FCC fees...

[csuh13]

Last September when the price went down to $65 for the GMRS license, I jumped on it and registered the first day. That first day, ULS had a snafu and failed to charge a fee at all to many "lucky" folks like me. I figured the FCC would probably send me a bill eventually.

Well, fast forward to yesterday when I get a collections bill from the US Treasury for $116.54 in fees due to the FCC! I went to the FCC site this morning, and it still shows that I have no fees outstanding. So, I give them a call. Turns out they sent me a bill, to my previous address from 2007! When I moved, I updated my address in ULS, but not in CORES. Naïve little me assumed they were linked... "Luckily," the collections bill got sent to my ULS address, but now with $51 in extra Treasury Department "fees" tacked on. FCC still couldn't explain to me why nothing is (or has been for the last 8 months) showing due online.

So much for my free license! No such thing as a free lunch

 

[Hans13]

FCC still couldn't explain to me why nothing is (or has been for the last 8 months) showing due online.

That stinks. My condolences.

Be careful. There's no guarantee that when you do pay it that it will be credited properly to your account since they don't yet know why the amount due is not showing online. When it comes to government entities, I'm a bit paranoid about making sure that they have everything squared away so there isn't a problem like you've experienced with the extra treasury fee added on later. I've been going round and round with a different government entity about $30,000 or so they still haven't properly credited to me. This is been ongoing since about 2009. The first $30K got credited just fine but they just can't seem to get the second batch squared away. Be it $50 or $50K, I stay on top of government agencies because when they screw up, they usually screw up big-time. Good luck.

 

[mikewazowski]

Thread moved to GMRS/FRS forum.

 

[km4lnl]

Funny that you bring this up today. I got the same type letter yesterday in the mail. Got my GMRS license in the Sept. when they lowered the cost to $65. Never was sent a bill and was never posted online as due. The license was issued.

They now show that is it VERY past due (delinquent) via the said letter. It is the first notice I have received from the FCC or Treasury. I think they're full of it and have not sent out any notices and are just now are correcting the issue by overcharging via late fees when it was their system that failed to charge the correct amount to begin with. In my case it was not an old address as I had just recently registered with ULS and the FCC online.

 

[toastycookies]

Funny that you bring this up today. I got the same type letter yesterday in the mail. Got my GMRS license in the Sept. when they lowered the cost to $65. Never was sent a bill and was never posted online as due. The license was issued.

They now show that is it VERY past due (delinquent) via the said letter. It is the first notice I have received from the FCC or Treasury. I think they're full of it and have not sent out any notices and are just now are correcting the issue by overcharging via late fees when it was their system that failed to charge the correct amount to begin with. In my case it was not an old address as I had just recently registered with ULS and the FCC online.

7 months past due is a long time...

Why didn't you pay in September?

 

[ecps92]

Search for the FREE License Threads.
But Short answer is... the system did not ask (Opps, someone messed up in programming) for a payment and just handed out the FREE License. Probably the same programmer who was to send out the $ Fee notices, so now they have moved it to Treasury for collection :roll:

7 months past due is a long time...

Why didn't you pay in September?

 

[SpugEddy]

That stinks. My condolences.

Be careful. There's no guarantee that when you do pay it that it will be credited properly to your account since they don't yet know why the amount due is not showing online. When it comes to government entities, I'm a bit paranoid about making sure that they have everything squared away so there isn't a problem like you've experienced with the extra treasury fee added on later. I've been going round and round with a different government entity about $30,000 or so they still haven't properly credited to me. This is been ongoing since about 2009. The first $30K got credited just fine but they just can't seem to get the second batch squared away. Be it $50 or $50K, I stay on top of government agencies because when they screw up, they usually screw up big-time. Good luck.

Hans, what kind of "fee" are you charging them for being so late.
Only seems fair to me!

 

[Hans13]

Hans, what kind of "fee" are you charging them for being so late.
Only seems fair to me!

If only! Government reminds me of the toddler mindset; what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine. Come to think of it, my exwives thought the same way. Can I divorce the governnent or at least send it to a time-out? If only.

 

[wesct]

Last September when the price went down to $65 for the GMRS license, I jumped on it and registered the first day. That first day, ULS had a snafu and failed to charge a fee at all to many "lucky" folks like me. I figured the FCC would probably send me a bill eventually.

Well, fast forward to yesterday when I get a collections bill from the US Treasury for $116.54 in fees due to the FCC! I went to the FCC site this morning, and it still shows that I have no fees outstanding. So, I give them a call. Turns out they sent me a bill, to my previous address from 2007! When I moved, I updated my address in ULS, but not in CORES. Naïve little me assumed they were linked... "Luckily," the collections bill got sent to my ULS address, but now with $51 in extra Treasury Department "fees" tacked on. FCC still couldn't explain to me why nothing is (or has been for the last 8 months) showing due online.

So much for my free license! No such thing as a free lunch

I applied for my GMRS license in August of last year and I paid no fees at all.

"We also
remove amateur radio Vanity Call Signs and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) from the regulatory
fee schedule."

FCC 15-59

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-15-59A1.pdf

 

[ecps92]

But you did pay them something tho. ??
what is being said is the ULS did not even ask for any payment last fall and now the FCC claims they sent out collection notices for the original Fee and have not sent the LATE/Failure to pay process to the Treasury with fines, interests and penalties applied to now total $149.17 :roll:

Fees is a general term, and Yes the FCC removed the Regulatory Fees, but you still pay for most (NOT ALL) licenses and renewals

I applied for my GMRS license in August of last year and I paid no fees at all.

"We also
remove amateur radio Vanity Call Signs and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) from the regulatory
fee schedule."

FCC 15-59

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-15-59A1.pdf

 

[902]

Last September when the price went down to $65 for the GMRS license, I jumped on it and registered the first day. That first day, ULS had a snafu and failed to charge a fee at all to many "lucky" folks like me. I figured the FCC would probably send me a bill eventually.

Well, fast forward to yesterday when I get a collections bill from the US Treasury for $116.54 in fees due to the FCC! I went to the FCC site this morning, and it still shows that I have no fees outstanding. So, I give them a call. Turns out they sent me a bill, to my previous address from 2007! When I moved, I updated my address in ULS, but not in CORES. Naïve little me assumed they were linked... "Luckily," the collections bill got sent to my ULS address, but now with $51 in extra Treasury Department "fees" tacked on. FCC still couldn't explain to me why nothing is (or has been for the last 8 months) showing due online.

So much for my free license! No such thing as a free lunch

Sounds like an error on their part to have allowed it to happen in the first place. I'd call them and state my case. It might save you some money. 1-888-CALL-FCC.

 

[wesct]

But you did pay them something tho. ??
what is being said is the ULS did not even ask for any payment last fall and now the FCC claims they sent out collection notices for the original Fee and have not sent the LATE/Failure to pay process to the Treasury with fines, interests and penalties applied to now total $149.17 :roll:

Fees is a general term, and Yes the FCC removed the Regulatory Fees, but you still pay for most (NOT ALL) licenses and renewals

I paid nothing at all.

The rulemaking went into effect on August 18, 2015 and I had my license by August 22.

 

[toastycookies]

Search for the FREE License Threads.
But Short answer is... the system did not ask (Opps, someone messed up in programming) for a payment and just handed out the FREE License. Probably the same programmer who was to send out the $ Fee notices, so now they have moved it to Treasury for collection :roll:

Ah. Must have missed that one. Conflicted feelings towards all those who only registered for the license because they thought they were going to get something that is supposed to cost money for free.


Seems dishonest to me, but at the same time it is the FCC...

 

[bharvey2]

What seems strange is that they would claim that you are in arrears at all. I wasn't aware that the FCC had anything resembling Net30 terms. I've always paid first then was issued my license, even before the online ULS stuff. Maybe I'm not a big enough player.

 

[KD8DVR]

I figured they'd eventually figure it out and come after everyone who didn't pay. I imagine, everyone who hasn't got a Bill, will get one soon.

Sent from my LG-D631 using Tapatalk

 

[mmckenna]

Ah. Must have missed that one. Conflicted feelings towards all those who only registered for the license because they thought they were going to get something that is supposed to cost money for free.


Seems dishonest to me, but at the same time it is the FCC...

My feeling exactly. People knew it was $65, but they took advantage of the situation, en mass.

Of course, so did the FCC. Charging late fees on something they never billed for isn't exactly playing clean, either.

My GMRS license had recently expired when all this went down. I briefly gave thought to jumping on the bandwagon, but I figured something like this would happen.

As we always hear, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". Guess what? It was.

 

[bharvey2]

Expecting to get away without paying is definitely wishful thinking at best, dishonest at its worst. It seems as there is fault on both sides of the fence. However, the FCC shouldn't expect others to pay a fine due to their mistake. It seems that a simple solution would be to alert the parties who did pay of the error, give them a short grace period to pay the original fee or cancel the license if it isn't.

 

[ecps92]

I think the FCC is shortly going to understand they had two failures.
a. The Original issue
b. Where they claim they sent out bills to collect, but never actualy did.

I would expect them to shortly, Recall (probably need to make calls thru the phone tree) the Treasury notice and Re-issue the request to pay the $65

They (FCC) are not the enemy, it's the programmers :evil:

My feeling exactly. People knew it was $65, but they took advantage of the situation, en mass.

Of course, so did the FCC. Charging late fees on something they never billed for isn't exactly playing clean, either.

My GMRS license had recently expired when all this went down. I briefly gave thought to jumping on the bandwagon, but I figured something like this would happen.

As we always hear, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". Guess what? It was.

 

[Hans13]

It seems that a simple solution would be to alert the parties who did pay of the error, give them a short grace period to pay the original fee or cancel the license if it isn't.

That makes perfect sense. Now, for someone to convince our schizoid uncle to do something sensible for a change...

 

[ecps92]

DO NOT pay that Treasury Debt

Do this first.
Go to https://apps.fcc.gov/redlight/login.cfm
and Log in with your FRN and Password
See if you have any Notices
See if the FCC has posted your $65 bill.
If so, Pay it.

the FCC, has corrected the issue for those (mailings will occur to collect the $65 fee) who were identified. They have recalled those records (again identified) from the Treasury

If you account has not been identified. Call the Help Desk at 202-418-2097 to start the process to pay your original FEE of $65

Last September when the price went down to $65 for the GMRS license, I jumped on it and registered the first day. That first day, ULS had a snafu and failed to charge a fee at all to many "lucky" folks like me. I figured the FCC would probably send me a bill eventually.

Well, fast forward to yesterday when I get a collections bill from the US Treasury for $116.54 in fees due to the FCC! I went to the FCC site this morning, and it still shows that I have no fees outstanding. So, I give them a call. Turns out they sent me a bill, to my previous address from 2007! When I moved, I updated my address in ULS, but not in CORES. Naïve little me assumed they were linked... "Luckily," the collections bill got sent to my ULS address, but now with $51 in extra Treasury Department "fees" tacked on. FCC still couldn't explain to me why nothing is (or has been for the last 8 months) showing due online.

So much for my free license! No such thing as a free lunch