metropcs billing date question

[akmsr]

this month i was late couple of days to pay my bill. it was due on the first, i paid on the 3rd. service was disconnected for couple of days. no big deal. but i assumed since i paid on the 3rd it will carry over and next months bill will be due on the second or so. imagine my surprise receiving a text reminding me that my bill is due on the first. so i called customer service and after some hoopla was able to explain the situation and was told that billing date stays the same regardless of when i pay. i said hypothetically i do not pay on time and pay on the 10th. she said service will be suspended after due date, it will resume on 10th, next bill will be due on the first of next month. if i want to change my billing date i gotta pay $5.00 + tax for it.
is this for real?

 

[alfick3]

this month i was late couple of days to pay my bill. it was due on the first, i paid on the 3rd. service was disconnected for couple of days. no big deal. but i assumed since i paid on the 3rd it will carry over and next months bill will be due on the second or so. imagine my surprise receiving a text reminding me that my bill is due on the first. so i called customer service and after some hoopla was able to explain the situation and was told that billing date stays the same regardless of when i pay. i said hypothetically i do not pay on time and pay on the 10th. she said service will be suspended after due date, it will resume on 10th, next bill will be due on the first of next month. if i want to change my billing date i gotta pay $5.00 + tax for it.
is this for real?

Yes. I've had Metro since Feb '11 and that's how it's been. I remember reading about that three years ago on these forums.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Nahh u can pay 5.00 to change the date to the third and whats so funny is that the longer you wait to pay the bill you lose out on money and have to pay them the whole price back . that's why I hated metro pcs cause u think it is that way but a big isn't

 

[akmsr]

this is unreal! now i am sorry i bought a prepaid card already for next month. but this is the last month metro is having me as a customer.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Please post your reasons for leaving forgive me for sounding like a song lyrics

 

[alfick3]

this is unreal! now i am sorry i bought a prepaid card already for next month. but this is the last month metro is having me as a customer.

I don't see what the problem is. Metro is pre-paid. That means you pay for your service before you get it. It protects them from people that don't want to pay at all. As far as the billing date, I don't see a problem with a set-in-stone, un-movable (unless you pay a service fee) date. Just because you pay a couple days late, doesn't mean the company should move you billing date.

 

[akmsr]

I don't see what the problem is. Metro is pre-paid. That means you pay for your service before you get it. It protects them from people that don't want to pay at all. As far as the billing date, I don't see a problem with a set-in-stone, un-movable (unless you pay a service fee) date. Just because you pay a couple days late, doesn't mean the company should move you billing date.

it is prepaid! thats my point. i should get a months service starting on the day i paid.
if it was post paid or a contract, only then a fixed billing date makes sense.

 

[alfick3]

it is prepaid! thats my point. i should get a months service starting on the day i paid.
if it was post paid or a contract, only then a fixed billing date makes sense.

That's how pre-paid is. I had clear as my isp for a while and they are pre-paid as well. That's how they did things.

 

[akmsr]

hmm.. looks like you are missing my point.

I had clear as my isp for a while and they are pre-paid as well. That's how they did things.

that does not make it right. lets talk about your phone bill
you do not pay metro for 25 days, on the 26th day you pay. 4 days later your bill is due again. you will have no problem with this then. is that what you are saying

 

[alfick3]

hmm.. looks like you are missing my point.
that does not make it right. lets talk about your phone bill
you do not pay metro for 25 days, on the 26th day you pay. 4 days later your bill is due again. you will have no problem with this then. is that what you are saying

Yes, basically. First off, I wouldn't let it get that late, but even if I did, I wouldn't expect a company to change my billing cycle because I didn't pay my bill on time. It was my fault (regardless if it was just because I chose not to pay, or if I was unemployed and couldn't pay) that I didn't pay, not the companies fault.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Nahh u can pay 5.00 to change the date to the third and whats so funny is that the longer you wait to pay the bill you lose out on money and have to pay them the whole price back . that's why I hated metro pcs cause u think it is that way but a big isn't

Nahh I was saying this if your late 5 or more days they should allow you to change your due date since you paying for service that has been interrupted . so just pro rate it.

 

[akmsr]

reason and logic has left the building.
i am not saying its the company's fault. they should not have a fixed billing date it the first place. that is the meaning of prepaid.

 

[alfick3]

reason and logic has left the building.
i am not saying its the company's fault. they should not have a fixed billing date it the first place. that is the meaning of prepaid.

Ok. Well, I guess that you and I have differing thoughts on pre-paid.

One of the great things about pre-paid though, is that it's not a contract so we can go else where. I wish you the best with your next service provider. Maybe Verizon or AT&T or even Aio will be better since you already said T-Mobile isn't good on your area.

 

[THE W]

this is unreal! now i am sorry i bought a prepaid card already for next month. but this is the last month metro is having me as a customer.

you have a prepaid card from metro and don't have an actual account with them?

 

[averagewonder]

Yeah I dont really see the problem with whole due date. I mean if that really is an issue then pay $5. I dont see this as being a matter o principal either before that get brought up. If you are saying month to month with metro I would consider them a no contract not a prepaid. If you are buying minutes with them which some people still do ten I would say then yes think of them as prepaid but at this point in time I dont consider prepaid and no contract the same thing anymore. Its like this have you ever lived in an apartment that let you go to month to month after your first years lease was up? If you have could you go up to them and say well I wasnt living there the first 3 days of the month because I was out of town or what ever and expect them to go well ok you can now pay us on the 3rd of each month instead of the first?

 

[THE W]

yeah, what happened to the OP is going to happen no matter where they go unless the OP wants to purchase minute cards.

 

[akmsr]

on boost you get a months service starting on the day you pay regardless of your renewal date.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Yes and on this new boost they give you 3months at a cheep price and box u in with a different price to pay for example they tell you 40 for unlimited and suddenly get 55 dollars for unlimited.

 

[akmsr]

actually the way their model works that you start at the highest say 55$ for a month. if you pay 6 months on time on the 7th month it will be 50$. if you miss a month you have to wait one more month. after 18 on time payments your bill will be 40$. i was paying 35$ when i left. if i go back now and get a 4gLTE phone my monthly bill will be 40$. my account is still active. is was turned off for two months since i switched to metro but 2 weeks ago boost gave me a month free. so i still have couple of weeks left on that plan.

 

[THE W]

on boost you get a months service starting on the day you pay regardless of your renewal date.

yeah, if you use their reboost card service where you're basically buying time.

 

[akmsr]

yeah, if you use their reboost card service where you're basically buying time.

not exactly.
you have a prepaid account on their system same as Metro. you can pay at their store, authorize dealer, payment centers, online and from your phone by calling or using their app. cash, credit, debit also the reboost card that you can buy. you can also opt for auto payments from your account. just like Metro. but you get a month from the day you pay.

 

[THE W]

not exactly.
you have a prepaid account on their system same as Metro. you can pay at their store, authorize dealer, payment centers, online and from your phone by calling or using their app. cash, credit, debit also the reboost card that you can buy. you can also opt for auto payments from your account. just like Metro. but you get a month from the day you pay.

then its settled, back to boost you go.

 

[akmsr]

just got off the phone with t-mobile prepaid customer service. their 30, 50, 60, 70$ prepaid plans give you 30 days service regardless of your bill renewal date starting on the day you paid. i asked my hypothetical question stating the delay for 10 days or 25 days as i stated before. does not matter at all.
the rep also explained that a prepaid account stays in system for 120 days even in the case of non-payment, transfers to a pay as you go account for another 120 days before deactivation.
i am glad that t-mobile bought metropcs. eventually they will get rid of metro's middle ages old policies and bring to company up to date with the modern world. the customers will be the winners.
i had to call metro's CSR 4~5 times in the last 3 months, IMO t-mobiles CSR are way more knowledgeable.

 

[DirtyDee]

just got off the phone with t-mobile prepaid customer service. their 30, 50, 60, 70$ prepaid plans give you 30 days service regardless of your bill renewal date starting on the day you paid. i asked my hypothetical question stating the delay for 10 days or 25 days as i stated before. does not matter at all.
the rep also explained that a prepaid account stays in system for 120 days even in the case of non-payment, transfers to a pay as you go account for another 120 days before deactivation.
i am glad that t-mobile bought metropcs. eventually they will get rid of metro's middle ages old policies and bring to company up to date with the modern world. the customers will be the winners.
i had to call metro's CSR 4~5 times in the last 3 months, IMO t-mobiles CSR are way more knowledgeable.

I can agree with that I don't cringe when I have a problem and call them its always pleasant

 

[wewk584]

The MetroPCS faq states the 2nd missed payment may result in account disconnection (although thats semantics since during the 'temporary suspension' your phone is just as useless) with the possibility of losing your phone number. So it is like you are paying $40,$50,$60 a month for you phone number, not the service (given that paying 29 days after your due date results in 29 days of no service and 1 day of service but with a full 30 days of reserving your phone number) Well.. again... beyond the $$ making aspect of it (a policy evidently tmobile doesnt follow but figured they would just leave active when they bought metro), I can at least respect the phone number reservation side of Metros thought process. Having said that I think the OPs issue is that other services move your start date to your most recent payment and also generally reserve your phone number longer on idle (unpaid) accounts. Im not thrilled about it myself (ive had other prepaid services that act more prepaid even on and less 'billed') but at this moment the only phone I have is my old metro phone so switching is more painful than staying. Overall I love the service, I just think this could be done better.