I don't recall anyone discussing the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing phone / text / email alerts as a supplement to any USPS mailings your banking and credit card companies might offer.
I would like to encourage anyone relying on any of these methods to recognize that they are not necessarily any more reliable than the USPS.
Many times, sometimes for periods of weeks, I have not received email alerts that I had previously regularly received. It was so bad, that I had to change my primary email address with Chase to a "Yahoo" account instead of my ISP provided email address.
I think that most of us on these forums have become aware of the fact that we need to check our online accounts daily as well as keeping a personal record of our transactions ... there are no other methods as dependable in relation to preventing ourselves from being blind-sided by something unexpected.
We can't trust USPS (at least I can't ... I presently have what appears to be my neighbor's W2 form and other tax related statements ... and DH's W2 has been returned to his employer as undeliverable several times in the past few years.)
We also can't trust that email / phone / text alerts we may have set up are going to arrive in a timely fashion (if at all.) I receive some of mine within minutes of the time they are sent ... and others can be 6-24 hours later ... or never.
Chase recently sent a notice that they will no longer send USPS alerts regarding overdraft notices, but encourage their customers to sign up for electronic alerts. With the increase in internet traffic because of the pressure to use these methods of communication, the bottlenecks may serve to make electronic communication less reliable than it already is.
So .. as wonderful as electronic technology is as a communication method ... don't let your guard down ... and encourage those near and dear to you to keep their eyes wide open.
Message Edited by denbar2003 on
01-29-2008 06:40 AM
