Comments on: The Friday gathering – Updates and cell phones

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:45:25 +0000

Carol,

You are mistaken.

By: Frugal Vet Tech

Frugal Vet Tech — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 04:06:13 +0000

When we got our first cell phone plan, there was a (very small) potential we’d be moving to a place Sprint didn’t have coverage. When we asked them what would happen if we did move, they said we would be able to get out of the contract with no problems because they wouldn’t be able to offer us service there (i.e. hold up their end of the deal). When our Sprint contract was up (we ended up not moving to the no-coverage place), we dropped them like a hot potato and went with Verizon. We were not impressed with Sprint, but we’ve been quite happy with Verizon – better coverage, better service, better people to deal with.

By: GoingGazelle

GoingGazelle — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:51:34 +0000

I’ve helped more than 1 FPU student out of a contract. I’d call back and get another rep. The moved out of your coverage area usually works. If that doesn’t work then your best alternative is to ask if they have changed your contract recently. Then refuse to accept the changes. Last time I did this they raised TXT message from 5 cents to 20 cents. All he had to do is deny the change to the policy. There is a clause that you can cancel without any fee if they change the terms and you don’t agree to it.

The transfer your service sites have decent reviews. I’ve known a few people who do this too.

This is why I say cell phone companies are evil. Jack up the price of a phone to ungodly high rates. Then claim this contract is backing up the cost of the jacked up phone. Then just make a change to your plan and reset the contract clock (even though the phone has more than paid for itself).

Cell phone companies are almost as bad as alarm companies for backending fees and breaking the contracts.

By: Carol

Carol — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:27:29 +0000

If I’m not mistaken, I believe that a federal appellate or supreme court recently ruled that early termination fees for cell contracts were not permitted. It would be worthwhile to check into that.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:58:09 +0000

My suggestion is to go into your local store. They often will waive it for you. My friend just moved to a place with no coverage, went into our local AT&T store, and they let her cancel her contract because they knew there was no coverage there. All of the other stores in town let her take a “test” phone out to her new home to see if they had coverage.

It might not work, but it’s worth a try!

By: David

David — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:34:58 +0000

Just keep calling them and telling them you dont have service. Eventually someone in retentions or a supervisor will cancel you – persistence is key. Thanks for the link.

By: RT

RT — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:56:39 +0000

I had this problem with Sprint when we moved to our new house 3 years ago. After a few frustrating calls, we ended up having to paying a fee to end the contract early, even though we only had a few months left on the contract. The fee was less than 3 months of service, but only barely.

Their suggestion after the 5th call was to set the phone up for roam and offered to waive roaming fees, but at that point I was so fed up with their customer service that I didn’t want to have to deal with it.

We’re currently with Verizon because they seem to have the best coverage in remote areas.

By: That One Caveman

That One Caveman — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:52:08 +0000

The Consumerist has all sorts of ways to get out of cell phone contracts for free. The best way to do it is wait for a “minor” fee price change and get out using the “material change” clause.

There are other sites that allow you to sell/trade cell phone contracts that you may want to look into.

Good luck on that. I’ve used Verizon since I got my first cell phone in 1998. Yes, they’re not the best or friendliest company in the world, but they’re good enough.

By: glblguy

glblguy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:15:21 +0000

Patrick, thanks for including your links. I knew one of my fellow M-Network buddies wrote about this, but couldn’t recall for the life of me who it was! I’ll check them out and try the suggestions you provided. I did forget to mention, they did offer the transfer option, so I thought I might put an offer out on Craigslist to see if I had any takers.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:23:49 +0000

Sorry about the cell phone situation. There are some ways you can cancel your contract without paying any fees – I wrote about it here and here.

I transferred my contract about 7 months ago by doing an assumption of liability transfer – someone assumed my contract and it was legally transferred. That may be more difficult to do with a few lines (and if you want to keep your current numbers).

I think you may have a case for canceling without paying though – if you can’t receive reception you can fight it. Try calling AT&T and requesting they have someone come out to your house to verify you have no coverage. If that doesn’t work, request to take them to arbitration (I think most contracts state you can’t sue, otherwise I would recommend small claims court). Basically anything is worth trying at this point – cancellation fees are too high to surrender without a fight.

Good luck and good luck in your new home!