<p>Just received my dd's new statement and it showed a past due balance and late fee. I think I know what the problem is but can anyone with experience confirm? Here is what happened...</p>
<p>For the bill due Aug. 10 I payed slightly more than the deferment amount. I remember at orientation they said the system will automatically recognize you for the deferment plan if you pay the deferment amount. I figured you had to pay AT LEAST the deferment amount . By rounding up the stated deferment amount by a few hundred dollars (simply trying to get it to the nearest thousand) I think I made a mistake...and the system didn't recognize us for the deferment plan because I didn't pay the exact amount. We payed by late July so it wasn't late for the deferment amount. But it is showing the entire remaining balance as past due with a $205 late fee and the new deferment amount is the complete balance due. </p>
<p>I will call the bursar office on Monday and I hope they can clear it up and remove the late fee. Anyone else ever make a similar mistake? What was the outcome?</p>
<p>Trying not to panic!</p>
<p>They told me that in order to go on the deferment plan it had to be the exact amount and could not be more. I had to call my dd’s grandparents and tell them not to send their payment until next month. Said the system is designed to take full payment or exact deferment amount. Hopefully they will work something out!</p>
<p>Thanks ^. At least I know what the mistake was. I plan to call them on Monday. Makes perfect sense (in hind sight) that the system can take only the deferred amount or the full amount.</p>
<p>What did you find out?</p>
<p>I made the mistake described above. When I called, the woman said there is nothing they can do and that I owe the full balance on sept. 10 plus the late fee. I know it is a lot of manual work to correct the problem and the mistake was my own. She asked if I attended orientation because they should have stressed this point. I said I did and must have simply forgotten. She then asked for my dd ID number and pulled up the account to waive the late fee and re figure the installment amount. (Exhale!) She politely but firmly explained she’d make the change this one time. I gratefully assured her I won’t make the mistake again. I can imagine it would be extremely time consuming to adjust for hundreds if not thousands of people. My one suggestion is that they program the system so that it only accepts the installment amount or the full amount…some type of red letter warning that the amount entered must be one or the other. I use lots of systems with that kind of error proofing built in. But we got it taken care of. Bottom line…Pay either the full balance due or the EXACT installment!</p>
<p>They really need to make that clear on QuickPay by having a button you have to click to chose one or the other. That would help eliminate the issue.</p>
<p>I paid the full amount this semester, but could not do it all at once, because the funds come from a few different sources. So, while I did pay the full amount, it took more than a week for everything to clear. I wouldn’t have been able to do the “pay the full amount right now” option.</p>