Were customers notified in advance about the administrative fee?

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@overwatch wrote:

That it is "industry practice" is not a defense. .

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NO

ONE

IS

TRYING

TO

DEFEND

ANYTHING

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@overwatch Regardless how you feel about the fee, it still boils down to the total price. Either ATT is providing the service you need at a price you are willing to pay or they aren’t. If they aren’t, then take your business elsewhere. Even with the fee, I’m getting a better deal than I’d get on any competitor with service that, at least for me, has always been good to great every where I’ve traveled. 

Put my vote down as...

I DONT CARE.   As I wrote earlier, my plan is below market cost.  

So @lizdance40 doesn't care about the Administrative Fee since she is paying less than market cost. That's fine for her. But what about everyone else who is not paying less than market cost? Do they not have the right to care? Why not support honest billing? Apathy? Nobody here seems apathetic since they are clearly posting their opinions on this additional fee. It's just odd that the majority of you posting seem to be okay with it or "don't care" to the extent that they go to the trouble of posting that they don't care.

@sandblaster (and a couple others here) expressed that if someone has a problem with the administrative billing, they should change providers... we've been through the answer to this already. Most consumers don't have much of a choice given the lack of competition in the wireless industry. This is the result of a lack of healthy competition and a lack of a working free-market... call it what you will... Monopoly / Duopoly / Triopoly, or just the (alleged) collusion & price-fixing by AT&T Wireless and Verizon which the US is currently investigating (go google it if the link is removed.)

@MicCheck is vehemently stating that "NO ONE IS TRYING TO DEFEND ANYTHING", yet six pages of comments opposing or trying to dismiss my opinion seems to indicate otherwise. I invite others to read this entire thread from the beginning. @MicCheck and @GLIMMERMAN76 have repeatedly proffered incorrect information regarding the amount of excess charges being levied. They have both made statements that the excess charges in question could not add up to anything significant and then tried to downplay the significance of the over $1.1763 BILLION in excess collections through the "Administrative Fee." Some of you have defended the Administrative Fee by stating that they are just "industry practice" as if that justifies the excess charges. Yet, @MicCheck claims "NO ONE IS TRYING TO DEFEND ANYTHING." You both need to go back and re-read your own posts.

Then there is the one voice that appears to share my sentiments in not being okay with this fee:

@doghouse4 apparently cares, stating that he/she understands that the fee is a "just because (get the k-y) we can and you can't do diddly about it fee."

So @lizdance40 states that "We are not employees"... Who is "we"? Is there more than one person utilizing your account? Are you somehow affiliated with other users here? Just to clarify and alert consumers to potential biases and to prevent any "russian troll" scandals, are any of you who have posted in this thread an employee of AT&T or its subsidiaries or are any of you receiving any form of compensation including any money, perks, discounts on service, etc. from AT&T, its subsidiaries or from any of its affiliates?

@overwatch

ATT and Verizon customers still have Straight Talk. 

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@overwatch wrote:

So @lizdance40 doesn't care about the Administrative Fee since she is paying less than market cost. That's fine for her. But what about everyone else who is not paying less than market cost? Do they not have the right to care? Why not support honest billing? Apathy? Nobody here seems apathetic since they are clearly posting their opinions on this additional fee. It's just odd that the majority of you posting seem to be okay with it or "don't care" to the extent that they go to the trouble of posting that they don't care.

 

@sandblaster (and a couple others here) expressed that if someone has a problem with the administrative billing, they should change providers... we've been through the answer to this already. Most consumers don't have much of a choice given the lack of competition in the wireless industry. This is the result of a lack of healthy competition and a lack of a working free-market... call it what you will... Monopoly / Duopoly / Triopoly, or just the (alleged) collusion & price-fixing by AT&T Wireless and Verizon which the US is currently investigating (go google it if the link is removed.)

 

@MicCheck is vehemently stating that "NO ONE IS TRYING TO DEFEND ANYTHING", yet six pages of comments opposing or trying to dismiss my opinion seems to indicate otherwise. I invite others to read this entire thread from the beginning. @MicCheck and @GLIMMERMAN76 have repeatedly proffered incorrect information regarding the amount of excess charges being levied. They have both made statements that the excess charges in question could not add up to anything significant and then tried to downplay the significance of the over $1.1763 BILLION in excess collections through the "Administrative Fee." Some of you have defended the Administrative Fee by stating that they are just "industry practice" as if that justifies the excess charges. Yet, @MicCheck claims "NO ONE IS TRYING TO DEFEND ANYTHING." You both need to go back and re-read your own posts.

 

Then there is the one voice that appears to share my sentiments in not being okay with this fee:

@doghouse4 apparently cares, stating that he/she understands that the fee is a "just because (get the k-y) we can and you can't do diddly about it fee."

 

So @lizdance40 states that "We are not employees"... Who is "we"? Is there more than one person utilizing your account? Are you somehow affiliated with other users here? Just to clarify and alert consumers to potential biases and to prevent any "russian troll" scandals, are any of you who have posted in this thread an employee of AT&T or its subsidiaries or are any of you receiving any form of compensation including any money, perks, discounts on service, etc. from AT&T, its subsidiaries or from any of its affiliates?

---

@overwatch

First off the number I gave you is the true INCREASE of the fee per year give or take.  Your taking it a whole and saying its a 1.1 billion increase and that is not true yes they do make 1.1 billion off the fee per calendar year.  I was stating what the increase is.  At 50 cents per line at say 78 million lines that is what 39 million extra month multiply that times 12 months and you get  468 million more a year ATT is make off this fee...  Again the fee has went up over the years..  I could careless if a reporter is looking into this as its not going to change a thing in how the wireless industry or cable industry as a whole does business.  You are free to leave ATT anytime you like that is the beauty of no contracts now.  I myself have other things to worry about than 3 extra dollars on my cell bill a month.  I pay below market value for my plan thanks to the wife's vet discount and being on the OLD unlimited plus plan.  If the price creeps up to high I will start looking for another provider but right now ATT suits my needs.

As to if we are employees of ATT read the little box below all our posts

As to your post about price fixing that has nothing to do with the esim stuff the justice department is looking into...  I personally would love to see more unlocked phones instead of using a unlock portal all the time.

Ok its actually more money than even @overwatch is posting...  Each connected device also pays the Admin fee which is stupid in some aspects...

Its really more like 77,431,000+41,728,000=119,159,000 customers that get charged that fee...  I know prepaid does not get charged that and I am sure re sellers  don't either.

So really the price increase is 59,579,500 or 714,954,000 a year increase over what the fee was before the increase....  or 1.4 billion a year..

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@overwatch wrote:

 

 

@MicCheck is vehemently stating that "NO ONE IS TRYING TO DEFEND ANYTHING", yet six pages of comments opposing or trying to dismiss my opinion seems to indicate otherwise. I invite others to read this entire thread from the beginning. @MicCheck and @GLIMMERMAN76 have repeatedly proffered incorrect information regarding the amount of excess charges being levied. They have both made statements that the excess charges in question could not add up to anything significant and then tried to downplay the significance of the over $1.1763 BILLION in excess collections through the "Administrative Fee." Some of you have defended the Administrative Fee by stating that they are just "industry practice" as if that justifies the excess charges. Yet, @MicCheck claims "NO ONE IS TRYING TO DEFEND ANYTHING." You both need to go back and re-read your own posts.

 

 

---

Just because I don't share your opinion on everything doesn't mean I'm defending  AT&T's stance. Just because I looked  beyond the raw numbers and put them in context doesn't mean I support what AT&T is doing.Just because I recognize that all telecom services, for as long as I can remember, have given pricing before taxes and fees doesn't mean I think it's right. 

Heck, I've told you to leave AT&T if you don't like their billing practices. Does that sound like a defense? 

Thanks for the numbers @GLIMMERMAN76. To be clear, the $1.1 Billion number I have been mentioning has always been what I calculate to be the total excess revenue collected from the Administrative Fee, not just the increase, since there have been several increases of various amounts and since the total amount for this additional fee is what I am most concerned about since it is the entire fee that I find objectionable, not just the increase.

If the information you posted regarding the number of users that are being charged the admin fee is correct at 119159000, then according to my calculations, the amount AT&T Wireless is collecting from just this Administrative Fee is $1,801,684,080.00 ($1.8 Billion.)    ($1.26 per line per month X 12 months = $15.12.  $15.12 X 119,159,000 lines = $1,801,684,080.00.)

As far as your affiliation with AT&T being stated in the little box below your post, unfortunately, that information is not there... the box only states that the opinions that you are expressing are your own. The box doesn't mention if you are receiving any discounts, money or any other compensation for posting here. The box doesn't say if you are in any way contracted by AT&T, its subsidiaries, affiliates or whether or not you are an employee. The box doesn't state whether you, lizdance40, MicCheck and others with the same box bellow there posts are affiliated in any way.

As far as the link to the price-fixing investigation, that speaks to the lack of a working free-market and lack of choice for consumers due to collusion and/or monopolistic practices within the wireless industry in the US. Many here keep stating that if you don't like it, just leave... consumers can't leave if there is no other choice or if the choice is just as bad or worse. All a consumer can due is fight for fair and honest pricing, which is what I am trying to do. You can state that my complaints here have no effect, but if enough consumers complain, change does happen... either by AT&T reverting to its previous billing practices where it did not levy this charge to quell consumer outrage & bad press or by government legislation enacted to bring truth in billing (which has been proposed.) But that won't happen if people don't care about being billed dishonestly or whether their friends or family members are being billed dishonestly.

Thank you again for the updated subscriber numbers.

Well how else do you think they are gonna pay for Time Warner??