Mainecoons Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 . . . and then make a trip to a CFE office or CFE automatic teller to upload your electricity usage data from the card into CFE's billing system. And therein lies the deal killer. Gringal, it sounds like if/when they come around offering you this card, you have the option to say no. I appreciate this thread very much since we are in the process of installing a big solar system and getting one of these new meters. Thanks to you all, I know to instruct my solar installer, STI, not to accept one of these cards. I sure as heck don't want to be forced to go to Chapala every month to pay my electric bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomas Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 This has to be one of the most $%&/()ic ideas I have ever heard of..The life expectancy of these cards would not be long as kids, wind , etc. would soon take their toll. Next how many of the old folks and younger ones remember to place their card on their meter on the 25th of every month...even when you are in town... and then have to troop to the CFE office on a street with little parking to pay your bill. Someone would have to been on drugs to come up with this dumb ### system. I cannot imagine anyone opting in given a choice. There must be some confusion on our part on how the system is supposed to work. Final question is whether we can "opt out" and continue to receive our CFE bill as usual and pay at Oxxo or wherever.. Please no guesses..Just facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkshawn Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Bancomer pays our bills which they receive directly from CFE. What is going t happen now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkshawn Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Have CFE ever considered equalized billing based on past consumption? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 I refused to sign up for the card. The man left. I'm still trying to figure out what happens next: meter reading and bills as usual, I hope!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 CFE says you only have to go to CFE the first month with your card where they will set things up after that you can pay at OXXO where you will be able to swipe the card and pay. You will however have to pay monthly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainecoons Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 I'll believe it when I see it. Sorry, but I don't trust CFE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowyco Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Okay, are you saying that they aren't reading the meters any more and won't be giving us a bill to pay? I DON'T want to use a card at all. I don't have a card, wouldn't accept the card and how is this "voluntary"? I'm more confused than ever by Snowyco's post. From Mexconnect, If you sign up for "Pago Programado": A few minor updates to clarify how CFE's "Pago Programado" system works: " ~ We can select our date for reading and paying from these day-options: 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25th of the month. ~ The card only reads the meter when you lay it on top of the meter… (15 sec.) ~ The meter signals when it is acceptable to set the card on the meter: When the green light bulb in your electronic meter is solid, it means that your selected date payment is close enough for you to place your card on the meter (for 15 seconds) to take a reading. ~ You then go and upload that month’s electricity usage from the card into the CFE computer at CFE payment centers, or CFEMáticos (CFE ATMs => "CFEMáticos"). " New CFE Cards (Listening to your Inner Curmudgeon) If you choose to go to the new system, then you would need to use the card every month to read your meter, and then go to a CFE site to upload that month's electricity usage from your card into CFE's system. Once your values are in the CFE computer, you could use your online credit card payment options. Bancomer pays our bills which they receive directly from CFE. What is going t happen now! Similar to gringal's question, you would still have to manually use the card to read your meter monthly, and take the card to a CFE office or CFEMático machine to upload that month's electricity usage data. From the CFE website information, it is not clear whether your autopay system is definitely cancelled if you choose the "Pago Programado" option. If you set up your "Pago Programado" option to read your meter on a day well before your scheduled Bancomer autopay date, and if you then every month took the CFE smartcard to a CFE location and uploaded that month's electricity usage, then CFE would have that month's billing charges for Bancomer to use to pay. This sounds like a lot of hassles, and I would want to have CFE confirm that this is possible before trying it. If all these explanations are still to confusing, maybe read http://yucalandia.com/new-cfe-cards-and-listening-to-your-inner-curmudgeon/ for clearer explanations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowyco Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 This has to be one of the most $%&/()ic ideas I have ever heard of..The life expectancy of these cards would not be long as kids, wind , etc. would soon take their toll. Next how many of the old folks and younger ones remember to place their card on their meter on the 25th of every month...even when you are in town... and then have to troop to the CFE office on a street with little parking to pay your bill. Someone would have to been on drugs to come up with this dumb ### system. I cannot imagine anyone opting in given a choice. There must be some confusion on our part on how the system is supposed to work. Final question is whether we can "opt out" and continue to receive our CFE bill as usual and pay at Oxxo or wherever.. Please no guesses..Just facts. As posted above (from CFE's website and Mexconnect http://www.mexconnect.com/cgi-bin/forums/gforum.cgi?post=198142;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread): You only hold the card up next to the meter for 15 seconds on the days when the meter displays a solid green light, so the wind and kids are not a problem, because the card does not have to left outside at all. According to El Horizonte, if you want to cancel the ""Pago Programado" option with CFE: “… (CFE) office workers placed a sheet on the door where they informed (readers) about the requirements that users need to cancel: 1. A letter explaining your reasons why you are canceling the smart card system, including your name, address and municipality. 2. A copy of your (IFE) voter card, and 3. The smart card given to you for the smart payment.” http://elhorizonte.mx/a/noticia/456507 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomas Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Good info SNOWYCO however when you choose a date for your meter reading and you have the opportunity to travel and not be around for your card scan and return home a month later late at night to discover no electric then it is a couple of days, based on CFE connection schedule, to have power restored. I don't even trust the bank as they recently overlooked paying our bill when we were out of the country and the above mentioned scenario is what took place..Soooo now we pay an estimated 5-6 months in advance at CFE and monitor our bi-monthly charges to determine our balance every other month to insure that we have a sufficient credit balance and add more as necessary. Best part so far it requires essentially NO human CFE interaction as we only use the payment machine outside and it prints a receipt showing our deposit..Hopefully this method will continue.. This NEW and "Improved" meter reading and payment system is a sad joke.Truly Unbelievable that any group of sane people could conjure up such lunacy without being an absolute monopoly.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertdave Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 So! What if you don't have a digital meter. Will the card still be able to read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Yucalandia's site was very clear, and my inner curmudgeon wants nada to do with this crazy new system, which is apparently designed to do away with meter readers and make the customer do all the work, including a monthly trip to Chapala. Bah, humbug. Bet it won't fly in the long run. Whoever came up with the idea must have been feeling mighty high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowyco Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Benefits for customers seem slim, but maybe we're all looking at this too skeptically? Paperless means that your paper bill doesn't get thrown over the wall, your paper bill isn't poked into a broken window of an abandoned property next door, your bill does not get stuffed inside the hedge out front, and your bill does not get tossed under the bushes. Paperless means you don't have to go looking for an old bill to get your account number for when your current bill never arrives. Paperless "Pago Pogromado" also gives "the most important benefit" of using the new card system is that you get one of those new digital meters that "protects your electronics aparati from high and low voltage" . CFE explains on their webpage on using the new cards: "Porque tú eres lo más importante para nosotros, el medidor está programado para proteger tus aparatos eléctricos en caso de alto o bajo voltaje." See, there are benefits ??? (just where is the sarcasm/irony font in Chapala.com?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 I have two new meters: one for solar and one for plain electric. There went that advantage. We have a mail slot, and the bills have been in it lately. Scratch that one. Symbolic smilie: how about "wacko"? and and and finally Just another ripoff from your amigos at CFE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johanson Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 And if you don't get your bill, just go on line and print out a copy of the bill you did not receive. (The on line copy doesn't show the barcode but an older bill will) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 And if you don't get your bill, just go on line and print out a copy of the bill you did not receive. (The on line copy doesn't show the barcode but an older bill will) That's what we've done when it didn't show up on time. It works fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 So you could PAY to PAY at OXXO (7 or 8 pesos) and can't use any of the free services. Totally crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisy2013 Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 I have two new meters: one for solar and one for plain electric. There went that advantage. We have a mail slot, and the bills have been in it lately. Scratch that one. Symbolic smilie: how about "wacko"? and and and finally Just another ripoff from your amigos at CFE. what do you mean. you have 2 meters one for solar and one for plain electric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bournemouth Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Those what do you mean. you have 2 meters one for solar and one for plain electric Those people with solar panels have digital meters. If you have other meters - for a casita as an example, that meter is a regular one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 what do you mean. you have 2 meters one for solar and one for plain electric I mean exactly that: We have a solar system with its meter, and we have a small casita with no solar connection which has a CFE meter for electricity supplied by CFE. The meters sit side by side on the front wall. The bills come separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerGuy Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 I don't know what the upshot of all this brouhaha is going to be, but I think it's safe to say you will still be able to pay the same old ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainecoons Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 I mean exactly that: We have a solar system with its meter, and we have a small casita with no solar connection which has a CFE meter for electricity supplied by CFE. The meters sit side by side on the front wall. The bills come separately. Who did your solar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maryannborman Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 To opt out we need the letter explaining our reasons, the SMART card and a voter ID card?(IFE) I have been voting here for over 4 years and have never had a voter's card. What is that and how does one get one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerGuy Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 Right. Like we are all eligible to vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bennie2 Posted February 28, 2014 Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 he may mean a usa card? now its getting absurd. just call the 800 # & ask if you can pay @ oxxo. ask if you can have it debited from bank acct or what ever. have a mex or fluent person call. their english is really bad. btw, ask spencer what HE is doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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