I was one of those people who constantly complained about Batelco’s advanced billing.
I often pointed out that it goes against the rules of basic accounting.

Accrual Accounting attempts to record the financial effects of an enterprise of transactions events and other circumstances in periods in which the transaction event or circumstance occurs. (Principals of Accounting --Needles Anderson Caldwell Fourth Edition p.102)


Advance billing goes completely contrary to this. Advance billing is like someone billing you for sodas before you actually bought it. Picture City market sending you a grocery bill before you actually buy groceries And now because your purchase is a future event the business must now try and accurately predict your consumption in order to bill you.



This is Ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!


But this is exactly what Batelco and now BEC are doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BEC now claims that they have changed their accounting system to one similar to Batelco. As a result they have already billed me for the entire month of December. But how do they know what my consumption will be for December?????????????
The month has just begun! My electricity consumption actually goes down in the winter months but they have billed me a fee similar to that of the summer months!!!


As a consumer I have had enough of this organized trickery. My advice to consumers is to NEVER PAY THE ADVANCE MONTH BILLING!!!!!!!!!

Once a relative of mine paid my telephone bill in full which included the one month in advance; Batelco of course got confused and charged us again for the same month. But we could no longer find the receipt and as a result we had to pay for the same month twice.

BAHAMIANS HEED MY WARNING ---- DO NOT PAY THE ADVANCE BILL UNDER ANY CURCUMSTANCES.

They can never legally turn off your utilities for something you do not owe yet.
Can City Market have you arrested for refusing to pay for something you did not buy!!!!!!

Bahamian people do not be deceived by the trickery of these utility companies.
Why are they doing this?? To trick you into paying much more money than you need to.

But now since this is becoming a trend I am advocating for this practice to be made illegal. No one should have the legal right to charge someone for goods not purchased or services not used. I am calling on the government to put a stop to this practice immediately.

I do not care how much these utility companies spent on accounting upgrades. If the upgrades cause them to cheat the Bahamian people they should be discarded!!!!!


Bahamian people are sometimes too passive. There is a big deception going on with these companies. Let me give you a prime example


When Batelco first introduced this new advanced billing system I was quite aware. On July 2nd I came to pat the bill for June. But my bill was twice the usual. I ask them what happened and they told me that they added July’s bill already and they encouraged me to pay it but I refused. From that point on every time I paid the telephone bill the end of the month or the beginning of the next month the rent for the next month was already added.

But I went to the cashier on November 28th and a strange thing happened. I told them that I was paying November’s rental but she responded that November’s rental will not be out until the 29th and that I was actually paying OCTOBER’S BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I don’t want you people to miss this!! Every month previously when I paid for July they told me August bill was already included and when I paid for August they told me September’s bill was already included. I did this for a few years. But recently I went to pay November’s bill at the end of November and it would seem logical for me to assume that December’s bill will be included like all the previous months.

Not so, the Cashier informed me that I was actually paying for October and November‘s bill will be out tomorrow. Well I’ll be darn!!! All of a sudden I am a month behind!!!!!!!!!!

It is the beginning of December and all of a sudden I just paid October bill and I still owe for November!!!!!! But God knows I was not born as big as I am.

But this is what this advance billing does. Some consumers who are not careful may be easily fooled. Could you imagine how much money Batelco would gain if they cheated the whole Bahamas out of one month rental??

This system is trickery and I feel that it should be banned!! Bahamian people must learn to come together and fight against these large companies that attempt to exploit us as consumers.

I really would like to hear from a lawyer in relation to the legality of this new accounting system. Otherwise before you know it a lot of innocent people will be cheated out of their hard earned monies.

What type of bull honkery is this?
Not only does it sound like vodoo math but it sounds like stealing!

Nah man....this is too silly to be going on. Someone needs to ask the question, in fact, Batelco and BEC need to have monthly town meetings anyways discussing the corporations good doings and bad.

In case I missed it, I do not recall any of them having anything like that. Bahamasair used to do it under Major...

What type of bull honkery is this?
Not only does it sound like vodoo math but it sounds like stealing!
Nah man....this is too silly to be going on. Someone needs to ask the question, in fact, Batelco and BEC need to have monthly town meetings anyways discussing the corporations good doings and bad.
In case I missed it, I do not recall any of them having anything like that. Bahamasair used to do it under Major...
Funny thing is, only Cable Bahamas does advance billing,but did they get a mention?Noooo! :taped2:

Funny thing is, only Cable Bahamas does advance billing,but did they get a mention?Noooo! :taped2:


They do?
Well, what is this...I am not beliving this. I never had it explained to me like that before.
This is thieving and it is wrong.

Funny thing is, only Cable Bahamas does advance billing,but did they get a mention?Noooo! :taped2:



I am not familiar with Cable bahamas advanced billing. I have the basic package and I have no probelms. On November 30 I am assured by the Cashier at Cable Bahamas that I am paying for November. Afterwards I have a Zero Balance.

up to this point Cable Bahamas has not billed me one month in advance.


but as I said I only have the basic package

What type of bull honkery is this?
Not only does it sound like vodoo math but it sounds like stealing!
Nah man....this is too silly to be going on. Someone needs to ask the question, in fact, Batelco and BEC need to have monthly town meetings anyways discussing the corporations good doings and bad.
In case I missed it, I do not recall any of them having anything like that. Bahamasair used to do it under Major...


They Do! just this month when a relative of mine went to pay my bill, Decembers bill was already added even though December has just begun!!!!!

ChecK your accounts!!!

what kinda foolishness...

I was one of those people who constantly complained about Batelco’s advanced billing.
I often pointed out that it goes against the rules of basic accounting.
Accrual Accounting attempts to record the financial effects of an enterprise of transactions events and other circumstances in periods in which the transaction event or circumstance occurs. (Principals of Accounting --Needles Anderson Caldwell Fourth Edition p.102)
Advance billing goes completely contrary to this. Advance billing is like someone billing you for sodas before you actually bought it. Picture City market sending you a grocery bill before you actually buy groceries And now because your purchase is a future event the business must now try and accurately predict your consumption in order to bill you.
This is Ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!
But this is exactly what Batelco and now BEC are doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BEC now claims that they have changed their accounting system to one similar to Batelco. As a result they have already billed me for the entire month of December. But how do they know what my consumption will be for December?????????????
The month has just begun! My electricity consumption actually goes down in the winter months but they have billed me a fee similar to that of the summer months!!!
As a consumer I have had enough of this organized trickery. My advice to consumers is to NEVER PAY THE ADVANCE MONTH BILLING!!!!!!!!!
Once a relative of mine paid my telephone bill in full which included the one month in advance; Batelco of course got confused and charged us again for the same month. But we could no longer find the receipt and as a result we had to pay for the same month twice.
BAHAMIANS HEED MY WARNING ---- DO NOT PAY THE ADVANCE BILL UNDER ANY CURCUMSTANCES.
They can never legally turn off your utilities for something you do not owe yet.
Can City Market have you arrested for refusing to pay for something you did not buy!!!!!!
Bahamian people do not be deceived by the trickery of these utility companies.
Why are they doing this?? To trick you into paying much more money than you need to.
But now since this is becoming a trend I am advocating for this practice to be made illegal. No one should have the legal right to charge someone for goods not purchased or services not used. I am calling on the government to put a stop to this practice immediately.
I do not care how much these utility companies spent on accounting upgrades. If the upgrades cause them to cheat the Bahamian people they should be discarded!!!!!
Bahamian people are sometimes too passive. There is a big deception going on with these companies. Let me give you a prime example
When Batelco first introduced this new advanced billing system I was quite aware. On July 2nd I came to pat the bill for June. But my bill was twice the usual. I ask them what happened and they told me that they added July’s bill already and they encouraged me to pay it but I refused. From that point on every time I paid the telephone bill the end of the month or the beginning of the next month the rent for the next month was already added.
But I went to the cashier on November 28th and a strange thing happened. I told them that I was paying November’s rental but she responded that November’s rental will not be out until the 29th and that I was actually paying OCTOBER’S BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I don’t want you people to miss this!! Every month previously when I paid for July they told me August bill was already included and when I paid for August they told me September’s bill was already included. I did this for a few years. But recently I went to pay November’s bill at the end of November and it would seem logical for me to assume that December’s bill will be included like all the previous months.
Not so, the Cashier informed me that I was actually paying for October and November‘s bill will be out tomorrow. Well I’ll be darn!!! All of a sudden I am a month behind!!!!!!!!!!
It is the beginning of December and all of a sudden I just paid October bill and I still owe for November!!!!!! But God knows I was not born as big as I am.
But this is what this advance billing does. Some consumers who are not careful may be easily fooled. Could you imagine how much money Batelco would gain if they cheated the whole Bahamas out of one month rental??
This system is trickery and I feel that it should be banned!! Bahamian people must learn to come together and fight against these large companies that attempt to exploit us as consumers.
I really would like to hear from a lawyer in relation to the legality of this new accounting system. Otherwise before you know it a lot of innocent people will be cheated out of their hard earned monies.


:jawdroop:

Funny thing is, only Cable Bahamas does advance billing,but did they get a mention?Noooo! :taped2:

lol. Yup they do advanced billing. Difference is though that your cable bill is the same from month to month, it doesnt change with usage..and if you need to be credited for loss of service time you can be.

Power and phone bills ofcourse wont be the same month to month. I'm not taking up for Cable Bahamas by the way cuz they needs to get their act together, but just pointing out the difference.

Isn't this the same thing as them estimating your bill when they don't read your meter?

It would seem to me that Betelco and BEC are strapped for cash - bad management, a greedy labour force. What better way to get it than to charge for services not yet rendered? You think it is bad now? Wait until we get Nation Health!!!! That, like the two mention, and Bahamas Air etc. will eat up the money! Get used to it.:)

It would seem to me that Betelco and BEC are strapped for cash - bad management, a greedy labour force. What better way to get it than to charge for services not yet rendered? You think it is bad now? Wait until we get Nation Health!!!! That, like the two mention, and Bahamas Air etc. will eat up the money! Get used to it.:)


WE SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. NOT GET USED TO IT.

WE SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. NOT GET USED TO IT.

What I meant was get used to them trying to pull a “fast one” on us. Of course we should fight back! I do - often!
By the way, what have we done about Bahamas Air? Nothing! Other than not flying on it. It still eats up our money!

I found these a bit inspiring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92wUSHG6ArE&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ri_gtIl_Zk

:angel:

I was one of those people who constantly complained about Batelco’s advanced billing.
I often pointed out that it goes against the rules of basic accounting.
Accrual Accounting attempts to record the financial effects of an enterprise of transactions events and other circumstances in periods in which the transaction event or circumstance occurs. (Principals of Accounting --Needles Anderson Caldwell Fourth Edition p.102)
Advance billing goes completely contrary to this. Advance billing is like someone billing you for sodas before you actually bought it. Picture City market sending you a grocery bill before you actually buy groceries And now because your purchase is a future event the business must now try and accurately predict your consumption in order to bill you.
This is Ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!
But this is exactly what Batelco and now BEC are doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BEC now claims that they have changed their accounting system to one similar to Batelco. As a result they have already billed me for the entire month of December. But how do they know what my consumption will be for December?????????????
The month has just begun! My electricity consumption actually goes down in the winter months but they have billed me a fee similar to that of the summer months!!!
As a consumer I have had enough of this organized trickery. My advice to consumers is to NEVER PAY THE ADVANCE MONTH BILLING!!!!!!!!!
Once a relative of mine paid my telephone bill in full which included the one month in advance; Batelco of course got confused and charged us again for the same month. But we could no longer find the receipt and as a result we had to pay for the same month twice.
BAHAMIANS HEED MY WARNING ---- DO NOT PAY THE ADVANCE BILL UNDER ANY CURCUMSTANCES.
They can never legally turn off your utilities for something you do not owe yet.
Can City Market have you arrested for refusing to pay for something you did not buy!!!!!!
Bahamian people do not be deceived by the trickery of these utility companies.
Why are they doing this?? To trick you into paying much more money than you need to.
But now since this is becoming a trend I am advocating for this practice to be made illegal. No one should have the legal right to charge someone for goods not purchased or services not used. I am calling on the government to put a stop to this practice immediately.
I do not care how much these utility companies spent on accounting upgrades. If the upgrades cause them to cheat the Bahamian people they should be discarded!!!!!
Bahamian people are sometimes too passive. There is a big deception going on with these companies. Let me give you a prime example
When Batelco first introduced this new advanced billing system I was quite aware. On July 2nd I came to pat the bill for June. But my bill was twice the usual. I ask them what happened and they told me that they added July’s bill already and they encouraged me to pay it but I refused. From that point on every time I paid the telephone bill the end of the month or the beginning of the next month the rent for the next month was already added.
But I went to the cashier on November 28th and a strange thing happened. I told them that I was paying November’s rental but she responded that November’s rental will not be out until the 29th and that I was actually paying OCTOBER’S BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I don’t want you people to miss this!! Every month previously when I paid for July they told me August bill was already included and when I paid for August they told me September’s bill was already included. I did this for a few years. But recently I went to pay November’s bill at the end of November and it would seem logical for me to assume that December’s bill will be included like all the previous months.
Not so, the Cashier informed me that I was actually paying for October and November‘s bill will be out tomorrow. Well I’ll be darn!!! All of a sudden I am a month behind!!!!!!!!!!
It is the beginning of December and all of a sudden I just paid October bill and I still owe for November!!!!!! But God knows I was not born as big as I am.
But this is what this advance billing does. Some consumers who are not careful may be easily fooled. Could you imagine how much money Batelco would gain if they cheated the whole Bahamas out of one month rental??
This system is trickery and I feel that it should be banned!! Bahamian people must learn to come together and fight against these large companies that attempt to exploit us as consumers.
I really would like to hear from a lawyer in relation to the legality of this new accounting system. Otherwise before you know it a lot of innocent people will be cheated out of their hard earned monies.


The sad thing is there will be nothing done about this anytime soon. Obviously the powers that be at BEC and Batelco know that something is wrong with what they are doing. It seems as those who cheat prosper and the ones who try to do things "by the book" get the short end of the stick. Add to that when NHI comes, those rates are gonna hike up higher than a mountain. Dang! Just when I was starting to enjoy my lil pay raise. They takin the money right back! No justice for the common man.