Missed Standard entry deadline

I have unfortunately missed the standard ACCA exam entry deadline for Dec 2018 and now I am forced to pay for the late entry penalty. I was under the impression that the deadline would be as usual until the end of the month but for Dec 2018 the standard entry deadline was until Oct 29. I would like to know if it would be useful to plead my case to ACCA or if I should bear the cost of the late penalty. In my case it would be quite substantial as I was planning on attempting 3 exams for Dec 2018.