Part of the problem is that AT&T and Apple's systems are not hooked up. The other part is fraud prevention, I suppose. That this helps suppress the number of successful cancellation is probably just like an unexpected bonus for AT&T. It wasn't a big deal, though, as I was able to push past this—mocking them for previously telling me I would get an automatic email letting me know my service was cancelled after Apple got the phone I mailed back to them did the trick somehow—and get them to just let me fax in the return receipt without ever having to leave my blog cave (thank you, faxzero.com).

In early January I found out that I could receive a corporate discount from AT&T. I'd had an iPhone since 2007, but used it with a GoPhone SIM, because I found the $60/month charges a bit outrageous for someone who never talks on the phone. They used to have an Unlimited Medianet plan for GoPhone for $20/month, and I rarely paid more than $30/month on service. When they yanked away that plan in November, I found myself jonesing for data, and fell right into their hands.

I went into the AT&T store on January 2, aware that I'd have to sign a 2-year contract if I signed up for a post-paid plan. I asked the man at the counter twice to please verify my corporate discount, and he twice assured me it would be 19%. He definitely saw that it was an iPhone 2G.

Instead of showing me a contract, as I expected, he simply printed a short receipt that indicated he had activated service and applied my GoPhone balance to the account. As far as I remember, nothing was signed.

This week, I finally received my first full bill; no corporate discount. I emailed customer support, and was shown a line in the contract stating that "There are no equipment or monthly service discounts available with the purchase of an iPhone." [See the contract terms here.] I wrote back asking if my early termination fee could be waived, since I was given false information at the store. I was told no, but that I could upgrade to the iPhone 3G to receive the discount.

I replied that I was flummoxed that there are no repercussions for an AT&T representative using false information to lock in a sale, and that I'd write Consumerist to see if I'm being way off-base in expecting some sort of good faith offer to make up for what, at best, was miscommunication, and, at worst, consciously reeling in an unsuspecting sucker.

Mark adds, "This is one of those situations where I'm not sure what I expect from the company, and whether or not it's completely my fault for being a less than astute customer." It's a valid question—how much should the company try to resolve a problem that's at least partially the customer's fault? In this case, however, we don't think it's your fault at all.

When you're at the AT&T store, you're relying on their representative to take care of the activation side of things. You expect them to give you accurate information. In fact, you have to do this—you don't have access to their system or customer account records during the transaction, and if all they provide is a receipt, some verbal promises, and a "you're good to go" message, it's hard to see how you would have been able to identify and protect yourself from this issue.

What's more interesting to us, though, is that you didn't purchase an iPhone at the time you activated the service. We therefore don't see how their fine print applies, which specifically states there's no discount with the purchase of an iPhone.

Try calling their executive line to explain your case. Even if they refuse to approve a corporate discount, we would hope they understand that the confusion wasn't your fault and that the ETF should be waived.

Days left | fee

180: $200
180-91: $100
90-30: $50
29-1: $50 or monthly rate, whichever is less.

Glad to see another carrier joining in with declining ETFs. It's that much closer to doing away with them entirely. No word yet on whether this will only apply to new customers.

Here's the text of Tmobile's email announcement.

Beginning on June 28, 2008, the ETF for customers who choose a one-year or two-year service agreement with T-Mobile will decline during the course their contract. The ETF decreases from $200 to $100 if customers terminate service with 91 to 180 days remaining on their agreement; and decreases again to $50 with fewer than 91 days remaining. If customers terminate in the last 30 days of their term, the ETF is $50 or their standard monthly charge, whichever is less.

T-Mobile Eases Early Termination Fees [Washington Post]

(Thanks to Spencer!)

(Photo: shlomp-a-plompa)

Some people think the BBB doesn't work. They do, but only if the company cares about keeping a clean record. See when you look up a company in the BBB database it shows you how many complaints have been filed against the company, how many were answered, how many did the consumer report as being satisfactorily resolved, etc. So if you have a valid complaint, file it with the BBB, and the company cares about its BBB record, you have a decent chance of getting a solution. You might not believe it, but it turns out Sprint is one of those companies. Here's Kevin's story of how the BBB got his erroneous text message charges refunded and let him leave contract early without early termination fee...

Kevin writes:

I've filed two complaints with them so far in 2008. Here is the text of the one I filed in January...

"Double charged my debit card and refuses to credit the duplicate charge back to my account.
I called to make and a payment yesterday through Sprint/Nextel's automatic payment attendant. The pre-recorded service told me the payment "cannot be processed at this time, please hold for an operator." So a person gets on the phone and takes my payment manually. Then this morning when I checked my bank account online I saw that two payments had gone through. When I called to request the duplicate payment be reversed they refused. This comes after several battles with their customers service department over services ordered which were incorrectly authorized.

For instance, I have two phone lines and there have been 3 or 4 times now when I've had a service such as text messaging or insurance added to one of the lines. The customer service people have added the service to the wrong phone, thereby incurring extra charges and it takes forever to get a credit. These are small inconveniences and nothing I'd normally report to the BBB. But after refusing to issue a credit I've had enough with them. My contract with them is up in August after 3 years of being a customer. I've explained why I am unhappy with service and they will not let me out of a contract. I've talked with many acquaintances who've had similar issues and I feel it's time for someone to do something about this company. The problems with service began after the merger with Nextel."

After this I was contacted within 48 hours and the dispute was resolved where Sprint/Nextel issued me a credit for a free month of service.

Then in April I went over my text message limit. I beefed up the limit to 1,000 texts per month, but they added it to the 2nd line. This caused another huge bill in May. When I called to tell them they added the text plan to the wrong phone they refused to credit me or fix the problem.

At that point I filed the 2nd complaint with the BBB briefly describing what happened. It basically stated what I just did and less than 24 hours this time a Sprint/Nextel representative called me to resolve the issue...apologizing for the treatment I received and they resolved the issue VERY generously and told me they realize their customer service is lacking and they're "taking steps to rectify the situation." In addition to free unlimited text messaging they've offer to wave the penalty for severing my contract early. That says a lot and the fact that they acknowledged their customer service dept sucks.

To my satisfaction, I was told I can dissolve my contract with them before it's up in August without any additional penalties. I got a follow up email from the BBB today asking if I am satisfied.

Kevin is now a happy Verizon customer. Here's where to go to get started filing a BBB complaint online.

(Photo: mod_complex)

Joseph would like to cancel his Verizon contract without early termination fee by arguing that the recent monthly administrative fee increase is materially adverse, but unfortunately for Joseph, Verizon's lawyers have filled their customer service reps brains with a bunch of hooey about what materially adverse means. In fact, when Joseph was reading the very clause in the Verizon contract that allows him to what he wants, the call center supervisor laughed at him. According to his account, when he criticized the poor customer service, she started screaming at him. The text of Joe's attempted EECB, inside...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to inform you of an issue I am having with your customer service department. Today, 5/7/08, I tried to contact customer service around 5 PM. Unfortunately, every time I was transferred to the department I requested, I received the message "We cannot process your call at this time. . ." and then was disconnected.

I finally reached customer retention nearly an hour later. Among my many calls, of note, I spoke with Stephanie (ext. 7476) and Trish (ext. 7129) at the Cranberry, PA call center. When I informed these CSR's that I wanted my ETF waived due to the increase in the monthly administration fee being materially adverse, I was put on hold between 5-10 minutes EACH call, presumably so that the CSR could find a way to reject my request. (Although I want to close my account, I want to port my number to another carrier, so I cannot have my account closed before the number is ported).

Both calls escalated to the floor supervisor (once at my request, the other to "confirm that [she] could complete my request." Both calls were escalated to Danielle (ext. 4075, also at Cranberry, PA). This "Danielle" denied my request to have my ETF waived. During the first call, she was relatively professional, granting my request for an escalation contact number/address. However, when I criticized the poor customer service, she began screaming at me. During the second call, she laughed at me when I read the following clause from the contract:

Our Rights to Make Changes

Your service is subject to our business policies, practices and procedures, which we can change without notice. 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, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE, JUST BY CALLING US WITHIN 60 DAYS AFTER WE SEND NOTICE OF THE CHANGE.

She then said that the 15c per month charge wasn't materially adverse. I explained to her that the phrase "material(ly) adverse" has no quantifiable limit; one definition is: "of such a nature that knowledge of the item would affect a person's decision-making process." In the canon of law, (any) price is considered as having this nature.

I am hoping that one of you fine people may be able to assist me with this issue. My account information is:

Name: Joseph XXXXX
Phone#: XXXXXXXXXX
Account#: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Please contact me to discuss this further. I would greatly welcome an effort to restore my opinion of your company. Thank you for your time in consideration in getting this matter resolved.

Sincerely,

Joseph C. Tkocs

If the EECB doesn't work out, Joe, you can also try some of these phone numbers.

In 4 1/2 minutes I had both my phone numbers canceled and ready to port to ATT with the ETF waived on both lines. No escalation, no deep explaining, no pain really! I told the CSR that she was very pleasant to work with and thanked her for her help with this matter. She proceeded to thank me as well and told me that I was pleasant as well, and that most that have called that she has talked to, were "Abrubt and sometimes rude" when calling about the "Opt-Out".

The moral of the story. No matter what you're dealing with, treat others the way you want to be treated. If you're nice to a CSR, they will be nice back and work hard to help you. I've been with Verizon 6 years and have had only one problem with their customer service. But even then, it doesn't matter what Customer Service department I talk to, no matter how rude "they" may be, I still can get good service by being friendly, personable, and kind to them.

Alicia wants to escape her Verizon contract without paying an early termination fee, but she's having some trouble. She writes:

Just today, I was informed that Verizon is now increasing their monthly administration charge. I have a right to cancel with having the early termination fee waived because of this increase. The Verizon supervisors I spoke to (total of 4 people) refused to follow this clause and would not waive the early termination fee even though Verizon changed the fees. They said they would give me a credit for this increase, so then it would not adversely affect me, so I can't have the ETF waived. I made it clear that I had a right to cancel and have the ETF waived regardless of what credit they would be willing to give me. They said that having the ETF waived is not an option and they can not do that. Am I in the wrong?

Hi Alicia,

You just keep on refusing that fee waiver. The fee increase still has a material adverse effect, even if they give you a credit to cover it. If someone breaks your arm and puts it in a cast for you, they still broke your arm.

At 3:30 a.m. [recently], my husband and I called Verizon Wireless to reactivate our phones, as we are returning home [from Iraq] soon and wanted to catch the company during its business hours. Upon speaking with a customer service representative, it became apparent that Verizon not only suspended our contracts, it disconnected our phones and gave our numbers away to other customers.

What is truly amazing is that the company took the letters our commanding officers signed regarding our deployment dates, and deemed the letters not worthy of suspending our contracts. It continued to charge us for those months without notifying us and when we did not pay, it disconnected the lines.

Long story short, when we called to reactivate our phones they told us our numbers no longer existed and that we owed them nearly $500!

When we asked to speak to a manager, we were told nothing could be done. When we did actually speak to a manager we were told it was our fault that we owed the money. The manager then proceeded to say "We're sorry but nothing can be done for you. Goodbye."

We were hung up on ... in Iraq ... at 3:30 in the morning. Real professional.

We spoke to another manager who was courteous enough to recredit our accounts and cut all remaining ties with their service. We are no longer with Verizon Wireless.

For all of the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen out there, make sure you are checking up on the status of your accounts. Apparently, a letter from your command stating you are deploying is not enough these days. And aside from seeing servicemembers off at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point (N.C.), I am not sure what else they are looking for.

Marine 2nd Lt. Haley Katz
Camp Fallujah, Iraq

(Thanks to Casey!)

(Photo: nukeit1)

Tracey's husband expected Sprint to show a scintilla of compassion.

"They said his contract wasn't up and to pay the fee or keep it activated," he said.

"He came in and said my father had upgraded his phone, so we can't cancel unless we pay the early termination fee or give the phone to somebody else," Stewart said.

They didn't have someone else, and they said that the suggestion offended them.

Family Stuck Paying For Deceased Father's Cell [WCVB]
RELATED: Sprint Refuses To Cancel Dead Brother's Cellphone

1. Your plan must not include a text message package. (actually, it applies to both plans AND pay-as-you go)
2. You must call within 30 days of the rate change.
3. You must specifically cite the text message rate change being a material adverse change of contract as the reason for cancellation.
4. You must not pay your bill that reflects the new rates until AFTER requesting cancellation
5. If they offer you a grandfathered text rate or free text messages attached to your plan, you must refuse.
6. If the rep is poorly trained and wants to hot-potato you to a supervisor rather than transfer you to account services, you must insist that you want to cancel service despite any potential fees so the rep gets you to the group that actually knows the correct procedures.

Materially adverse changes to contract are when one party changes one of the basic terms, like price, in a way that harms the other party. It's a basic tenet of contract law that this nulls the contract but cellphone companies do it all the time anyway. Lucky for you it means, if you insist, insist, insist, that you can escape your cellphone contract without paying the usual ~$200 early termination fee.

(Thanks to Nick!)

CONSUMERIST: How frequently did someone have to call to get terminated for calling customer service too much?

SPRINT INSIDER: 90 times in a 6 month period was the standard I think.

CONSUMERIST: Were they calling about the same service problem?

SPRINT INSIDER: These were the customers that had nothing to do but call us every single day demanding credit. And they were getting it because customer care was getting exhausted from arguing with them. So a nickel at a time these customers were collecting literally thousands of dollars in credit balances.

We were targeting people that were just outright defrauding the company. These customers will probably eventually force their future service providers to take similar action if they do not change their ways.

CONSUMERIST: One reader said he got canceled because he kept calling you because you were charging him for text messages he shouldn't have been charged for.

SPRINT INSIDER: I can't really get into specifics on an account, BUT... I will re-direct to what I mentioned earlier...These customers were for the most part literally defrauding our company. Not just a courtesy credit or two... We're talking customers that haven't made a payment since 2005 and still have active service. Customers who were getting better deals than our own employees get for their own personal accounts. These weren't the customer care horror stories we've heard where a billing issue drags on for 8 months. This was just unrealistic amounts of credits and at the end of the year we were LITERALLY paying these customers to use our service.

CONSUMERIST: That's pretty amazing, considering people have been emailing us this story all week saying, "Don't complain too much to Sprint about their crappy service or they'll cancel you." PR wise, it spins very badly, very quickly.

SPRINT INSIDER: Most of these customers are just looking to make a scene and want their excessive credit balances sent in a check. And that's just not going to happen. We are considering every request on a case by case basis. We absolutely will not terminate a customer who had a reasonable claim for calling in. But the ones with the $5k credit balances... they're going to hear us say no. It's a harsh decision but it really makes sense to almost anyone who knows both sides of the situation.

CONSUMERIST: Of the 1,000 or so that were terminated, how many are calling in?

SPRINT INSIDER: Haven't seen any reporting data yet but by the end of the week I anticipate most of them.

CONSUMERIST: They're sad the video game is broken.

SPRINT INSIDER: Ten months of calling customer care and telling us how badly they hated us and threatening to cancel to get more credits... And one day we say, "Okay. We'll credit your balance, waive your contracts and you're free to be happy." And then they don't like the ink the letter was written with. Kills me. I'd be devastated if I got a letter like that from a company I do business with. But if I hated them I'd gladly walk away in a situation like that.

PREVIOUSLY: Sprint Drops You Because You Call Customer Service Too Much

Sprint eventually apologized and agreed to reinstate all the accounts of those who called in and identified themselves as members of the armed forces.

Really, though, the Sprint robots were just doing their job:cancel the account, without prejudice, of anything unprofitable that moved.

The flip-side of course being that if you want to cancel Sprint without early termination fee, just figure out a way to make more than 50% of your calls for a few months while roaming. We hear the Army still has a few open slots.

Sprint Giving Military Members the Boot [SprintUsers.com]

(Photo: foundphotoslj)

It's really quite amusing, you can practically hear in the rep's voice the list of objections he's cribbing from...

• long lines
• 3 clicks from the front screen to make a call
• iPhones sold out

...made all the more laughable because Matt already has the phone.

The best part is probably when Vic asks Matt if he still wants to stay with Tmobile and Matt says, "No," and then Vic asks, "Was that a yes?"

They try to sell him to taking to the Tmobile Wing, give him a month of free service, or reduce his service fee to $20 a month and keep his phone "as a backup."

Don't know what "Vic" was expecting... that he could really talk Matt into returning his iPhone and keeping Tmobile service? A for effort, F for reality.

Canceling tmobile [A Whole Lotta Nothing]
(Photo: theerin)

•iPhone are expensive: Over the span of a two-year contract, an iPhone will cost at least $2,241. Most carriers offer plans that cost half as much.
•The first rule of Apple products is you don't buy first-generation Apple products: The iPhone may be innovative, but it will probably be flawed like most Apple rev a products. Later generation iPhones will fix bugs revealed by the massive consumer test about to kick off this evening.
•iPhones hit bumper-to-bumper traffic on the information superhighway: The Consumerist may take over one minute to load thanks to AT&T's crud-laden EDGE network.
•Do you really need an iPhone? Steve Jobs called iPhone "the best iPod we ever made." Maybe you just need a new iPod.
•Fear commitment : Thanks to a 10% restocking fee, the iPhone costs $50 from the moment you pick it up.
•Really, fear commitment: Though iPhones are not subsidized, AT&T will still apply the standard $175 early termination fee.
•We have something better than an iPhone: It's called a laptop. Most of our day is spent at the computer. We cherish brief respites from the internet.
•If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with: Now is the best time to renegotiate your contract with your existing carrier. Tell them you will leave for an iPhone if they don't bend to your demands.

So thanks to these few reminders, you too can be happy with the phone you have. Right?
No?
Yeah, we didn't think so.
iPhones are so hot right now.

(Photo: Dan H)

Ben Popken at Consumerist.com has come up with six ways to leave your mobile network. Among them, check the fine print on your latest bill. Any fee increase could nullify your obligation.

Or, accuse your mobile carrier of poor service. Send complaints to the PUC and the Better Business Bureau. Then:

Ben Popken: CC everything to the company. Create this big old nasty paper trail and wallpaper them until they're like, "All right, let's get rid of this guy."

And if all else fails, Popken has one final solution:

Popken: The last and definitely most desperate thing that you can do is die.

Yeah, not an option. A lot of customers will just end up paying to switch.

Carrier-switching ideas for iPhoners [Marketplace]
(Photo: karo.lina)

"The reps claimed that early termination fees would only be waived if the increase affected obligatory charges (such as the voice plan).

-John"

We haven't gotten any stories but here's what we think.

If she doesn't have a text messaging plan, then the charge is obligatory.

Perhaps the front-line reps are as to how standard contract law works. Tell your mother to try asking to speak to retentions. The advice offered in this post about doing the same thing for Sprint may be a good reference.

(Photo: scentzilla)

Eduardo
to public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov,
info@goldengate.bbb.org
cc rdotson@t-mobile.com,
ben@consumerist.com
date Jun 28, 2007 3:40 AM
subject Ludicrous customer service from T-Mobile

I am a T-Mobile customer from Sacramento California, I recently moved to San Francisco to attend SFSU in August 2006.

I am contacting you because I have been having an issue with T-Mobile customer service pushing me around and stripping me of my privileges as a consumer and a client. Throughout my conversation with customer care, the following issues I had could not be solved...

According to Supervisor "Lou" (Badge# 0955170), there was no reason to continue talking with me because he was the end of customer care and the escalation ladder and proceeded to disconnect me. I had spent my time with many representatives that day and I had ran out of patience after he insulted me many times. My following questions were dodged or were responded with unreasonable answers.

I complained that the service in my new location was sub par, and that I have waited for a new service tower since I moved to my new location. He said he would have a engineer come to the region and check it out. Many people I know have gotten the same response, long before hand and I knew the issue wasn't going to be solved because within the period of 10 months I have lived at my location, I have resorted such actions such as: hanging my phone out the window, waiting minutes for my phone to connect a call and receive a signal.

I had Lou check out the service in my area, and on the T-Mobile coverage website it shows it as having 1 bar. My previous address was [redacted] San Francisco, CA, 94132; current temporary address is [redacted] San Francisco, CA, 94132. I told him that service has not increased at all since I have lived in my neighborhood in San Francisco. He told me that "1 bar is sufficient to make calls," and that it was most likely my phone that wasn't good, so he also suggested getting a new phone. The phone I purchased was ~300$ Subsidized, and I couldn't see my self investing more since my phone is great. I am not the only person having issues in this area. He proceeded to offer me new services and phones at full price after I said I didn't want them. If needed, I have many references who will vouch for the sub par service in this area which has not seen any increase in signal strength for T-Mobile.
Moreover, I asked for a hard bound copy of my contract, he responded by saying that T-Mobile will not forward that to me, and he continued to give me instructions to drive to Sacramento from San Francisco and locate the T-Mobile store where I had purchased service to obtain a copy of my contract.

He then insisted that I reached the end of the customer service line which I knew was non-sense and said no one else could help me and disconnected me without proper closure.

Due to the level of customer service I expected as a basic part of the contract, and the profound lack of customer service that has been demonstrated by T-Mobile, I respectfully will be requesting to be released of my contract with no penalty.

Eduardo [redacted]
ACCT# (916-[redacted]

Ridiculous. Why should anyone pay ~$60 a month for something that doesn't even work?

Eduardo is using tip #2 of our "6 Ways To Cancel Any Cellphone Contract" advice post. Non/sub-par service is DEFINITELY a reason to be let out of a cellphone contract without early termination fees. And from what he says, it sounds like he's not the only customer affected by Tmobile's poor coverage.

If Dotson, has any manhood, he'll tell his executive customer service team to cancel Eduardo's contract without fuss or muss.

Still, even if Eduardo does escape contract, he's still stuck with a $300 techno brick, which he'll either have to eat, or sell on eBay, Craigslist or one of several online sites devoted to reselling phones and contracts.

(Photo: evansent)

1. Sell your cellphone contract.

2. Complain that service isn't up to par, file complaints with PUC, FTC, BBB, AG and cc them to the company.

3. Wait for the company to change its rates (like text-messaging), then call to cancel based on the material change of contract. These are usually for the default rates and you won't be able to cancel if you have a package that takes care of it... hint: so get rid of the package and call back.... Here's some recent rate changes and cancellation success stories:
Sprint
AT&T/Cingular
Verizon
T-Mobile
US Cellular

4. Move to an area outside the plan's coverage area.

5. Join the armed forces - you'll need to fax in a copy of your orders.

6. Die - someone will need to fax in your death certificate on your behalf. You'll be dead, but at least you're in heaven. iPhone heaven.

For more tips and war stories, check out our cellphones/cancellations tag.

This kind of rate change could count as a materially adverse change of contract. These are when the provider changes the terms of your contract in a negative way that could have affected your decision to enter the contract in the first place, like with a price increase. Numerous cellphone customers have used these text message rate changes as a way to escape their contract without paying the usual $175.

You can't use the change, however, if you have a text messaging plan.

Read our slew of previous posts on this technique to learn more. Full scan of the notice inside.

(Photo: scentzilla)

US Cellular Terms Of Service

— BEN POPKEN

1. Your plan must not include roaming.
2. You must call within 30 days of the rate change.
3. You must specifically cite the roaming rate change being a material adverse change of contract as the reason for cancellation.
4. You must not pay your bill that reflects the new rates until AFTER requesting cancellation
5. If they offer you a grandfathered roaming rate or free roaming attached to your plan, you must refuse.
6. If the rep is poorly trained and wants to hot-potato you to a supervsor rather than transfer you to account services, you must insist that you want to cancel service despite any potential fees so the rep gets you to the group that actually knows the correct procedures.

If arguing isn't your thing, you could always figure out a way to spend 50%+ of your minutes while roaming...

We have vetted this information with a well-placed Sprint insider. — BEN POPKEN

(Thanks to Ben!)

While some fees are decreasing, others are increasing. Sending a text message from US to Canada goes up 5 cents to 15, as will the charge for receiving one while roaming internationally.

These constitute what are known as material changes to contract, which void the contract for both parties and make it so they can't charge you the usual $175 fee if you try to cancel service.

Read this for how to go about it, and here's how to keep your same number. — BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY:
T-Mobile Confirms You Can Cancel Without Fee Over Texting Price Increase
Materially Adverse Clauses For All Major Cellphones - So You Can Escape Contract Without Termination Fee

Important information about new messaging rate [T-Mobile]
(Photo: FastFords)

Their rationale was that he couldn't yet as the change didn't go into effect until June 1st. However, the announcement said he only had until May 11th to dispute the change.

Tricky...

Joseph writes:

I just got off the phone with a T-Mobile Supervisor (after the 8th rep), that they rejected me from canceling my policy and waiving the cancellation fee because I do not "qualify" for it.

Very disturbing because the TOS says:

Changes to the Agreement or Charges. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, IF WE: (A) INCREASE THE CHARGES INCLUDED IN YOUR MONTHLY RECURRING ACCESS RATE PLAN, OR (B) MODIFY A MATERIAL TERM OF OUR AGREEMENT WITH YOU AND THE MODIFICATION WOULD BE MATERIALLY ADVERSE TO YOU, WE WILL NOTIFY YOU OF THE INCREASE OR MODIFICATION AND YOU CAN CANCEL THAT SERVICE WITHOUT PAYING A CANCELLATION FEE (WHICH IS YOUR ONLY REMEDY) BY FOLLOWING THE CANCELLATION INSTRUCTIONS IN THE NOTICE. IF YOU DO NOT CANCEL YOUR SERVICE BY FOLLOWING THOSE INSTRUCTIONS, OR YOU OTHERWISE ACCEPT THE CHANGE, THEN YOU AGREE TO THE INCREASE OR MODIFICATION, EVEN IF YOU PAID FOR SERVICE IN ADVANCE. IF THE NOTICE DOES NOT SAY HOW LONG YOU HAVE TO CANCEL, THEN IT IS WITHIN 14 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THE NOTICE, UNLESS A LONGER PERIOD IS REQUIRED BY LAW. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, CHARGES FOR PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OPTIONAL SERVICES, OR ANY OTHER CHARGES THAT ARE NOT INCLUDED IN YOUR MONTHLY RECURRING ACCESS RATE PLAN (SUCH AS DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE, ROAMING, DOWNLOADS, AND THIRD-PARTY CONTENT) ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE, AND IF YOU CONTINUE TO USE THOSE SERVICES, OR YOU OTHERWISE AGREE TO THE CHANGES, THEN YOU AGREE TO THE NEW CHARGES. VISIT OUR WEB SITE, RETAIL LOCATIONS, OR CALL CUSTOMER CARE FOR CURRENT CHARGES.

I told them I do not agree to the new charges. I told them this change materially affected me. The supervisor agreed that I was within my dispute period (May 11, 2007 is the last dispute period). I followed instructions, I've called the cancel. They denied the ETF waiver. On their grounds of "You Do not Qualify"

Fine, how does one qualify? Easy, you have to be charged the text message rate before and after the the material change. Guess what? The change doesn't happen until June 1, 2007. My last dispute day is .... May 11, 2007. I do not agree to the new charges. There is nothing "ANY REP" can do. Other than sit back and collect.

Furthermore, the TOS doesn't state anything about qualifying. I was just trying to follow the terms and service writings that says:

(B) MODIFY A MATERIAL TERM OF OUR AGREEMENT WITH YOU AND THE MODIFICATION WOULD BE MATERIALLY ADVERSE TO YOU, WE WILL NOTIFY YOU OF THE INCREASE OR MODIFICATION AND YOU CAN CANCEL THAT SERVICE WITHOUT PAYING A CANCELLATION FEE (WHICH IS YOUR ONLY REMEDY) BY FOLLOWING THE CANCELLATION INSTRUCTIONS IN THE NOTICE.

Still the supervisor did not allow me to cancel my account without an ETF.

Fine, he says this is an "optional" service, that does not quality. "If it was optional, then I can receive millions of text messages without being charge!" I said. He said, "No, but you still do not qualify." Then I said, "I will be charged the new fee, right? Then I will be materially affected." To his surprising response, he stated "Yes, you will be materially affected, however the impact is not great enough to waive the early termination fee."

The supervisor rep is Sean C Employee Number #3828459.

Hope you guys can help. I'm sure this is not the only letter of this type you guys have in your inbox.

Sorry to hear your plight, Joseph. Here are your options, all but the last of which are complementary and not mutually exclusive:

1) escalate up the complaint ladder
2) file complaints with regulatory bodies
3) sue in small-claims court
4) grin and bear it.

— BEN POPKEN

(Photo: swruler9284)

According to Black's Law Dictionary, one meaning of material is "of such a nature that knowledge of the item would affect a person's decision-making process."

Another meaning of material is "significant," in other words "important enough to merit attention."

Price, for one, is historically know to affect a person's mind when buying.

Sometimes a cellphone company will try, for instance, to argue that changing a text message rate from .10 to .15 isn't a big deal, especially if you haven't used "a lot" of that particular kind of text message. Adams suggests that lawyers use "non-trivial" if they intend the second meaning.

We agree. The more precisely legal definition should be used when lawyers draft a legal contract.

Otherwise, why not use definition 11 (dictionary.com), "pertaining to or characterized by an undue interest in corporeal things; unspiritual," and argue that there's no voiding, as the contract is still a celibate? — BEN POPKEN

Rethinking "Material" and "Material Adverse Change" [AdamsDrafting] (Thanks to Peter!)

UPDATE: Scans of Black's Law Dictionary definition for "material," inside...

RELATED:
Verizon Keeps Making Up Contract law To Prevent Customers From Cancelling Without Penalty
T-Mobile Confirms You Can Cancel Without Fee Over Texting Price Increase
Verizon Redefines "Materially Adverse" To Prevent Customer Cancellations
Verizon: 34 Txt Msgs= Material Adverse Effect
Verizon Makes Canceling Over Their Txt Msg Hike Impossible

(Photo: FastFords)

SPRINT/NEXTEL
When You Don't Have To Pay An Early Termination Fee
You aren't responsible for paying an Early Termination Fee when terminating Services: (a) provided on a month-to-month basis; (b) consistent with our published trial period return policy; or (c) in response to a materially adverse change we make to the Agreement as described directly below.

Our Right To Change The Agreement & Your Related Rights
We may change any part of the Agreement at any time including, but not limited to, rates, charges, how we calculate charges, or your terms of Service. We will provide you notice of changes that may impact you in a manner consistent with this Agreement (see "Providing Notice Under This Agreement" paragraph). Except as provided below, if a change we make to the Agreement is material and has a material adverse affect on you, you may terminate each line of Service materially affected without incurring an Early Termination Fee only if you: (a) call us within 30 days after the effective date of the change; and (b) specifically advise us that you wish to cancel Services because of a material change to the Agreement that we have made. If you do not cancel Service within 30 days of the change, an Early Termination Fee will apply if you terminate Services before the end of any applicable

Term Commitment.
The following, without limitation, will generally not be considered changes to the Agreement as contemplated in this provision and will not result in the waiver of applicable Early Termination Fees: (a) changes to our Policies; (b) changes to rates or charges that are not a core part of the rate plan package for which you contracted - for example, incidental, occasional or casual use charges and other options that do not require a Term Commitment; (b) changes to Taxes & Government Fees; or (c) changes to Surcharges, including assessing new Surcharges.

Our Right To Suspend Or Terminate Services
We can, without notice, suspend or terminate any Service at any time for any reason, including, but not limited to: (a) late payment; (b) exceeding an Account Spending Limit ("ASL"); (c) harassing/threatening our employees or agents; (d) providing false information; (e) interfering with our operations; (f) using/suspicion of using Services in any manner restricted by or inconsistent with the Agreement; (g) breaching the Agreement, including our Policies; (h) providing false, inaccurate, dated or unverifiable identification or credit information, or becoming insolvent or bankrupt; (i) modifying a Device from its manufacturer specifications; or (j) if we believe the action protects our interests, any customer's interests or our network.

T-MOBILE
Changes to the Agreement or Charges. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, IF WE: (A) INCREASE THE CHARGES INCLUDED IN YOUR MONTHLY RECURRING ACCESS RATE PLAN, OR (B) MODIFY A MATERIAL TERM OF OUR AGREEMENT WITH YOU AND THE MODIFICATION WOULD BE MATERIALLY ADVERSE TO YOU, WE WILL NOTIFY YOU OF THE INCREASE OR MODIFICATION AND YOU CAN CANCEL THAT SERVICE WITHOUT PAYING A CANCELLATION FEE (WHICH IS YOUR ONLY REMEDY) BY FOLLOWING THE CANCELLATION INSTRUCTIONS IN THE NOTICE. IF YOU DO NOT CANCEL YOUR SERVICE BY FOLLOWING THOSE INSTRUCTIONS, OR YOU OTHERWISE ACCEPT THE CHANGE, THEN YOU AGREE TO THE INCREASE OR MODIFICATION, EVEN IF YOU PAID FOR SERVICE IN ADVANCE. IF THE NOTICE DOES NOT SAY HOW LONG YOU HAVE TO CANCEL, THEN IT IS WITHIN 14 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THE NOTICE, UNLESS A LONGER PERIOD IS REQUIRED BY LAW. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, CHARGES FOR PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OPTIONAL SERVICES, OR ANY OTHER CHARGES THAT ARE NOT INCLUDED IN YOUR MONTHLY RECURRING ACCESS RATE PLAN (SUCH AS DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE, ROAMING, DOWNLOADS, AND THIRD-PARTY CONTENT) ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE, AND IF YOU CONTINUE TO USE THOSE SERVICES, OR YOU OTHERWISE AGREE TO THE CHANGES, THEN YOU AGREE TO THE NEW CHARGES. VISIT OUR WEB SITE, RETAIL LOCATIONS, OR CALL CUSTOMER CARE FOR CURRENT CHARGES.

VERIZON
Our Rights To Make Changes
Your service is subject to our business policies, practices, and procedures, which we can change without notice. 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, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE, JUST BY CALLING US WITHIN 60 DAYS AFTER WE SEND NOTICE OF THE CHANGE.

CINGULAR (this one probably won't help you at all)
Changes to the terms and conditions: These terms and conditions may be changed from time-to-time. Cingular will post the most current version of these terms and conditions on the MEdia Net web site (www.cingular.com/medianet) or other appropriate location. Please check these regularly to inform yourself about changes to the terms and conditions, policies, news, etc.

CTIA CONSUMER CODE
Provide Customers the Right to Terminate Service for Changes to Contract Terms
Carriers will not modify the material terms of their subscribers' contracts in a manner that is materially adverse to subscribers without providing a reasonable advance notice of a proposed modification and allowing subscribers a time period of not less than 14 days to cancel their contracts with no early termination fee.

"Material Adverse" Clauses in Cell Phone Contracts [UCAN]

Important Notice Regarding Rate Increases for Calls to Mexico

Effective June 24, 2007, a $0.15 per minute surcharge will be added to International Long Distance and International Long Distance Value Plan rates for calling Mexican telephone numbers using the dialing pattern: 011+52+1+Area Code+telephone number . The surcharge is due to increased costs resulting from Mexico's recent switch to a calling party pays system. The total amount of any such surcharge will appear on your monthly bill in the Long Distance & Other Charges section. For information about international calling, see verizonwireless.com/international.

If it is, that would mean that legally, customers could cancel their contract without early termination fee. The practical side of doing battle with customer service may be another matter, however.

First, let's look at the contract...

(Photo: Sam Wilkinson)

From the Verizon Customer Agreement:

Our Rights To Make Changes Your service is subject to our business policies, practices, and procedures, which we can change without notice. 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, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE, JUST BY CALLING US WITHIN 60 DAYS AFTER WE SEND NOTICE OF THE CHANGE.

Is the change materially adverse? We say yes, it's costing you more money, and it's part of the contract. However, several commenters on the HowardsForum cellphone board disagree, vehemently.

The Utility Consumers' Action Network says:

Contracts vary, but most changes to your contract can provide grounds to get out. Almost any new fee or new charge is your opportunity to break the contract. Why? Because they can't change any part of the contract without your permission. But they do it all of the time because they know that you DON'T know that you can use that change as a basis for canceling your contract.

This is an untested theory but based on our reader's previous experiences, it may work.

Here's a very basic script, also from UCAN:

1. Have notice of the contract change/increase on hand
2. Call carrier
3. Ask if the change/increase applies to you
4. Read the "Material Adverse" section of your contract to the CSR
5. State that the change/notice has a material adverse affect on you and that you want to cancel your contract without being charged a termination fee
6. Escalate to a supervisor when the CSR tells you that you can't cancel without paying an early termination fee
7. Be persistent and don't back off your position that the change/increase has a materially adverse affect on you and that the carrier's own contract entitles you to cancel without penalty

Check out these posts for tips on canceling Verizon contracts:

Everything You Wanted To Know About Canceling Verizon But Were Afraid To Ask
Cancel Verizon Without Penalty Over Admin Fee Increase
After Battle, Marie Gets Escapes Verizon Contract
Script For Escaping Verizon Contracts Without Fee, Based On Text Message Rate Raises

— BEN POPKEN

(Thanks to Malachi!)

Let's recap: If one party changes the contract in a materially adverse way, such as increasing a price, the contract is void. We just had pizza and wine with a lawyer last night and he confirmed this was the case. It doesn't matter if it's 60 days or 600 years, the contract is completely over.

Also, the degree of adverse change doesn't matter a wit either. Michael could be paying one extra cent a month, and it would still be materially adverse.

Michael sent the following complaint letter...

(Photo: Meghann Marco)

to: robert.barish@verizon.com, suleiman.hessami@verizonbusiness.com, joseph.j.russo@verizon.com, robert.e.ingalls.jr@verizon.com, doreen.a.toben@verizon.com cc tips@consumerist.com date May 6, 2007 3:54 PM subject Need Immediate Assistance

To Whom it May Concern:

I cancelled my Verizon account on Friday, April 13th, 2007. I did this in response to a fee increase levied by Verizon in regards to text messages increasing from .10 to .15 per message. This directly and adversely affected me as I would send 10-20 text messages per month and the total would be $1.00 to $2.00. With the increase I would be "forced" to pay for a text messaging plan that I would not use completely.

I called your customer service and spoke with Diane who was in your Escalation Queue and after speaking with her for sometime, she agreed to waive the cancellation fee and noted my account accordingly. A few weeks later, I received my final bill in the mail stating that I indeed owed the $175 (see attached PDF). I called customer service once again and spoke with a Shamaya (pardon my spelling) and she did see that the account was approved for the waiving of the fee and promptly re-submitted it.

On Thursday, May 3, 2007, Shamaya left me a voicemail stating that we cannot honor this request, even though it was already approved and verified twice by your CSR's. I have attached the voicemail to this message as well for you to hear (if you are unable to receive a ZIP file please let me know and I can forward it on in another way.) Shamaya stated that I did not do this properly and it does not adversely affect me in anyway. Unfortunately, nor Shamaya or your company knows what adversely affects myself or my family.

I do not understand how I can go about this in any other way. Everything was approved and then the rug was ripped out from under my feet during this process. I am hoping by contacting you directly you can point me in the right direction to resolve this issue. Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

Michael K.

Good job, hold their feet to the fire. If those emails don't get you anywhere, try calling these 14 Verizon Executives' Phone Numbers. — BEN POPKEN

Call customer service. You will probably get "Chris" in India. Ask for what you want, like the credits on your bill due to overages. The front-line guy won't be able to do anything so escalate to his manager. Go through the same rigmarole, the goal being to get notes on your account. This manager won't make changes to your account either so ask for account services so you can cancel your account.

Never use the term retentions, it makes reps go on the defensive and they will treat you like you're fishing for deals. Instead, ask for "account services."

(Photo: Maulleigh)

Ask for specific, reasonable things, like new phone upgrades at discounted prices. Find a Sprint employee's email address and say they told you to use the SERO plan (Sprint Employee Referral Offer).

You can also try asking for

• % based savings off your monthly bill
• Waived upgrade activation fee (18 dollars)
• Waived activation fee (first line or add a line)
• Give a 25 Dollar Credit on your Next monthly bill when you purchase a new line
• Free shipping

The company only cares about one thing: new subscriptions. If you can manage to hand them a "new" subscription while getting yourself a new phone with discounted service, then it's wins all around.

— BEN POPKEN

Basically, if you returning it within 15 days and you bought it from an authorized reseller, they want you to go back to th reseller. Military can get their service put on hold for free for 18 months.

Apparently some people use this cellphone company that we never head of before working on this site and they might be interested. This document is for you.

— BEN POPKEN

RELATED: 8 Confessions of An Alltel Sales Rep

"Customers may terminate their contract without incurring an ETF soon after receiving their notification of the pricing change," T-Mobile spokesbot Peter Dobrow told RCR Wireless News.

It ain't some sort of sneaky consumer scam, it's actual contract law. Materially adverse changes to contract terms mean the contract can be canceled. Now don't all run out and get the iPhone at once. — BEN POPKEN

ETF can be waived over increased texting fee [RCR Wireless] (Thanks to Christopher!)
(Photo: jurvetson)

We enjoy how cagey the cellphone spokespersons quoted in the article were. You can practically see them squirm.

This is Liza's story as it originally ran on The Consumerist: Verizon Makes Customers Fax In Old Contract To Cancel Service Without Termination Fee

She followed the information in this post: Script For Escaping Verizon Contracts Without Fee, Based On Text Message Rate Raises.

Additional links related to canceling your cellphone without penalty, inside...

• Roundup: Readers Who Canceled Their Cellphones Without Termination Fee
"A selection of posts prompted by reader's success stories in canceling the cellphone service without early termination fee, and how they did it."

• Everything You Wanted To Know About Canceling Verizon But Were Afraid To Ask
"Step 1: Understand your rights. Verizon has changed their rates, and were obligated to issue a "Legal Notice."

• Script For Escaping Cingular Contracts Without Fee, Based On New Arbitration Clause
"Here's step by step script for escaping your Cingular contract over the new arbitration clause, without paying a fee."

• Cingular Arbitration Escape Script Addendum
"After trying our method, Jut said: "Finally on each call they gave me some type of hurdle that I couldn't bypass, like the need to have my original signed contract in hand, or that I needed to go into a brick-and-mortar store, or claiming the computers weren't working to pull up information they needed." We've got your handy rebuttal right here."

• Cancel Verzion By Moving to Cambodia

• UPDATE: Cancel Verizon By Moving to Cambodia

• Cancel Your Cellphone By Dying

• So You've Decided To Join The Army Just To Cancel Your Cellphone

If you've got any questions to ask or tips to share, just drop us a line at tips@consumerist.com.

— BEN POPKEN

• After Battle, Marie Gets Escapes Verizon Contract
"Lesson: booting your issue up to the VP of Customer Service really works."

• Verizon Makes Customers Fax In Old Contract To Cancel Service Without Termination Fee
"Once the supervisor saw the fax she didn't argue with me at all. I would recommend this tactic for anyone having trouble."

• Script For Escaping Verizon Contracts Without Fee, Based On Text Message Rate Raises
"Use this aggressive step-by-step script for leaving your Verizon contract early, without paying $175, in under 30 minutes."

• Cancel Verizon Without A Fee Even If You Have A Txt Msg Plan
"Reader Jonathan writes in to tell us how he canceled his Verizon contract without an early termination fee...even though he has a txt messaging plan."

• Script For Escaping Cingular Contracts Without Fee, Based On New Arbitration Clause
"We're not sure if it will work but this information comes to us courtesy of a very disgruntled customer who says he used it to cancel his contract after 8 years of service."

You might be put off by the underlying condescending tone, but retention reps usually have an hyper-developed sense of their own power. Probably because they do wield a great deal of power when you're trying to cancel your cellphone contract, and as he says, the relationship you build with him in the first two-minutes will make all the difference between a pleasant and a fractious parting with your cellphone company...

(Photo: gordasm)

Hi guys. I'm a CURRENT retention rep for T-Mobile USA. Here's some tips for your readers on how to handle the cancellation call - and some inside tips on our thought processes.

Be Patient. We're doing our job. - Face it folks, we want to talk to you about as much as you want to talk to us. If you genuinely want to end your service, then we'll take care of you. Just like you though, we do have requirements for our job that we must perform to keep it. I know you don't care at that point if I can save you money with a preferred plan. I know you don't want a new phone and contract from us. Just humor us for an extra 30 seconds and let us make our offer as is required so we can move on to taking care of your cancel request. Our goal is to have you squared away within 8 minutes of answering. Often times sooner - 480 seconds is a target for average resolution time. Those eight minutes will be a lot more pleasant if you...

Be friendly and courteous. - I know there are a handful of reps out there that for whatever reason are just (insert expletive here). Most of us though are in this job because we like what we do. I personally took this job because I like talking to people and solving problems. Those skills took me out of the general queues and into retention and high-value queues. Do whatever with the gen reps. When you're talking to a Customer Loyalty rep, though, your courtesy and conversation while we're doing you've requested will be appreciated and reflected back ten-fold. This will also go a long way to help you...

Get the best deal. - So you don't really want to cancel, but you, like countess others, understand the game. Threaten to cancel, get transferred to me, and get that POS RAZR for 29.99 shipped instead of 49.99 after rebate. This works great if you're fully qualified (11 or more months since previous 12 month contract phone purchase or 22 months since 2 yr contract phone purchase and on a 39.99 rate plan or higher for an equal or greater number of months since same purchase - but months suspended for no pay don't count as months towards upgrade) But if you're not fully qualified, you don't get the rebate for the RAZR, so the gen price is 99.99. My price is 79.99. If we've got good rapport going, I won't even mention that 79.99 price to you. I can change order forms in about two clicks of a mouse and get it for you at 29.99 if I'm feeling frisky (albeit against policy, and I'm usually not going to ask my coach to violate policy) and if you're treating me right. I'm not Monty Hall. This isn't Let's Make a Deal. Your kindness to me, and the relationship we build in the first 2 minutes of the call is going to determine if I am willing to sacrifice my policy compliance to keep you as a customer. I will do anything I can possibly do for you if you will understand that there are limits to what I can do, and if you will try to...

Understand the system. - When we give you a handset price, that's our price. We cannot override that. We cannot adjust handset costs. We cannot issue credits to offset handset costs. It is simply not an option. If you don't like the price, simply say no thank you. Don't ask for free service. Can't do that either. Once upon a time we had a 6th month free offer. That's gone. Code is unrecognized now. We CAN however often times set you up on grandfathered features. For example, you want a fat messaging package on your 2 line family plan. 19.95 per month for unlimited messaging for families is right up your alley. If you're renewing a contract, I'll add it (or even change your existing feature) with the old FTMSG999 code and hook you up at half price. I can work the system that way. I can't make the system give something free. Also understand that the fact that you've been with us since it was Arial/Voicestream/Powertel/Western Wireless is wonderful in our eyes. We truly do appreciate that loyalty. We also understand it's been 3 years since you last got a phone, and you need a new one. But please understand that you reached maximum discount eligibility 2 years and a month ago, and you're not entitled to anything different because you didn't take advantage of that eligibility yet. You'll still get a better deal than a new customer, and most of us will toss in whatever perks we can to you for that loyalty. Speaking of credits...

Adjustment guidelines. - The hard and fast rule in retention is that if you've been with us less than 10 months, the most credit we can give by policy is 50% of your monthly charges. After ten months, we can offer up to 100%. Doesn't mean you'll get that much (See tip #2), but that's the cap. If it's a situation where an adjustment is my only save strategy, here's my steps. Let's say that you get over to me because you gave a trigger statement to a gen rep since you were charged a $100 out of warranty fee for water damage on an exchanged handset. (bonus tip: triggers include asking contract end date, mentioning canceling service, mentioning another provider's offer - all this will get you transferred to me if your line has been active greater than 10 months) First off, I'd listen to you tell me all about how you never dropped it in water (while you fail to realize that leaving it on the shelf in the bath while you take your steaming morning shower also induces water damage indicators) and how you will not pay the fee, and if we don't take it off, you'll cancel. Great. Makes no difference to me. So don't pay it. You'll be canceled soon enough anyway, and it won't count against my numbers. While you're telling me how inept the manufacturer's return center is at diagnosing water damage on devices they specialize in, I'm looking first at your service start date, your contract details, then your payment history (to garner the total amount of your cash we deposited), and finally your adjustment history. So say you've been with us 38 months. In those 38 months, you've paid us 1600 dollars with an additional $400 in adjustments. So that means in just over 3 years, we've paid 25% of your bills for you in adjustments. Guess what percentage of your monthly charges I'm going to offer you? You guessed it - 25%. Now that may go higher, remember, I can go as high as 100%. That's where tip #2 again kicks in. But regardless, the only way you're getting a credit higher than one month's service is in a re-rate situation where you went over your minutes, and agree to a new contract for a new plan in exchange for crediting overage less cost difference between old and new plans. And since we're on the topic of plans...

Ask for a preferred plan. - So your new plan isn't working out anymore. Don't settle for what's on the website. Don't settle for what the gen rep gatekeeper tells you about. Talk to retention. Just mention "cancel" to the IVR. We've got a handful of unadvertised, current plans. A popular example is 1000 minutes, free nights and weekends for $39.99. What's the catch for saving 120 bucks a year over the regular offering? In this case, we sign you up for 2 more years. Only want one year? Take 800 minutes instead for the same price - and get 200 more minutes than the standard plan at that price point. And along those lines...

Don't fear the contract. - If you just signed a two year contract 6 months ago, all a 2 year contract does is add 6 months to the end. A one year in the same scenario doesn't change anything. If you're out of contract, every special offer I throw your way is going to have a contract attached. If the contract is the deal breaker, the one and only thing I'll do out of the ordinary for you is change you to a current advertised plan and waive the contract. I'll do that to save your line(s), but apart from that, I'll cut my losses and cancel as you wish.

Finally, Do your homework before you call. - Don't insult my intelligence and ask me to give you a Sidekick for free cause Sprint will. Don't tell me that AT&T is going to give you a thousand minute family plan and two new blackberries and BIS service for 49.99 a month with no contract. My response to that nonsense? "Wow! What a great deal Mr. Beayesser! Are you porting your T-Mobile number to AT&T? No? Well then let me tell you some basic information about cancellation as I prepare to cancel your account." If you're going to bluff, be aware that it may just be called.

Why is it this way?- The relationship/rapport aspect is based on the fact that a) it's common decency and b)it's the basis for about half of our quality score. We get good scores, we get bigger bonuses, more advancement opportunities, etc. Your job gives you one, maybe 2 performance reviews a year. Mine gives me 11 each month. Handset pricing: I don't know who sets the prices. All I know is that my order form tells me the price based on your personal account history. We simply have no way of lowering the price beyond a maximum lowest cost. Adjustment policy: T-Mobile is a business. We don't make money by giving money away. I damn sure don't like T-Mobile giving my money to anyone else, and I'm not going to do the same with theirs. If it's an invalid charge, we will credit it without fail. However if you used the service, you owe the bill. Contracts: Simple. It sweetens my pot. I get an above average hourly wage, a quarterly performance bonus based on quality scores and call resolution time. I also get two monthly bonuses. I get 400 bucks if I come in contact with a minimum number of subscribers (not accounts, but rather actual active lines) who are still active 30 days after my contact with them. For each additional 25 subscribers, I get another 25 bucks, no limit. Could you put an extra $1000 to use a month? Yeah, me too. The other monthly bonus gives me $2.50 for the first 60 contracts I set for customers in the 11th (or 22d) month of contract or later. After the first 60, it's $4 each. 200 contracts a month = $710. So yeah, it's worth it for me to "save" you. But, coming full circle now, if you just want to cancel, let me make my one offer so I can move along, get you on with your day, and get on to my next customer with 5 lines, all out of contract, wanting to get some new Nokias.

— BEN POPKEN

"Friday I received a voice mail on my cell from someone from the Executive Office. ...She had been forwarded the email that I had sent to the VP of Customer Service. She is letting me cancel with no early termination fees. She did say that people are allowed to cancel for the text messaging increase but not the administrative fee increase because with that they are just crediting people's accounts with the difference."

Excelsior!

Lesson: booting your issue up to the VP of Customer Service really works.

Interesting that the exec office person said they're not letting customers cancel over admin fees, because we've gotten reports of people using that with success. Guess that's just another case of corporate not accurately communicating policy to customer service, albeit, one that you can take advantage of. — BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY: Verizon Redefines "Materially Adverse" To Prevent Customer Cancellations
(Photo: Maulleigh)

On your February bill, Verizon noted that they increased the administration fee from $.40 to $.70. The pertinent section is shown above (click to enlarge).

This constitutes a material change to contract and under standard contract law, you're allowed to leave contract without penalty.

The customer service rep may argue that the change is too small for it to be considered materially averse. They will make you feel silly and small. They may keep talking over you. You just need to keep saying that you find it to be so, and please cancel your contract without early termination fee. — BEN POPKEN

Read her story and how she can fight back, inside...

I just had to say that those people at Verizon Wireless are relentless. After an hour on the phone even following the script I was not able to get out of the contract because of the price hike. The supervisor kept saying...."come on Marie...this not going to affect you at all." He basically said that is was not enough of a price change to qualify as a "Material Adverse Effect." But of course he could not tell a dollar amount that would be considered. I guarantee if I was short on my bill even $5 and just never paid that they would send me to collections. It just blows my mind that they can notify you of changes and tell you to look at your agreement but then not honor that agreement themselves. I almost want to cancel and pay the fee just so they do not get my business anymore. I did send in a complaint to the BBB and FCC. I realize it is a lost cause. Thanks for all the great articles. I love them. - Marie

Marie! It's not a lost cause! Any materially adverse effect is a materially adverse effect, whether it's $5 or $500. It's an on/off switch. Either something is materially adverse, or it isn't

We suggest calling back and trying again. Stick to your guns. Eat away their clock. Inform them that it's a breach of standard contract law to not let you leave.

Repeat this:

"If it is not a materially adverse effect, you would not have been legally obligated to send me a legal notice. Since I recieved one, this qualifies. cancel the account."

P.S. You can add the Public Utilities Commission as another place to file a complaint with. — BEN POPKEN

RELATED: Script For Escaping Verizon Contracts Without Fee, Based On Text Message Rate Raises
(Photo: Sam Wilkinson)

"...in regards to my personal work number being published on a website, consumerist.com, in regards to customers calling me personally in regards to their contact with Sprint..."

In the message, Judy advises customers to call Sprint's main line at 877-812-1223 and wait their turn for incompetent service just like anybody else.

We almost feel bad. Then we remember how evil retention department people are, how skilled in mental manipulation irregardless of the facts... and then it feels good. — BEN POPKEN

We've got a sample contract posted inside for you to fax in case you misplaced yours.

Liza writes:

I followed your advice to get out of my Verizon Wireless contact using the text messaging hike and it worked! Two different representatives made me fax in a scanned copy of my user agreement (something I DID NOT expect) before I finally got a supervisor on the phone. I had an old copy of a user agreement in a drawer, who knows if it was my most recent one, and scanned it and faxed it to VZW. Once the supervisor saw the fax she didn't argue with me at all. I would recommend this tactic for anyone having trouble. I'm out, with no fee, on the 25th! They're even letting me port my number if I do it in the next 10 days. Hooray! Thank you, consumerist! I'm attaching the scanned copies of my user agreement for you to post on the website so that anyone can use them, even if they've lost their copy.

— BEN POPKEN

benpopken: What does Sprint think of our "how to cancel without ETF posts" ?
philip: The honest truth? We laugh. Or rather, they.
benpopken: Why do they laugh?
philip: Here's the thing...

philip: Specialists are trained from day one that absolutely under no circumstances can the ETFs be waived for anything other than death (and obviously this one is subjective).
philip: So... The company failed to communicate we were ethically obligated to allow customers out of their contract.
benpopken: not to mention legally
philip: ...The change took effect at the beginning of October and it opened a 30 day window from the time you got your bill to cancel. Specialists weren't informed that it could be done until 10/17... Half our customer base had already been told no and they were not allowed to get out after they had already made a payment.
benpopken: Yeah people were having some troubles with that one
philip: Customer Care is always the last to be told.

This also certainly puts Cingular's intransigence in the face of customers trying to legitimately exit contract in a very interesting light. It means that somewhere along the line, someone inside Cingular actively decided they should flout standard contract law, just because it made them more money. Not like we didn't know this already. — BEN POPKEN

No longer will Verizon get to think they can carve their logo in your head for life.

The play turns on Verizon's recent raise in basic text-messaging rates from $.10 to $.15. We've laid out these steps before, but we enjoy Roosh's confrontational style. He created the script based on previous Consumerist posts and comments. He talked to three different reps in thirty minutes. Within an hour after hanging up, his phone was off.

Read how it's done, inside...

Roosh writes:

I canceled my verizon wireless service without a termination fee today. It took about 30 minutes and I had to talk to three people.

The tier 0 rep said she was transferring me to another department, but it was really just another tier 0 rep who was reading prompts. He said, "I will be more than happy to cancel your contract, but you will be charged $175." He tried to say texting was a feature and not part of the service. I escalated to a supervisor.

Supervisor first tried to sell me a text messaging plan. I told her I shouldn't have to pay a monthly fee to compensate for their increase. Then she said she would give me an UNLIMITED text plan for the remaining life of my contract. That caught me off-guard but I remained angry and pointed out that once the contract is over, I'd still have to pay more.

She then said, "Okay well now I see that you want to cancel no matter what for other reasons, instead of just the text messaging." Maybe she reads this site, I thought. But I stayed firm and said, "You can think whatever you want to think, but I am telling you I'm cancelling because of the text messaging increase. I'm angry that Verizon can just increase text messaging prices by 50%."

So she did it and my phone is being cut off within 24 hours, no termination fee.

I typed out a calling script and wrote down good answers to what would be common questions. Call prepared, be firm, and you will be free.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You will have a lot more difficulty arguing this if you're on a text-message plan. Be sure to cancel any text-message plans first before attempting.

Verizon Wireless Cancel Script

1. Note this section:

If you are not currently subscribed to a Messaging Package, beginning March 1, 2007, the price for sending TXT Messages to the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico - as well as the price for receiving TXT Messages from anywhere - will increase from $0.10 to $0.15 per message. The price to send an International TXT Message will remain $0.25 per message. If you do subscribe to a Messaging Package, your package rates will stay the same. Please consult your Customer Agreement for information about rate changes.

2. Call Verizon at (800) 922-0204

3. Ask them if the change applies to you. They will say yes.

4. Say, "I was also reading this section in my customer agreement," and read this aloud:

Our Rights To Make Changes Your service is subject to our business policies, practices, and procedures, which we can change without notice. 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, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE, JUST BY CALLING US WITHIN 60 DAYS AFTER WE SEND NOTICE OF THE CHANGE.

5. Say, "Because this 50% increase in text messaging has a material adverse affect on me, I would like to cancel my contract without a termination fee."

6. Escalate to supervisor when Tier 0 peon tells you to fuck off.

Answers to likely ploys:

VERIZON: "You don't have to use text messaging."

REBUTTAL: "But text messaging is part of the service that is spelled out in my contract for $.10 a message, which you are changing. As you can tell from my past usage, my network of friends and family have been using text messaging to communicate with me so even if I don't send any out, I will still be charged your 50% increase rate to read text messages, which I will continue to get and read because that is how people communicate with me. Plus not being able to text message would be an effective reduction in service, which is not what I signed up for."

VERIZON: "The increase is not materially adverse"

REBUTTAL: " Wrong, it is. If I'm sending or receiving an average of 100 texts/month (check my history for this because it is a conservative estimate), then your 50% increase is costing me $5 a month or $60 a year. My monthly bill is $55 a year, so if I decide to send Verizon one less payment each month, would they consider that adverse? Of course they would. You would cancel my service and send the amount to debt collectors. I'm confident any court of law will find $60 to be adverse. "

VERIZON: "Still, this is not materially adverse."

REBUTTAl: "Nowhere in your contract does not give a concrete definition of materially adverse. I'm telling you this is materially adverse, you know it's materially adverse, and I'm confident a court of law will side with me that it is materially adverse. What is the point of a contract if you can just arbitrarily increase prices by 50% and then tell users they can't cancel even though it's spelled out in that very contract? "

VERIZON: "Sorry we still cannot cancel your contract."

REBUTTAL: "I tried to be reasonable but I have no choice to fight this. You know I'm in the right. I will file a complaint with the FCC, BBB, and my state attorney's office about what I believe is fraud. You are not honoring a contract that you agreed with me, and this is not fair. I'm asking you nicely, can you please cancel my contract without termination fee, like it says I can do in my contract?"

VERIZON: "Sorry, we still cannot cancel your contract."

REBUTTAL: "Can I please have you name and ID number? I will be contacting your VP of Customer Service, Barbara Trinko, and complaining about the level of service you have provided with me today. Then I will call back tomorrow, and every day after that until you decide to change your mind. I will also offer you updates on the complaints I will be filing after I get off the phone with you."

VP customer sevice
Barbara Trinko

barbara.trinko@verizonwireless.com

Her assistant
Cindy Granroos.
cindy.granroos@verizonwireless.com

phone: 480-783-5052 or 602-206-6882

Now that you've canceled Verizon, you may want to sign up for a new cellphone provider. Check this post, "Wireless Number Portability: How to Keep Your Number" if you want to keep your phone number.

RELATED:
Everything You Wanted To Know About Canceling Verizon But Were Afraid To Ask
Break Your Verizon Contract Without Fee, Thanks to TXT Msg Raise

"only promised to let customers out of their contracts if we raised the price of a service they "subscribe" to. Pay per use SMS is not a service customers subscribe to."

Why do I need to subscribe to MEdia Net? Consider MEdia Net as the highway down which the Multimedia Messaging travels. MEdia Net bills separately from Multimedia Messaging. You can either subscribe to a MEdia Net package or pay per use. If you subscribe to the pay-per-use plan and don't ever use MEdia Net outside of Multimedia Messaging, you will never be charged. Learn more about MEdia Net packages.

Here, Cingular refers to a pay-per-use plan as a subscription. Also, if you don't use the function covered under the pay-per-use plan, you won't be charged. This is exactly the same as how text-messaging works. Therefore, since a = b, and b = c, then a = c, then text-messaging is a subscription.

Therefore, Cingular customers should be allowed to escape contract without early termination fee.

Cingular's not one to be stopped by mere logic. Andy tried the above approach, and Cingular told him to seek arbitration. Translation: Oh yeah? So sue us.

Someone should. — BEN POPKEN