I had been paying my OUC energy bill online through their "e-check" system. For starters, OUC had the only online bill that does not offer Credit/Debit card payments and they also don't save any of your information in your online account. I've been paying this way since June 2009. In October, I received a automated phone call telling me they haven't received my payment for the previous month. As a young guy on the go, I often pay my bills all at once and so its possible I had accidentally forgotten to pay OUC, so I sent another "e-check". Later that month, I received a letter from OUC informing me that my last check was returned (without any more explanation) and they tell me if this continues to happen they will have to put me on a "Cash Only" basis. I guess the next check I sent worked just fine.

Today, I received another automated message saying OUC never received my December bill and I recall paying that! Once I checked my online account, it said the bill wasn't paid, so once again I click "e-check" (there aren't any other online options of paying). The next page displayed a sentence informing me that I can no longer pay online and would have to call customer service.

According to customer service, another e-check returned. After talking to the representative, the only answer we could come up with was the possibility that I could have typed in a wrong number when entering my check info (remember, OUC doesn't save any of this in your account, so you must re-enter it every time). Because of this SECOND mishap, OUC found it necessary to no longer trust my checks and put me on a CASH ONLY payments for 24months!

24 months? What makes them think I'm going to stay in this rental home for another 24 months!? Also, why haven't I been informed in a little more detail about my checks being returned? I only received two generic "payment not received" phone calls and one letter in October mentioning a returned check (which I thought was a mistake because there were no problems when I sent it again through e-check). When I'm told a payment isn't received, I assume I forgot to pay the bill, not that my checks are being returned because of a possible online mistake (that may or may not have been made by me).

After talking to four representatives, I have been put on the list for a supervisor to contact me about this problem. They claim they had sent me another letter in the mail, explaining the second returned check back in December, yet I haven't received it. And why am I just now getting the phone call today? This bill was in December! They claim they can't do anything about this and for now on I will have to take out money from my bank (my bank is closed when I get off work) and pay CASH at a Amscot, gas station or other payment centers.

Am I the only one not comfortable going into a gas station with $60 - $150 cash to pay a bill every month?