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dyqik t1_j5uhtoa wrote

Reply to comment by GM_Pax in Greater Boston, what's your last gas bill? by Miserable_Ride666

Electronic billing has some cost, even if it is cheaper than posting out paper bills

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GM_Pax t1_j5uogv6 wrote

To send out a paper bill, you need:

  • Paper
  • Ink
  • Envelopes
  • Machines to print the bill
  • Machines to fold the bill
  • Machines to put the bill into the envelope
  • Postage

...

To send an electronic bill, you need:

  • Software to arrange the information in a human-readable format
  • An email server

If the discount for declining a paper bill is less than the postage to send it to you, the company is ripping you off. Period.

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giritrobbins t1_j5v4n8n wrote

I'm sure they get a bulk discount and likely presort so it's cheaper for them.

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DeffNotTom t1_j5x4hsc wrote

One machine handles all of those steps in the mailing process. (Well multiple machines because of the volume). But the interface that connects them to the computer system also handles things like posting them in electronic format. Both systems are there and running whether you use them or not.

And they don't pay for stamps. They get a primo bulk rate that is probably cheaper than the bulk non-profit rate (which is something like $0.14)

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dyqik t1_j5v7cy4 wrote

Clearly you don't understand the cost of running a customer facing website, with customer service, IT development, IT operations, etc.

The bills are not sent out by email, they are on a secured website, with live customer support, etc.

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GM_Pax t1_j5v960y wrote

That customer-facing website will exist regardless of whether the customer gets their bill in paper form or not.

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dyqik t1_j5wmkby wrote

Not with the same feature set, it won't. If everyone got paper bills, they wouldn't need the billing section of the website. More customers using the online billing system means more load on website customer services.

Billing needs secure online payments, secure PII storage, a customer facing billing system, and a bunch of other things that a website without billing doesn't need.

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GM_Pax t1_j5wym6z wrote

>everyone

That's a silly, nonsense argument.

Plus, if you want to bring tech support into it?

Paper billing needs mechanics to fix all those machines. Warehousing for the paper & ink, and staff to handle shipping and internal deliveries. A mail room - and staff - to handle the outgoing mail.

I still say, if a company offers a discount for paperless billing that is less than the cost of a measly fucking stamp, then they're ripping their customers off.

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dyqik t1_j5wzw3f wrote

Why do you think they use stamps to send out paper bills?

USPS offers bulk rates.

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