How to get out of a cell phone contract without paying... anyone know?

[deevergote]

Hey guys,


My cell phone bill is way too high due to a number of unnecessary features. I don't want to pay for it anymore, and the company says I have to ride out the last year of my contract before I can do anything about it. It IS a contract, so it should technically be binding... I understand that.


I heard a thing on the news a while back that said something like "Get out of your cell phone contract without paying extra fees... tonight at 11!" Of course, I never remember to watch at 11!

So, there must be a way. I haven't found anything good on the internet, and I don't know anyone that has. CB7tuner always has the answers, though!

[Beefy]

i got out of my cingular contract becuase of where i lived i didn't get service at my house. so they let me cancell the service

[Driftspec310]

I am with Cingular and they pissed me off numerous times. I am now on a Non-Contractual Obligation type plan. I have the month-to-month with Unlimited Text, Family Plan (3 phones), and Road-Side assistance all for under $120. I complained about their f**k-ups more than a few times so I am not under contract and when I decide to cancel, no fees whatsoever!!!!!! Just be real when complaining and after a few times of them messing with you, you can request to be compensated in such manner.

[CustomLowz]

Deev, what company do you use???

[deevergote]

I'm on Cingular (well... they're AT&T now)

I am with Cingular and they pissed me off numerous times. I am now on a Non-Contractual Obligation type plan. I have the month-to-month with Unlimited Text, Family Plan (3 phones), and Road-Side assistance all for under $120. I complained about their f**k-ups more than a few times so I am not under contract and when I decide to cancel, no fees whatsoever!!!!!! Just be real when complaining and after a few times of them messing with you, you can request to be compensated in such manner.

I have less features and only 2 phones... My phone has limited text, my ex's phone (still paying for it... long story) has extended, but not unlimited. We have the family plan. I just paid $120. No overages or anything last month.

I've been a customer for 7 years... you'd think they would take care of me

[CustomLowz]

ALL INFO TAKEN FROM ANOTHER WEB SITE:


VERIZON

Notice of Text Messaging Increase
If you are not currently subscribed to a Messaging Package, beginning
March 2, 2008, the price for sending Text Messages to the U.S., Puerto
Rico, Canada and Mexico - as well as the price for receiving Text
Messages from anywhere - will increase from $0.15 to $0.20 per
message per recipient. The price to send an International Text Message
will remain $0.25 per message per recipient. If you do subscribe to a
Messaging Package, your package rates will stay the same. For
information regarding this change, please visit
http://support.vzw.com/faqs/TXT%20me.../increase.html. Please
consult your Customer Agreement for information about rate changes.

This only applies to customers like me who aren't in a subscribed messaging package. Since this is a change in contract , you can get out of your contracts early without the ETF fee.



Ok I have cancelled 5 peoples accounts this way. It is simple and effective and no arguing.

1. Call *611
2. Select 4 on options
3. Select 2 which should be cancellations
4. Say good day I read about the text message increase and as stated in my contract I would like to cancel. And read them this:

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, 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."


Snoozing also stated you can use this if they state Text messaging is not part of your plan/contract

Charges and Fees We Set
You agree to pay all access, usage, and other charges and fees we bill you or that the user of your wireless phone accepted, even if you weren't the user of your wireless phone and didn't authorize its use. These include Federal Universal Service, Regulatory and Administrative Charges, and may also include other charges related to our governmental costs. We set these charges. They aren't taxes, aren't required by law, are kept by us in whole or in part, and the amounts and what's included are subject to change. You may have to pay fees to begin service or reconnect suspended service. Usage charges may vary depending on where, when, and how you call. You have a Home Rate and Coverage Area and a Local Calling Area (which may be different). When you call from inside a Local Calling Area to somewhere outside of it, or call from anywhere outside a Local Calling Area, there may be toll, regional calling, or long distance charges in addition to airtime. (We provide or select the long distance service for calls on our network.) When you make a call inside your Local Calling Area that uses a local phone company's lines (for example, a call to a typical home phone number), we may charge landline or connection fees. We charge airtime for most calls, including toll-free and operator-assisted calls. Additional features and services such as operator or directory assistance, call dialing, calling card use, Call Forwarding, data calls, automatic call delivery, voice mail, text messaging, and wireless Internet access, may have additional charges. Features such as Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, or 3-Way Calling involve multiple calls and multiple charges.

5. If they say there is no adverse effect ask them to state where that is defined in contract. And more over state that it is that you do not agree with the contract presented to you.

6. They will put you on hold and come back and let you off scott free

**UPDATE**
7.N19ghtmare posts You can not cancel your contract and sign back up to get a new phone. You must wait 90 days if you plan on doing so. If you want to get right back on it, you would have to sign up under someone else's name and SS number.

8. If you first do not succeed just hang up and try again if they are gonna do it they will within the first 10 minutes after that hang up and get a different person. Some are easy some are hardcore.

9. You can port numbers if it is important have them note account that it is to be closed at such and such date. Then call back again and tell them you want to port number before it is canceled. Again you may need to call a couple more time.

[CustomLowz]

I'm on Cingular (well... they're AT&T now)



I have less features and only 2 phones... My phone has limited text, my ex's phone (still paying for it... long story) has extended, but not unlimited. We have the family plan. I just paid $120. No overages or anything last month.

I've been a customer for 7 years... you'd think they would take care of me

I'll try to ask a friend who works there today for you.

[sackingz123]

http://consumerist.com/346283/cancel...ing-to-the-fcc

i think it has to be a reasonable reason to why you want to terminate the contract. like phone service is sucky so something like that.

[JoshM]

When I was with Cingular (now known as AT&T), I just paid the next months bill and a $10 per phone cancellation (sp?) charge. So, I paid under $150 for two phones.

[MikeW]

You could always have your mom or sibling call them and say you died....



We(my gf and I) have T-Mobile and weve had service for like 3 years(i think)..its been a while.

We have like 700 or 800 minutes. 2 phones.
Un-ltd text / pic msg
Mobile-to-Mobile(we can call / rcv calls from ppl w/ Tmobile 4-FREE)
She has Ltd internet access
and i think we may even have a LD plan..

w/ her discount(works at Wal-Mart) our monthly bill = $75-$80

Dont ask, but i owe Tmobile like $800 and i owe cingular like $6k. Yes i somehow racked up a $6000 cell phone bill. In 2 months. I went over my minutes, made alot of calls to canada and did alot of texting. Ive added some numbers and that still doesnt seem right. Itll be off my credit in a few years anyway so...

As far as cancelling w/o paying for it....I wouldnt have a clue.

I know..im not much help

I think what Matt said about calling and using plans you dont like as an excuse, but that might not work.

You cant just have the extra features removed

Everytime we get a feature we dont like or something we call them, and theres only been like 1 time we had to stick with it. Otherwise, theyre great to us. Theyve sent us free phones, let us keep ringtones w/o paying for them...Cingular is really one of the worst companies, but they were one of the first. You probably got your phone a year or two before i got mine.

I would just get on the phone with them, ask to speak to a supervisor and be aggressive with him. Dont be a dickhead, but just be disgruntled. Tell em youve been a loyal customer for 7 years, youve never been late, or behind, and all you want is a feature or 2 removed.

GL

[avendi]

You could always have your mom or sibling call them and say you died....



We(my gf and I) have T-Mobile and weve had service for like 3 years(i think)..its been a while.

We have like 700 or 800 minutes. 2 phones.
Un-ltd text / pic msg
Mobile-to-Mobile(we can call / rcv calls from ppl w/ Tmobile 4-FREE)
She has Ltd internet access
and i think we may even have a LD plan..

w/ her discount(works at Wal-Mart) our monthly bill = $75-$80

Dont ask, but i owe Tmobile like $800 and i owe cingular like $6k. Yes i somehow racked up a $6000 cell phone bill. In 2 months. I went over my minutes, made alot of calls to canada and did alot of texting. Ive added some numbers and that still doesnt seem right. Itll be off my credit in a few years anyway so...

As far as cancelling w/o paying for it....I wouldnt have a clue.

I know..im not much help

I think what Matt said about calling and using plans you dont like as an excuse, but that might not work.

You cant just have the extra features removed

Everytime we get a feature we dont like or something we call them, and theres only been like 1 time we had to stick with it. Otherwise, theyre great to us. Theyve sent us free phones, let us keep ringtones w/o paying for them...Cingular is really one of the worst companies, but they were one of the first. You probably got your phone a year or two before i got mine.

I would just get on the phone with them, ask to speak to a supervisor and be aggressive with him. Dont be a dickhead, but just be disgruntled. Tell em youve been a loyal customer for 7 years, youve never been late, or behind, and all you want is a feature or 2 removed.

GL

Actually, that won't work.
My friend's dad had a cingular contract in his name with his son (My friend) on the plan.
However, when my friend's dad died and my friend tried to cancel it, they required proof of death certificate to cancel the contract without fees.


I know tmobile will let you cancel if you give them your address and it's in an area with no service.

[xfactortype1]

this will wso work!

hey deev. I know how you can get out of the contract...


submit a death certificate

[MikeW]

submit a death certificate

yeah......

Actually, that won't work.
My friend's dad had a cingular contract in his name with his son (My friend) on the plan.
However, when my friend's dad died and my friend tried to cancel it, they required proof of death certificate to cancel the contract without fees.


I know tmobile will let you cancel if you give them your address and it's in an area with no service.

It was worth a shot

I dont think Tmobile will admit that such an area exists

Cuz we had to buy WiFi phones because we dont get signal in our "hood". We called them and told them that and they said there really wasnt much they could do. Cancelling our contract never came up, but we've been with them for awhile, and theyve been good to us. This is really the first hurdle we've had with them that we havent been able to get over. Plus we dont plan on living here forever, so...

[npor]

deev is gonna reply!!

[deevergote]

hey deev. I know how you can get out of the contract...


submit a death certificate

You're a medical-type guy, Tom... can you get me one!?

I'll just call and say I died