Handling Past Due and Non Pay Accounts- Article no. 2033
Introduction
This article provides information on how to assist a customer in Collections status
Update: 12/01/2021 - Washington DC (Co 81 only) residential and small business telephone and data customers
- Financial forgiveness for phone and data service has been granted to DC customers experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19
- Adjustment code 99898 brought phone and internet service current and displays as COVID Relief in the 12/22/2021 BOLT statement and in the ICOMS ledger
- Customers now follow usual collections schemes
- Refer to the scheme if customers have questions about any suspension activities
- Note: Accounts 60 days past due or more that did not show internet activity were not adjusted
- These accounts are noted in BOLT: COVID RELIEF CUSTOMER SEE SIMON ARTICLE 2033
- If you receive a call from a customer tagged with this message who did not receive credit, submit a BOLT Case to FS:
- Fill out the information as described below and click Submit
| Record Type |
Non-Technical |
| Reason |
Bill / Invoice Questions or Issue |
| Reason Detail |
Bill Question / Inquiry |
| Case Reason |
Balance Transfer |
| Destination Queue |
Financial Services (FS) |
| Notes |
Add pertinent comments / daytime contact number |
California residential and small business telephone customers:
Resolution Steps
REMINDER: Do not send hits to equipment that is turned off due to Non Pay status.
Expand All | Collapse All
Payment Reminder Email
Payment reminders go to preferred email when payment is not received at due date, but before the account is past due (31-60)
How Payments are Applied
- Payments are applied in specific order; oldest money owed is paid first
- Payments are applied by AR Code, beginning with Basic Telephone
- This is why some services become disconnected before others
- Bulk accounts with additional services above their agreement:
- Additional services follow normal Collections protocol and may be suspended for non pay and may be written off when the customer is active
| Category |
A/R Category |
Amount Owed |
Account Aging |
| Basic Telephone (T) |
100 |
$30 |
31-60 |
| Telephone Toll (T) |
101 |
$20 |
31-60 |
| Telephone Features (T) |
102 |
$20 |
31-60 |
| Long Distance (T) |
103 |
$20 |
31-60 |
| Cable (C) |
200 |
$30 |
31-60 |
| VOD (C) |
225 |
$30 |
31-60 |
| PPV (C) |
250 |
$30 |
31-60 |
| High Speed Internet (D) |
300 |
$30 |
31-60 |
| Telephone Equipment-EMTA (D) |
310 |
$30 |
31-60 |
| Pre-Paid Data (D) |
315 |
$30 |
31-60 |
| ACP Transfer / Internet (D) |
375 |
NA |
31-60 |
| Dial Up Internet |
400 |
$20 |
31-60 |
| Smart Home |
500 |
$30 |
31-60 |
| Mobile Service |
600 |
$30 |
31-60 |
Determine Payment Amount when an Account is Past Due
To avoid further Collections activity, attempt to take a payment for the full past due amount
- Review Financial Services notes: look for notes regarding a returned check / payment denial
- Review account balance: be sure to deduct equipment charges when quoting balance due
- Check Collections History: if payment was made at a 3rd Party Payment Agency, follow these steps
- Customer must provide a receipt number for the payment (can take up to 5 bus.days to post to account)
- Create a Payment Arrangement to ensure account is not disconnected for non-pay (unavailable in sites 91, 92 or 31)
- Payment arrangements made for payment agency payments do not count against the Payment Arrangement extension policy
- Payment on a soft disconnected account
- To cancel the non pay work order, customer must pay amount owed in 31-60 days and older
- Payment on a disconnected account (work order status is Completed)
- Customer must pay the entire outstanding balance and reconnect fees (minus equipment fees)
- Account balance should be at zero except for equipment fees
- Equipment charges credit once services are assigned and activated
- A reconnect work order must be scheduled to roll a truck
Confirm a Payment is Received and Posted
- Review the General Ledger and Payment History to see the most recent payment amount and date of payment
- 3rd party bill pay may be delayed in payment posting
- Some financial institutions are not set up to transmit an electronic payment file and must mail a paper check
- The customer's payment is removed from their bank account immediately
- Financial institutions will not send a check unless the funds are held available
- The customer may have to wait 7 to 10 days for our lockbox to receive and process the mailed payment
Taking a Payment when Customer is Blocked from Making Online Payments or through the IVR
- Customers with a returned payment are blocked from making payments through self care
- How to identify a blocked account
- BOLT Summary tab or ICOMS Customer Flash : Message displays - Payment Blocking
- BOLT General Ledger / Statement: Mop Denial line item
- BOLT MOP / Payment History displays MOP Status as R indicating Restricted
- When this occurs, customers cannot make their payment with the same credit / debit card that resulted in the returned payment
- The customer must use another card
- Identifying the credit / debit Card that resulted in the MOP Denial:
- Financial Services comments:
- Find the entry that says ACH RTN
- This comment displays the date of the returned payment, e.g. "ACH RTN R03 031510 101.95 LETTER MLDS NDS RTN"
- Access the MOP / Payment History tab
- Find the Post Date that corresponds with the date listed in the comments
- The last four digits of the card that was denied is listed in the MOP Payment History
- Obtain another card number from the customer to make the payment
Customer Requests to Remove Payment Block Made Online or Through the IVR
- Payment Processing reviews the account after at least one successful payment was made
- In most instances, blocks are removed within 10 business days from the day the payment is successfully made
- If a customer requests the removal of the self care payment block:
- Review the customer's payment history
- Has payment been made since the self care block was placed?
- No - Inform the customer the block cannot be removed until one successful payment has been processed using a different card
- Yes - 10 business days have passed and the customer still can't make a payment through with self care
- Route a BOLT case to Payment Processing
| Record Type |
Non Technical |
| Reason |
Financial, Payments & Refunds |
| Reason Detail |
Payment Issue / Inquiry |
| Case Reason |
Payment Issue / Inquiry |
| Destination Queue |
Payment Processing |
| Notes |
Note all pertinent information and daytime contact number |
- Payment Processing determines if the self care payment block is removed
-
Once removed, make payments through the IVR and MyRCN within 48 hours
-
Cases routed on a Friday will not be processed until the following Monday
Non Pay Credit Requests
Non-Pay Credit Requests
- Non pay work orders automatically generate credit due for equipment charges and loss of services back to the soft disconnect date
- Credit is applied in the nightly run after the non pay work order is either completed or cancelled
- Do not issue credit or escalate for services lost from a non pay work order
Additional Information:
Definition of Non-Pay Suspension
- A non-pay suspension is also known as a soft disconnect
- Services are not physically disconnected at the home and customer can still make 911 calls
- Billing activity is suspended until account is either restored by payment or hard disconnected, and is pro-rated thereafter
- Suspension activity begins when the pending work order is added to the account:
- Review Collections tab and Collections Scheme
- Work orders typically generate at 10 PM and services are suspended the next afternoon
- Customers are required to pay restoral fees when the work order is entered; fee is charged if services go down or not
- To determine if an account is in non-pay suspension or if it is disconnected for non-pay, review the Work Order [WO] screen:
- Soft Disconnect: Work order status displays Not Coded
- Hard Disconnect: Work order status displays Completed
Reconnecting and Restoring A Non-Pay Suspended Account
- Take a payment equal to or greater than the past due balance to cancel a non pay disconnect work order
- The cancelled work order flows through the system and restores service
- You may also need to do the following:
- Cable Modem/EMTA: power cycle the equipment
- TiVo: If service state 8 (Closed), see troubleshooting steps
- Non-GPON Symmetrical (formerly Wave G):
- During Dispatch/Workforce Management normal business hours, inform the customer that service should be working in about 3 hours
- After Dispatch/Workforce Management normal business hours, services are restored at the beginning of the next business day
- Submit a Bolt case if the service is not working after timeframes listed above
| Record Type |
Non-Technical |
| Reason |
Work Order Inquiry/Escalation |
| Reason Detail |
Work Order Follow Up |
| Case Reason |
Work Order not Checked In |
| Include in Notes |
Non-GPON Symmetrical (formerly Wave G) Remote Install Request |
| Destination Queue |
Local Market Support (Dispatch) |
Work Order Still Pending After Taking a Payment
- Non pay work orders sometimes do not cancel when:
- Payment is placed on the wrong statement when multiple statements exist
- Adding a new occupant has been attempted
- When you linger on the Work Order screen while taking a payment
- Someone is locked in the account
- Note: Sometimes a non-pay work order does not cancel after the payment is made:
- Close the Customer Equipment [BX] Screen in ICOMS prior to taking payment
- Do not process an SRO in ICOMS prior to taking payment
- If someone is locked in the account or tried to add a new occupant, the non pay work order may not cancel when payment is made
- Close the Customer Equipment [BX] screen in ICOMS prior to taking a payment
- When a non-pay work order does not cancel after the proper payment is taken, proceed as follows:
- Call Financial Services:
- Outside of FS hours
- Send an email to Control Desk Customer Service authorizing the cancellation
- Control Desk follow up within 30 minutes as the network situation warrants (ie. no major network outages)
- The lead/supervisor may follow up with a call to expedite
Reconnecting and Restoring Non-Pay Hard Disconnected Accounts
Restoral Fee
- When customer makes a payment or payment arrangement, the non-pay Work Order is auto cancelled and the restoral fee is automatically applied the following day
- $40.00 is charged per account and is divided among each line of business
- One restoral fee per bill cycle is charged when a non-pay is cancelled
- This fee appears on the General Ledger
- Credit for Restoral Fees may only be given one time in a customer's history, follow Credit Negotiation Guidelines
- Restoral fees are not the same as a reconnect fees which are applied to hard disconnected accounts
- Restoral fees are not charged in Site 91
Restoring Service - How Long it Takes
- Traditional Cable TV: immediately upon work order check in
- IPTV: up to 24 hours upon work order check-in; send another Balance hit and power cycle for sooner restoral
- Cable Modem: immediately after power cycling; 4 hours if not
- GPON/FTTH (except enTouch TX): immediately after power cycling; 4 hours if not
- enTouch TX: about three hours during normal CSD business hours and after normal business hours non-pay restorals are processed the following business day
- Ethernet: immediately after power cycling; 4 hours if not
- Non-GPON Symmetrical (formerly Wave G) about three hours during normal business hours; after normal business hours, they are processed the following business day
- Email: within a few minutes
- Facilities / Digital Telephone / Broadsoft: 15-30 minutes
- Resale Telephone: 24 to 48 business hours; on Friday after 3:00pm, restoral occurs Monday morning
- Long Distance: 15-30 minutes
- Dial Up: should be immediate:, verify Dial Up is ON
- If a customer reports that service is not restored, verify that the payment was made and posted to the account
- If the payment was received, the non pay work order is cancelled, and it is past the estimated time frame listed, please trouble shoot the service problem
Article ID: 210
Created: February 2, 2024
Last Updated: February 13, 2024
Author: [shekhar.bhanot@teamhgs.com]
Online URL: https://agentx-astound-kb-qa.hgsdigital.com/article.php?id=210