No Grace Period

see thats where you are wrong. I called customer service 4 times. 4 annoyingly unhelpful times. and each time i was told i was unable to make a payment arrangement and if payment was not made my service would be disconnected. so naturally it got disconnected. and now i have to make payment in full for service to be reactivated. which i understand. what i dont understand is why a payment arrangement couldnt be made. furthermore.. we are forced to pay a full month in advance when starting service. so shouldnt it make sense that if we fall behind or changes to plans are made that the money comes from the full months payment already posted!? they just want to rip us off for the reconnect fee. customer service with this company is a joke.

thank you for pointing that out mxm3460.

If I was paying my bill in arrears I could understand the hard stance on the due date.

However, I think it's ridiculous that a fee is billed for being a day late or missign the cutoff time.

I used to have all of my services bundled with ATT, but never again!

now if I can only find an internet provider for my area.......

I understand that most companies have a late fee process but At&t's 1 day late and you have a $5.00 late fee is not consumer friendly (Period)!!!!  There should be at least a 3 or 4 day window after the due date just to cover different pay days during the month and WE shouldn't have to call! It's really just a way to get additional Rip Off money from faithful customers. I have been with them for over 8 years and it's really not the money that's the problem, it's the principal of the whole thing that rubs me wrong. I'd like to see a print out of just how much more additional money they are making from the no grace period penalties???? Our cable company did the same thing with little to no grace period a few years ago and it wound up costing them so much that they changed it back to an actual grace period. Hopefully At&t will do the same thing and if not then I hope it costs them far more than they've made off of the late fee process that they actually ((don't have))....

[Legal discussions are not permitted per the Guidelines]

The bottom line is: Name another company (any company) that charges a late fee 1 day after the due date? That stance from any company means that it has grown too big for it's own good and needs to be taken down a few notches....

My credit card company (chase) $35 late fee plus interest.

Cox cable charges $8 for late fee.

ATT give you 21 days from when the bill is generated to when they expect payment.  If you can't pay in time, make payment arrangements on your account to avoid late fees and suspension. 

Cox cable does charge a late fee ((4 days after the due date and your credit card is not analogous unless you'd like at&t to also charge 28% for late fees (the day after it's due....

You have 21 days after your bill closes out to make payment. Exceed the 21 day "grace" period and you will incur a penalty. 21 days after service is rendered seems generous to me.

No, you're missing my point. A grace period is an amount of time ((after)) the due date. It doesn't matter if they bill you 21,22,27 or whatever the amount of days are before the bill is due. The actual (grace period) for At&t is ZERO. You receive the penalty the (day after) the due date so there is NO grace period with them whatsoever....It is not business friendly and I could understand if someone is paying their bill late every billing but if you're off by 1 day because of payday situations every other month, you shouldn't have to call and plead with them for 1 or 2 days after the due date to avoid a $5.00 late fee. A 2 to 4 day actual (grace) period would take care of that and it would also remove many hundreds of thousands of dollars from At&t's pockets. Like I said before, until they're sued over this, nobody will ever know how much money they make per year on late fees (with no actual grace period). Or maybe you can find out that info and post it here for all to see? It's unlikely that information will be available but if you can get it, that would be great....At&t could be compared to the DMV in that the day after the due date, you get a penalty. Who wants to be compared to the Department of Motor Vehicles?

I'm starting to think that these replies are coming from employees of At&t? If you work for them, please state state that with your reply. The actual definition of ((Grace Period)) is:

a period of time beyond a due date during which a financial obligation may be met without penalty or cancellation.

At&t has NO grace period when you receive a penalty the (day after) the due date. There is no debate about this and they make Tons of money off of this practice....