The Ability to Pay

The compassionate and understanding American company that I believed in is a reality of the past. I found out today when I went to use my phone that my service had been "interrupted". That does not mean that my phone has been cut off because I am only late two and a half weeks late. It simply means that my service has been interrupted because I did not respond to a letter when they said my bill was late for 10 days. Basically I have always thought of AT&T as a mammoth enterprise who always allowed my payment two to three weeks late. I was consistent with my lateness for thirty years and no one appeared to care. There was a history with my tardiness and that allowed me to use the money for something else.
But today when I tried to use my phone I could not make a connection with numbers that a call everyday. Therefore AT&T got my attention rather quickly when my phone was not working properly and I knew that my bill was not in collection. I knew I was slow paying my bill so I thought there was a problem with my line so I called to find out what was the problem with my line. To my surprise they wanted their money and they were extremely polite. They asked me if I wanted to pay the month I was behind and the month I was in. Obviously I paid last month and they told me that my phone would be back on in two or three hours. They also told me there would be an additional connection charge of 30 dollars charged to my August bill.
The new marketing image is "welcome to the new AT&T". They are not playing because the new AT&T is serious when it comes to getting their money. Their customer relations and service is excellent but they want their money. This it appears will become the new attitude in business when it comes collecting outstanding bills. Everyone wants their bills paid on time or harassment and extreme pressure will be put on the business or individual. The ability to pay your bills will become essential in order to live in this country without stress. Everyone is struggling to pay their bills and AT&T's response is an indicator of the new approach to get their money.
What happens when you have a bad month and the car and the air conditioning breaks in the same month? Who will listen to your problems and give you time to make payments to catch up your payments? What happened to America's compassionate side? What happens when you don't have the ability to pay?
Tell me your story!!!!!!!