I would agree, When getting service there is essentially two part to a service agreement (Contract) One is the terms of service, this is essentially the contract part, it is the legal-ese that binds you and the company into a "Mutually Acceptable" agreement. My advise is READ IT!!! The second part is the commitment, which is essentially a promise of continued revenue from the consume to the company in exchange for reduce priced equipment or a promotional rate.

With most company's the subsidized price of the handset will equal or exceed the cost of the ETF, not counting any mail in rebates. You exchange up front cost for a promise of revenue.

Most companies offer a Post Paid no contract service, on a Month to Month "contract", which even as written while your commitment is expired will take over.

What I find odd is that many carriers violate their own terms for the benefit of their customer or do not strictly enforce the terms of service that ultimatley may benefit the consumer but no one bitches about that. Example from AT&T Terms of Service.
YOU MUST, WITHIN 100 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THE BILL, NOTIFY US IN WRITING AT AT&T, BILL DISPUTE, 1025 LENOX PARK., ATLANTA, GA 30319 ("AT&T'S ADDRESS") OF ANY DISPUTE YOU HAVE WITH RESPECT TO THE BILL, INCLUDING ANY CHARGES ON THE BILL AND ANY SERVICE WE PROVIDED FOR WHICH YOU WERE BILLED, OR YOU WILL HAVE WAIVED YOUR RIGHT TO DISPUTE THE BILL OR SUCH SERVICES AND TO BRING, OR PARTICIPATE IN, ANY LEGAL ACTION RAISING ANY SUCH DISPUTE.
So when you call and exceed your rate plan cause you can not monitor your own usage, and the rep offers you a rate plan, that you could have proactively changed at their website to prevent a high bill to begin with, and when you you ask for an adjustment (politely or angrily) and they re-rate your bill as if you had the higher plan... Do You Bitch... I bet not, unless your you feel that you should get something for nothing and actually think you should not have to pay the 20.00 Price plan difference opposed to the 230.00 in overage.

My Thoughts on ETF's... You should only be charged IF you agree to get a Subsidized handset, and the Company did not strictly violate their Own Terms of Service, and to be honest if you have a legitimate issue, and you have given them ample oppurtunity to resolve, and is with in the limits of the technology, someone will waive your ETF, especially if it is service related.

You may have to spend some time allowing reps and tech support to try a few things, or to file a ticket, and you may have to escalate a level or two, but you will find someone who will see it from your point of view.

Mobile service is not perfect and no Carrier has service everywhere, and to expect such is utterly ridiculous. If you live in a Trailer, expect your signal to be less indoors, especially if you live in a rural area. Research before you buy, check coverage maps, although not entirely accurate they are a good guide, ask friends and family.

And use the hell out of the phone in your Buyers remorse period if it is not working the way you want Return it and cancel the service with out a fee. Make sure you understand the return policy, ask questions, and for god sakes do not go to a carrier simply for the phone.

The reason why company's are so hard on waiving ETF's is there are so many people out there who work to defraud companies, and try to play all these "tips and Tricks" in very illegitimate ways just because they want to get the newest device from another carrier, and it is those people that create a very difficult market and revenue loss. They may be multi Billion dollar companies, but they are a business with employees and stock holders, who they have a interest in as well.

I so look forward to the day when one of the big names decide to stop subsidizing the cost of phones, at that time all the rest will follow.

If you do not want a ETF, do not get a subsidized handset, pay the retail cost, or provide your own, but if you buy from some place other than a authorized channel and decide to get a phone from ebay, craigslist etc.. do not expect the company to provide you one or give you a break on your bill when it breaks or stops working.

For everyone who has a legitimate issue with their service I am sorry your provider has not lived up to your reasonable expectations, I encourage you to contact your provider and simply talking with a rep, and if that fails speak to a manager and thier manager and so on until someone can resolve your issue.

For those (most people) Who expect something for nothing you are the reason that when I have an issue that employees are skeptical, You are the reason that rates increase, You are the reason that when I call there is a long wait time, You are the reason that Phone insurance requires an affidavit to complete a claim. Every time you call a customer service you cost the company money, depleting their profits, forcing them to remove empowerment from employees, removing their ability to make good business decisions and developing hard nosed bill adjustment policies, and in the end making life hard for the majority of customers who for the most part are satisfied with a carrier and have the occasional issue because it was a human being on the other end who made a mistake or an error.

First of all, the wal-mart gift card would be a wal-mart promotion, therefore wal-mart would take care of that, NOT T-Mobile. Second, it shouldn't have cost your mom more than a small shipping fee to replace the phone, since it should've had a 1 year warranty on it. The discount would need to be put on IN PERSON at a corporate t-mobile store. And the activation fees apply unless it was a promotion run by wal-mart, which again, would be applied by them. So really your problems are not problems caused by T-Mobile, but by Wal-Mart. You can leave, but you'd be charged an early termination fee. Your best bet would always be to activate DIRECTLY through T-Mobile, NOT through a 3rd party retailer like wal-mart or any other dealers.

I have the Instinct as well and I HATE it. Sprint has replaced it twice now, so I am on my 3rd Instinct handset. I was on the phone with them asking if they'd simply replace my phone with a different model phone ( of equal or even lesser value) and they completely refused...no matter how many people I talked to. I have been with sprint since I started using cell phones and I have been pleased for the most part, but this was simply terrible customer service over the several times that I called. I am certainly leaving Sprint as soon as my contract is completed, unless I can get out sooner.
For Sprint to not try to make a LONG TIME customer happy so that I/they would stay with them, they continued to refuse to help and insisted that I just renew a 2 year contract so that I would be able to PAY for a new phone...one that I might like better that the Instinct.

I work for an AT&T call center and i wanted to help shed some light on your situation...unfortunatly for you unless you purchased your smartphone before november of 2009 you would be bound to the smartphone data plan if the phone is activated over the internet (if you do it yourself through your mywireless account etc) than the data plan may not have been added on immediately however AT&T has systematic sweeps that picks up on what devices the sim cards are in so it will know if you have a data required phone and it will automatically add this feature for you to help prevent high pay per use fees ($2.00/MB) and because it uses more data than the regular data "unlimited" plans ($10.00/$15.00) covers because of the many apps and functions of the phone that use data transfer in order to work...now here is what you can do in order to help fix your situation...
1) call in and explain your situation very nicely and polietly (if you call in yelling and cussing it is still our job to assist you but I can assure you I like most other reps will not go above and beyond for an irate or insistant customer , most of us will actually find your anger more amusing than anything ) and we can issue some credit for inconvenience -we don't like the smartphone data requirement either!
2) if you are in your 30 day buyers remorse period you can return the phone for a $35.00 restocking fee (most of the time you can get credit on your account for this ) or 10% restock fee on IPhone devices and get something like a quick messaging phone which only requires a combination of $20.00 worth of messaging and/or data on the line (eg. unlimited messaging or $15.00 data package+$5.00 messaging...you get the point) or you can go for a regular handset ..believe it or not they are more durable and have fewer features therefor fewer things to break, not work, etc.
3) If all else fails polietly ask for a supervisor if a supervisor cannot get you either another phone or at least find a solution for you to save money on your plan and other features to compensate for the data requirement then you can actually escalate above the superviosr and also lodge a complaint through the "contact us" link at www.att.com which actually goes to a higher level of management at AT&T itself not at the call center where the manager works
the main point is the nicer and more polite you are the better you will be treated and the farther we will go to try to find a solution for you...on this point i think i speak for all carriers customer service reps and also keep in mind we hate ETF's feature requirements and other things that generally do nothing but piss people off and make us have a shitty day and if you can control your self and have a positive demeanor you'd be shocked at what we can do to help you and how happy we are to do it ~M.

I just signed on with Wow Mobile--if I refer 3 people, my service is free--unlimited cell, text, data transfer and internet. Otherwise, it's capped at $89.95 month. I just get a SIM card from them and slip it in my phone! I figure once I refer 3 people, I will make upthat cancellation charge asap. email me if you want more info: wowmobile2010@comcast.net

Do a phone swap with someone. There is always someone looking to upgrade their phone. You could also sell yours on ebay and buy another. Its a lot of options with AT&T sense they use the chip. You can always go to wal mart and buy one of the minute phones, the chip works in it.

are there risks to filing a small claims lawsuit? wht if they don't back down? would I have to go to court then? how does that all work? I'd like to do that...but it seems there must be a catch...

Can you update what happened ? Did they ever send you a fax of your contract? Did they back down?

If anyone needs a worthless organization to protect their rights, they don't deserve them.

What is your problem, you ignorant obnoxious fool?

wtf

How do you find that charge? My wife and I want out of our Verizon service so if the 411 charge goes up I want to have the proof to get out.

Thank you!

Can I terminate the contract because of this???

Matt you most have gotten a rep on a good day. I just went through almost exactly the same scenario only to be told tough luck we aren't waving those charges.

We travel all 48 states and the service had been horrible. Dropped calls, no signal. Even in major cities. We'd complained repeatedly and had the phone replaced at their suggestion several times as well. The service never got any better. So about a month ago we'd had enough and switched to Verizon. Amazingly our problems stopped.

Being nice didn't get us anywhere. Today I even asked to speak to a supervisor. That got me a big goose egg too.

The saddest part is that he'd had service with cingular/att for over 15 years and they still refused to wave there $ 120.00 fee. I say good-bye and good riddens. I would NEVER use ATT again under any circumstances just because of how this all played out.

Not if you return the phone, if you keep the phone you will have the ETF

Followup to my prior post: It turns out that the information I received from the first customer service rep was rubbish. I called back, spoke to someone else who was very helpful and said "No problem". The number port was done in 10 minutes with no charges or contract changes. Easy.

My wife and I had T-mobile pay-as-you-go plans and since we didn't use our cell phones often and didn't 'text' we'd each spend $100 per year for 1000 minutes.

Last summer we decided to get our daughter her first phone and we went to the Tmobile store in our mall. We were told by the salesperson that you couldn't text on prepaid plans, and since I'd already promised my daughter the phone for her birthday, I believed I had no choice to sign up for the contract with 2-year commitment.

Recently we discovered that we could text on our prepaid plans. I felt completely taken advantage of. We are 7 months into a two year commitment where we're paying ~$55 per month. That's over $1200 for the contracted time.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that we can't afford it, it's that we were misled into paying THOUSANDS of dollars more than we needed to. I was very clear on what I wanted but was told it was not possible.

I don't believe the contract should be valid, because it was signed under false pretenses. Do I have a legally valid point?

That sounds nice but i would like to add that with T Mobile, you have to have proof of the change of address, usually a utility bill in the account owners name, so you cant just say you live with your parents or something like that. You have to prove you moved there.

He moved to Singapore from US. He called before moving, and Verizon said that he may or may not see an ETF. If he does, he'll have to call back and resolve. Ofcourse, the ETF shows up, and when he called, Verizon asked him to send in TWO proofs of new address (utility bills, driver's license etc). He sent these in mail AND faxed it to the fax# provided by the rep. The ETF never got waived and he got tired of trying (it was a smaller ETF, Verizon was already doing $5 off/month into the contract).

I want to get out of my contract and can use another address in another country to waive the fee. If I go this route can I take my phone number with me.

1) A contract is just that. Sneaking around it by porting to another carrier doesn't relinquish you from the contract.

2) Turning a phone off is not a way to avoid a bill. You still have the option to make calls, you have chosen not to.

3) Boost is for homies - So is Sprint.
ATT is for Tech heads who want iphones and a restrictive, non transferable contract.

4) Ive had T-Mobile of nearly 7 years. Im 8 months out of contract but still with them: The term is called "floating". When youre with a company but no longer obligated by contract, you're FLOATING.

5) I know a way to cancel a contract, COMPLETELY, with no termination fee. But since I learned it, I will keep it to myself and use it for friends - I have and it's worked. I won't defend it, that would just mean I'd have to explain it. Piss off.

6) Prepaid is an option for a lot of you losers. Other option is "flex pay" via T-Mobile or a training wheels program called "smart access" where you can earn back your credit while earning respect from T-Mobile. After completing one year on "smart access" during which time you have never paid your bill late, you earn the ranks of regular post pay users.

T-Mobile offers 10c minute prepaid and a damn good reception coverage. Net10 is another company that offers 10c minute but their phones are cheap. Plus, T-mobile phones can be used as PREPAID or POST PAID (regular account) - it's based on the SIM card, not the phone! I've forgotten more about cellphones than most of you will ever know. I don't bitch at the Customer Service people...That's the main secret.

HOMIES: Lose the attitude or be prepared to pay full price with no discounts. Customer Service Agents (CSA) are people - bitching at them won't get your shit-uation resolved. Oh, and if the CS happens to be black...you're fucked. Not racist comment...A proven observation. Black people don't want to help you. AT ALL.

Yeah it is. You don't have to be 18 to get service for a phone that doesn't have a contract.

My husband and I had a NIGHTMARE encounter at a Verizon Kiosk at the Glendale Galleria in January 2010. They pretended like they were an actual Verizon retailer, "gave" my husband a busted phone that Verizon NO LONGER SELLS, in exchange for a renewed contract. We contacted Verizon and they were equally unhelpful, obtuse, and absolute HELL to work with. They did explain, however, that the KIOSK was a third party and they WRONGED MY HUSBAND. I viciously chewed out the clown representative they sent us to at the Verizon store in BURBANK (and his fat manager tool), where there were a NUMBER of disgruntled customers for MANY reasons. The tool who took my complaint tried to sell us a crap phone for $175 and I dressed him down loudly. He told me to quiet down. I admonished him, louder than before, so that other customers in the store would hear the situation. A lady and her daughter came up to me and gave me their NIGHTMARE story of dealing with a busted phone they had replaced by Verizon multiple times and were trying to get the same thing again, but they were getting absolutely NOWHERE with this bought robots. She applauded my efforts. SO, MR. KIOSK CROOK IN A PITIFUL SUIT, BE GLAD YOU DON'T GET SPIT ON WHEN WE CROSS YOUR KIOSK AT THE MALL. CROOK, CROOK, CROOK, CROOK, CROOK. I can only hope the economic downturn destroys the kiosks.

actually kiosks do have a LOT of "back ground fees" that is how they make their $... NOT ALL kiosks but the majority. i am a research agent for att and spend a lot of time finding these kiosks to have them shut down. it is illegal for them to add costs to their contracts but they do it... more often than not..

You are making yourself look insane with rage. Nowhere in the article did this person say that you personally do this... only that it is one, and not by everybody or every phone company... It is not a personal stab at you,so please calm down and realize that using all capitols and extra exclamation points is both grammatically incorrect and does not get your point across.

I am in the same boat. Had sprint for over 10 yrs and now want to switch to att. They told me that they can switch #'s for me but am concerned I will have to pay $200 ETF. I have my recent bill where they are imposing changes and fees in terms&conditions section of contract which allows me to leave without paying ETF. If I call sprint to cancel, will I still be able to port my number? Just curious if you know.. Thanks!

I lost my job and ask to be let out of my contract with them. My husband is self employed and we are having a really tough time trying to make ends meet. I explained all of this to them and they still want us to pay $400.00 early termination. I can't believe this crap. I can barely afford to keep my home and pay the utilities. If I don't pay my bill they'll just shut the phone off anyway. So I think thats what I am going to let them do. Can they charge you every month if the phone is shut off?

since he is probably still under a grace period to try the phone he can go back in and threaten to leave and port his phone # over 2 another company like Boost Mobile which has no contract limits and offers a $50 month 2 month unlimited minutes, texting, internet plan. Also this article mentions that they are not supposed 2 change your original plan. If he doesn't want to leave or cannot leave Sprint he can look online on craigslist or in the ads for used phones. Sometimes other shops that specialize in wireless service will also have used phones.

advanced billing is something that is set up at the time of contract and is stupid.. but it is there so u have to be ware of it b4 u switch and what day ur gnna swich basically u are billed like an apt... u pay at teh beginning of the month and if u decide to move out early it is up to u but... they dont give u that $ back for the week early u CHOse to move out

My daughter moved to Kansas for college and has no coverage. I have 5 phones on my plan. I tried to get out of the contract for 2 of the 5 phones because of no coverage. The only way out of the contract for the two phones is to show a utility bill in my name from kansas. What the Fuc its a damn college. they wouldn't take the colleges word for proof of residency. It only takes $710.00 to cancel all 5 phones. They would rather lose $2400.00 a year from a customer, then end 2 contracts. Thanks AT&T i'll go To Sprint or Verizon.

u can cancel within 30 days but have them put it to cancel on that day...

if u switched ur # u are screwd bc that cancels ur contract and will charge u the etf... no going back now

t mobile, you still have to show proof of address change. either a utility bill or drivers license. and it has to be under the account holders name.

if u are moving, for att, u must show proof , ie a utility bill with ur name on it, and if u have an iphone u are screwed u have to pa the etf unless u die, and they only let that fly if u take the death cert into a store

Nothing like encouraging someone flat out lie to get what you want. Gotta Love the Freedoms we have in America.

are you completey stupid? at&t has the best global coverage in the world AND uses GSM technology which is the global standard. this would not be a reason to get out of your contract. thanks mr. dumas

dont bet, check it out before signing anything

case in point ATT stores are company stores

yet at least some 'att kiosks' are in fact 3rd party vendors, with additional contract terms

particularly, the contract i have has an addendum which stipulates that if I terminate early I will owe the 3rd party vendor a fee based prorated on how many months remain in the contract, in addition to any etfs from att.

the upside is that i received an additional rebate from the vendor, additional accessories, and when I had a problem, the kiosk customer service is way better than ATTs

Our Rights to Make Changes

Your service is subject to our business policies, practices and procedures, which we can change without notice. UNLESS OTHERWISE PROHIBITED BY LAW, WE CAN ALSO CHANGE PRICES AND ANY OTHER CONDITIONS IN THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME BY SENDING YOU WRITTEN NOTICE PRIOR TO THE BILLING PERIOD IN WHICH THE CHANGES WOULD GO INTO EFFECT. IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE YOUR SERVICE AFTER THAT POINT, YOU’RE ACCEPTING THE CHANGES. IF THE CHANGES HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON YOU, HOWEVER, YOU CAN END THE AFFECTED SERVICE, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE, JUST BY CALLING US WITHIN 60 DAYS AFTER WE SEND NOTICE OF THE CHANGE.

If you want to cancel, simply tell them they you are entitled to cancel without an early termination charge because of their monthly administration charge increase. They will try to tell you that they are crediting their customers with the amount of the increase. If this acceptable for you, then fine, otherwise, stay firm and tell them you want to cancel without a fee. You will get transferred to several different people and it will take a while, but you will get it done

VZW is changing their 411 charge from $1.49 to $1.99 on Feb 1, 2010

I know when i worked at t mobile you could cancel if we (t mobile) changed something in the contract that the customer doesnt agree to, like raising text charges, overages, all that good stuff.

but you cant just simply say, "i see the 411 rate has been increased, ive never used 411 but im going to use that to get out of my contract." thats not gonna work. you have to show that it has inconvenienced you.

if you have a rate plan you often have overages on but are ok with paying the small fee, you might get a huge bill with the same amount of minutes because your plans overages were increased. (going from 20 cents a minute to 45 cents a minute is a huge difference) and not wanting to sign another contract for a better plan is understandable when they're the ones that increased the rates.

At t mobile you have to have an example like this happen to your account at least 2 months in a row for them to let you out of your contract. you might have to fight a little because a rep is going to try for the life of them to convince you to stay. just ask for a supervisor.

not eveyone knows this and it sounded like a good place so i hope it helps someone that might have this problem. (or if you want to cancel and theres just been a change in the contract, you might be able to use it to ur advantage)

The replies and comments are dated, but the article (the original piece at the top?) is NOT!!

I love how you have the subject title "please date these articles" while right underneath every title it has the date...HAHA

oh my god don't ever let anyone else hear you want to switch to sprint so bad. you have just given them their new name sprint so bad, customer service is so bad, reception is so bad, phones are so bad, instead of sprinting, run run as fast as you can. this is not a JOKE.

I have had some different services, and been around many people with other services. Many times they use my phone to get out. I have had U.S, cellular for a while now. They dont have as many bells and whistles, but the service is better than any as far as getting out. Very Satisfied with U.S, Cellular, but I don't like the 2 year contracts to get a phone, but I guess that goes with any of them.

The way to get out of a Sprint contract....

1. If you have a Nextel phone, call and get your number ported to Boost Mobile. But first, go and purchase a Boost starter kit from the Sprint store for $21.00. Call Boost to get the service transferred and activated on your phone. It can be any Nextel phone, new or old, as long as it holds a SIM card. If you have a Sprint phone, call them and get a Nextel so you will be on Nextel service. Or go to Best Buy and get the cheapest Nextel/Boost phone that has a SIM card and when you finish transferring all your lines, take it back. You have 30 days to do that. I have done both ways and they work perfectly!!!

2. You get $10.00 worth of credits from Boost on the starter kit. So just use that up and don't buy anymore minutes. Then you are finished! I have done this 4 times and most recent was in June because I wanted an iPhone. I was on a family plan with Sprint. I just had to do it with both lines. You can use the same starter kit and same phone for each line, just one at a time. Just tell them you want to transfer the other number to the Nextel phone. They will cancel the other Boost number (which was your Sprint number) to activate the other line.

3. No matter what Sprint tell you about the early termination fee, don't beleive them. They told me I would have to pay $400 for my lines in June because I transferred both lines over to Boost. I said ok, because I had already done this before and knew it wasn't true. Sprint owed me $157 because you pay for your service a month in advance. Do this as soon as your billing cycle begins to get more money back. If not, you have still gotten out of your contract legally becasue Boost is Sprint on the prepaid side. They must do it if you want to. Me and my son had Instinct phones and now we both have iPhones and love it! 

4. Let me know what happens or if you need help completing this. I will find out if the other carriers do this as well since they all have a pre paid side, I don't see why not.

Hope this helps you, it helped me and I didnt't have my service a year.

The way to get out of a Sprint contract....

1. If you have a Nextel phone, call and get your number ported to Boost Mobile. But first, go and purchase a Boost starter kit from the Sprint store for $21.00. Call Boost to get the service transferred and activated on your phone. It can be any Nextel phone, new or old, as long as it holds a SIM card. If you have a Sprint phone, call them and get a Nextel so you will be on Nextel service. Or go to Best Buy and get the cheapest Nextel/Boost phone that has a SIM card and when you finish transferring all your lines, take it back. You have 30 days to do that. I have done both ways and they work perfectly!!!

2. You get $10.00 worth of credits from Boost on the starter kit. So just use that up and don't buy anymore minutes. Then you are finished! I have done this 4 times and most recent was in June because I wanted an iPhone. I was on a family plan with Sprint. I just had to do it with both lines. You can use the same starter kit and same phone for each line, just one at a time. Just tell them you want to transfer the other number to the Nextel phone. They will cancel the other Boost number (which was your Sprint number) to activate the other line.

3. No matter what Sprint tell you about the early termination fee, don't beleive them. They told me I would have to pay $400 for my lines in June because I transferred both lines over to Boost. I said ok, because I had already done this before and knew it wasn't true. Sprint owed me $157 because you pay for your service a month in advance. Do this as soon as your billing cycle begins to get more money back. If not, you have still gotten out of your contract legally becasue Boost is Sprint on the prepaid side. They must do it if you want to. Me and my son had Instinct phones and now we both have iPhones and love it! 

4. Let me know what happens or if you need help completing this. I will find out if the other carriers do this as well since they all have a pre paid side, I don't see why not.

Hope this helps you, it helped me and I didnt't have my service a year.

Hahahahahahah everyone's switching out of t-mobile.... right now. They're cheaper because they SUCK.

There are some pretty stupid people on the internet; you are definitely one of them!

Obviously you have troubles typing coherent sentences so you probably can't read very well either otherwise you would have read your contract before signing it. If your son went through 12 phones in a year then he is probably just as much of a moron as mommy and daddy. Go eat some cheetos and watch some more american idol you waste of air...

U can visit cellswapper.com they are provide facilities to Swap out of your cell phone plan without paying the termination fees. Sell your phone contract and save your contract termination fee. Get latest phones with exclusive short-term contracts.

the best thing you can do is be honest. admit you sold the phone to get quick money for your meth fix. admit you filed a false police report. if you need money in the future, selling your body is the best way for some quick cash. plus, you won't have to lie to your parents or the police about it.

Asked to talk with the boss, ask if u can fax /send a copy of you ticket to provide proof of the moving. if that does not work then call T-mobile's corp care in seattle wa.

the problem with your reply is that the person's credit rating will drop dramatically if they don't pay up and their bill gets sent to a credit collection agency! Shame you don't know as much as you think you know, eh???

As a loan officer, I have to tell you that the idea you're proposing is not the brightest... especially if you care at all about your credit. A collection account, no matter how much it's for, is still negative credit and will hurt your credit score. It stays on your report for 7-10 years and will do most of the damage within the first 3 years. I've seen peoples credit tank b/c of a $50 medical payment or a $75 phone bill... but who am I, right? I just look at credit reports all day.

...no they can just ruin your credit rating and take you to small claims court.

Verizon, as every other carrier must sell services they advertise. Your not legally bound to the carrier if they were unable to provide service for ANY amount of time! 14 days OR 1 month. Do NOT let them fool you. Tell them the FAIR COMPETITION ACT allowed you to switch carriers with no penalties because it's ILLEGAL to prevent a competitor from taking business. Tell Verizon they are breaking the law and you will report them to the FCC and FTC!

Your welcome :D

Call your carrier and threaten them that you report them to BBO and any local state consumer protection agency, and the FTC for fraudulent and deceptive practices.

I did that to get out a bad internet cable service; and was able to get out without paying a dime. I simply called up the Customer Service and spoke to a manager.

I did the same with HP for selling a defective laptop that died within weeks of warranty expiration. Initially HP refused to fix the laptop; so I put it in $200 to fix it. Then I reported HP to BBO; within 3 weeks I was reimbursed by HP.

Congress is considering laws to correct the mandatory 2-yrs lock-in and other anti-consumer practices of the cell-phone carriers.

They don't want to get complaints through BBO and other consumer protection agencies.

did you boyfriend get a new phone? you should get a new boyfriend. if you are between 18 and 26, send me a picture. if you are tasty looking, you might have a new contract. but no overages; i don't like huge girls!

Well, I can't help with the fact that Sprint are being unscrupulous bastards, but what I can do is help with the overage charges. They probably won't volunteer this information, but you can purchase additional minutes in blocks. 100 additional minutes cost $5. I recommend checking the minute total on the line every 4 days or so. You can do this by dialing *2 from your Sprint phone. Follow the prompts to check minutes usage. If you are getting close to going over, call customer service and purchase a block of minutes. It has saved us hundreds....we learned the hard way! Hope this helps you!

It seems that all pre-paid plans' minutes expire. Although the expiration period increases as the pre-paid amount increases, these plans still effectively have a per-month charge. If minutes are not added at least every month, the unused minutes, as well as "roll-forward" minutes are lost.

Not a problem if you're the "average user" (790 minutes per month), but if you're just looking for an occasional-use phone for emergencies, the lowest cost plan for less than 200 minutes per month is still $13/month (Tracfone), and limits you to that one carrier's network.

The complexity and terminology of these plans makes default credit swaps look like a picnic. One might conclude that the only real benefit of these plans is for people who can't get credit.

If anyone finds a plan/plans that don't behave like this, please respond!!

going in person to an att store and offering visual or oral treats may be your best option. i have heard this works better in certain states than others, with Ohio and Utah having the best rate of success.

I got at&t cells when i got my home phone and for a week i never got my cells an when they trun my home phone on i call and they said the fedx men said that he left the at my home on my steps infront of my home and i told them i didnt have steps in front of my home and thin they put a trace on them i live in the country and to find out they left them in te city about 20 miles from were i live and th phone company still wants me to pay from the phones i got tried of fighting with the phone company so i had my home phone turn off 4 months later and they still say i have a bill.

You can go to walmart to upgrade your phone...If you are only eligible for the 1/2 upgrade ($75.00), Walmart will honor the full upgrade and you can pick any of the free upgrade phones that they have in the store...I have 3 phones and have been doing this every year. After you get the phone upgraded, call sprint and ask them to credit the upgrade fee and they always do.

Faggot your obviously upset cuz you are to poor or your mommy won't let you get a cell phone QQ

haha. Modern technology is a security blanket? Give me a break.
Maybe we can go back to the old days of a big black phone sitting in the kitchen with a rotary dial that takes forever to dial a number. Or maybe go back further to the days where you rang the operator from a box on your wall and told her to connect you to a certain person -- that is, if there wasn't someone else already using the line - and it could be someone miles away and you could listen to their conversation.

What we have now is fantastic and is only getting better.

You are truly an idiot. The only reason you don't like it is because you're either a) too broke to get something good for yourself b) too stupid to use it or c) both

You took away her cell phone when she was seventeen? I've never heard of anyone doing that.

Second, if you have a contract and don't use the phone for a month, you pay a lot less. So having a contractless phone isn't such a huge bonus.

why the big lie? you say you have been a "loyal customer" for 5 years, but then you say you have been trying to get out of the contract for the past year.

be honest. tell us, "I was a loyal customer a year ago for a 4 year period, but have spent the last year as a customer whose loyalty wavered. Lo, these days, know not wherein my loyalties shall lie, but hath with Ye Olde T-mobile no longer do my passions reside."

Stop the lies!