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Paying the Bills

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 148: Paying the Bills.

You’re listening to English as a Second Language Podcast episode 148. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

On this podcast, we’re going to pay our bills. Let’s go!

[start of dialog]

Grace: Did you already pay the bills for this month?

Will: No, I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Why?

Grace: We got a late notice from the credit card company. The notice says that they haven’t received the payment yet and it’s past the due date. We are being charged a late fee plus a finance charge of 15%.

Will: Let me see that. That can’t be right. I paid the minimum payment on the last bill. I better call and talk to customer service tomorrow. I’m sure it’s a mix-up.

Grace: I really hope so. The last time we were late with the payment, I tried calling them and telling them that the check was in the mail, but they didn’t buy it.

Will: That’s different. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure I’ll get it straightened out. Worse comes to worst, we’re only a month late. They won’t send the collection agency after us.

Grace: I know I can count on you to take care of it. I just don’t want this late payment to affect our credit rating.

Will: Leave it to me. I’ll take care of it on Monday. It’s as good as done.

[end of dialog]

In this podcast, we talk about paying the “bills.” The “bills” (bills) means the expenses or the things that you have to pay such as your telephone and your electricity and your water. You have to pay the bills, the bills of your house. Well, in this dialog, Grace, the woman, says, “Did you already pay the bills for this month?” And Will says, “No. I haven’t gotten around to it yet.” “To get around to something” means that you are planning on doing it but you haven’t done it yet. Maybe because you don’t think it’s very important or maybe because you’ve been so busy that you haven’t been able to do it. So, that expression, “Have you got around to it yet?” “No. I haven’t,” means I haven’t done it yet, but I am planning on doing it.

Well, Grace says that they received a “late notice” from the credit card company. A “late notice (notice)” is when you do not pay your credit card bill or any bill on time when you are supposed to. And after maybe five, ten days, the company will send you a “late notice,” telling you that you are late in paying the bill. The notice that Grace received says they haven’t received the payment yet, and it’s past the due date. The “payment” is (payment) the money that they send to the company to pay your bill or pay their bill, in this case.

The “due date” – (due) “date” (date) – the “due date” is the day that something has to be paid. It is the deadline for when you have to pay a certain bill. To say something is “past the due date” is the same as saying it’s “past due.” “It’s past due” (past) “due” (due) – is the same as it is after the day or the date that something has to be paid. Well, they’re being charged a “late fee” plus a “finance charge.” A “late fee” (fee) is extra money they have to pay because they are late. And a “finance charge” (finance) – a “finance charge” is money – a percentage – that you have to pay on what you owe. This, of course is how credit card companies make money – one way they make money as that, if you don’t pay off or pay completely what you owe every month, you have a “finance charge.” And it’s like interest that you pay on a loan. Well, Will says that he can’t believe what has happened. He says he paid the minimum payment on the last bill. The “minimum” (minimum) – the “minimum payment” is the least amount. So, for credit card companies – VISA, Mastercard – they will say, “Well, you spent $500. You don’t have to pay us $500. This month you can pay us just $50 and we will charge you interest on the rest of the money. So, the $50 is the least amount – the minimum payment. And if you pay the minimum payment, you don’t have a late fee. But you do have a finance charge. Will says that “I better call and talk to customer service tomorrow.” “I better call” (better) means “I ought to call.” “I should call.” And that’s a common way that we say that. For example, “You better go to school” means you should, you ought to go to school. It’s somewhat informal.

Well, Will says, “I better call and talk to customer service.” “Customer service” is the department in a company that takes care of its customers, that if you have a problem or a complaint, these are the people you call and you end up waiting on the telephone for many hours – that’s customer service. “Customers” just, of course, another word for the person who is buying the product or service. Will says that he’s sure it’s a “mix-up.” A “mix-up” (mix-up) is a mistake. When someone says there was a “mix-up,” they mean there was some confusion. There was some problem, some error. Grace says that she tried calling the credit card company the last time they were late and told them that the check was “in the mail.” That expression “The check is in the mail” is sometimes used as a joke, meaning I have already sent you the money and it is in the mail service – they haven’t delivered it yet. Many people say that, something as a joke because of course, you can always say, “Oh, yeah. I mailed the check already. You just have not received it.” Well, according to Grace, the company – the credit card company – didn’t buy her reason, didn’t buy her excuse. She says, “They didn’t buy it.” In this case, “to buy” means to believe, not to purchase something with money – that’s also a use of the verb “to buy,” but here it means simply “to believe something,” usually something that is an excuse, perhaps or some explanation that may not be true. We will sometimes say, “Well, she told me that she loved me, but I don’t buy it. I don’t believe it.” Isn’t that one of our great problems in the world? Well, Will says that this situation here is different, that he’s sure he can get it “straightened out.” To get something “straightened out” (straightened) – “to straighten something out” or “to get it straightened out” means to get it fixed, to solve the problem, to end the confusion. If there was a mix-up, you can “straighten it out” – means you can undo or tell the person what actually happened and end the confusion.

Will then says, “Worse comes to worst, we’re only a month late.” The expression “worse (worse) comes to worst (worst)” means that in the worst possible situation. We sometimes say, “Worst case scenario.” A “scenario” (scenario) is like a situation. So, what he’s saying here is “Even if the worst thing” – and “worst,” of course, comes – bad, worse, worst, right? – something that is more bad is “worst.” We don’t say “more bad.” We say “worst” – something that is the worst situation is the most negative possible situation. So, “Worse comes to worst,” Will says, “we’re only a month late. They won’t send the collection agency after us.” A “collection (collection) agency (agency)” – a “collection agency” – these are usually private companies that are responsible for getting money that is owed to companies. So, when people don’t pay their bills, for many months, there will be a collection company that will call them, mail them, try to get them to pay their bills. These collection agencies take a percentage of how much the bill is, and that’s how they make money.

Well, Grace says that she knows she can “count on” Will. “To count on” means to rely on. She says, “I don’t want this late payment to affect our credit rating.” Your “credit (credit) rating (rating)” is the information that companies look at when they want to see if you are good with your money – if you had paid your bills on time. And if you don’t, you can get a “bad credit rating.” And in the United States, that’s very important because if you want to buy a house or buy a car, and you have a bad credit rating, many companies will not give money to you. So, it’s important to have a good credit rating by paying your bills on time. Will says to Grace, “Leave it to me,” meaning let me take care of it. I will handle it. I will solve the problem. “It’s as good as done.” “It’s as good as done” means you don’t have to worry about it. I’m going to do it and there’ll be no problems.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue this time at a native rate of speech.

[start of dialog]

Grace: Did you already pay the bills for this month?

Will: No, I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Why?

Grace: We got a late notice from the credit card company. The notice says that they haven’t received the payment yet and it’s past the due date. We are being charged a late fee plus a finance charge of 15%.

Will: Let me see that. That can’t be right. I paid the minimum payment on the last bill. I better call and talk to customer service tomorrow. I’m sure it’s a mix-up.

Grace: I really hope so. The last time we were late with the payment, I tried calling them and letting them know that the check was in the mail, but they didn’t buy it.

Will: That’s different. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure I’ll get it straightened out. Worse comes to worst, we’re only a month late. They won’t send the collection agency after us.

Grace: I know I can count on you to take care of it. I just don’t want this late payment to affect our credit rating.

Will: Leave it to me. I’ll take care of it on Monday. It’s as good as done.

[end of dialog]

The script for today’s podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Tse.

Remember to visit our website for a script of this dialog. You can read that on www.eslpod.com.

From Los Angeles, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse, hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan. This podcast is copyright 2006.