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5 Messages
Due Date Change
AT&T changed my due date from the 2nd of the month to the 28th of the month. So, I ended up getting two bills this month (July); one due on the 2nd and another for the same amount on the 28th. This doesn't add up for me since I'll also have another bill due on Aug 28th. I have paid Jan - July and now will pay another July and Aug - Dec. I will end up making 13 payments this calendar year instead of 12. I've tried calling AT&T for answers but all I get is that "it will all add up in the end". How does 13 full payments in a year add up to 12 full payments in a year? AT&T documented on my bill that this change "won't impact your monthly charges", but it does... I'm paying an extra month now. Can someone please show me the math that makes this not look like I'm being ripped off?
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21stNow
Professor
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2.7K Messages
9 years ago
You're not being ripped off. Due to the timing of when your bill was due in the past (close to the beginning of the month), your new timing moves your due date to the end of the month, which will make you have 13 payments in the 2015 calendar year. You are also paying for 13 billing periods, so there is no rip-off here. Since billing periods can overlap calendar years, that can throw off the thinking behind what you are actually paying for when you are billed.
I will give an example based on the assumption in sandblaster's email regarding your billing cycle dates, using a hypothetical billing amount:
Due date: Billing Cycle: Billing Amount:
1/2/15 12/8/14-1/7/15 $100
2/2/15 1/8/15-2/7/15 $100
3/2/15 2/8/15-3/7/15 $100
4/2/15 3/8/15-4/7/15 $100
5/2/15 4/8/15-5/7/15 $100
6/2/15 5/8/15-6/7/15 $100
7/2/15 6/8/15-7/7/15 $100
7/28/15 7/8/15-8/7/15 $100
8/28/15 8/8/15-9/7/15 $100
9/28/15 9/8/15-10/7/15 $100
10/28/15 10/8/15-11/7/15 $100
11/28/15 11/8/15-12/7/15 $100
12/28/15 12/8/15-1/7/16 $100
Hopefully, that clears it up for you.
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kdfederer
ACE - Expert
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13.1K Messages
9 years ago
AT&T didn't change the billing end date, they just changed the number of days after the billing end date until your bill is due to 21 days. That is the reason you have to pay 2 bills in one month. If you would check the billing end dates of your bills, you would see that those did not change. You are still being billed for the same amount of days, just now your bill is going to be due a few days earlier.
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
9 years ago
Look at your bills and see the dates for which you are being billed, they will be different. ATT changed due dates to make them standard for everyone. Since your new due date is the 28th, that means your billing cycle ends on the 7th (see article on due date change here). Your billing cycle did not change, just the amount of time until payment is due. The bill due on July 2nd was probably for service from June 8 to July 7 and your bill due on July 28th is probably for service from July 8 to Aug 7.
If your old due date was the 2nd, that means they gave you 25 days to pay your bill, now you only get 21 days, same for everyone.
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Kris.121212
Tutor
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5 Messages
9 years ago
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GLIMMERMAN76
ACE - Expert
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23.9K Messages
9 years ago
@21stNow
I marked this as solved because this is the best explanation I have seen on this problem.
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
9 years ago
Deleted my post because @GLIMMERMAN76's explanation was much better then mine.
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21stNow
Professor
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2.7K Messages
9 years ago
Thanks Glimmerman76!
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Kris.121212
Tutor
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5 Messages
9 years ago
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bill100
Contributor
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2 Messages
9 years ago
Had the same problem. They changed my due date and I did not authorize such a change. I was never notified and when I went to pay I was told there was no way to change anything and ATT does not report to credit monitoring service. But I checked it and it was reported late. A manager Jessie was supposed to get me a letter saying ATT does not report to credit bureau but nothing ever came. Now I find I have two bills one due on the 1st of August (the new date) and one due on the 4th of August (old date) for more AND showing that the first bill is overdue. Not sure how it can be overdue when 1 August is not even here yet. ATT has gotten out of control. Of course at this hour of the night no one is available to fix this. Probably time to find another cell phone carrier.
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21stNow
Professor
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2.7K Messages
9 years ago
OK. I had to make an assumption as I didn't know your actual billing cycle and related payment due dates from your original post. I could change the dates to match accurate information, but it would still have the same result. As long as your billing cycle doesn't change so that you are paying for the same service dates twice, you aren't being ripped off. If the billing cycle stays the same, the payment due date can be at any time. You would only pay for any particular service date once, not twice.
Another example from another area of life is to consider two hourly workers who make the same amount of money and work the same amount of hours. One gets paid bi-weekly and one gets paid semi-monthly. Even though one gets paid 26 times in a year and the other 24 times in a year, they still earn the same amount of money over the course of that year, regardless of when they get paid.
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