Postal Service Delays!!!
USPS issues
Dear Patrons,
As most of you know, the United States Postal Service has had problems with delivering mail in a timely manner, if at all.
Here at CRWD 1, we receive numerous calls, monthly, from those of you who have not received a billing statement, as well as those who receive their bill after the due date (20th of the month).
We want to make you aware that this has been an issue with the USPS delivering statements since January. Some months have been better than others, but it has caused an issue with not only you receiving your statement in a timely manner, but also with us receiving your payment in a timely manner to avoid late charges.
This has led to confusion as to what your current balance is and whether or not late charges have been incurred, as well as seeing a ‘previous balance’ on your statement.
To help eliminate some of the confusion there are a few things that can be done.
First, let us say, that we mail statements, devoutly, on the last business day of the month. So, for example, the last business day of the month of August is Friday, August 30th. The statement due date is September 20th. If you are on ACH/Autopay via your checking account set up with CRWD 1, your draft date is September 10th.
There are several ways of which you can get your statement:
-by USPS mail,
-by e-mail,
-or view your bill on our website.
If you want to continue using USPS mail and you do not get your statement by the 5th or so of the month, you are welcome to call us to get your statement balance.
If you would like to have your statement by e-mail, please call or e-mail our office with your e-mail address and we can set that up immediately.
You can also view your statement on our website: Shawneeconrwd1.krwa.net. To view your statement, click on ‘pay my bill online’ at the top of the page. There you can register your account. You will need your Service ID# which is the same as an account number and Benefit Unit number.
Now, with all that being said, the reverse is also true, that is…. the USPS is not delivering your payments back to us in a timely manner, if at all.
There are only a few solutions to this dilemma:
-Mail your payment sooner than you have in the past.
-Personally take your payment to our office to pay in person and/or drop in our drop box.
-Sign-up for CRWD 1 ACH/Autopay which is drafted on, but not before the 10th of the month.
-If you use bill pay through your bank, you need to be aware that they have a check printed to send to us via the USPS mail system, so there’s no guarantee that we will receive it in 2 or 3 days. We recommend that you set this up for payment to get to us 7-10 business days before it is due.
Some banks tell you that they will get a payment to us in 2-3 days, but they cannot guarantee this since they place the check payment in the USPS mail system.
-You can also pay your bill through the website using our third-party, Paystar. Paystar payments are credit/debit card payments only, for a fee that goes strictly to Paystar.
FEES:
0.01-50.00 = $1.95
50.01 - 100.00 = $2.75
100.01 – 2,000.00 = 2.75% or .0275
You can also set up Autopay to a credit/debit card through Paystar.
CRWD 1 does not monitor credit/debit card autopay users set-up through Paystar. Note: Bill cards will not notate Paystar autopay users on monthly statement.
Paystar is strictly a third-party payment service for CRWD 1.
We have been searching for solutions to this dilemma of having to use the services of the USPS. Some have suggested we use a different mailing medium. However, using postcards rather than an envelope does not deal with the issue of having mail delivered. The USPS accepts and services postcards as a medium for delivery, so we are accessing this means of service as it is less costly and more time efficient than using envelopes.
In closing, it is going to take everyone’s cooperation to work through the difficulties of using the United States Postal Service. We all know that the USPS has, in the past, been a very reputable and much needed mailing service. However, being reputable is not the case at this time, but it is still a much needed and necessary service. We have explained what we can and cannot do to resolve this issue, but we feel the most effective way is to make you aware of the issues we are having with the USPS and offer the only solutions we have available.
Please review all the available options stated above and choose accordingly what will work best for you from this point forward. Hopefully, the USPS can get their delivery issues resolved, but until then, we need to work together to operate in a more functional and efficient manner.
If you have any comments or concerns, please feel free to leave feedback by e-mail or find us on facebook at our website.
Thank you for working with us and know that we are doing everything we can to provide you with excellent and quality service.
Sincerely,
Shawnee Consolidated Rural Water District No. 1
135