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what if your late on iphone bill? (ATT)

gdeputy

gdeputy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 23, 2008
839
86
New York
So, my bill due date was the 12th, but my credit card payment hasn't posted yet. It will probably be another 2 days before I can get it paid, will my service be disabled? I have the money just waiting for CC company to authorize payment for last month so I can put the bill on credit.

Anyone know?

thanks!
 
You'll be fine. Next month you will probably have a late fee charge of $30 or so, and if you had to post a $500 deposit to get a plan (due to bad or lack of credit) you will probably lose that.
 
gdeputy said:
So, my bill due date was the 12th, but my credit card payment hasn't posted yet. It will probably be another 2 days before I can get it paid, will my service be disabled? I have the money just waiting for CC company to authorize payment for last month so I can put the bill on credit.

Anyone know?

thanks!
Click to expand...
Did you do the payment in advance via the ATT website and just put in the due date as the day for it to be paid? If that is the case you should not see a late fee. If you did not actually do the payment until after the due date then you will have the late fee.
 
Eso said:
You'll be fine. Next month you will probably have a late fee charge of $30 or so, and if you had to post a $500 deposit to get a plan (due to bad or lack of credit) you will probably lose that.
Click to expand...

Dude-a $30 late fee on what is likely a bill less than $120 is BRUTAL and usury-one more reason to hate AT&T.

That should be illegal...:mad:
 
techlover828 said:
I'm guessing $30 was just a guess.
Click to expand...

Anyone know what it actually is?

Also-about the comment of loosing a $500 deposit-can they REALLY take that away?!? I didn't pay one, but that seems punitive to me.

I always understood that the deposit was there in case you didn't pay the bill-they would apply the deposit and if they terminated your contract, also use it for ETF-and refund the remaining difference.
 
gdeputy said:
So, my bill due date was the 12th, but my credit card payment hasn't posted yet. It will probably be another 2 days before I can get it paid, will my service be disabled? I have the money just waiting for CC company to authorize payment for last month so I can put the bill on credit.

Anyone know?

thanks!
Click to expand...

I can't count how many times I've been a few days late with my ATT bill, and I never get a late fee. You'll be fine.
 
Enigmafan420 said:
Anyone know what it actually is?

Also-about the comment of loosing a $500 deposit-can they REALLY take that away?!? I didn't pay one, but that seems punitive to me.

I always understood that the deposit was there in case you didn't pay the bill-they would apply the deposit and if they terminated your contract, also use it for ETF-and refund the remaining difference.
Click to expand...

In the UK the deposit is returned after a certain amount of clear payments, usually six. If you miss one of these payments then you have to start again and make a further six clear/on-time/full payments before your deposit is returned.
 
I think the way the deposit was explained to me, with AT&T, was that you had to make 12 on time payments and then it's returned. I had a small $100 deposit. I don't think they take it away though for late payments, it's just kept until you either make 12 on-time payments or default to the point of them using the deposit to help close your account. Like if you were to not pay for another 30 days and they turn off the service.
 
Not sure how this thread is related to iPhone...

It's $36 for re-activation of each line on your account (last I remember) plus any late fees incurred.
 
Eso said:
You'll be fine. Next month you will probably have a late fee charge of $30 or so, and if you had to post a $500 deposit to get a plan (due to bad or lack of credit) you will probably lose that.
Click to expand...
At worst case, they can deduct from your deposit, but they cannot take your deposit for a late payment.
 
I was late with my first bill. Next months has a 5.00 late charge.

Forgot to mention that no service was interrupted. I am a new customer and not existing with AT&T. My credit is good as well so I don't know if that could play in a role of how they handle late payments.
 
there seems to be a lot of discrepancy in the late charge rate. i'm fairly certain that it's a $15 per line fee- i've been late a few times. and i'm not sure how the above poster managed to be late and not get fined, AT&T has been pretty quick to levy the fee on my account when i've been late.
 
AT&T only assesses the late fee ~2 weeks after the due date. It says so on your bill.

This is written on my bill:

Due Oct 21, 2008
Late fees assessed after Nov 01

So OP, you have nothing to worry about.
 
dcubed20 said:
I can't count how many times I've been a few days late with my ATT bill, and I never get a late fee. You'll be fine.
Click to expand...

There is no late fee for being just a few days late. I've been as much as a week late in paying and never had a late fee. They may just send you a text reminding you that your payment is late.
 
I was 2 weeks late and I got charged a $5 late fee. I just started with AT&T and I forgot to pay my bills. I wonder if this would have an effect on my credit score though. Anyone?
 
vega07 said:
AT&T only assesses the late fee ~2 weeks after the due date. It says so on your bill.

This is written on my bill:

Due Oct 21, 2008
Late fees assessed after Nov 01

So OP, you have nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...

definitely not what my bill says. on mine it states that if i pay anytime after the due date a late fee may be applied. and it has been.
 
gdeputy said:
So, my bill due date was the 12th, but my credit card payment hasn't posted yet. It will probably be another 2 days before I can get it paid, will my service be disabled? I have the money just waiting for CC company to authorize payment for last month so I can put the bill on credit.

Anyone know?

thanks!
Click to expand...

I can't believe no ones been able to give a straight answer on this. I honestly don't think I've ever paid an AT&T bill on time. I also had a $300 dollar deposit last year which they refunded. You will only be charged a small finance charge...
 
Long time ATT customer here.

I don't recall ever paying a late fee, and I've occasionally paid the bill a few days after the due date. Partly because the bills are due between the 16th and the 19th of a given month, and I kept forgetting which it was in any given month.

If you have auto-pay on your account and the bill randomly is due on a holiday or sunday, it will be a day or two late because the charges won't hit your account until after the holiday/weekend passes.

But yea, anecdotally I will say that within a week and they won't care.
 
Ever thought of looking at that thing you signed? ;)

Link

AT&T Terms of Service said:
LATE PAYMENT CHARGES
Late payment charges are based on the state to which the area code of the wireless telephone number assigned to you is assigned by the North American Numbering Plan Administration (for area code assignments see http://www.nationalnanpa.com/area_code_maps). You agree that for amounts not paid by the due date, AT&T may charge, as a part of its rates and charges, and you agree to pay, a late payment fee of $5 in CT, D.C., DE, IL, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, VA, VT WI, WV; the late payment charge is 1.5% of the balance carried forward to the next bill in all other states.
Click to expand...
 
*Slaps forehead*
Of course..the TOS..
Would anyone actually read stuff like that? I usually never default on my payments. I'm generally on time for the most part.

Thanks guys for the answers!
 
Att Sucks

I purchases a 100 MB data package, went to tunisia for 8 days, Iphone said 84MB usage when I returned; ATT bill was $2200+ (YES YOU READ CORRECTLY) because they neglected to tell me that Tunisia was not covered and there was also the fact that as several others have reported, there seems to be a bug in Iphone that results in inaccurate data usage stats. Anyway ATT 'generously" gave me a credit of 700 (not sure how they came to that figure) and expects me to pay a bill of $1500 that is, ten times what I agreed to pay. Needless to say I will close my account as soon as I find a phone I like with a different carrier but in the meantime I am definitely not paying this full bill. Seven customer services in over two weeks, all SO understanding on the phone but nothing happens and the higher you try to go up the hierarchy the rudest they get. Not a smart business practice for a company trying to sell Iphone to business people (who travel!)
 
decize said:
I purchases a 100 MB data package, went to tunisia for 8 days, Iphone said 84MB usage when I returned; ATT bill was $2200+ (YES YOU READ CORRECTLY) because they neglected to tell me that Tunisia was not covered and there was also the fact that as several others have reported, there seems to be a bug in Iphone that results in inaccurate data usage stats. Anyway ATT 'generously" gave me a credit of 700 (not sure how they came to that figure) and expects me to pay a bill of $1500 that is, ten times what I agreed to pay. Needless to say I will close my account as soon as I find a phone I like with a different carrier but in the meantime I am definitely not paying this full bill. Seven customer services in over two weeks, all SO understanding on the phone but nothing happens and the higher you try to go up the hierarchy the rudest they get. Not a smart business practice for a company trying to sell Iphone to business people (who travel!)
Click to expand...

In all fairness what made you think you would be able to use your iPhone in TUNISIA without substantial fees? I would have called ATT before I took a trip like that, or I would have removed my SIM card. International always cost more, and Tunisia isn't exactly mainstream international.

I think the bill is outrageous, but you should have at least looked into it.
 
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