Anyway to get out of a cell phone contract legally?

[glen]

TMO coverage is just not cutting it for my job, so I have to get Verizon. I have a year left on my contract. The CR rep at TMO suggested that I write T-Mobile Wireless Customer Relations
at:
T-Mobile Wireless
PO Box 37380
Albuquerque, NM 87176

I kept asking her what to say and if they would do it. She just kept avoiding a direct answer and said, they will definitely get back to you.

Any particular complaint or language that helps? This is totally legit, and I am not trying to get out of anything except for the real problem I have using the phone in areas where I work.

 

[Crono]

If they make a significant change to the contract terms, you can get out that way.
Otherwise you have to cancel within the allotted time period or take the ETF (Early Termination Fee).

A good article on the subject:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/tec...pe-your-cellphone-contract-for-cheap-15124938

 

[alkemyst]

The cancellation fee.

 

[zerogear]

if they change your contract in anyway without your expressed agreement.

For example, AT&T recently added a couple cents to their administration fee, if this occurred while you were in the middle of a contract, they changed your contract, and you can contact them to void your contract since you never agreed to that new administration fee.

 

[glen]

What changed is the coverage area in which I use my phone.

 

[Lyfer]

As a former Verizon rep for 7+ years. This has been asked millions of times. You signed a contract, want to get out of it? Pay the Etf.

The admin fee thing hardly works, most of the time a rep will just credit your account to offset the amount IF you bring it up.

But tmobile coverage can be awfull in some areas. Big evil red all the way for the best coverage.

 

[Mopetar]

I have no idea how true this is, but I was once told that most contracts can be cancelled if they change any of the fees/rates that you pay. Carriers are required to pay for 911 service, among some other fees, most of which are passed on to the customer. Some of those fees change occasionally, which may violate the terms of the contract that you agreed to with the carrier.

 

[Joe1987]

How much is your etf?

Sell your phone on Swappa, pay the ETF, start new contract on Verizon.

Or, instead of signing a new contract, assume a Verizon line on ebay with unlimited data, buy used phone for VZ, S3's are going for ~$275

 

[glen]

etf is $200

 

[Ravynmagi]

T-Mobile being at the bottom of the carrier food chain, they sometimes do surprising things to make customers happy that other carriers would laugh at. But usually they want to make customers happy and stay, not make it easier for them to leave. So not sure if they'll waive an ETF.

I'm taking it as a bad sign that the CSR person can't do it and is making you write a letter. I have a feeling it doesn't matter what you put in the letter. It's probably just how they say no, but leave you with just a tiny glimmer of hope so you don't feel too bad for being told no.

 

[justoh]

Simples. Just move to an area where tmobile isn't available. Wouldn't that work?

 

[Raduque]

Find somebody willing to take over your contract and perform a Change of Responsibility.

Edit: The other thing you could do, is find out if your job has a B2B representative you could get in touch with - they might be able to get your contract nulled and your service switched due to work requirements.

 

[tfinch2]

If you need your phone for work, does your employer pay for your Verizon service? If not, will they pay your ETF? Have you talked to your employer about this?

 

[openwheel]

yeah pay the cancellation fee (ETF) which will cover the money the carrier forked over when they subsidized your phone.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Aren't ETFs prorated now?

 

[MotionMan]

Earlier this year, my uncle came up with a brilliant plan to get out of a mobile phone contract, but it will only work once.

He died.

MotionMan

 

[sgrinavi]

Aren't ETFs prorated now?

I have VZW, it reduces every month, but it's still a hefty fee to terminate. At that time the ETF was $175 less $5 for each month of the contract that was fulfilled. It was actually cheaper for me to change a smart phone to a dumb phone plan and pay out the remaining months.

 

[88keys]

Oooh TMO sucks where I live. I don't personally know of a single happy customer. Plenty of people on the internet love them, but I'll gladly pay the premium that VZW charges for reliability. The way I see it is that the main reason that I have a cell phone so I can talk wherever I want whenever I want. I money was an issue, I would downgrade to a dumbphone plan just to stay with VZW. That probably makes me a fanboy, but I really don't care

 

[ultimatebob]

Simples. Just move to an area where tmobile isn't available. Wouldn't that work?

I heard that one way to get out of a cell phone contract is to leave the phone at a friends or co-workers house that is outside of T-Mobile's coverage area and requires the phone to be on roaming to get a connection.

After a month or two of T-Mobile paying roaming fees to another carrier for your phone, THEY will cancel your contract FOR you. And, naturally, they don't need to pay you a dime to get out of the contract on their end.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I have VZW, it reduces every month, but it's still a hefty fee to terminate. At that time the ETF was $175 less $5 for each month of the contract that was fulfilled. It was actually cheaper for me to change a smart phone to a dumb phone plan and pay out the remaining months.

Yeah, I knew they jacked up the ETF cost and while they did prorate it it still wasn't too kind. Now you can't drop to a dumbphone plan with a smartphone can you?

 

[BrightCandle]

Bankruptcy can get you out of such a contract as well.

 

[boomhower]

What kind of phone do you have? $200 is a pretty cheap ETF these days, sell the phone and you should make up most of that.

I heard that one way to get out of a cell phone contract is to leave the phone at a friends or co-workers house that is outside of T-Mobile's coverage area and requires the phone to be on roaming to get a connection.

After a month or two of T-Mobile paying roaming fees to another carrier for your phone, THEY will cancel your contract FOR you. And, naturally, they don't need to pay you a dime to get out of the contract on their end.

I went a similar route with Sprint.