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"Material Adverse" Clauses in Cell Phone Contracts
Each carrier takes a different stance on what is materially adverse, who can get out (Cingular for instance has eliminated language in some contracts that claims that text messages for instance are an "optional service"). You usually (except for Verizon which does offer 60 day period to call and claim materially adverse) only have a short time to claim a change as materially adverse, sometimes less than 14 days. Listen to UCAN attorney Art Neill's tips to cancelling your contract here.
Cingular
Sprint/Nextel
T-Mobile
Verizon
CTIA-International Association for Wireless Telecommunications
CINGULAR
Changes to the terms and conditions: These terms and conditions may be changed from time-to-time. Cingular will post the most current version of these terms and conditions on the MEdia Net web site (www.cingular.com/medianet) or other appropriate location. Please check these regularly to inform yourself about changes to the terms and conditions, policies, news, etc.
SPRINT/NEXTEL
When You Don't Have To Pay An Early Termination Fee
You aren't responsible for paying an Early Termination Fee when terminating Services: (a) provided on a month-to-month basis; (b) consistent with our published trial period return policy; or (c) in response to a materially adverse change we make to the Agreement as described directly below.
Our Right To Change The Agreement & Your Related Rights
We may change any part of the Agreement at any time including, but not limited to, rates, charges, how we calculate charges, or your terms of Service. We will provide you notice of changes that may impact you in a manner consistent with this Agreement (see "Providing Notice Under This Agreement" paragraph). Except as provided below, if a change we make to the Agreement is material and has a material adverse affect on you, you may terminate each line of Service materially affected without incurring an Early Termination Fee only if you: (a) call us within 30 days after the effective date of the change; and (b) specifically advise us that you wish to cancel Services because of a material change to the Agreement that we have made. If you do not cancel Service within 30 days of the change, an Early Termination Fee will apply if you terminate Services before the end of any applicable Term Commitment.
The following, without limitation, will generally not be considered changes to the Agreement as contemplated in this provision and will not result in the waiver of applicable Early Termination Fees: (a) changes to our Policies; (b) changes to rates or charges that are not a core part of the rate plan package for which you contracted - for example, incidental, occasional or casual use charges and other options that do not require a Term Commitment; (b) changes to Taxes & Government Fees; or (c) changes to Surcharges, including assessing new Surcharges.
Our Right To Suspend Or Terminate Services
We can, without notice, suspend or terminate any Service at any time for any reason, including, but not limited to: (a) late payment; (b) exceeding an Account Spending Limit ("ASL"); (c) harassing/threatening our employees or agents; (d) providing false information; (e) interfering with our operations; (f) using/suspicion of using Services in any manner restricted by or inconsistent with the Agreement; (g) breaching the Agreement, including our Policies; (h) providing false, inaccurate, dated or unverifiable identification or credit information, or becoming insolvent or bankrupt; (i) modifying a Device from its manufacturer specifications; or (j) if we believe the action protects our interests, any customer's interests or our network.
T-MOBILE
Changes to the Agreement or Charges. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, IF WE: (A) INCREASE THE CHARGES INCLUDED IN YOUR MONTHLY RECURRING ACCESS RATE PLAN, OR (B) MODIFY A MATERIAL TERM OF OUR AGREEMENT WITH YOU AND THE MODIFICATION WOULD BE MATERIALLY ADVERSE TO YOU, WE WILL NOTIFY YOU OF THE INCREASE OR MODIFICATION AND YOU CAN CANCEL THAT SERVICE WITHOUT PAYING A CANCELLATION FEE (WHICH IS YOUR ONLY REMEDY) BY FOLLOWING THE CANCELLATION INSTRUCTIONS IN THE NOTICE. IF YOU DO NOT CANCEL YOUR SERVICE BY FOLLOWING THOSE INSTRUCTIONS, OR YOU OTHERWISE ACCEPT THE CHANGE, THEN YOU AGREE TO THE INCREASE OR MODIFICATION, EVEN IF YOU PAID FOR SERVICE IN ADVANCE. IF THE NOTICE DOES NOT SAY HOW LONG YOU HAVE TO CANCEL, THEN IT IS WITHIN 14 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THE NOTICE, UNLESS A LONGER PERIOD IS REQUIRED BY LAW. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, CHARGES FOR PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OPTIONAL SERVICES, OR ANY OTHER CHARGES THAT ARE NOT INCLUDED IN YOUR MONTHLY RECURRING ACCESS RATE PLAN (SUCH AS DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE, ROAMING, DOWNLOADS, AND THIRD-PARTY CONTENT) ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE, AND IF YOU CONTINUE TO USE THOSE SERVICES, OR YOU OTHERWISE AGREE TO THE CHANGES, THEN YOU AGREE TO THE NEW CHARGES. VISIT OUR WEB SITE, RETAIL LOCATIONS, OR CALL CUSTOMER CARE FOR CURRENT CHARGES.
VERIZON
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.
CTIA CONSUMER CODE
Provide Customers the Right to Terminate Service for Changes to Contract Terms
Carriers will not modify the material terms of their subscribers' contracts in a manner that is materially adverse to subscribers without providing a reasonable advance notice of a proposed modification and allowing subscribers a time period of not less than 14 days to cancel their contracts with no early termination fee.
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Get me out of it!
I have a contract with Solo Mobile, and i want out! They recently stated on my bill that they are changing roaming fees, would this fall under the material adverse clause?? Thanks!
i have been with t-mobile
i have been with t-mobile forever and really cannot complain about our plan. But I can complain about the phones we have.
Many times you can call my husbands phone and it will ring once. then I can hear him but he has no idea i am on the phone. Hanging up and trying again just results in the same. T-Mobile seems unable to figure out what is wrong. If I want a differnt phone I have to wait till we can upgrade. How i get out of the last year of our contract?
T Mobile stinks
I have had TMobile for years first in NY and then in Florida when we moved here. For the last 18 months we have had continuous problems. My daughter's phone (TMobile Dash) has been defective and replaced 3 times in the first year. The phone has a history of dropping calls, not getting voice mails and text messages no internet service, and just shutting off for no reason., They will do nothing to assist in repairing or replacing it again even though it has the same problems the first 3 had. In addition, she has no cell phone service at her school (FGCU minutes from SWFL airport and a few malls and an interstate....) Although roaming has always been in our contract, that does not seem to be available at her school as AT&T/Verizon etc will not share their towers. That statement has been both verified and denied by assorted TMobile reps .My daughter is currently on an internship at the Seminole Indian Reservation in Immokalee, Florida. Of course her phone does not work, although Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon do have service (same situation at her college). According to the reps, that is our problem not theirs as she "left the area". She is less than 2 hours from our home. Isn't that the beauty of cell phones- that they are PORTABLE???? For the past few months my phone has no towers while I am inside my work. I have to go outside to make phone calls. This is Florida- it is hot outside and it rains a lot...We have spent hours on the phone with them to no avail. After a series of long phone calls to customer service, they offered to put my daughter's phone on a "seasonal hold"for 1 month without a charge or extension of the contract because she has no service. But they refused to back date the hold to when she started her internship even though we had called to report no service. We are locked into a contract till Dec of 2009 and for the most part neither my daughter or myself have reliable service. Do we have grounds to cancel this contract?
Take the pain and punish verizon after that
I'm a fed-up verizon wireless customer. I think they have awful practices and customer service. I believe their only concern in how much money they can get me to pay them (in ever increasing amounts). I want to cancel my plan and will do so within the week. I have 8 months left on my plan. If I drop my additional wireless phone line and then drop to the lowest cost plan they have (without any frills), it would cost me 39.99 (really about $46 or so after all the bogus fees and charges) per month. With 8 months left in my contract, that is $368.00. I'm going to pay the $175 termination fee. It will take $193 away from verizon in fees they would have otherwise received from me. But this still burns me badly. But I guarantee you one thing. I will make Verizon pay for this.
How?
I will warn everyone I know about their bogus termination fee and other ever increasing fees. I will tell everyone who can wait, to wait until their contract expires and then dump verizon for a better plan, any better plan ( no cell, another carrier, pre-paid, whatever). I rushed into this contract without common sense. I should have seen that any termination fee is not in my best interest. It was a damn painful lesson. And I learned it. It cost me money. It stinks but I can guarantee you it will not happen to me again (in any contract I sign in future).
End your contract. Dump Verizon and when ever you see the verizon logo. Trash them to who ever will listen. This is how to combat these big companies.
Hey Verizon..."Can YOU hear me now?"
verizon contracts
I can't stand verizon, I've had them for years and am finally fed up with the lack of service, attitude and overall poor quality of the system. Every time I complain about voicemails showing up a day late. the have no response. Anyway, I have a 2100 minute verizon Nationwide family plan. They now offer a 10 family and friends for family plans of more than 1400 minutes. My plan is not listed. I'm not sure why my 2100 minute family plan is not eligible for the family and friends. I'm not sure if they offer my plan to new subscribers. Is there are way I can end my contract due to the fact that the lack of family and friends adversely affects me.
Verizon change to contract as of 05/03/2009
I just noticed this today (04/04/2009) on my verizon bill. As of 05/03/2009, they will be changing the way video and picture messaging applies. If you are on the pay-as-you-go plan, If you send a video or picture message to multiple recipients, it will charge you once for EACH recipient. If you already have a messaging bundle, it will use up ONE of your allotted messages PER recipient. If you exceed your bundle plan or are on the pay-as-you-go plan, you will be charged $0.25 per recipient.
This might be grounds for getting out of your contract using the "materially adverse" clause. I haven't tried it yet, but I'd like to hear other people's experiences.
Canceling an unlimited family plan with t-mobile
I have been a loyal customer with t-mobile now for five years and have been trying to get out of this contract for about a year now. Speaking of which this is a three line plan that is completely unlimited. There are not really any changes to my account other than the usage charges as well as the listing; other charges which is completely different every month and i have paper copies to prove it. Does this apply to the "materially adverse" clause or is there anything else i can do to get out? I have been noticing a decrease in my coverage and i can't even use my phone inside my own home now, I have been there for six years so i highly doubt it has anything to do with the home. Someone please offer me some assistance here because this is driving me nuts, and i've had it, I WANT SOME BUTTS!
alltel changes since the merger or can the merger count
I want out of my Alltel contract w/o ETC. Can the merger with Verizon be a Material Adverse Clause? Does anyone know of any recent changes in Alltel billing so I can get out of my plan?
Fact or Fiction? Sprint's Extended Deadline
It's been alleged that Sprint had extended its deadline to March 15, 2009, for its customers to object to a cost increase to its Administrative Charge, which gives the customers the right to cancel their Sprint contract prior to expiration without incurring the hefty ETFs. Does anyone know where I might be able to verify and confirm such information to be official and factual?
On March 11, 2009, I spent 2 HOURS AND 10 MINUTES on the Sprint Online Chat conferring with three different Customer Service Reps. to voice my disagreement to the rate increase, and to cancel our contract, which still has another 8 months to go, before the extended deadline. They all advised me that I was misinformed and that Sprint did not make such an extended deadline, and that customers were allowed a 30 day window to cancel without penalty. It should be pointed out that 4 months into our new contract suspicious charges started to appear on my monthly statements, where Sprint assessed long distance charges averaging $20.40 additionnally for calls made locally; as well as mobil-to-mobil charges. I wonder how many 100,000s customers get fleeced by Sprint this way?
Can anyone please provide me with the answers I am looking for?
Thanks.
I called Sprint a week ago
I called Sprint a week ago to cancel my contract w/o penalty do to the material changes in administrative fees. The rep in doing his job tried to offer me all kinds of things to maintain service. I declined and was let go out of my contract without problem.
Centennial
i understand AT&T is buying out Centennial Wireless. Does that material adverse my contract?
Centeninial wireless
I just saw Centennial wireless went from 5 to 10 dollars in late fees. Can I cancel?
Any new "materially adverse" changes for Verizon Wireless?
Does anyone have any idea if there have been changes in Verizon Wireless' contracts in the last month or two that would allow me to get out of an ETF under the "materially adverse changes" clause?
I've heard rumors of an increased administrative charge starting Jan. 1, 2009, but I can't find anything to back up that it really exists.
Is loss of corporate discount considered "Materially Adverse"?
I had a corporate discount on my Verizon account, however no longer work for that company so the discount no longer applies. This was an 18% discount so obviously it has material impact to me. Does anyone know if I could use this as cause to get out of my contract under the "Materially Adverse" clause?
It worked!!
This really does work. I talked to Sprint just today abotu the Admin. fee increase going into affect on Jan 1, 2009. Here is what I was told, "If you see a notice on your bill you will have 30 days from that bill." So, people... you need to do this NOW if you're going to do it. Also, Sprint confirmed this is grounds to cancel w/o a EFT. Hope this helps.
It Worked!
I tried calling sprint to cancel without the ETF because of the admin. fee increase taking effect jan. 1 2009 and after being transferred and put on hold for nearly an hour a woman came on the phone and very rudly stated that this was not grounds for terminating with no ETF and that all she could do was waive the fee for me for the remainder of my contract. what do i do now? someone help please...
Re: It worked!
Clarification: You said "If you see a notice on your bill you will have 30 days from that bill." The T&C's say you have 30 days from the effective date of the change not from when you are notified the change will happen.
It worked
But Sprint told me I had 30 days from the date I was notified. So, I don't know... but that's what I was told & it worked to get out of the contract. That's all I care about.
material adverse
does the material adverse clause work for an increase in Administrative charges per line. Just notifed there will an increase effective 1-1-09. We are trying to get out of our Sprint contract. Sprint keeps telling us our monthly bill is our contract and the EFT is stated there. No where on the bill does it state anything about contracts or EFT. HELP
material adverse
does the material adverse clause work for an increase in Administrative charges per line. Just notifed there will an increase effective 1-1-09. We are trying to get out of our Sprint contract. Sprint keeps telling us our monthly bill is our contract and the EFT is stated there. No where on the bill does it state anything about contracts or EFT. HELP
material adverse
does the material adverse clause work for an increase in Administrative charges per line. Just notifed there will an increase effective 1-1-09. We are trying to get out of our Sprint contract. Sprint keeps telling us our monthly bill is our contract and the EFT is stated there. No where on the bill does it state anything about contracts or EFT. HELP
Canceled Suncom contract when they merged with Tmobile
This site was helpful in giving me leverage to cancel my contract with T mobile. I originally signed a contract with Suncom but they merged with Tmobile about 8 months into my 24 month contract. T-mobile was not able to match the plan that Suncom offered and they screwed up my bill for the two months I remained with them. Without mentioning the "Material Adverse" clause I was able to cancel without a early termination fee.
SUNCOM to TMoible Switch and incorrect Charges
Please help tell me how to get out of this contract. I was a Suncom customer that was switch to TMOBILE. I had no information as to what my plan was until the very first bill. I called to find out that I was a 5 state regional plan and lost my free 300 roaming minutes i had with SUNCOM. I was told I had till 11/30/2008 to decide to stay with TMOBILE without penatly. I was told my new plan was the amount I saw on the billing. 49.95 for the account and 20.00 for free texting. NOW the end of DECEMBER my charges have change from 49.95 to 79.99 without any notification except a bill. I called and am told a mistake was made and that I had no recourse and if I elected to cancel I would be charged $175.00 cancellation fee. THIS IS ILLEGAL and completely unfair. Please tell me how to approach this issue.
Getting out of contract
Keep going up the chain of command. Keep mentioning that the contract has been changed from its original form and that you DO NOT AGREE with the changes, invoking the Material Adverse Clause. Keep asking for the next level supervisor until you hear the answer you want. Don't give up!
Canceling my Sprint plan
On Sept 1st I purchased a new phone with Sprint and extended my contract for another 2 years. Less than 24 hrs after the purchase, I saw the same phone advertised by Sprint as "buy one get one free." Sprint refuses to honor their ad and give me another phone. Can I bring back the new phone and cancel the contract, or am I out of luck because it wasn't a new contract, but an extension of my previous contract? I've been a loyal, paying customer since 1995, and this is the way they treat me for 13 years of loyalty?
Just so you know i am a
Just so you know i am a Sprint Representative and at the time of purchase you have to activate both phones, it is not buy one get one for free unless two people are getting new phones, not just one!
Alltel is Unfair also
My phones were going out on me and I had less then 45 days on my contract left. So I called them and talked for about 90 minutes. After discussing that I needed phone service but would not buy new phones since that would lock me into another 2 year contract, I decided to say good bye to them. After changing my rate to minimum and paying them for another month of service, I told them, I was willing to pay at that time the rest of the monthly fees for my contract, (11 days) which they said I couldn't pay a partial month and they could not accept my money for the last month because the bill has not been figured out yet. But I made it clear I needed phone service and would have to goto someone else. They still put on an early termination fee of $200 each line and $36 tax even though I paid the last month of service putting me over 2 years of paid service just because I ported my numbers over a few days early. This is defiantly against what is right. What happened to loyalty of companies who you give your hard earned money to for 6 years? Now I am getting harrassed multiple times a day by them because I refuse to pay them this early cancellation fee. The idea of the early cancellation fee is to make sure the company doesn't lose money when they give you the equipment for free or at a significantly reduced cost. I paid for 2 years of service, whether I used it or not should not make a difference.
"Material Adverse" Clauses - Temination of Services
After bit of a hassle and requesting to talk to a manager I was able to walk away from a Sprnt contract and the subsequent $400.00 termination fee for two lines of service. The rationale was based on the increase of text message minutes.
I've been notified by my new carrier, US Cellular, that they intend to increase Text Message minutes, and plan to walk away from the contract for a 2nd time.
sprint roaming rate change effective 8/1/07
http://consumerist.com/consumer/cellphones/cancel-sprint-without-early-t...
It looks like sprint customers with roaming have an out : )
RE:Get out of a cell phone contract early with celltradeusa.com
FYI: I learned of celltradeusa.com from your page and I wanted to let you know that I had success getting out of my contract early without paying the early termination fee...
Thank You :-)
verizon changing roaming coverage
verizon is changing the roaming coverage in mexico which is part of my North American callinf plan. They said that their partner in Mexico is disassembling their network and its not their fault. I want to cancel my plan without a cancellation fee and they have refused. I have called for the last 3 days in a row to no avail.
I talked to customer service every day for the past three days and every call they come up with some feeble excuse why the won't abide by their contract.
Customer service rejections.
supervisors,
Corby Ext # 4308
Leslie Est# 7188
John Ext# 2706
reply: cancelling verizon contract due to mexico roaming changes
Sorry to hear your cancellation attempts have been unsuccesful. I was thinking of trying the same as I could not be more dissatisfied with verizons service. However, I have the Americas choice family share plan and not the North american calling plan so I am not sure if I would have even enough leverage to negotiate.
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