Why am I getting $9 late fees?

My payment has never been late, however, my monthly fee went up and I wasn't notified and continued to pay old fee ON TIME  Only told of price increase when I called re late fees.  Bill due the 28th of each month I paid online on the 14th of each month.

They charged me a late feel too apparently there is no grace period. I was told by a representative that they changed this about 8 months ago. Very upset and considering canceling and going with another provider. I have been with ATT for over 20 years.

There is NO grace period before late fees are charged. This is something I've learned all too well with AT&T. Unfortunately, tonight I learned that AT&T also will assess late penalties if you pay ON the due date. I typically pay my bill well before it's due, but today I (mistakenly) thought I snuck in by the deadline (today, October 30th). However, AT&T notified me that the bill is already past due even though I paid on the due date! 

Congratulations on the new low, AT&T. 

This thread has been very enlightening. Verizon has been pulling this same garbage with me for the last year. For 15 years my due date was the 14th with a 5 day grace period to pay without being charged a late fee, meaning I was supposed to have until the 20th, but in reality, I was charged a late fee if I paid on or after the 19th. I always made a point to pay by the 18th so I never had a problem. For the last year they have been charging late fees whenever they feel like it. The worst was when I paid on the 10th and got a fee. I was told the 5 day grace period applies to service interruption, not late fees, and the "due date" of the 14th on my bill is the end of my grace period, not my actual due date, so to avoid a late fee, I need to pay by 9th, even though that isn't stated anywhere in VZs policy or on the bill. After explaining my 15 year payment history to the CSR, they did credit the fee. I almost cancelled service then, but I figured the person was new so I decided to stick it out with VZ. Since then, I've been charged late fees for paying on the 13th and 14th and been given similar stories of the "due date" on the bill is not my "real due date". I've called almost every month for the last year. They always give me a different explanation for how late fees work and when the payment is actually due, and find a way to blame me but then credit the fee back anyway. My latest bill was the last straw though. They changed my "due date" to the 11th, and didn't tell me. When I paid my bill on the 14th, I had a late fee. The CSR said they moved all due dates back 3 days and admitted that didn't notify customers. This meant that every person who pays in the 3 days before their due date was charged a late fee, at no fault of their own, and wouldn't know unless they went online to look at their bill before the new due date. What's worse is that they do not have information about late payments clearly stated in their policy. The policy states that if the payment is not made "on time" there "could" be a late fee. There is no explanation of what "on time" means. One would assume it means the due date, but according to some of the CSRs, the due date on the bill isn't the true due date, it is just the last date to avoid service interruption, and they don't know when the actual due date is because it's not listed on the bill, and the customers can be charged if the payment isnt made before their mystery due date. There is also no mention, in the policy, of a grace period though every employee says there is one and they just don't agree on how it works. After all of this, I was so livid that I was considering changing to AT&T, but after reading this thread, it seems like this company isn't any better. The reason for me sharing this long story is to say if you are thinking of switching to Verizon because of AT&T's billing inconsistency, don't bother. They arent any better. These types of billing scams should be illegal. Maybe its time to cancel cell service all together and go with a WiFi based service like Google voice. 

My bank paid my payment on the 6th which was 5 days late but on my bill it’s said they didn’t get it until the 8th. I’ve been with at&t for  almost 20 years they simply don’t care. They are so expensive and when you call you get the run around. I don’t even call anymore.  They do not do anything for their loyal customers but keep charging them all the extra fees. Ive always made my payment sometimes a couple days past but a late fee and then post it 2 days after my bank paid for it. That’s how they make money. Need to check with BBB about it

Well, I no longer feel alone on this late-fee business.  AT&T says I should pay electronically and thereby avoid the possibility of a late fee.  But I have never paid a bill electronically in my life.  I have a lot of credit cards and numerous monthly vendor charges.  Why is it that the only time I have ever had a late fee is with AT&T Mobile?  Well, here is the answer: AT&T allows much less time to send in the payment than do the other companies.

Case in point: I received my bill today (May 26, 2018) when I went to my mailbox at 3:00 PM.  The bill states that the due date is June 2!!  I live in Idaho and the mailing address for payment is near Chicago.  The only way I can send in a payment and avoid the late fee is to carry the payment to the post office tomorrow.  And, even then, it is possible it will not arrive at AT&T and be processed by June 2.  (In contrast, my CenturyLink bill also arrived today, and its due date is June 7; AMEX and VISA also allow more than 10 days for payment.  I just noticed, for example, that a recent VISA bill arrived on April 13 and payment was due April 27.)  This AT&T time pinch is a new development (occurring sometime in the past six months or so).  I believe it is a deliberate effort on the part of AT&T to encourage customers not to use the US mail for billing and payment.  But, whether this is true or not, we have here a policy that is inconsiderate and selfish.  The other customer is quite correct: It is time to look for another cell phone provider.  And, calling the BBB is a good idea.  I am thinking as well that a call to the Attorney General's office might be worthwhile.

If you do not pay your bill on or before the due date (regardless of a grace period), it will be reflected on your credit report as a "slow pay" and that will lower your credit score. 

If your bank does not offer a bill pay option (I won't sign up for auto pay either), there are more options that just sticking a stamp on an envelope.  More info HERE

I am disabled and qualified for a program to pay a discounted fee for internet service with AT&T as a result of my health issues. My account has been on autopay for years so I have not ever made a late payment. When my bank was suddenly bought out by another institution recently they issued a new debit card.  I was completely unaware that AT&T had not been able to access my account for internet service payment(s) since no one contacted me via telephone or snail mail to alert me of this issue and all of my other bills have been drafted directly from my checking account (apparently none of them had any problem accessing payments with the change over of banks).  I did not receive a phone call from AT&T notifying me that they have been unable to access my account until three months had passed and now AT&T wants to charge me $27.00 in late fees (which is nearly doubling my bill for these months and I live on an extremely fixed income) in spite of the fact the I have NEVER made a late payment in the 6 years I have been a customer.  I was told that they would waive one of the $9 fees only.  AT&T should be ashamed of themselves!