Turning off auto--pay: when do the changes take into effect?

[Upfront6891]

A family member recently cancelled a preauthorized credit card payment [auto-pay] around July 9, 2024.

The current bill states that the amount will still be automatically deducted on July 27, 2024. However, Shaw's terms and conditions specify that changes may take one full billing cycle to reflect in the system.

When I called on July 16, 2024, a Shaw representative assured me that  manually make a payment on July 27, 2024 will be necessary and there will not be a double payment (where Shaw automatically deducts the payment from the account).

This seems to contradict your policy. 

[g-idk]

Hi @Upfront6891 , not quite understanding the issue you are having. If you invoice states payment due date of July 27 and you have turned off auto pay, then if you manually pay by July 27 everything should be ok,  are you concerned that money may still be withdrawn from the account on the 27th of July on top of you paying manually?  The part of the terms and conditions that state "changes may take one full billing cycle to reflect in the system"  is true, it can happen especially if it is close to the payment date when you cancel autopay, the optimum word here though is "may take"  , if you cancelled the autopay on July 9 then there is a chance that there has been enough time for the system to be updated and the person you talked to on the phone could be seeing that the system has been updated and autopay is truly cancelled.  You can check the account with your myshaw app or website, and wouldn't hurt to call or chat in again to confirm that for sure the autopay is totally cancelled.  Not sure if this helps or not, or I was just totally confused on your question.  lol.    

[Upfront6891]

Hi @g-idk, you understand perfectly!

When auto-pay was turned-off a pop-up appeared warning of the billing cycle wait. It wasn't a "may" rather an absolute. Even the CSR wasn't completely certain and I had to wait 13 minutes for him to check as the IM queue (probably TEAM) for their employees was full of requests (a bad system and a lack of resources too). 

We haven't kept track when exactly Shaw processes transactions. For instance, at the end of the business day or the start.  In the event Shaw processes the transaction after midnight on July 27th, an SMS notification from Rogers Bank Mastercard should be received. The absence of such a notification would trigger a manual payment (if we remember).

Regrettably, past experiences have eroded trust in Rogers/Shaw. Their website suffers from inconsistencies and omissions of crucial information. Language can be ambiguous or unclear. For example, a recent SMS notification for a Rogers Mastercard charge described it as a "purchase attempt" when it was clearly a confirmed purchase. This unprofessional and unclear language is not typical within the financial services industry.  I provided feedback to them and they just don't seem to care.

Given these concerns, I was hoping to obtain a definitive and practical answer. The lack of clarity surrounding this matter is a source of unnecessary inconvenience.

[g-idk]

Hi @Upfront6891 , yes totally understand where you are coming from on this matter.  I ran into a similar situation with my insurance company when I had to change my CC info, I received a new visa replacement card that had a new exp. date and cvs number so had to change that info. with them before the next months withdrawal, and was warned very similar to you that it might take up to a full month billing period to go through and I might have a charge back on my old cc number if the change does not go through on time.  Long story short it managed to get changed in time before the withdrawal, but there was always a chance that it would not, god I hate autopay.  Fingers crossed yours goes thru on time.  

[Upfront6891]

Hi @g-idk,

I think we should consider returning to the traditional method of manually paying bills and foregoing auto-pay.

It seems everyone prefers to use various terms like PAD (Pre-authorized debit) or the latest politically correct woke phrase, which can be confusing. If we don't use the "appropriate lingo" it seems as if they simply don't understand. Since covid, I am finding the younger generations tend to think one dimensionally unless it's about social media or crypto. 

Anyways, after escalating the issue, I received a very good, crystal clear response from Shaw. (I was taken aback):

"As per our terms of service, when changing pre-authorized payments it would take 1 full billing cycle for the changes to appear on your actual bill.

When cancelling pre-authorized payments it only needs a minimum of 5 days before the due date for it to cancel."

So it seems everything is in order. Hopefully, this thread will be helpful to others. Although, I anticipate it won't be long before Shaw and Rogers billing systems are merged. Cheers!

[g-idk]

@Upfront6891 , glad to hear you got some clarificationon this matter.  I try my best not to use autopay for anything unless I am totally without another option, I want control of my finances not someone else being able to withdraw automatically, if there is an error they can withdraw too much or double payment and then you have to chase them, that's not for me.  Ok thanks for letting me know.   

[Upfront6891]

@g-idk  I used to be like that, but then I became both trusting and complacent, lol.

I noticed an interesting issue with Shaw's billing. My payment was due today, July 27. I successfully deactivated auto-pay and reminded myself to pay the bill earlier in the month.

When I logged into my account, I saw that the amount was listed as overdue. I made the payment, manually entering the correct amount on the statement. However, the new statement had already been generated with a much shorter payment period. Instead of being due on August 27, it’s now due on August 17, which aligns with the notice I received indicating Shaw/Rogers prefers earlier payments. My normal statement period is from the 27th to the 27 (as shown on the invoice). 

What’s interesting is that upon reviewing my previous statements, each indicated that the funds would be withdrawn on the 27th of the month, but the actual withdrawal date was consistently the 26th. Shaw does not clearly disclose this discrepancy. In retrospect, the statement period (as shown on the statement) should've been from the 27th to the 26th. 

As such, there seems to be a disconnect between the stated payment due dates and the actual withdrawal dates. I’ll need to see if I incur a late payment fee.

I think the trend though is for auto-pay but it seems to me Shaw/Rogers is penalizing those who choose this more convenient "set-it-and forget-it" option. 

[g-idk]

Hi @Upfront6891 ,  well sure hope it gets all settled out in the wash, let us know if you incur a late fee on payment.  I think you'll be ok though since you say that you paid earlier than the due date, don't forget always takes a couple of days for the payment to actually be processed to your account though, depending on your payment method.  I always manually pay my Shaw/Rogers bill within a few days of receiving the invoice and this way I'm guaranteed never late, ie. my bill is created on the 14th of every month and I pay that current bill through online banking by the 20th of the same month.  LOL maybe this is all my fault, they see that I have always paid my bills within a week of receiving the invoice and now they think well everyone should be giving them money earlier than technically needed, boy my bad.  I think August is going to cause some problems for people getting used to the new dates for payment dues.  

[Upfront6891]

Hi @g-idk 

I made the payment on the due date, July 27. The credit card's pending transaction also reflects July 27, which was a Saturday.

If I incur a late payment fee, I believe it will likely be reversed given my situation. I paid on the due date, and there were no instructions indicating that payment must be made before the due date.

If the CCTS has jurisdiction over billing issues and I am charged a late payment fee, I am  reasonably confident Shaw's Executive Team, which handles CCTS complaints, will refund the fee if customer service does not.

Incidentally, I don't think it's fair or reasonable that pre-paid customers must pay earlier than those of us without auto-pay. That's why I stopped auto-pay.

Previously, I didn't mind paying earlier because interest rates were minimal. Now, with my fixed income and higher rates (going down by the way), every dollar counts toward my savings and interest.

[g-idk]

Hi @Upfront6891 , yah you just might incur a late payment fee, because technically you are late by paying right on the due date.  On the due date the payment must be in Shaw's hands on or before the due date, and there is no way to pay it on the due date with a 3rd party ( credit card/online banking/snail mail/etc.)  All these methods take a few days for processing and the day you pay (pending transaction) does not count, it is the day that Shaw/Rogers receives and post that credit to your account, that is the date that you actually have paid to your account.  That is also why before you turned off autopay they took the autopay withdrawal from your account before the actual due date, I believe you said they would take it a day or 2 before the actual due date, this is to allow for processing times for the bank to actually credit Rogers/Shaw with the payment so your account gets paid on time.  So in future just make sure you pay the bill at the very least a few days before the due date, not the day before or the day of, that is not enough time for the payment to get processed.  It is the same for just about any bill you pay with a 3rd party you must allow a few days before the due date for processing.