My 1st ever iPhone is bill pro rated - is this normal?

[vegas-steven]

I signed up for new service august 11th and today my bill arrived. When I signed up I asked the AT&T rep at the AT&T store what my first bill would be, she replied:

$130 for 1350 minutes
$15 for 1500 txt messages
$30 one time line activation fee
-------
$175 give or take a few bucks for taxes.

Today my first bill pro rated me:

$21 minute usage
$4.99 texting

Why? Was I supposed to wait until the 1st of the month t turn the phone on?
She told me pro rates only happen if you change rate plans in the middle of your billing cycle.

I already don't lime what I am seeing regarding AT&T CS.


Oh yeah. Can't call them cause they are closeded Sundays. I found that cute LOL.

Is this normal???

 

[Cynicalone]

Your first AT&T bill is always prorated. You pay one month ahead for services, sorry that's just how it is.

Welcome to AT&T the worst part of your iPhone 3G experience.

 

[vegas-steven]

Your first AT&T bill is always prorated. You pay one month ahead for services, sorry that's just how it is.

Welcome to AT&T the worst part of your iPhone 3G experience.

Ok. So the extra $26 in charges is covering my service from august 11th until the end of the billing cycle?

The rep at AT&T made it sound like my billing cycle would START on the 11th each month because that is when my service was activated.

Should I bother to call and complain? I do not like being misrepped and would be expecting a $200 bill had she told me that it would be that way.

$26 isn't slot. I am not unhappy about the charge, what I don't like is being lied to before I even had the service activated.

 

[gdeputy]

Happens to everyone. It's not a scam or anything, they take like 6 days and apply the charges to them. so your bill price / 30 and than * 6. That + one month in advance.

Im not sure it's 6 days, but thats an example.

After that it's normal monthly bill.

 

[freediverdude]

Yea even though I started service on July 11th, they made my billing cycle be the 4th of the month (no apparent reason). So when my bill dropped on Aug. 4th, it was for almost two months of service, little bit of a shock on that bill.

 

[bushido]

pls someone delete ^^ didnt make sense

 

[freediverdude]

Are you talking about my post? I can explain again, I guess. I did start service on July 11th, 2008. AT&T has made my billing month be from the 4th of each month through the 3rd of the next month (again, no real reasoning behind that, that I can tell). So I received a bill shortly after Aug. 4th, 2008, that showed a pro-rated amount for July 11th-Aug. 3rd, and then also a full month in advance to cover Aug. 4th- Sept. 3rd. So almost two months worth of service on that bill.

 

[scaredpoet]

Ok. So the extra $26 in charges is covering my service from august 11th until the end of the billing cycle?

That's correct. And if/when you ever drop AT&T service, your last bill should come out to zero (not counting any ETF if you're subject to one). This is how billing ahead works. All "post-paid" US carriers except for T-Mobile do this. T-Mo bills in arrears, but then you always end up with a "final bill," upon cancellation, which is then prorated. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

The rep at AT&T made it sound like my billing cycle would START on the 11th each month because that is when my service was activated.

Then they definitely explained it wrong. They should have given you a sheet of paper that shows you an estimate of your first month's bill (with prorated charges) and then what subsequent months, without proration, would look like.

Should I bother to call and complain? I do not like being misrepped and would be expecting a $200 bill had she told me that it would be that way.

Perhaps you could call and complain, but seeing the charges are legit, I'm not sure there's much they can do. Maybe credit you your activation fee or something, which they can sometimes do.

 

[Diode]

If you look at the material the rep handed you in the store you'll see a expected first bill with the prorated charges included.

 

[gLaDiAtOr73]

sorry to bump an old thread but can someone explain to me why you pay ahead on an upgrade with att? i understand for new customers, but not an upgrade. i already paid ahead 1 month when i signed up 2 years ago, so why pay ahead for another month on an upgrade? i kept the same rate plan, i just upgraded to a 3gs on a family talk plan if that helps. so basically now i will be paid ahead for 2 months, right?