cancelling cell phones and statute of frauds

[vood0g]

ok, here is the situation. i was wanting to cancel my cell phone plan and switch to another provider, however i am stuck under one of those 2 year contracts. originally i had signed a 1 year contract back in October 2002. over the course of the year i changed phone plans over the phone and each time they said that my contract has been renewed from the time i changed plans. is this covered under the statute of frauds where an agreement lasting more than 1 year has to be in writing? i did not sign anything to extend my contract, it was only a verbal agreement over the phone. the only thing i actually signed was the original 1 year contract back in 2002 which is now over. can they enforce the original $175 early termination fee?

 

[rudeguy]

of course they can.

You wouldnt have had to renew your contract if you didnt want the promotions they were giving. You could offer to pay them the value of the promotions (probably well over $175) for the past year.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

I was under the impression you could change your plans without altering your contract. In example, signing a one year contract with a plan of 300 daytime, 1000 Night and Weekend minutes, then halfway through, changing it to a 500 daytime, 1000 Night and Weekend minutes. As I understood, as long as you kept their service for your contract time, one year, you could change your plan as much as you want.
But it seems to me you agreed over the phone to extend your contract, or sign up for a promotional offer, in which a two year contract was necessary. Depending on the company, they can and will enforce that early termination fee, if you agreed over the phone to extend your contract.

 

[vood0g]

the statute of frauds has this provision (scroll down a bit to the heading "contracts not to be performed in 1 year):

http://www.west.net/~smith/frauds.htm#Contracts%20Not%20to%20Be%20Performed

and under that provision, it is impossible to perform a 2 year contract under a year. so the agreement must be in writing, correct? and since, i did not sign anything how can they enforce the 2 year contract on me?

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Which cellphone company do you have? Have you talked to them about this?

 

[Fingolfin269]

It will cost you more to sue them than it will cost you to get out of your contract. And hell, that's assuming you even have a case.

 

[Pepsei]

Of course you can add stuff without extending your contract, however, with something like "now get 500 more minutes for the same low monthly price" comes with "must extend contract".

They did tape your conversation when you verbally agreed to the contract extension right?