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AT&T Will Keep Your Money If You Cancel TV Or Internet In Middle of Billing Cycle (gizmodo.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: The telecom giant has announced the end of its prorated credits for some subscribers who cancel a service in the middle of a billing period. AT&T bills service for DirecTV, U-verse TV, AT&T Phone, AT&T Internet, and Fixed Wireless Internet in advance. It previously offered the option to receive a credit for any unused days in a month when a subscriber canceled before the next billing period, but it will now force many customers to ride out the month with nothing in return. The change goes into effect on January 14, 2019, in most states, so if you're considering a change, it's time to plan ahead. If you're even one day into your billing month, you'll presumably have to pay for the full period, according to the company's new policy. You get to keep the service you don't want for that period of time, but, of course, you're canceling because you don't want it. The change will not apply to customers in California, Illinois, New York and, in some instances, Michigan.
Big companies look for ways to be abusive, apparently.
I wish the U.S. had a functioning government.
AT&T has been watching you all threatening to cut your cables in the previous threads and would like to remind you all to take your best fucking shot.
This kind of crap is why AT&T was broken up in the first place! I'm happy that I'm not one of their customers, but I feel bad for all those people who are.
Between their abusive policies, lack of investment in infrastructure (coverage sucks in anything but metro areas), and their discontinuations of services (No Satellite for You!), they are batting a million!
There are large swathes of the country that do not have access to broadband sufficient to replace their Satellite TV, so I guess that'll leave Hughes to pick up the pieces!
I did this when I left AT&T last month and no bill
Nuff said!
Caution: Contents under pressure
I cancelled Kabel Deutschland Vodafone because of a move back home. To cancel you need to give three months notice and have to present a copy of the "Abmeldebescheinigung" which is basically a certificate from the local city that you have moved out of the country. I tried to give three months notice exactly three months prior to moving, but was told I could not give notice until they receive the certificate that I moved out. So in the end I was forced to pay three months of service I could not use. Maybe it was because I was a foreigner, but this was typical of my experience living and working in Germany and it caused me to leave after seven years. Death by a thousand small cuts.
Cancel at the end of your billing cycle.
Years ago, I had Bell Canada satellite service and tried to cancel.
They said they wanted to keep me as a customer and wouldn't put through the cancellation and give me free service for six months and if I still didn't want it no problem. I tried repeatedly, during those six months, to end the service including dropping the receiver off at a Bell store after three months (fortunately, I made the clerk sign a receipt for the receiver).
At the end of six months I got a bill from the Bell for the six months that had just past. After another three months of fighting with them, they demanded that I pay rent for the two months I had the receiver before returning it.
The problem with cutting the cord is that the people who provide the cord will do everything they can to keep you from doing it.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
...and this is one of the many reasons why. I flushed them out of my life years ago, both residentially AND commercially, and I often am recommending to colleagues to get rid of them as well.
It's one of those decisions you end up asking yourself why you didn't make it sooner. Even comcast is better than they are.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Lots of services don't give partial month refunds, and they've given us lead time to accept their terms, or terminate our accounts when the old policy is still in effect.
"AT&T requires 30 days notice for cancellations."
Which has probably been in their contract for years, and they're only now starting to enforce it.
Not an unusual contract term in any way for that sort of service.
Nothing to see here, go back to your cells.
The change goes into effect on January 14, 2019, in most states, so if you're considering a change, it's time to plan ahead.
It's time for everyone to cancel their AT&T service(s) before Jan. 14, 2019.
I'd laugh if AT&T saw a huge spike in cancellations over the next month. Let's see if we cannot accelerate the cord cutting even more.
Once you have their money, never give it back.
As someone who recently was burned by AT&T's wireless division, I hope this business burns to the ground.
Purchased an iPad Pro 12.9" and the unit died the first week I owned it. Opened cases with AT&T and Apple trying to get it replaced and was given the run around for weeks. AT&T refused to replace and address the issue because of the arbitrary 14 day return period, even though issues were brought to their attention within the first week.
After over A MONTH OF FIGHTING with both parties, Apple is replacing the unit with the new model 12.9" iPad Pro which is great and all, but now I am stuck with an Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio I can't even use with the damn thing,or a replacement $60 screen protector. AT&T doesn't give a single shit about their customers and will do ANYTHING to tell a customer to fuck off.
I have already migrated ~200 accounts from them for the business and plan on finishing another ~500 lines next. Fuck them and let them crash. HORRIBLE company. FTC, FCC and BBB complaints all filed and the 'office of the president' just tells you to screw off. It's insane.
So they'll collect, on average 1/2 a months extra billing month when they lose a customer.
But also piss of the customer at the same time, just an extra little "fuck you" to the customer when you cancel. It's a very poor way to make money, and it'll very likely cost them money because former customers will be less likely to re-sign up.
There's a reason why all service providers have a "customer loyalty" department. The reason is getting new customers is VERY expensive.
But hey, I'm sure it'll look good for a little while since it'll increase revenue a teeny bit, and nobody will ever connect the decreased amount of customers they get to the stupid billing policy. Probably some short sited bean counter just got a raise!
Oath breakers scumbagged room 641 don't mean I have to scumbag back. I have to NULLIFY back.
They do this in Canada at least
Note that this does not apply in California, because all us hippy-ass flower children stoner bra-less left-coastie elites got together and passed a law against large corporations pulling horsesh-- like this.
Enjoy thy deregulation, flyover states.
AC (Anonymous Californian)
The pro-rating calculation is actually quite complicated and it is done in the back office by employees with HP calculators. There are only so many calcs our operators can do in a 10-hour shift so there is unfortunately a backlog and we have to charge for the month. If there were some way of automating this process it would be different . . .
It's not like anyone needs yet another reason why they should not buy services from AT&T or any of its thuggish companies.
bell tried to do this to me over a decade ago. i told them i am cancelling now and will not pay for anything more than what i have used until today. they have not bothered me since and i have never looked back.
This is what happens when your product goes to shit and you need to keep making money. It's a race to the bottom.