I have to agree with Brandy. Many times I have had to get an extention and paid my bill and AT&T was very generous in giving me extensions. They are very polite and courteous phone reps. Times are tuff on everyone in America. As long as AT&T gets the money due to them, and their services provided to us, fair trade agreement has been reached thus making the contract furthur. Avoiding bills isn't the way to do business.

I changed my service to uverse and really regret it.  I also worked for Bellsouth and AT&T for 30 years so you cant tell me much about this company.  I had my service bundled so I would only have to pay one bill not one to AT&T and one to AT&T Mobile but suddenly since I changed to Uverse I am now having to pay two bills again.  No one bothered to tell me that the checks I normally send in would no longer go on what is now called a landline and Uverse is something else.  Money I sent in to pay bill was refunded in the amounts of 115.00 and 57.03 from the accounts receivable center and in the mean time I am getting a warning that my service will be disconnected if I do not pay 167.19 overdue bill.  I do believe that 115.00 and 57.03 is 172.03 which is more than I owed to begin with but somehow my mobile bill goes to Atlanta, regular bill goes to Tenn and the Uverse bill goes to Illinois.  Go figure no wonder you waste time trying to call customers about late payments because apparently one department no longer works with another department to get the job done.  Apparently the department in Tenn is not able to contact the department in Illinois to make sure no funds are owed there before they start issuing refund checks all the while sending threatening letters about cutting off service.

I really hope they cut mine off because I fully plan to take all this paper work to my attorney to prove the harrassment that I have put up with for 3 months for something that has already been paid.
I have already filed a complaint with the PSC as well as notifying the CEO of AT&T of the trash this company  has put me through.

A few days after service was put in I came home from out of town to find the service was down. Repairman came out fixed the service worked on my computer and supposedly fixed it.  I turn on my computer that night to discover I couldnt use my system.  I was charged 55.00 for the repairman to screw up my computer then had to contact your service to get my computer fixed on line and that cost an additional 49.00.  Nice setup to make extra money.   The TV service is constantly cutting out.  Walk out of the room and come back in a few minutes the press OK for service.  Wish I had kept the Dish network that I had to begin with and none of the would have taken place.
My husband passed away 2 yrs ago and I had to provide AT&T Mobility with proof of my employment by a supervisor as well as a death certificate for him in order to get the contract for cell service in my name.  This was supposed to have been changed over to my name when the consession for cell phones went in to effect.  Needless to say it wasn't done.  I could continue to give you a whole list of garbage that has been done by this company in the last 2 plus years with my service so I can fully understand the fustration of the general public trying to deal with AT&T.
If I had a way of getting someother service you better bet I would give it a try.

In over 40 years with service from AT&T I have never missed paying my phone bill on time in full.
and I have also not had the trouble that I have been subjected to since Feb, 2009.

Ryan sweetie...I explained all of your concerns in the very previous posting above YOURS.  Please read.  And just to let you know, we cannot control an automated system.  If the bill is due (which is when it's past the "pay by date"), it is automatically entered into an automated dialer system.  We can make notations on the account, but cannot set up another time for it to call.  How it works is lets say we 13,000 people who are due that are in our system.  Once we have called all 13,000 people it recycles the numbers.  If we made an arrangement or you've made a payment since then, it takes your number out of the system.  If not, (such as hanging up or ignoring the phone calls where we are just trying to help) it keeps your number in the system and when it reaches your telephone number (still in the same order), it will dial it.  And just to let you know we do send you cutoff notices.  We send you quite a few actually.  And we take the time to call you as well.  And we call so early to give you time to gather the money to pay your bill.  What would you rather have?  Not receiving your cutoff notice, having to pay a reconnection fee, and being even more upset because you forgot and we didn't remind you?  Or would you rather have us make a courtesy call, simply make arrangement for you, and that would be the end of it.  

Another thing I'd like to say is all of you people that are rude to people over the phone, you'd NEVER act like that out in public.  Do you really think that it is our ideal job?  Honestly?  No.  But someone has to do it and we also have to pay bills.  We completely understand.  Remember we are also human and have feelings and you never know what stress someone is under.  The person on the other end of that phone from AT&T is just trying to help you and we hear tons of rudeness all day long.  Think about being courteous to others.  I can't really much say more than that.  It all boils down to ignorance.  If you are, you are.  Nothing you can do about it.

Hope I have helped clear up some smoke.

calls at all hours of the day..as soon as you pick up phone it hangs up..no info on phone number and it's getting pretty old being disturbed day and night!

i have a novel idea! pay you bills and you won't have to worry about these type of calls

This "courtesy call"ing only recently started within the last three months.. I have on only a handful of occasions been late in paying my bill and had to pay a late fee. I usually ALWAYS pay my bill on or about the last half of the month, because I get every two weeks, and the first check of the month usually goes to pay my rent and my power. The second check I get is when I pay my phone bill and my cable bill. I have never (... and I emphasize NEVER.. ) gotten a so called "courtesy call" until the last three months then I have gotten one of these calls EVERY month. If this continues, I WILL drop AT&T COMPLETELY.. I've been a wireless customer for over 4 years, and a home phone, and internet subscriber for just under 4 years. I TOTALLY dislike this "service".. I want it stopped and stopped NOW!

I completely agree with your post. I have att and trust they make some mistakes that man, they just drive you crazy. However, in my personal experience they have always helped me and have great customer service. Nevertheless, there is always an a** h*** in the crowd.

You just stated yourself that there is a due date and a past due date. When do you think the bill is DUE you freaking idiot? The reason they don't call you after the past due date is because your service is off for being a loser who doesn't pay the bill.

I'm sure companies don't go out looking for a bunch of losers who can't pay the bill, but when they get them there has to be some consequences for their actions. How's about they don't charge you a late fee and just go ahead an prosecute you for theft of service? That is what you're doing when you don't pay your bills.

Get a job and pay the bill or turn the service off and be responsible. It's not that difficult.

You pompus idiot!!!

WE are paying extra expense because of YOUR SALARY!  We dedide to leave AT&T.  You decide to either continue this CRAP or LOSE OUR BUSINESS!!!

WHAT FREAKIN' NERVE YOU HAVE!!!!!

I LOVE the Class Action Suit idea.   I'm all over it!!!!   I have the phone records showing the six times they called in the last two days.  I also asked them the last two times they did this to us to remove this "courtesy call" feature, but they continue to harass us before the past due date.

Brandy...you're a moron and tell your managers they are morons too.  There are two (2) dates on the bill.  There is a due date (that would be one...if you're not too stupid to follow me) and the second is a "past due" date (that would be two...moron).  You guys call the day after the due date.  

NOW...according to your explanations, you're trying to give us a "courtesy call" to help us avoid late fees.  How about waiting until the "past due" date to call...morons!!!!!  Besides, I've never gotten anything except HARASSMENT from your accounts receiveable department.  I'm to the point of going on a National campaign against AT&T to get every person in America to avoid you like the black plague.

There is no other company in the world that harassess their customers this way and I want to make that number go to zero by bankrupting AT&T.  Goodbye and good riddance!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i cannot believe that att has turned into such a money hungry company.  they have no regard or respect for it's customers.  it is evident in the harrassment, blocks on my service, etc.  i'm a 35+ years customer who has always paid att.

i paid att in july and sept...yet att insists i have not paid anything.  today i was told that mt july and sept payments were posted to my account yesterday 10/8/09....my question is what took so long for att to post my payment.  att insulates itself so much that it is nearly impossible to talk to a real person.

brandy....sorry but your comments don't fly with me..att is rude, uncaring and driven by the mighty dollar without reg ard for the customers.

i'm ready for a class action suit, if only to put att in it's place.

Accounts receivable is not "customer service" just so you know. 2 separate departments. if you get a call from accounts receivable, it's because you're late in your payment (from the pay by date) and they want to take your payment is all.

Identified as ATT accounts recievable and calls all day and night.  Very disturbing, cannot block.

I called customer service for AT&T (888-757-6500) and he verified that it (888-532-5544) is AT&T accounts receivable.  He then asked about payment options.  I told him that I did not get a bill yet, and he explained that perhaps it got lost in the mail.  I commend him for remaining calm and polite throughout the conversation even though I made it clear to him that I was very upset about not receiving my bill and then being held accountable for charges.  I'll have to admit, I think guys like him, and Ms. Brandy above, deserve my respect for dealing with irate customers like me, but even if it's "not their fault", clearly something is wrong with AT&T, whether it's their computers or electronics or whatever.  The level of incompetence at AT&T is really beginning to annoy a lot of customers like me.

i would just like to say that you sound very nice Brandy but either you work for the PR dept. or you just don't live in our world....now granted I will agree that the person on the ATT side of the phone may be having a bad day or whatever but that is YOUR job and you get paid to take s**t from customers and not be a Jack**s in response.....I don't care if you work at McDonalds and only make $6.50 an hour....if you can't serve with a smile then get the f**k out!! That is the life of customer service and if you can't hack it that doesn't give you the right to screw with my day. I am so sick of people that do  your job and whine about " these customers are idiots" "why do I have to explain every little thing" because that is what the company pays you to do....it's a "service" that the company is supposed to be providing considering that they are getting our hard earned money and a lot more than their fare share if you ask me considering the service they provide....Rant is done....just wanted to put in my two cents....have a nice day everyone and "Thank you for callinf ATT...how can I HELP you"

I would just like to say the this at&t employee is full of s**t.She say's that you can get an extention on your bill, NOT TRUE. I tried. She also goes on to say that if you answer the phone and make an arrangment the calls willstop. Also not true. I have recieved at leastsix calls after 8pm and even after talking with them I continue to get calls. These calls have been within 15 minutes of each other. Three times in a row. Also the rep. on the line has always been very rude and if you ask to speak to a supervisor you get hung up on. My bill was due on th the 9th of the month. It is currently the 12th. According to the bill itself the payment is not late until the 19th. As far as the utility companies are concerned at least we don't get harassed. They at least give us the courtesy of sending us a reminder with a cutoff notice. The rep that I spoke to said that the day your bill says it becomes late your service will be interupted.  At&t would be considered a "very considerate company" if they listened to their customers.  We have asked the reps numerous times to make a note on the account not to call at 8 or 9 at night, some people have children or have to be up for work at 3am.  In our eyes this is grounds for a class action law suite if we continue to be harrassed, or in the at&t reps words...consideration.

I work at the att account receivable center and I hear complaints like this all the time.  I was just curious what else was said and i'd like to explain something.  

The "outbound" calls are an automated system.  I know that it may seem like someone has called u and then hung up but we are currently on another line, then once we are finished with that call it automatically rolls us over to the next call that was dialer by the automated system.  So we are not hanging up.  Of course I cannot speak for everyone because not everyone does what they are supposed to do, but it happens much much much less than people think.

The reason for the calls are to help the customers of AT&T.  They are not meant for harrassment at all although it may seem so.  AT&T realizes that the daily lives of others are very busy now-a-days.  It's not hard to forget one of the twenty million bills that you have to pay every month.  Also, the postal service does a wonderful job, but they are also human.  They can also make mistakes so AT&T hears all the time they haven't received their bill so instead of just interrupting your services temporarily and charging you a fee to have it restored, they decided a call would be much nicer.  One last reason they call, and call so early is because they are also trying to help you avoid the late fee.  If you pay the first day that they call, there is no late fee.  That's why they start calling on that date.  Although, if you are annoyed by these calls you can do three things to prevent these calls.  1, make your payment on time, 2-call AT&T and make an arrangement to pay before your bill is past due, 3-make an arrangement to pay when they call you instead of being rude when someone is trying to help you, and if you hang up, the automated system will call back.  So why not take care of business the first time?  

If you actually stop and think about it, AT&T is a very considerate company.  I don't know many companies that let you make extensions on bills, much less call you when it is late to ask you if you want to set up an arragement to avoid interruption.  If you don't pay your water or electric bill they don't call you, they just interrupt your water and power.  

The reason the automated system calls so much is because it is a machine.  Point blank.  It will go through the system and if there is no contact, it will try to call in a few hours.  Everyone's schedule is very different and AT&T never knows when they can reach someone.  So if at first you don't succeed, try again.  Until we do enter into the system that we have spoken with them, showing that by receiving a payment or setting up an arrangement, then it removes the number from the system.

Either way, the reason for this comment was to further explain the reason AT&T calls that way their customers do not become upset when they call.

I hope y'all are right and it is AT&T because I stopped answering when they never said anything, just disconnect after I stopped what I was doing and ran to answer the phone.  They keep calling me!  I can't wait to end my contract so I can get rid of them.  I thought I had paid my bill and found it under a magazine.  I found it on the day it was due, but thought I would pay it online rather than run out (gas prices).  It took me 2 days to do that with all of the passwords and numbers they want, and after I made the payment online I got a message that the payment would be on hold for 2 days.  The bill comes 2 days before it's due.  Jeez.

When I answer the telephone they person on the other end of the line doesn't say anything.

This number called 6 times so far today and it's not even 2 pm yet. I called them back and it is AT&T Accounts Receivable. My bill was due yesterday and they said it was a courtesy call and wanted to see if I wanted to make arrangements to pay my bill. I completely forgot and told them I would go online to pay it. They said that was fine and were actually polite the whole time.

called me today twice already and its not even 10am, was here for the second one, said they were at&t and I was late on my bill I just paid it 2 weeks ago, when I told them this they said it was declined funny to me Boa shows it cleared 2 weeks ago.

I have answered three times this morning and got hung up on everytime.  Anyway to stop this nonsense?

I'm on the phone with AT&T residential right now.  I called the number on my bill and gave them the 888-532-5544 number that called me.  They confirmed it was Accounts Receivable.  I got suspicious, because we already mailed out a payment and then the lady on the supposed AR wanted to take a payment over the phone and wanted to update my account information.  She asked me if I was employed.  I told her that was the first time I've ever had a phone company ask me that and told her I didn't believe her and I was going to hang up.  She gave me her full name.  Like I said, customer service just verified it and said those are typical questions they ask.  I asked about the hang ups and she said they have automatic dialers that call even if no one is on the line.  Bunch of crap.  I'm really getting sick of the automated world.

It is AT&T.My payment was due yesterday they called me and had the b@**s to put
me on hold untill a rep was available.They did the some thing last month. So if this is going to happen every month I may just cancel the 11 cellphones and the homephone and internet. I'm over it!!!

This is AT&T-my bill was due April 5th - it was only a one month bill and regular monthly of $85.00....today is April 8th. They are wondering where their payment is.

This is ATT.  I called it back after receiving four calls from it again yesterday.  The message says "welcome to the new ATT.  All offices are currently closed."  Don't answer your phone.  Tried putting a block on the # but didn't work.

It's AT&T. "Accounts Receivable"  Was late paying for 1 month and they will call and call and call w/o leaving a message.

I finally found out who this # belongs to its ATT . They just laughed when I asked who they were and then hung up on me. But yes it is ATT!! The 3rd time I called the girl accidently said "ATT may I...opps oh s***" and then hung up.

Tried to call the number back and get someone on the line and people in the background talking and laughing but no one says anything.  They call repeatedly during the day