How to Get Out of Your Current Cell Phone Plan
Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:41AM EST
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Sick of your cell phone carrier's crappy service? Or maybe you've just received a brand-spanking-new smart phone as a gift, but it's from a rival cell phone carrier. Fortunately, getting out of a contract is easier than it used to be. If you signed a two-year contract recently, you might be in luck since carriers such as Cingular and Sprint offer 30-day trial periods in case you have second thoughts, and Verizon offers a pro-rated cancellation fee that increases the longer you have your phone.
But most of us are still screwed, which is where sites such as CellTradeUSA and Resellular.com come in handy. These sites let you put your cell phone and plan up "for sale" to any interested buyers. Charges are typically $15 to $20 to pass a contract on to someone else. Of course, you must have takers for it to work.
It also works the other way around, should you be looking for an inexpensive or temporary phone. All major carriers and time frames are offered (usually within the two-year contract window), and you can search by carrier, phone model, time frame, and the like.
So don't fret: Signing a two-year contract isn't what it used to be.
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47 Posted by hrgard on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21PM EDT Report Abuse
verizon is not perfect by any means, however one extra family phone has caused us one nightmare after another. sprint has not been able to get us a paper bill out for four months!!!! about a hundred calls later, and so many payments by phone, some were double the amount for some unexplained reason, we put the sprint phone away untill our attorney can look at it. we may start another class action. in the meantime our verizon phones will be just fine thankyou. we call sprint, the cell service from HELL.
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48 Posted by rowdytazbandito on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:52PM EDT Report Abuse
The first time I signed up for cel phone service, I had been looking at agreements/contracts for almost 4 years. In 03, Sprint offered a 1 yr. contract with free phones. Not a bad deal....free long distance and roaming throughout the nation. Received over 2000 min's a month to share between 3 users all paying a bill of about $150-180 a month. 750 mins. at $50-75 dollars per person. Problem was then a lot of dropped calls, no bars in certain locations, but what caused me to change after paying on a month to month basis was I needed new phones and the cost to get new or upgrade was more than if I was a new customer with them. So as a long term customer the cost was going to be more for me? BS....wanted to go to Cingulair...but at the time, 05, they were in a process of merging with another company. The area I am in, Anderson, IN...heck, even the sales reps. told me I would have to get a certain kind of cel phone, an older model to use my phone in the rural areas I travel. Already had 2 good friends with Cingulair telling me this, so the info. the sales reps told me was at least truthful. I wanted roll=over min.'s, etc. Cingulair only offers this. So...ended up signing up on a 2 yr. contract with Verizon. I always read the contract! Verizon has a lot of dropped calls...I hate this. As a traveling RN talking to MD's, etc over the phone this is a true hassle. The phone from them has taking a beating and still works. They fix them for free if no major abuse is noted. Because I am a "preferred" customer...I spend on average $170 a month. I get new phones for free after the 21st month of a 24 month contract. I have changed my minutes plan, downgraded, and my contract date didn't change. I have lost phones, had insurance At $5 a month per phone,and they replace for $50, no matter what the phone costs 2 x yr. Basically, they all have problems and perks. You have to be adult enough to spend the time reading the contract, asking questions pertinent to you, getting it in writing and if you have to, forcing them to do what they agreed to. But I have found that if you are as nice to them as you want them to be to you,(something called the Golden Rule learned in K-grade) they generally work pretty well with people. Major flaw, you have to find the person in the network that understands that customers are what gives them their jobs/$ and treats you with respect. This can be time consuming, but you find this anywhere you go with anything. If you know you are not possible going to be stable in one area for 2 yrs., don't be stupid enough to sign a contract, go through a prepaid, or better yet, find an individual that will let you use minutes on a per month basis on their contract.
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49 Posted by edna_bamdick on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:52PM EDT Report Abuse
verizon sucks but is better than sprint and that other crappy company.
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50 Posted by primeth on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:18PM EDT Report Abuse
Like many other companies verizon does have the ability to extend your contract further when you make a change to your account. However they are required to advise you ahead of time that the contract change is taking place so that you can change your mind if you desire. Also if your looking for less off a contract term companies such as T-mobile offer 1 year options for most account changes.
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51 Posted by hondalover62 on Sat Dec 30, 2006 1:37PM EST Report Abuse
u all need to get a life
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52 Posted by nvhotshot on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:42PM EDT Report Abuse
Hmmmm, thanks for an utterly useless article. -Mr. K.
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53 Posted by edna_bamdick on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:52PM EDT Report Abuse
where are the other message boards? i want to troll and post all kinds of comments... i want to know about salvation and china being bad and i want to investigate senator miller.. i know et is shamelss dog. i want to know about your cousin dying sadly as his cell phone exploded. i want to read about al gore inventing everything. i want to see negroes post about everyone else being racist and being allowed to call whites crackas and whites not being able to post the niigger word... come on yahoo... make a troll board for everyone or i will reeeeeeeport you!!!
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54 Posted by slmcnamara on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:28PM EDT Report Abuse
I have come to despise the cellular service con-artist operators in the US. I think the Attorney General should prosecute them for conspiracy because there is no reason in a free market for all of them to rip off consumers with the same types of contracts. Let's open the market to foreign competators, because cellular service plans are a lot more consumer friendly in other parts of the world.
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55 Posted by rdouglas9450 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:33PM EDT Report Abuse
All cell phone companies are the same, nothing but Greed, Greed, Greed. They don't care whether your rich, poor or very poor. Circumstances cause problems not forseen, and sometimes a person cannot continue making payments they agreed upon originally. I happen to live on a fixed income, and at the time I took out the plan, everything was fine, but I had a personal medical problem and tried to get out of the plan, and of course they said, no way. So "SPRINT" is just the same as all the others. Rather than ruin my credit history, I struggle to continue to pay my cell phone bill.
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56 Posted by vagar on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:30PM EDT Report Abuse
Quote: "Can they do this?" Ans: Yes, as long as they disclose that they are doing this and you agree. If you do not agree, then do not ask for a change to your plan.
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57 Posted by bob_whaley on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:11PM EDT Report Abuse
It was always my understanding that, unless a party to a contract fulfills the stated terms, that the contract will be void. Based on Sprints glowing ads, I bought a 2 year contract for 2 phones in Portland OR. However, they had almost no coverage there. I had to drive a mile to the train station in order to get a signal. They charged me $300 to cancel out. I did not have the time to pursue a test case, but it certainly appears that one is long overdue, based on false advertising, misrepresentation, pre-known lack of coverage, lack of customer support, and threats to credit ratings.
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58 Posted by kristina_delarosa@ameritech.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:53PM EDT Report Abuse
I like how some people (uesguy2) goes off the deep end about people using their cell phones too much since this article has NOTHING to do with that. If you hate cell phones that much then why read an article about them!! I thought this article was very informative since I have verizon and I am really not happy with the service. It's nice to know there are options out there. Oh and BTW uesguy2...you need to get a life and stop going around trying to find things to complain about.
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59 Posted by richt1234 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:40PM EDT Report Abuse
When are we going to get these drivers off the road with their cell phones glued to their mind and ears? I am just sick and tired of them. It is time to HANG UP AND DRIVE!!!
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60 Posted by rbindiana1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:31PM EDT Report Abuse
I think contracts for cell phones are stupid. They are so plentiful and the carriers are getting larger and larger. Contracts should be a thing of the past and consumers should have the free will of chosing what's best for their needs. If you don't like your carrier even after you've had the contract, you can still cancel it. The burden of service lies on the heads of the carrier, not the consumer. If they don't offer the service in the manner that you were promised at the time of the contract, then that is grounds to terminate your contract. Don't be affraid of those cell phone companies, they don't own your life just because you have a plan with them. Just bicker with them about the service and why you are not happy. Most of the time you will get some cooperation out of them and probably peacefully end the contract.
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61 Posted by thedropoutstx on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:04PM EDT Report Abuse
worst artical ever doesnt even mention how to get out of a cell phone plan writer should be hanged like saddam for misleading the readers
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62 Posted by rocky63215 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:47PM EDT Report Abuse
To WVUKID love your theory on saying you're moving to that area except with most companies you can't just say you moved you need to have proof that you have moved their. No proof that you moved early termination fee would be valid. Also keep in mind Verizon only gives two year contracts out and won't do anything to help their customers. Oh and just because you don't have service in your house doesn't mean that the early termination fee is going to be waived as long as their is coverage there will be an early termination fee read the contract! Tina Lack you lack brains if you have 4 lines on the acct and you cancel all 4 lines it is a one time charge of $175 for each line it states in the contract.
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63 Posted by jallenhou on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:27PM EDT Report Abuse
It was a DUMB story and didn't do ANYTHING for ANYBODY. You're STUCK with the plan for 2 years, unless you can afford a good lawyer.
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64 Posted by redforty4 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:34PM EDT Report Abuse
if trying to get out of a two year contract early, you can forget about trying to keep your number. There is no way for it to work. However some other interesting facts that the article failed to mention is that a contract can be canceled without any fees in two ways without having to find some poor soul to pawn it off to. First would be to tell them you died and need the phone turned off. second would be that you are with the military and are being shipped overseas.(they will try to offer a free suspension of the account, but military have the option to cancel without penalty).
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65 Posted by rocky63215 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:47PM EDT Report Abuse
To Bob Whaley that is your issue for not checking the map and as long as it shows that you have service in your area it doesn't matter if you didn't get signal in your home as it states in your contract that service is not guranteed so even if you took them to court you're still going to lose becuase you also agreed when you signed up for service not to sue. Also the easiest way to get out a contract and avoid an etf is to give it to a friend or family member who can put it into their name and take over the contract.
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46 Posted by hylandpatric on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21PM EDT Report Abuse
I am completely fed up with Verizon, their ridiculous 2 year contract, but more importantly I am fed up with the full minute billing cycle that all cell phone companies seem to use. On my 700 minute family share plan I have had overage charges during half of the last 12 months. Instead of receiving a $70 bill, they were approx. $130. When I studied my actual usage it always came out below or just at 700 minutes. The fact that they use full minute billing increased my billed talk time by at least 20%. For which they were able to double my bill! Increadible. With todays switching systems, telcos can easily bill to the second or even the tenth of a second. It is preposterous that they are allowed round up a 5 second phone call to 1 minute. The vast majority of calls are less than one minute. Just look at your bill and see all the one minute calls. Most of those were wrong numbers, answering machines, short conversations of "Where are you?" and "I'm pulling up outside." CLICK. Now to drop one phone off of my family share plan they want to charge me a $120 penalty. What ever happened to Consumer Protection? Telecommunications is a basic right, or at least it was. The radio frequencies used for cellular communications are a public good, yet we are allowing these companies to put people into restrictive contracts, grossly overcharge them and to charge more for a wireless system that is much less costly to establish, run and maintain than the old land-line system. When will people realize that enough is enough and when will politicians be called to account?! I don't know anyone that doesn't feel they are being raped by their cell phone company. Let's fight back!