I've heard from several former employees, asking why Gannett bothers to bill them for tiny amounts owed -- in this case, a final 50-cent balance due on a medical coverage account. Don't processing, postage and other handling costs wipe away any money recovered?Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
Our paper also started billing subscribers on a monthly basis after years of doing it on a biweekly basis. And sends out a paper bill each time. Doubles the work and waste, it would seem,
ReplyDeletehuh? used to do it everyother week and now monthly? Doesn't sound like it doubles the work to me.
ReplyDeleteI know someone who got a bill for 20 cents. Moronic.
ReplyDeleteIs this bill for a mistake Gannett made in figuring the health insurance payroll deduction for an employee?
ReplyDeleteThe tiny bills, reflect the tiny minds of all involved
ReplyDeleteI got a bill for .39 cents. I'm wondering if I don;t cent them their money if they'll impose a late fee or something.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh,
ReplyDeleteThe death of common sense.
As a former Gannett Circ Director and now a Circ Director at a non-Gannett paper I have seen crazy stuff spit out of computers. We once received a check from a large Northeastern Grocery Store Chain for $0.00. Go figure - it must be the computers.
ReplyDeleteIf I got a bill like that, I'd be on the phone yelling no freakin way you idiots! THEY LAID YOU OFF! You don't owe them! If you do pay it, make sure you put it on a credit card so it costs them the processing fee to recoup the money. Let's see them sue anyone for not paying a 50 cent bill. That would be awesome for public relations. This company is amazing.
ReplyDeleteSend in a check for $.51, and then report back here and let us know what happens.
ReplyDeleteIf this kind of shit happens, just imagine the chaos if all the furloughed employees cancelled their home delivery for a single week.
They are computer generated bills. What do you think someone goes through 10,000 or 60,000 bills to see if there is one for $0.30? There are a lot of things to discuss but this? Must be a slow day.
ReplyDelete5:13 PM
ReplyDeleteAnd, just who is ultimately responsible for making sure the computers only spit out bills with a reasonable dollar amount so postage and all is not wasted? You missed the point.
5:13: Do you still have your job? Yes, this is kind of a final insult when the company has just sent someone packing. Seriously, a bill for 10, 20, 30, 50 cents? wtf?
ReplyDelete5:13 here. Ok 6:06 that is a good point. There should be a minimum billing amount. Now I get it
ReplyDeleteThe bills that involved small amounts were probably due to less finance/credit staff reviewing invoices before it out in the mail. Anytime staff is lost, some kind of service will always suffer and the customers will often loose some type of service. Smaller paper, less service, poor service, higher subscription prices, less quality content = Gannett is killing the newspaper everyday.
ReplyDeleteUmmmm - folks -
ReplyDeleteas much as we all enjoy bashing Gannett,
these bills (Mine is for $1.57) are generated by Hewitt, not Gannett.
Gannett has nothing to do with this other than paying Hewitt to manage our insurance administration.
The bills are automatically generated, and Hewitt has decided to send them without a minimum amount. That is their prerogative.
As for paper vs. electronic subscriber invoices, any paper that is on Genesys has the ability to offer electronic invoices if the subscriber chooses.
8:42 PM
ReplyDeleteThanks.
I still have a question. If Gannett payroll takes out the deduction for health insurance---and does it correctly---why should any employee owe anything? Also, if Gannett screwed up and miscalculated what an employee owed, shouldn't Hewitt bill Gannett? Sure seems smarter to send one bill to the company than to waste postage on all the little bills.
This bill is mine and I don't care if it was hewitts fault! It is on gannett letterhead and they represent gannett! It is another slap in the face! They first litterly booted me out the door like I had done something wrong. The only wrong thing I did was give them 9 years of my life!
ReplyDeleteLike it's not bad enough they let you work most of the day and then let you go. Then while packing your boxes of belongings in your car you are met in the parking lot with them carrying your purse and coat out to you telling you that your not allowed back in the building to get the rest of your stuff! Now a bill for fucking 50 cents?!?! They might as well sent me a packet of salt with instructions that read, "for best results, pour directly into wound"
I got a bill for 9 cents, overpayment of my short-term medical leave payment. The statement reminded me that if I sent a note of protest along with my check, the correspondence would be tossed/destroyed. I sent them a check for NINE CENTS. Gannett replied with two pages of information including a statement showing that I now had a $0.00 balance.
ReplyDeleteGoodness knows what it cost them to do all that. It cost me a stamp and a check for NINE CENTS.
[I have to admit, it was kind of fun to write a check for NINE CENTS, though.]
I have received 2 bills for 98 cents... are they kidding? The postage alone bought my debt. How freakin' funny!! I say let the bastards spend money and time on us... hehehehehe they never did before now! :)
ReplyDelete