna be real with y’all. I worked for Billmatrix, which processes payments for over 300 utilities across the country. I know how payments post and process, and general practices by utilities across the country. If my payment has a processing date the same as my due date, I shouldn’t be accessed a late fee, it should be waived and many of these utilities in place do so anyways to avoid the technicalities of an escalation or a threat to the utilities commission.nI feel like for starters the late fee is too high in proportion to the bill. Doesn't the state utilities commission regulate the percentage of a late fee?nAlso, what about the blatant disregard for not positing the timeframe online? That’s a liability on the utility not the consumer. He apologized, which basically is admitting fault under tort law.nI have a screenshot of the webpage if needed for that concern.nFinally, is there not a law concerning the timeframe in which a late fee was assessed? I’m pretty sure if I took a record and it shows my payment being processed the same day as an accessed late fee, that becomes an ethical issue and possibly even predatory of the utility company. I plan on forwarding this on to the Attorney General’s office as well, and using this for some reviews online for them.