Best Method to Get Out of a Wireless Contract

9 years ago

So - you signed a contract and now you don't want to honor it.

Who would have thunk it?

My younger son has AT&T and couldn't get service half the time while he was visiting here last week...had to use our Verizon phones.

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sbucciarel

Banned 9 years ago

I initially got AT&T when I got a cell phone. They said they covered my area. When I got it home, it didn't get any reception at ALL here. I immediately canceled and was within the 3 day period of time that I could cancel. They canceled it and then for months, billed me 25 cents that they said I owed for data usage. lol. After making them spend much more than the quarter they said I owed on postage, I finally mailed them a quarter. The bills stopped.

I got Verizon. They said they covered my area and they actually did.

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Synnuh

9 years ago

I've gone through just about every cell provider you can think of (crappy area in the MIDDLE of my city) and Verizon, hands down is the best contract provider.

Boost Mobile's $55 plan has been the best burner phone provider as far as service and connectivity goes.

Some providers will buy out your contract if you're vocal enough about how bad you want to switch to their service.

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ThomM

9 years ago

In my area ATT has the best coverage. I've been with then for years and never had a coverage problem But I'm not to impressed with the cost of their plans. My contract expired with them 2 years ago and I finally switched providers a couple months ago, sort of.
I ended up going to Cricket Wireless which is owned by ATT. My plan with ATT was 450 roll over minutes and 100 texts a month for around 55 plus taxes, etc. With Cricket I get unlimited talk and text with 5G of data a month for a flat rate of 50 a month all taxes included. If I did direct pay it would be 45.
Most of the time I use the phone in my house where I have wireless so I hardly use 1G of my data. Plus it's a no contract plan.
I don't know what to tell you about getting out of your contract, but I would suggest going with a no contract provider. If you think ATT will work for you go with Cricket. Same network and coverage as ATT but no hassles switching to another provider if it doesn't work out.

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Cali16

9 years ago

I had Verizon for several years, but decided to switch to AT&T a few years ago. My contract with Verizon had long since expired and I purposely hadn't renewed it, so the switch should have been seamless. Sadly, it wasn't.

Verizon immediately took $279 from my account for "breaking" my long-expired contract. I called them right away and said my contract had ended well over a year before and I had never renewed it. They insisted, quite rudely, that I had, and that I had done so in person in one of their stores. Well, as I told them multiple times, I had never been in a Verizon store in my life so that was impossible. I told them to send me proof - surely I would have signed a contract had I done this in a store and they could send me a copy. Of course, they had no proof, but that didn't matter. They were right, I was wrong, end of story. Speaking to supervisors got me nowhere.

Finally, after multiple calls to get this resolved (I wasn't willing to let them keep $279 that I didn't owe them), I finally got a hold of a very nice young woman who was just one of their front-line customer service reps. She went out of her way to help me (no one else prior to that had made any effort). She did some digging and found the error. I was finally able to get my $279 back. What a headache that was! To add insult to injury, it took another month to get the refund from them (they had all sorts of excuses for taking their time).

Needless to say, after that awful experience I will never be a Verizon customer again. As for coverage, I've had no problems with AT&T. Verizon may have better overall coverage, but they'd have to be the only carrier in existence for me to ever use them again.

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seasoned

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Cali16

I had Verizon for several years, but decided to switch to AT&T a few years ago. My contract with Verizon had long since expired and I purposely hadn't renewed it, so the switch should have been seamless. Sadly, it wasn't.

Verizon immediately took $279 from my account for "breaking" my long-expired contract. I called them right away and said my contract had ended well over a year before and I had never renewed it. They insisted, quite rudely, that I had, and that I had done so in person in one of their stores. Well, as I told them multiple times, I had never been in a Verizon store in my life so that was impossible. I told them to send me proof - surely I would have signed a contract had I done this in a store and they could send me a copy. Of course, they had no proof, but that didn't matter. They were right, I was wrong, end of story. Speaking to supervisors got me nowhere.

Well, I am JUST SAYING! You may be 100% right, but I am JUST SAYING! Phone companies, like SO many other "services", etc.... Have what are known as ADHESION contracts. That means that if you take advantage of something, they may start, RENEW, or EXTEND a given contract, WITHOUT your explicit consent. SOMETIMES they will let you know, as they are REQUIRED to do, but they often DON'T!

So if you get a free replacement phone, use insurance, or possibly even change your plan, they will extend the contract. BANG, you are expected to stay another 1,2,3,etc.... years.

OBVIOUSLY, they CAN'T have you sign anything. Oh SURE, it is REQUIRED, but that little fact has been ignored for over a DECADE in most cases. When did AMAZON last ask you to sign anything for an order, for example?

AGAIN, JUST SAYING! You might be right, but I am saying how you could be "wrong" and not know it.

I once watched a law class and they said cotracts needed THREE things! 1. FULL DISCLOSURE! 2. CONSCIENABILITY 3. LEGAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT(such as a SIGNATURE). LOGICAL! I could see how that is TRUE! EVERYONE knows it is NOT TRUE! Adhesion contracts often break #1 and #3, and usually break #2.

NOW, as to companies?

PAC BELL(BECAME CINGULAR). BEEF? They apparently did NOT work outside of california, though they claimed to. They even had me talk to a company that would have been in worldwide news and/or get a nobel prize if they even COULD provide me service. A competitors cell phoe exert laughed when he heard and said their nearest cell was about 400 miles away! The law MANDATES that they be no farther than like 2 miles. Even analog is like 10 miles.
AT&T. BEEF? They ********LAUGHED******** when my phone suddenly stopped working in detroit and washington DC. It worked elsewhere. They claimed my phone(then perhaps the most popular phone on the planet and other "services" worked on that phone in all those places) was KNOWN to have problems and demanded that they replace it with the EXACT same model. DUH! IT DIDN'T WORK!
VERIZON. BEEF? PROFIT MONGERS BREAKING REBATE DEALS, etc... The PHONE SERVICE was the best though.

Steve

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Cali16

9 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

Well, I am JUST SAYING! You may be 100% right, but I am JUST SAYING!
So if you get a free replacement phone, use insurance, or possibly even change your plan, they will extend the contract. BANG, you are expected to stay another 1,2,3,etc.... years.

I am well aware of all of that. I hadn't done anything to change my plan in any way, upgrade my phone, or anything else that could have led to an automatic renewal of my contract. Second, as I said, one of the reps finally found the error, and it was on Verizon's part, not mine. So, this wasn't the case in my situation. Believe it or not, I actually do know how to read the fine print in contracts.

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Kay King 9 years ago

Why is anyone surprised that customer service reps may be reluctant to help - or that providers are not quick to issue refunds??? They have to deal with people like this all the time.

You signed a contract - now you wants a different contract to save a few bucks - what happens when you find one cheaper than that or when coverage isn't what you need?

Suggest you use the site you referenced though I don't understand why cell phone providers would go along with that. Sounds like a story that will end with "I quit but now I want to go back there and they won't accept me".
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agmccall

9 years ago

I currently have a Virgin phone. I only pay $35.00 per month, no contract, unlimited text and data.

But, I am not one of those people that are constantly on the phone or texting.

Virgin is powered by Verizon.

al

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yukon

Banned 9 years ago

I have no idea why anyone would want to go from one contract to another contract. Contracts are for people that don't know any better.

Use Straight Talk, zero contract while using Verizon cell towers.

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DURABLEOILCOM

9 years ago

Main key points I want port my 4 lines to AT&T because I just found out I can get 30% off the Monthly bill. I am still looking to keep original numbers just get out ETF free or do a transfer of service. Has anyone successfully used trademycellularDOTcom ? Can you transfer your service contract to someone else and still keep your original numbers?

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SteveJohnson

9 years ago

I have had carriers reduce plan costs when I call and give them the chance to.

"AT&T is offering to buy out my contract with you folks, and charge me $XXX/mo for 4 lines. I really don't want to switch - if you'll match their monthly plan charges, I'm happy to stay with Verizon."

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David Beroff

9 years ago

I pay $5/mo for cell service, using TracFone. I buy a month for $10 online, then accept the $50 upsell, and I'm good for a year. {shrug}

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Best Method to Get Out of a Wireless Contract

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