Anyone else have a contract phobia?

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Was looking into having dish installed in my house. 2 year minimum contract at dish network and directv. When did this practice become acceptable? I can kinda understand a year but 2 years for tv? Needless to say its not happening. I'm also due for a phone upgrade but I refuse to sign the dotted line for a new phone. Anyone else bucking the system and saying no to contracts? Obviously I have a mortgage but that's it and that's how I like it.

 

[Corporate Thug]

no fear here. Think about it in the phone context: you get a $300 phone for free; early termination is probably that much; sell the most, make up most of the termination cost.

Add I know ATT has prorated early termination, not sure about the other companies.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm very leery of contracts like that. I may or may not get one depending on the specifics, but my first inclination is no.

 

[BoomerD]

no fear here. Think about it in the phone context: you get a $300 phone for free; early termination is probably that much; sell the most, make up most of the termination cost.

Add I know ATT has prorated early termination, not sure about the other companies.

Dish and DirecTV also have pro-rated early termination fees.

We dropped Dish 2 years ago to switch to Uverse. Cost us $100...and AT&T gave me an extra $100 gift card to make up for the cost. :thumbsup:

Still, Uverse sucked...and we switched to ComCrap about 8-9 months later.
Our 1-year deal with ComCrap expired in November, and we changed to DirecTV for television...and back to Uverse/AT&T for phone and internet.

DirecTV is OK for some things...but they have WAY too many infomercial channels. Still, free Sunday Ticket for the year has been nice. (will drop it next year rather than pay the ~$350)

Unfortunately, the providers got the consumer used to 1-year contracts, so they upped it to two years as equipment got more and more expensive. (it's either a longer contract or pay equipment rental fees every month.)

 

[Doppel]

I do rather hate them but sometimes you just gotta do it if you want a good price on something.

 

[manly]

I generally avoid contracts, as they generally bond the consumer to a corporate overlord.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Just understand the buyout cost and their really nothing to fear.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Just understand the buyout cost and their really nothing to fear.

Yeah I think it was directv that prorates it at $17.50 for every month you have left on the contract. Say I lost my job the day after getting it installed. It'd be $420 to cancel my contract. That's insane IMO.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Yeah I think it was directv that prorates it at $17.50 for every month you have left on the contract. Say I lost my job the day after getting it installed. It'd be $420 to cancel my contract. That's insane IMO.

If you live with that kind of fear then yes, contracts are probably not for you.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I generally avoid contracts, as they generally bond the consumer to a corporate overlord.

Yeah and they sure do seem to have a different tone when you're under contract. "Well you want to cancel? That's going to be another $200 on top of your last bill. Have a nice day sir."

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

If you live with that kind of fear then yes, contracts are probably not for you.

I call it being prepared. Maybe if more people think the way I do this country wouldn't be in such bad shape.

 

[PrinceofWands]

I tend to avoid any contracts or pay over time scenarios. Haven't had one in years. Partially because I'm cash only and prefer one time payments, and partially because I oppose contracts in general.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I call it being prepared. Maybe if more people think the way I do this country wouldn't be in such bad shape.

No, you're being paranoid. Someone not paying their DirecTV cancellation fee because they lost their job is not related to your world view of the country being in bad shape.

However, let's think about this like someone like you should think about it. If you're paranoid that you might lose your job 30 days after signing a contract with DirecTV and will owe them $400, and you think that by not being prepared for this fact you would be contributing to the country going down the toilet, then the easy solution is this: Sign up for DirecTV when you have an extra $400 specifically enveloped in your savings for 'If I lose my job 30 days after signing a contract with DirecTV fund'.

But then again, I'm not sure if you are even equipped to trust banks. What if you deposit that $400 into savings and then the bank closes down and the government runs out of money to cover your $400 loss? The horror!

/paranoia averted

 

[waggy]

being against a contract is silly. they are there to protect the business and you. IF you don't want the price and equipment agreement don't sign and pay more. I have had many contracts and not screwed by one.

 

[pontifex]

How many times do you need to change services or how unstable is your life? I've had verizon cell phone service forever and only switched once (out of contract), but the service sucked, so I went right back to verizon.

My parents have had disk network for a long time as well.
I think most people live pretty stable lives where it's not a big deal.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

No, you're being paranoid. Someone not paying their DirecTV cancellation fee because they lost their job is not related to your world view of the country being in bad shape.

However, let's think about this like someone like you should think about it. If you're paranoid that you might lose your job 30 days after signing a contract with DirecTV and will owe them $400, and you think that by not being prepared for this fact you would be contributing to the country going down the toilet, then the easy solution is this: Sign up for DirecTV when you have an extra $400 specifically enveloped in your savings for 'If I lose my job 30 days after signing a contract with DirecTV fund'.

But then again, I'm not sure if you are even equipped to trust banks. What if you deposit that $400 into savings and then the bank closes down and the government runs out of money to cover your $400 loss? The horror!

/paranoia averted

No I'm okay with banks, credit cards, etc.. I just feel free not having many financial obligations. My monthly bill list is short. I'd love to get to having nothing but the necessities someday (water, gas, electric).

 

[Fingolfin269]

No I'm okay with banks, credit cards, etc.. I just feel free not having many financial obligations. My monthly bill list is short. I'd love to get to having nothing but the necessities someday (water, gas, electric).

Yep that's a different story. I'm almost there myself. I doubt I'll ever get rid of phone/net but did make a step towards ridding myself of the cable bill by gutting my DirecTV of services down to my personal level of bare minimum. It's amazing how much cash can be freed up. Heck you can actually free up a lot of expense by calling Comcast (in my case) about internet deals and getting the latest/greatest offering. Then set a reminder to call back x months later to look for the next deal. So much 'free' money out there to be had.

 

[American Gunner]

No, I am a grown up and can deal with commiting to something.

 

[GeekDrew]

I'm not afraid of or opposed to any short-term contracts like these... but I know what the termination fees are, when applicable, so I'm prepared to deal with them. I don't hesitate to sign contracts for phone/tv/whatever, even when I know I won't be meeting the minimum term... I just budget for it.

Mortgage, however... *shudder*. I can't bring myself to do that. I don't even like committing to 6 or 12 month rental agreements.

 

[sactoking]

2-year cell phone contracts I can understand; the consumer often gets a highly-subsidized phone as part of the deal. If you get a $700 phone for $0.01 committing to 2 years is an understandable trade-off.

I don't get 2-year TV contracts; the consumer often gets nothing in return. Are you getting subsidized equipment? No. When you cancel you have to send it back. Are you getting price protection? No. Many TV agreements state in the fine print that the price is subject to change.

Moral of the story is to be sure you understand what, if anything, you're actually getting in exchange for the agreement.

 

[waggy]

2-year cell phone contracts I can understand; the consumer often gets a highly-subsidized phone as part of the deal. If you get a $700 phone for $0.01 committing to 2 years is an understandable trade-off.

I don't get 2-year TV contracts; the consumer often gets nothing in return. Are you getting subsidized equipment? No. When you cancel you have to send it back. Are you getting price protection? No. Many TV agreements state in the fine print that the price is subject to change.

Moral of the story is to be sure you understand what, if anything, you're actually getting in exchange for the agreement.

yeah that is kinda BS. you don't get to keep the equipment. NOT to mention you pay for the equipment monthly.

 

[GeekDrew]

yeah that is kinda BS. you don't get to keep the equipment. NOT to mention you pay for the equipment monthly.

And sometimes up-front, too.

Then again, I saw a projection of DTV receiver costs a few years ago, and they were really expensive ($500 or so, IIRC), so I suppose they need to make it back somehow.

 

[KeithTalent]

I'm not a huge fan of them, particularly the three-year phone contractys we are saddled with up here. Three years is an eternity with phones. Fortunately my carrier now just essentially charges you the remaining amortization on the phone if you want to break the contract. That is more reasonable to me as opposed to the straight $20 x months remaining it used to be.

KT

 

[manly]

2-year cell phone contracts I can understand; the consumer often gets a highly-subsidized phone as part of the deal. If you get a $700 phone for $0.01 committing to 2 years is an understandable trade-off.

I don't get 2-year TV contracts; the consumer often gets nothing in return. Are you getting subsidized equipment? No. When you cancel you have to send it back. Are you getting price protection? No. Many TV agreements state in the fine print that the price is subject to change.

Moral of the story is to be sure you understand what, if anything, you're actually getting in exchange for the agreement.

well said. I'm not anti-corporations, but clearly it's often an imbalanced relationship between business and consumer and most folks think that's just the norm. Unless the corporation is BAC and $5 is the straw that finally broke the camel's back.