Pacer charges right away?

[PaKettle]

After reading the registration for Pacer I was under the impression that they only charge quarterly and that they only charge you after you've gathered >$10.00 in pages.

But I got charged $1.00 via my debit card after just signing up and looking at maybe 6 pages. Yes, I am aware of the charge for documents you search for even though you do not open them, but pretty sure I did not search any documents. In fact, I remember getting a warning page that said "If you open this document you will be charged for 30 pages", so I clicked back and did not open it. But that would have been $2.40, and this was $1.00.

No big deal, but just curious why I am being charged $1. when I thought they billed only quarterly and only after $10 charges accrued.

Or, is there a sign up fee of $1.00?

[SinkingFast]

If there's a sign up fee, that's something new. I don't remember "paying" to register with PACER.

Maybe they pinged your Debit Card to see if it was valid. If that's the case, the $1 charge will "disappear" off your bank register. The money wasn't really taken from your acct.

[magyar123]

The $1 is just an upfront pending entry that your debit card is good/valid. Once the actual charge hits your account it will be for the amount of the item/pacer report only and not + $1.

[PaKettle]

The $1 is just an upfront pending entry that your debit card is good/valid. Once the actual charge hits your account it will be for the amount of the item/pacer report only and not + $1.

Thanks. It would be nice if they explained that on the sign up page! (Or did they, and I missed it?) Oh well, no big deal, now I know.

So I am correct, that they do bill only quarterly, and only after $10 in fees?

[SinkingFast]

Yep.

Around the 10th to the 15th of the month after the end of each quarter, PACER bills. April, July, September, and January. But only if you've incurred $10 or more in charges. Otherwise, the billing rolls over to the next quarter.

If you never spend more than $9.99, theoretically, you'll never be billed by PACER.