Convenience Isn't Free

These days, it seems that most everything is done electronically and online. You can pay bills, make reservations, buy stuff, renew licenses, and so much more. And personally, I like it. Except for the lingering feeling of guilt over contributing to the eventual demise of the postal service. But otherwise, I enjoy the convenience.

However, some places think that we enjoy that convenience just a little too much, apparently. Or they think that we can’t live without that convenience. Because they want to charge for it. Yes, these places charge a convenience fee for their services.

Take for example engineering license renewals. Depending on the state, those licenses have to be renewed every year or every two years. There isn’t much involved in the renewal besides verifying your address and paying your fee. It seems like it would be much easier for the state workers if you would just do that online, saving them some time and man hours. If set up correctly, the information you enter online could go directly into their database, and the money directly into their bank account, pending a quick review by an actual person. It seems simple enough, and convenient for everyone. But some of the states want to charge for that service, anywhere from $3 to $5, or maybe more.

So being the frugal kind of guy that I am, I put my renewal in the mail to save them from the convenience of my paying online. Because it must not be convenient for them. If it were convenient for them, wouldn’t they want to give me a discount instead of charging me more?

So in those states I keep doing things the old-fashioned way. Because I would hate to make things more difficult for them.

That makes sense, doesn’t it?