MANILA, Philippines?Are computers of the Manila Electric Company programmed to print disconnection notices the day after payment due dates?

I have always wondered about this. I pay most of my bills, including Meralco?s, through my bank?s phone payment system. When I pay my electric bill on the due date, I get a disconnection notice a day or two later dated the day after payment was due.

Most other billing companies would give you a few days? grace period to allow for the possibility that your payment was not posted immediately. Even credit card companies would not call you right away if they do not receive your payment on the day it is due.

But not Meralco. It annoyed me so much once that I rang the call center to complain. I told the person who received my call what a waste of paper it was to be issuing disconnection notices right away without making sure first that payments had not been made.

The answer I got incensed me more. ?Hindi ho bale, papel naman ho namin ang nasasayang.?

In other words, as long as they were paying for the wasted resources, I should not complain.

Apparently, she thinks that because it is their money, they can waste it any way they want to.

I wondered again about Meralco?s policy about due dates recently. I was out of the country and found out upon my return that my bill was not delivered. The excuse was, nobody was home. This was strange, as my bill was usually left in my mailbox when nobody was around to receive it. In fact, the messenger even ?deputizes? me to deliver my neighbor?s bill by leaving it in my mailbox.

When I tried to pay my bill over the phone the day after payment was due, my bank could no longer process the transaction. Meralco later said it was because it was past the due date. I was supposed to bring my payment to the nearest branch.

Hold on a second. First of all, my payment was late through no fault of my own. The messenger failed to deliver the bill, so why was I being penalized? Second, this was just a day after the due date. Does Meralco shut off all other alternative payment facilities immediately after the due date?

As I said, other companies give allowances for some unforeseen circumstances and let you pay through your usual means a day or two after the due date.

Most other companies would rather decongest their offices by allowing people to pay elsewhere and by adopting more flexible systems. They also want to make it more convenient for customers knowing that going to their offices to pay bills is not always easy to do.

But Meralco seems to ?like? its clients so much that it would prefer for them to go to its offices to pay their bills!

Feedback

Reader R. M. Magpayo wants to know if the government?s campaign against smoke belchers, Bantay-Usok, is still in effect.

?I see more and more smoke-belchers everyday, and a lot of them are plying the Ayala-Buendia route in Makati ... A few months ago I saw uniformed men apprehending them. Where are those uniformed men now?

?And here?s what irked me more?an NBN service truck, plate number SEF922. The truck should have been retired 10 years ago. I can?t believe so many politicians drive around in their nice Explorers (and that?s not the most expensive they have, I?m sure) but the government-owned station cannot provide better service vehicles for their crew.

?Other culprits are armored vehicles. Are banks aware of the state of the vehicles that carry their money?

So my question is?who do we text when we see smoke belchers??

Send letters to The Consumer, Lifestyle Section, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Chino Roces Ave. cor. Mascardo and Yague Sts., Makati City; or e-mail lbolido@inquirer.com.ph