They can't pay their cell phone bill

I am not sure about how cellular phone companies in the US. But here in the PH there are many cases where the subscribers are not able to continue to pay for the bill - their names will be blacklisted in the company, they will no longer be able to apply for a new one (of course) but none has so far been charged with anything at court. Most would say taking you to court would cost the company more so you will just be treated as a bad debt account - to be written off after a certain number of years of not paying. But of course before that, you will receive a disconnection notice, a letter requesting for you to settle, and the line will be cut off, and you will still be billed for the rest of the contract remaining. I have never had this happened to me, because all my phones are always paid within the due date. I really see to it that i do not have a bad name with these companies. It is hard to move around especially where there are so few of them offering such services, all i have to do is to just live within my means and pay for what is due. I try to really squeeze in so i won't be delayed with my payment dues. You can tell them to settle a few dollars, just to have the phones bill updated, no need to settle the whole $100 but they can just always try put in at least half of it. The good thing about cell phone bills (here in the PH) is that there are no interests for the past due accounts so at least the base requirement of payment is minimized.

I have actually never had a contract with a cell phone company. I have seen my daughters get caught up in them with boyfriends and when the boyfriend becomes an ex then they have had to pay a huge fee to buy out of the contract. One daughter ran into financial trouble and what happened is that they shut her phone off and she went without a cell phone for a time. I think that cell phones are handy and serve a great purpose but truthfully we have lived without them for centuries and could continue to do so. I do have a tracphone that I use sparingly and carry mainly for emergencies. It costs me 20.00 every 3 or 4 months and I have no contract to live up to. I don't feel too sorry for your friends. It sounds as if they are living beyond their means and probably will continue to do so. They should let the phone be shut off and just pay the bill off and then go for something cheaper.

Why don't they change their plan to something cheaper? And try to keep utility costs down? There are so many ways to save money. I'm pretty sure AT&T won't take them to court for a couple of hundred dollars or so, but they should contact them and let them know the situation. The cellphone company might have a plan that they can live with.

Two friends of my family are going through the same thing we haven't heard from them in months until today on Facebook they r relying on free wifi and are on contract but that credit score. My brother too had a AT&T contract and hasn't paid it on months and he begged me to help him pay it and I did but I was forced to change the account under my name -.- now I'm carrying the stack of bills and paying it by myself my brother takes advantage of my kindness now my credit score is on the line

If you don't pay anything, then it will be cut off. if you pay a little even $5 it will stay on. If you call teh company and explain and have a reasonable reason they will work with you. I have on occassion when I lost a job had to call and explain. They were very nice about it, only because I paid everything to date, and never late so they were willing. I still paid what I could, some months not being able too. Same with my credit card, when my seasonal job is out, it drops, and they said this to me, and then it picks up for the summer.

These people you are talking about, need to have prepaid cell phone, because it looks like that can't manage on a contract phone, this is what get so many people in trouble with these cell phone companies, paying on that contract, and then they have to pay other bills like, rent, lights, gas, sewage and cable bills, then the make the decision to let a bill go, and worry about their cell phone bill, it's not worth it, to get your credit damage, behind a cell phone, I have prepaid phone,and if I can't add minute on my cell phone, I don't worry about it, it's one less thing I have to worry about paying for.

I think their credit rating will be toast, but it probably already is going to be because of whatever got them into this mess. it's hard, when you're in the situation, to be able to see the best path out. When we had a lot of credit card debt, I stubbornly refused to get a line of credit, even though that would have meant less interest. Now that we've paid all of our debt off, it's easy to look back and say oh, I should have done this, and oh, I shouldn't have bought that, but at the time, I was in the middle of it, and it felt like I had no idea what to do but work harder.

Why in the world are they spending so much on their phone? Cut out all the extras. They aren't all necessities. And smart phones? Regular phones work just as well. People get too caught up in getting the latest gadgets. Sure, having cell phones are sometimes necessary because of jobs and stuff, but people can make a big difference in their bills by not getting all the cool stuff everyone loves so much.

They will just turn the phone off and turn it into collections, and even if they don't pay, nothing will really happen to them except it will effect their credit.

They can probably call the cell company and put their contract on hold, but if they terminate, they will end up getting an early termination fee (if they're on a contract).

I dont know about the states but from what i understand many cell phone companies only report to the credit bureaus if you miss a payment or have a late payment. When you miss so many consecutive payments (i think its 3) they count it as a breach of contract and they will cancel service and send a bill for the service provided as well as the contract buy out. It damages the credit rating for sure...and then even more if they miss paying the buyout on time as well.

If they don't want their cell phone to get shut off, then they need to make arrangements with their provider and make payments. At least it shows they are in good faith trying to pay it. My daughter has been down that road, and she had her phone deactivated, and she stayed that way, untils she could pay something, and then to top it off, she had to pay a fee to get her phone activated again. She is paying fro three pho9nes and three lines, so it does mount up. I have never had my phone deactivated, for non payment as I have always been able to pay the full anount every month, to keep that from happening. My cell phone is the only phone I have so i need to keep it activated at all times. I hope that your friends can get their bills paid, as it sounds like they are really struggling. I am struggling too, but I do mange to get my bills paid. they need to cut back on frivolous things, things they don't need to they can afford their bills. Take care!

Are those people your friends or family member? I'm can see you are concerned but I'm sure that they are not ignorant with what's going to happen if they dont pay that bill. Let them learn their lessons, and tell them "don't say I did not warn you" something like that. Have a nice day!