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Sample Script to Cancel Your Cell Phone Contract
1. Have notice of the contract change/increase on hand
2. Call carrier
3. Ask if the change/increase applies to you
4. Read the "Material Adverse" section of your contract to the CSR
5. State that the change/notice has a material adverse affect on you and that you want to cancel your contract without being charged a termination fee
6. Escalate to a supervisor when the CSR tells you that you can't cancel without paying an early termination fee
7. Be persistent and don't back off your position that the change/increase has a materially adverse affect on you and that the carrier's own contract entitles you to cancel without penalty
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Utility Consumers' Action Network
(619) 696-6966 or file a complaint about a company online.
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Alltel merger with Verizon
I have recently added an additional line of service on my existing Shitty Alltel account, only because my husband had 1 year left on his account. I since have been signed up for "ringback tones", 3 or 4 times and been charged for a bunch of crap, not my style of "Pimp" music to the tune of about $30.00. I have called each and every time I have received text messages with this crap music and notifications that I have been signed up for ring back tones, to no avail...no one has been courteous, nor solved my issue! I did go for about 2 weeks this time without any occurance, but 2 days ago, I got the same "pimp" music tone sent to me in text message, so it is happening again!! I have made 3 calls to customer service today! I am never nasty, nor rude, as I have done the same job before and I know the rep is not responsible for the issue, but should be able to solve the problem for me! No one has! I think my phone has been cloned! I finally asked for my number to be changed today, which really sucks, because I use my phone for business! How can I get out of this contract without an ETF? I know Alltel and Verizon have merged, and all will be final in January. Are the 2 companies going to give customers an opportunity to cancel without ETF's? I know Alltel has done that in the past with companies they have merged with. Customers always got the opportunity to do that? Can someone tell me...do you know? I really want out of this aweful contract!
To my knowledge, Alltel has
To my knowledge, Alltel has never given customers of bought out companies the option to cancel. Think about it; if Alltel let the newly purchased customers walk without any penalty, what was the point of purchasing said company? THink about your question from a business perspective. And, no, Verizon will not be letting customers out of their contracts just like that because they do not like the name change.
As far as your issue goes, it sounds like somebody's purchase requests are getting crossed with yours. First off, you need to call and request that both your phone number and MIN are changed. The MIN is the background number that the system follows. If somebody's number has somehow been filed with your MIN, then you will get their purchases. I see that you have already had your number changed, but you need to call back in to see if your MIN was changed as well. Cloning of phones on Alltel's technology is very, very rare, unlike GSM that T-mobile and at&t use, and these things usually boil down to a system error. Also, the customer service rep should be able to see when downloads were requested. They can't tell you the time, but the date.
Can I get out of my contract with sprit with no etf?
weve had nextel for like ever and when they got taken over by sprint the srvice went down like lead balloon. I just got my first phone for christmas before sprint took over nextel. It worked great for about 3 months and then all of the sudden my phone got discontinued. (i cant find it on the site) its the motorola i670. but nextel worked fine untill now. now i get no service anywhere every call i am able to make is dropped. and My moms phone always roams because we have free roaming but mine wont roam. and when she has service from sprint i can put my phone where hers was and hers where mine was she gets service(full bars) and i dont we want out of sprint NOW! can we get out w/ no etf?
Can I get out of my contract with Sprint?
You probably can, but it will be a lot of work and time consuming. Someone laid out all the steps to follow and I would suggest trying that if you have the patience. We are out of the country and I've had my fathers phone turned off, so we aren't able to do that, but I would do it if I was in the U.S.
I have Alltel help me out of my contract without a fee
I have currently been with Alltel for a year and 11 months, but I recently upgraded my phone, and when I did it started a new contract. I have the same plan as I did before, but they are now charging me for things that I never were being charged for before. My first bill was 287 which was understandable because I had internet and a new phone with them that I was paying for, but this bill is 336 and it makes no sense. It says I went over my minutes, in which I didn't, and they are charging me for internet use on my phone when I pay to have it for free. I PCS to Japan in May of 2009, and these bills aren't helping me prepare for Japan at all. Someone please tell me that there is a solution. Thank you in advance.
Are these contracts legal?
There was a time when companies provided good service at affordable prices backed with excellent customer service to retain their customers. Now, wireless phone companies, (as well as TV-cable and internet service providers using satellites) are using one or two year contacts to keep their customer base at bay.
I understand. The service contract was needed when these wireless providers - early on -, needed to have a customer base that would provide the revenue to build up their networks.
Now that the networks are available and customers with a cell phone are as common as those having a wired phone, I believe the service contracts should no longer required as these do not give consumers the ability, in a free market economy, to select the service provider that offers a good service at affordable/competitive prices, and a good customer service.
In my view, these service contracts violate the freedom of choice consumers used to enjoy when we had a competitive market place.
re: Are these contracts legal?
I agree 100%.
We just bought my father a cell phone in the Caribbean and got a prepaid phone plan; the time costs more, but no contract. Even if you do go into a contract here, the company that we dealt with charges a $100.00 deposit up front and if you remain with them for 1 year, they refund the deposit. It's a bit more reasonable than what they're doing in the U.S.
I used to get caught up with Sprint/Nextel with bad phones and when I would want to cancel, they always tried their best to get you into a new phone for free, but a new contract every time. When we left the U.S. they were pretty good about letting me out of the contract though. I was really amazed at Alltel's attitude with my father and the degree they went to to try to keep us in some kind of plan. My father really wasn't even capable of signing the last contract, but since I wasn't around, they got him.
Trying to cancel my fathers contract
My father is not able or capable of taking care of himself anymore; he has a contract with Alltel and they don't offer service in the Caribbean where we are taking him, but they insist he has to pay for the remaining months or ETF. I went through this when I moved and Sprint gave no problems, they were extremely helpful and we had no health/competency problems. Alltel is being extremely firm and refuses to let him out of the contract. Is there any way out under the circumstances?
You CAN get out of your contract!
Since my last post in March, I did manage to get out of my contract with Sprint without paying the ETF after having about 17 months remaining on my account! I began my strategy in mid February, and my goal was accomplished on April 18! I have narrated the steps I took to get out, but I will warn you, there is a lot of time and effort involved, AND it takes a little bit of deceit. This will only work if you are past the first three months of service because they have to replace the phone if you have only had it for a couple of months. This begins the hard work...
First, immediately switch your connection to "roaming only". This will show the agents who look at your bill and history that something negative has occurred with your phone or the service. Begin calling a few days later, saying that there is something wrong with your service and/or phone because it is not working as usual (i.e. lots of dropped calls, static, no service inside buildings, can only use it when standing in certain locations around your area, etc.) Once they reassure you there is no problem, tell them that there still is something wrong and you need to get the problem resolved immediately because you have no other phone to use for all of your calls, including business calls where you are a salesperson and depend on this phone for your means of living! They will probably transfer you around quite a bit, so plan to be on the phone for a while...if they at any point try to get you to perform a master reset of your phone, tell them "no" because you have over 300 contacts and many business emails saved in your phone for work purposes and cannot afford to lose the data!
The next step was a difficult one for me, and I'm sure it will be for some of you, too, but you have to stop sending/receiving texts and not use any of the internet features on your phone. Now begin calling about the above problem AND the fact that you cannot send/receive texts or use the data features on your phone. Tell them you want the exact same phone replaced, NOT just fixed, and you do NOT want your contract term extended nor do you want to pay anything for the new phone. Every time you call during this phase, you need to mention that you are standing outside and have a very poor connection. About every other call or so, you need to pretend that the signal is dying and drop the call (i.e. make scratching sounds and slur/break your words so it sounds real before hanging up)...they have to record the fact that the call was dropped in their system. Once again, you are building a history of problems!
You need to call at least every other day, keeping your story consistent and adding frustration and irritation to your complaint, but remaining calm and polite (don't start swearing and shouting because it will make the process even longer!) After about 6 weeks worth of this nonsense, tell the upper-most mangagement person you can speak with that you have tried to resolve this problem with reasonable expectations, but it appears that they cannot do anything else to assist you with this matter. Then, tell them that you will be contacting the Better Business Bureau to get their assistance with your problem.
Go to the BBB website, and file your complaint concisely AND keeping your story straight!!!!!!!! Also, be certain to state that you want your "contract terminated without an EFT based on poor service from customer support" in the section that asks for your expected solution to this complaint. I heard back from the BBB within 48 hours stating that I had a legitimate case. The email I received from them stated that Sprint had a lot of these types of complaints but to expect an answer from them in the near future.
Approximately a week later, I received a direct call from a very polite Sprint account management specialist offering me a new phone without extending my contract or paying anything for the new phone. I politely said "no" and once again asked for my contract to be terminated without the EFT. After a few minutes of negotiation, she agreed to let me out of my contract. I asked her not to cancel it until I transferred my number to another carrier, and she told me that the contract would remain in effect for 48 hours, giving me time to transfer the number to ATT. The next day, I transferred my number from Sprint to ATT without any hassle.
Unfortunately, around the time I received my usual Sprint bill, I got a prorated bill with the $250 cancellation fee! I called Sprint immediately to have them remove the fee. They looked at the notes on my account and saw that fee was to be waived and told me what my final bill was (around $7.00 compared to $257). I paid it over the phone, and have been done with Sprint ever since!
One more thing: keep checking your bill for ANY changes from month to month. It is much easier to cancel your account due to a "material adverse change" to your bill rather than jumping through hoops like I did! I hope this helps anyone who is disgusted with Sprint's lack of customer concern for pleasing consumers!
SPRINT SUCKS
I switched to Sprint in February 08. My phone is somewhat new, I would think 5 months? First it started restarting itself for no apparent reason. I took it to a service center and before the guy even took it from me, he tells me "oh, that's a commonly known problem with that phone." Yah, I wasn't informed of "so called commonly known problem" when I signed up for the service and for THAT specific phone. Don't get me wrong, I love my phone, it's an LG Rumor. I just didn't like it restarting in the midst of whatever I was doing. He then tells me that they would gladly take the phone and test it for a $35 fee. Wait a minute? I could pay to get a defective phone checked? How is that right? He also told me this problem was something LG had to take care of, they had to upload a software update to my phone which THEY could not do. I am not sure what they were going to test it for then. I kept it and said screw it, I'll TRY living with it. Next, all of a sudden my phone said it couldn't access my email or messenger services because my USB cord was connected. That was strange since I don't own a USB cord. I called customer service, they were willing to credit me for the cost of the testing. I had to take it back to the center and turn it in and get that charge posted. I was supposed to have a credit for it so that wasn't a big deal as the repeated trip down there and the gas and time I have wasted, not to mention the information I lost. What got me is he suddenly had the ability to fix my phone when he couldn't do anything before. He took it for an hour. Said he fixed the problem, well, both problems, and cleaned the port. Yah, the port, the part where you charge or use the USB cable? I could visibly remove dirt with my fingernails. Some cleaning. I called again once my phone repeated all this nonsense. They told me they would get me a phone for $50 to replace mine. Yah, that seemed fair. I got a free phone that didn't work, why shouldn't I have to pay to replace it? Needless to say, after countless calls with LG as well as Sprint (oh including the biggest A-hole in Spring customer service who told me it was probably MY fault for bringing my phone into the shower with me, NOT the problem which LG AND Sprint had openly admitted, to being the reason my phone broke. I reminded him it was an inconvenience for me because I sell things online and need to be able to access them so that was cutting into my income. He said "I can't see how someone who texts 3500 a month can be inconvenienced." What the hell!? I said that is NONE of your business, I PAY for unlimited text and internet and I am NOT getting that because of the phone. I wanted to jump through the phone and beat him with his own leg. He was COMPLETELY condescending. I finally spoke to another very very sweet and helpful Cust rep named Josh. He did all he could (he says) but could not cancel my account for free OR send me a new phone. I am completely and utterly disgusted. I had Spring years back and wasn't happy but I figured it'd been nearly 3 years, they HAD to of improved, right? WRONG! I want out of my contract so I am going to do whatever I have to do to get out and I will NEVER EVER EVER have Sprint again. :) Thanks for the advice!
Cancelling father's contract
We could do most of that, but since we are in the Caribbean, if we need to make calls from his phone, it (1) make not even work here, and (2) if it does, it would cost a world of money to do that, so we would probably be better off paying the EFT at that point.
I'm going to try your first recommendations and see how that goes.
Qwest troubles
Anybody have trouble with Qwest? I hate them with a white-hot intensity. They disconnected my cell phone for being one day late with a payment.
I am trying desperately to get out of the remaining six months of my contract and to not pay for two months of service during which they had my account suspended - the phone couldn't be used so I don't want to pay $47 per month.
I dumped them for my home service and am about to do so for my business service, in favor of Comcast. At least Comcast has 24/7 customer service. With Qwest you have to call during working hours and spend an hour on the phone getting the runaround on all your issues.
cancelling contract
What if I have the unlimited text with the family plan......
Can I still use the material adverse clause to get out of my contract regarding the text rates changing??????????
No, they won't let you out
No, they won't let you out if you have any text bundle on your phone. I am dealing with their extremely unhelpful agents now for that very reason. Nevermind that the reason I got the bundle was because of numerous un-blockable advertisements that kept coming to me un-solicited.
Canceling your service during billing cycle
I am a Verizon Wireless customer with a family share plan. My contract has ended for all three phones in the plan. Today, I tried to cancel the service on two of the phones and keep one line. They said sure, and reduced my plan to a single line plan. The problem is, they said the service would not cancel until March 16th at the end of the billing cycle, then my plan would swith to a single line. This means I have to pay for one more month of phone service for three phones. It is only 2 days after the billing cycle so I asked if they could charge me for the two days and cancel my service and I was told NO, the billing is automatic and I had to wait until the next billing cycle to end my service and there is nothing they can do about it. I don't believe this. If I did not pay my bill, they would shut my phones off immediately. Is this legal? Especially since my two year contract term has ended.
Prorating Verizon Wireless End of Contract Bills
Unfortunately, the company wireless customer service agreement states the following: "If you terminate your service as of the end of your minimum term, you won’t be responsible for any remaining part of your monthly billing cycle. Otherwise, all terminations by you during a monthly billing cycle become effective on the last day of that billing cycle. You’ll remain responsible for all fees and charges incurred until then and won’t be entitled to any partial–month credits or refunds. You may be able to take, or "port," your current wireless phone number to another service provider. If you request your new service provider to port a number from us, and we receive your request from that new service provider, we’ll treat it as notice from you to terminate our service for that number upon successful completion of porting. After the porting is completed, you won’t be able to use our service for that number."
You can find all of the customer service agreeement disclosures on the following link for Verizon Wireless: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/globalText?textName=CUSTOMER_AGREEMEN...
It is hoped that this information helps you and any other customers. Anyone facing an end of contract is strongly encouraged to cancel PRIOR to the end date to avoid having to pay another full month of service.
Sprint liers and crappy customer service
I Changed from Metro PCS almost 4 yrs ago! WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE!
I went with sprint, so when my husband and i went out of town we'd have cell phones to get a hold of someone incase of an emergancy. So i read and looked and read some more on sprint. Finally deceided that I would go with sprint and with their phone for the contracted 2 yrs. Good trial run right?! Boy was I wrong.
By September of the second year i'd lost my job and was unable to continue with the payments on the bill for what we had. So I called them up and told them i needed to adjust my minutes down to the lowest amount of minutes do to the fact that i had lost my job and would not be able to keep up with the payments. End of conversation.
I was not told or informed at the time of that phone call that by adjusting my minutes on my plan that i would sign my self up for another 2 yrs of time.
So for the past almost 2 years i have been beyond angry, lost sleep over this, and very frustrated! So after doing some searching and reading, i found out that i can call and request my contract cancelled do to the fact of not being informed about my contract being signed up for another two years.
So i did, I also told them i would be moving out of the calling area to a remote area of california where there is no cell phone coverage. Particularly for sprint. They put a note on my file that My plan should be cancelled with out the fees to to not being informed about my contract being upped for another 2 years with out me saying okay to it.
I did try calling the cancellation desk, and ended up telling the women i spoke to politely that she was dumber then a box of rocks! I dont know what people don't understand after the 10th time of yelling in the phone that i have no wishes to be a customer for them any longer.
Anyhow for those who are fighting to get out of their contracts dont give up you'll find your plug to get out!
I will be returning gladly to Metro PCS! After to damn long away from them!
Big fat liers!
I wish i could edit my first post.
They lied, what one person told me, two phone calls later was a lie.
It was not put on as high priority as so said. On top of that i spent much of my day being angry and frustrated beyond belief! I was told i was the lier, the person whom i spoke with when i adjusted my minutes Sept 2006 falsified my records. Stating i was sent a letter, stated that I agreed to the contract upping. Said i was credited 50 bucks on my bill.
Anyhow, here is a secret to get out of paying the stupid disconnect bill if you dont mind paying a very small amount.
There is something called a suspention plan, or putting your phone on hold. What you get is no minutes, no voice mail, no text messaging. It's just a phone. You end up paying for a phone like 5 bucks for that plan, plus the taxs and fees the impose on you that is insane. For a family plan like my husband and i total what we were told is 15-17 bucks a month for both phones. Thats better then paying out 400 bucks plus the phone bill for this month. Or continuing to pay out at the highest a month 170 bucks a month on my phone, thats a 125 plus another 50 bucks for overages.
To which they did tell me oh you can change your plan now with out upping your contract which i told them they can shove that idea! Politely of course.
As of Wednesday of this week I am a metro PCS customer once again, i told my husand never again, will i even leave metro. Unlimited local and long distance, no time frames of when i can and can't call, unlimited texting for 5 bucks! And they have even changed it so that when i go out of the area I can pick up other cell towers!
Come on Sept 2008, i can cancel sprint once and for all with out their stupid cancelation fee. Another plus of metro, no cancelation fees!
Big Fat Liars
Did Sprint tell you that when you suspend a line and pay the $5-$10 a month, your contract is suspended also? So when you reinstat the lines your contract starts with the same amount of time left as when you suspended them. This is a no win situation.
Freezing your account does not count against your contract time!
I now work for an International company, and since Sprint does not offer a decent international plan, I basically had a phone I could not use for 9 months out of the year, but I still had 18 months left on my contract. When I asked how to deal with this problem without paying the ETF, I was told I could freeze my account; it sounded like the perfect option to use up the rest of my contract, only paying a couple of dollars a month versus almost $100! When asked about my contract, I was told that the time my line was frozen would not count against my contract period, making it even longer! Just thought you might want to know that freezing your account is not a cheap, easy solution to using up your contract without paying the ETF.
Thanks for the information
Thanks for the information about the suspension plan! I've been going rounds and rounds with Sprint trying to find a way out. They've treated me terrible and lied to me saying at times that they couldn't even get into my account when I called about questions (funny thing was, I was on-line looking at my account at that time and the next person I spoke with pulled it up right away).
Anyway......I can handle the $5.95 a month and can move on with my life!! Thanks for putting that valuable and useful information out there!!
Seasonal Service Plan
I'm so glad the information i posted was so helpful.
For anyone else who wants to know here are the details of the plan, it goes for only 6 months. So make sure you are at the last 6 months of your contract. Two the name of the plan is a Seasonal Service Plan.
Granted i lost my phone number i've had for like 5 years, but it was worth it!
I hate Sprint. I have been
I hate Sprint. I have been with them for many years and they are a rip off! I am tired of paying over $200/mth for two phones because they charge so much!!! I need out! I just got a notice in the mail regarding some changes they are making with the Federal fees - can I cancel on that basis??? Someone please help me!!!
tried to cancel with sprint but they would not
I called to sprint to make sure that i will not be charged the cancellation fee, they said no. I spoke witht the manager and quoted the fee increase and the contract verbatim and he refused. He would not acknowledge the contract terms i was reading. He kept saying based on the text message increase, i will still be charged
Have Verizon but no coverage. How do I cancel my plan w/out ETF?
I got a Verizon account in April because they said they were going to have service in my mothers rural town in Florida. I came for a visit and the phone recieved absolutly no service. I called and complained and they said there was nothing they could do about it. I have now moved here and the phone still does not get a signal. How can I get out of my plan with out an early termination fee so I can get a phone that does work?
Cell Phone (for emergency use)
Can I purchase a cell phone to use for emergencies only?
Any phone can make outgoing calls
Per federal law, any cellphone that is able to communicate with a tower must be allowed to make calls. Calls to 911 are free, calls to other numbers are typically routed through the American Roaming Network and can be made as either collect calls or billed to a credit/debit card or American Roaming prepaid phone card. The only requirement is that you be within range of a compatible tower (if your phone is CDMA you need to be in range of a CDMA tower from any carrier, for example). Not much good if your definition of an emergency phone includes being able to receive calls or slightly more regular usage, but if you just want to be able to call 911 from the road then any recent cellphone will work fine.
Try a Tracfone!
You can get a Tracfone and add 400 minutes ($99) good for any time in the next year. I did this for my mom so she could keep it in her car in case of an emergency. You can get a phone for $10 (reconditioned, on the web -- tracfone.com) on up, depending on the style and features. This averages out to a little over $8 a month -- about as cheap as you can get.
BEST PREPAID CELLPHONE OFFER
Tracfone is currently offering a reconditioned Motorola V170 color flip phone with two 60 minute prepaid cards for only 19.99 plus shipping. For those people who want a cellphone for emergencies this offer is hard to beat. This could give you up to 6 months of service for less than $4.00 a month.
I am a Verizon Wireless
I am a Verizon Wireless customer since January 2007, I have 2 cellphones in a family share plan of 700 min, we only use 200 min per month.
My question is if I can cancel just one line, and keep the other, and if by doing this I have to pay the early termintaion fee?
If they want me to pay, please help me know updated informaiton about how to avoid paying the early termination fees.
Many Thanks
Verizon Wireless Early Termination Fee
You can't cancel one phone without incurring the ETF for that phone. Since you have a 2 phone family plan you could be charged an ETF on both phones since you can't have a 1 phone family plan. Verizon may allow you to switch one phone to an individual plan without an ETF but you would be under a new 2 yr. contract. Canceling without an ETF requires that Verizon make a change in your current agreement, such as increasing the cost of text messaging or adding a new charge to your bill, so read everything you get from Verizon or keep looking for internet posts on this issue.
cancelling contract now
What if I have the Fair and Flexible Family Plan with Nationwide roaming included?
Can I still use the material adverse clause to get out of my term regarding the recent roaming rate changes?
Thanks
My bill says that this does
My bill says that this does not effect anyone who has roaming included in their contract. I have the same plan as you, and they said no.
dr. dog reports success with contract cancel script
fyi... as dr. dog von consumer stein reported, there have been some positive experiences when employing the script above and the other info in this guide... thanks
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=73319
i never knew this B4
i think that this would be such a better help to more ppl that dont like there cell phone service and/or there provider, i have sprint and i always seem to be robbed blind out of my bill, there are so many things that change i now knw what i can do to get out of this horrible contract for phones that always die, 40 dlr car chargers that only last two months b4 they break and stop charging, overly rated phone prices and service that is ok up until you need it the most!!!!!!! i dont knw who i am switching to but hasta luego sprint/nextel, i think nextel is a bette company and they are even partners with you!!!!!!!!
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