Don’t Trust Mobile Carriers About Late Forgiveness of COVID-19 Payments
Amid the uncertainty over the spread of COVID-19, many companies have taken action to help their customers make ends meet . For example, the four major US cellular operators – AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon – announced that they will stop charging late fees and early cancellation fees , and in some cases will not shut down accounts that are unable to pay their bills. … Some even offer free automatic service updates for now .
The promise to forgive late payments is generous (and necessary), but customers shouldn’t use this as an excuse not to pay phone bills if they can still.
In a report to Android Police, David Ruddock researched each company’s late payment forgiveness policies and found that they all require customers to contact customer service representatives (online or by phone) to get at least some of the consequences of late payment and early cancellation. forgiven. This is very important: not all of them happen automatically .
If you miss a payment and don’t try to contact your carrier and explain the situation, you can still incur late fees, service interruptions, and even lower your credit score.
To be clear, neither Ruddock nor I are saying that people should feel bad if they cannot pay due to the current global circumstances; If you lose your job or are having financial difficulties, be sure to contact your carrier and any other companies you pay the bills to and explain the situation.
The point is, you definitely shouldn’t use this as an excuse to shirk responsibility and potentially make your life harder. These temporary changes are still early in the making and could change at any time, as can the circumstances surrounding the pandemic itself. Plus, large companies are prone to internal misunderstandings and mistakes, especially when it comes to automated services like bill payments, and you don’t need to gamble with cell phone or credit ratings right now. Pay the bill if you can. If you are unable to do this, contact your carrier as soon as possible to see what options are available.