Copperas Cove Requests Customers Not Use Third Party Bill Pay Service
A lot of people are using third party bill payment services these days to keep up with all the payments they need to make, but officials with the City of Copperas Cove aren't too keen on one in particular.
In a statement issued Friday morning, the city's Utility Administration warned against using third party service Doxo after a customer recently complained that their bill payment didn't go through.
"This web page is not associated with the City and the customer’s payment was never received," Copperas Cove Public Relations Director Kevin Keller wrote Friday. "As a City, we cannot confirm the legitimacy of the previously mentioned web page and do not advocate use of this site."
Keller took the opportunity to remind the good people of Copperas Cove that the City's official website for making utility payments can be found here.
So, what is Doxo? It's a service that allows users to manage bill payments all in one place. From what I can tell, it's a Better Business Bureau accredited site with some credit and identity theft protection features.
So, at least it isn't a scam site. It just doesn't seem to be compatible with Copperas Cove's utilities payment system.
If you're worried about paying bills late, there are steps you can take. Most cities and utility companies offer automatic payment options. I use this feature for the majority of my bills, and they always email me a few days in advance of my scheduled payment in case I need to make any changes or need to inform them of a problem with that month's bill.
You can also create a document for yourself with a list of your bills and where you would need to go to pay them online or in person. I can be a spreadsheet or a regular document. Either way, you'll have a handy list of bills, links, and confirmation numbers. Just make sure this document is on a secure device and/or password protected.
If you use third party sites, check with your billers to make sure they're receiving your payments and that they haven't had any past problems with the service you're using.
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