05-09-2008, 10:33 PM
Today I decided to pay my $130+ quarterly Waste Management bill over the phone using a credit card. I went through the steps including keying in my lengthy account number. Finally I got to the point where I could give my credit card number and was told by the phonebot that by paying this way, I would incur a $5 service charge. I thought the whole object of inconveniencing the customer with automated phone systems was to keep down operating cost, not to make a profit.