Cingular Wireless sends out monthly bills.in the Date due box it states upon receipt. There is no due date noted on the bill. There is no statement anywhere on the bill regarding any late fees that might be assessed. There is not statement regarding their billing practice. It now appears after speaking with a representative that late fees are incurred 22 days after the last date of the billing cycle. There is zero mention of this on the bill.
The late fee on a 74.00 bill was $1.12. The bill was paid 24 days after the billing cycle. It was unknown that this would be considered late since it was not indicated on the bill.
Cingular Wireless has 50 million customers as stated by their representative. If half of these customers pay late once a year. They may not know they paid late and they certainly won't fight for a $1.12 or around that amount, they will probably just pay it without much thought, but if 25 million people do this once a year, that is 25 million dollars for Cingular.
This is a conscious effort by Cingular with this billing practice. I believe they consciously do not let the public know of this late fee. They also have a relatively short time before the late fee is incurred. If they told the public on the bill of their late fee policy, they would not receive as much money from these fees.
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