First time late with payment....late fee?

My last statement had a late fee of $9. I called customer service and explained that I am a one person office and was in the hospital when this bill came and admitted, yes, it was paid late. I asked if I could get this late fee waived since I am never late otherwise. She said "too bad, it's already been billed, nothing I can do". She also said I could set up automatice billing, blah blah. I know, but this doesn't help me this statement. Rude and uncaring rep on the part of an already overpriced service. I had to call one other vendor for the same thing and they were very gracious about waiving the fee, which was more than at&t piddly $9. Thanks for nothing.