Were customers notified in advance about the administrative fee?

Since 2013 came up....let’s go back further, which in my case means Verizon billing....

You are again using the lame excuse that "well, they did it first, so we can too!"

Night Stalker Murderer: "Well, Charlie Manson killed all those people first!"

...that is not a defense nor a justification.

And what part about this being an AT&T WIRELESS forum discussing an AT&T WIRELESS administrative fee, did you not understand? If you want to discuss Verizon's Administrative Fee, by all means, go over to the Verizon Forums and have at it. Please stick to the thread topic.

Thanks for your calculation but. I did not calculate any revenue just complained about a 65% increase in the administrative cost.

I would not have bothered to even find the numbers to do the calculations, but people posting here seem to be strangely unbothered by the fact that this dishonest fee is being levied in the first place, which lead me to do more digging... and lead me to point the Press at this forum so we can shine a brighter light on what's going on here. So hopefully everyone here is being honest regarding their affiliations/non-affiliations with AT&T Wireless and its subsidiaries. IP addresses could be traced to verify identities, etc. 

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@overwatch wrote:We are not on a forum for the entire telecom industry.

No, but AT&T is a telecom company and uses the billing practices that have been in place for all telecom companies for decades. You don't have to like the industry standard, but you can't deny that that is the way it is and has been. Advertised prices have never been the total on your bill. 

Sorry lizdance40, I didn't mean to be so harsh. I am just amazed by some consumers here that are defending dishonest billing practices to their detriment and to the detriment of others.

...AT&T is a telecom company and uses the billing practices that have been in place for all telecom companies for decades.

And that makes it right? Doctors used to let you bleed out as a "cure" for you ailments, too. Luckily, they don't do that anymore. Why do you keep repeating this same thing as a defense for the dishonest billing?

And again, AT&T Wireless didn't apparently adopt this new "fee" until 2013. Furthermore, not all telecom companies do levy this fee, so "industry practice" is no defense in any way... if anything, it is an admission to the same dishonest billing practices as others.

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@overwatch wrote:

...AT&T is a telecom company and uses the billing practices that have been in place for all telecom companies for decades.

And that makes it right?

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No, it doesn't. 

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@overwatch wrote:

...AT&T is a telecom company and uses the billing practices that have been in place for all telecom companies for decades.

so "industry practice" is no defense in any way...

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You're right, it's not. 

I've made it clear that no one here is attempting to defend AT&T, the administrative fee, or the increase. 

@overwatch,  As @MicCheck noted, no one here is defending the fee itself or the increase. We just aren't as spun up about it as you and though I'm not happy about paying any fee, I do not agree with your claim that it is dishonest. Here is another perspective: https://www.cnet.com/news/is-at-ts-admin-fee-just-a-sneaky-way-of-raising-rates/

Here is another perspective: https://www.cnet.com/news/is-at-ts-admin-fee-just-a-sneaky-way-of-raising-rates/

That's pretty much what I've been stating, but until I mentioned that the Press was reviewing this thread, most of you have been arguing against me. The main thing I added to what that linked article presents is more current numbers regarding the impact of those fees; mainly that it now adds up closer to $1,176,336,000.00 ($1.176 Billion) instead of the old $350,000,000.00 ($350 Million) amount from 2013.

...And I do feel it is dishonest since they are still advertising the cost of their services at a lesser amount and that this additional fee is imposed without prior notification or restriction as to the amount. Do you really consider this an honest fee? What ever happened to "truth in advertising?" That it is "industry practice" is not a defense. As a consumer, I feel cheated. As a stockholder, I feel it damages AT&T's brand and leads to negative consumer sentiment regarding AT&T Wireless.