GREENSBORO, N.C. — What happens when your Duke Energy bill is due April 5, 2022, but you keep getting a notice saying the online bill pay system is unavailable, try again after April 6?
It's frustrating to think you have the money but can't physically pay the bill. Your big question is, will you get stuck with a late fee?
“During this time, when we have the website billing system down, customers might not be able to do the things they typically do including portions of their account, don't worry about that, we recognize you can't access your account, that's why we suspended late fees and disconnects during this time period,” said Jeff Brooks, Duke Energy Spokesperson.
So, what do you do? Just what the notice says, wait until after April 6 and then pay your bill. Yes, there are third-party billing services, but Duke Energy folks say just be patient and try again at the end of the week.
What happens if you forget to check back and you get the next bill, is that ok? Brooks says there will be an extension of time to not charge late fees and such, but he warns about passing off the bill to the next cycle.
“What we encourage people to do is make the payment, because what we find is when people put off that payment, there's that much more to catch up to the next month and that can put you in a situation that puts you in a bind to pay your next bill,” said Brooks.
Now, to answer your next question about why the system is down.
“We’re a big company and from time to time we need to update our systems to serve our customers better. Once it’s done, you’ll see a lot of great new tools we're adding including viewing your usage, analyzing it, trends as well as setting up service payment plans and self-service items that we think will make it a better experience for customers,” said Brooks.