Does AT&T bill you a month in advance for post-paid wireless service?

I am in CA so perhaps that’s why.

Bingo.

I guess I’m in this rabbit hole now. May 4th T-Mobile had a great deal for new lines and iPhones. I called customer appreciation see if they could match. He couldn’t and I inquired about what day I should change to T-Mobile. He told me it doesn’t matter the day and the bill will get prorated with the days we used. Well the bill I had already in my account was for $156 service from may 3rd- June 2nd. So I assumed a final bill would be generated at some point after cancellation with the adjustment. I didn’t see a final bill so I chatted with customer service via the app on may 25th. The representative said 15 days after cancellation a final bill would be generated. No bill came until June 17th via email with an additional $30 (2 days of service for 3 lines) added to the $156. What a bunch of crooks. I’ve been a wireless, directv, and fiber internet customer since 2017. I spoke to 4 different people with customer service and since the bill is past due they can’t help me or give me any answers. I have to go to a retail store. I’ll update if they are able to help me at the retail store. After reading this thread I’m not very optimistic. Looks like I might be switching to cable or T-Mobile for my other services if this is how ATT wants to treat customers. 

@JimG83  

 There is something very wrong with your dates and information. If your bill cycle was May 3 to June 2 and you left AT&T by porting out all of your phone numbers on  May 4th, your bill would have been generated on or about May 6 or seventh and would have been for the entire bill cycle of May 3 to June 2 - due about may 31st.

    With all of your phone numbers ported out at the beginning of May it would not be possible for AT&T to generate a bill for any days in June.  It’s not passing the sniff test 
      
    Are you an entire month off and maybe ported June 4th?   

    I’m not sure if you have your dates wrong, but if you were billed a regular bill, plus $30 for two days for two lines, it sounds to me like your bill was prorated.  

Just to expound, AT&T issues it’s bills about four or five days into a bill cycle. That means if your bill cycle goes from May 3 to June 2, it was no earlier than May 6/7 that you had a $156 bill for the current bill cycle .    And the only other explanation is that you were already late on the bill for the previous bill cycle which would have been due on or about the 30th of April.  

Thanks for the reply. The story was long and I tried to trim it down some. I’m not a expert so here’s where I’m at:

All three lines were transferred to T-Mobile on May 4th. Since 2017, My bill was always auto paid on the 9th of every month and last payment was up to date Paid April 9th. Service from April 2 or 3 to May 2? Not sure the exact dates because I haven’t downloaded that bill. If I’m wrong please correct me, but I believe post paid pays for the month coming up.

A bill was generated and emailed to me May 2nd. When I download the bill May 2nd is at the top. Due May 9th. That bill shows service May 3rd-June 2nd for each line. So the $150 bill wouldn’t be valid since I only used their service 3 phones for 2 days May 3rd and 4th. 

The latest bill I received was generated June 2nd so I’m not sure why it was just emailed to me today?  $7 late fee taxes and $23 worth of service and fees =$30 for May 3 - May 4. Yeah I’m not sure where they are getting those numbers from.

Anyway, I’m hoping the rep at the store can clear some of this up for me but I’m not feeling good at the moment. 

Postpaid means "paid after" . AT&T (none of the carriers) bill ahead, at least not truly, not a full month. 

Older plans were fully "paid after", or billed in arrears as AT&T calls it.  Meaning your bill is for last month, not the current month.

More recent plans are bill during, pay during. 

If you gave been with AT&T long enough, you were likely billed in arrears, and paid a week after the cycle closes.  

@JimG83

A bill was generated and emailed to me May 2nd. When I download the bill May 2nd is at the top. Due May 9th. That bill shows service May 3rd-June 2nd for each line.

If your cycle ends on the second, I wouldn't expect you to get that bill until at least 3-4 days later via email (sometimes longer).

Regardless, if those dates are correct, I'd expect that bill to be paid on the 9th (like usual) and then another bill for the month you were in after that cycle. 

Sometimes it takes a while to get the bill, but just like any account even if you don't get the monthly bill, you are still responsible to make a payment (sorry).

AT&T doesn't usually prorate when you leave (but I think a few states were working on rules to force proration) so you'd owe for the whole month. 

$7 late fee taxes and $23 worth of service and fees =$30 for May 3 - May 4. Yeah I’m not sure where they are getting those numbers from.

Did you have a tablet or wearable with AT&T? T-Mobile doesn't usually port those out and just sets up new ones, so you would still have that active on AT&T (which would make the charges make more sense), this would also lead to another bill as you're now in another cycle (June 3-July 2).

For anyone else reading this, it's always best to port out / cancel near the end of your cycle and not the beginning (if you're not getting prorated).

@formerlyknownas @Gary L 

Everything about the dates and billing for @JimG83 make sense except downloading the bill on May 2. That’s not possible. My guess is that’s just a misremembering of the day that happened. 

The bill is created on the  first day of the billing cycle. The customer might not be able to  see it yet, but it exists.  Credit card card autopay would on the 9th, due that on the 24th. It was for postpaid service from May 3 to June 2.  It was also have any additional charges which occurred April 3 to May 2 (international calls, for example). Then on June 3 a bill for service from June 3 to July 2 would have been created, had the service not been canceled in May 4. That means there’s no month ahead to bill, and only the additional charges (a late fee for example) for May 3 and 4. 

@JimG83 Bottom line is you were given incorrect information. Service isn’t prorated unless you’re in CA, NY, or IL. You can file a BBB complaint to get escalated to someone who might change that, or just pay what’s due to move on and enjoy your service with T-Mobile (I know I do!)

@MicCheck

Everything about the dates and billing for@JimG83 make sense except downloading the bill on May 2. That’s not possible. My guess is that’s just a misremembering of the day that happened.

That's my first thought.  But if he has been a longtime customer it is also possible he has an account that is billed in arrears.  That would work with part of his dates and recollection. 

What is very clear, is it AT&T did prorate his final bill for two days of service.. 

And the bill for the full previous month was not paid, plus the 2 prorated days of service he actually used.