As far as the other policies go: AT&T and Verizon have similar pro-rating plans, (for each month that goes by they deduct $5 from the ETF) but Verizon starts discounting earlier than AT&T, according to Consumer Reports.

When you look at 1 year contracts, T-Mobile's plan looks a lot better. Their discounts beat both AT&T and Verizon after 6 months. Also, if you cancel T-Mobile in the final month of either a 2 year or a 1 year contract, you'll have to pay either $50 or your monthly fee — whichever is less.

Something to watch out for: T-Mobile's trial period is only 20 days, while AT&T and Verizon both give you 30 days.

T-Mobile announces pro-rating of termination fees [Consumer Reports]

• AT&T - mymessages.wireless.att.com
  Preferences
• Verizon - vtext.com
  Text Messaging > Preferences > Text Blocking
• Sprint - www.sprint.com
  My Online Tools > Communication Tools > Settings & Preferences
• T-Mobile - www.t-mobile.com
  Communication Tools

"How to Block Cellphone Spam" [New York Times] (Thanks to Melinda!)
(Photo: justinbaeder)

Want to pay your wireless bill in an AT&T store? That'll be $2 extra for the "privilege" of handing it to a clerk. Want to pay your credit card bill over the phone? That will be $15.

The disparate impact of policies designed to discourage consumers from paying in cash—like the AT&T's in-store charge—falls squarely on the poor, many of whom do not have bank accounts. (Bank accounts are not particularly useful if you never have any money to keep in them.) AT&T says the poor should just suck it up and get pay-as-you-go phones.

But these policies are also an indication of how many companies really make their money these days: not from providing the service they purport to provide, but by nickel-and-diming customers with fees at every turn. Heck, some credit card companies have chucked all but the pretense of lending money and turned entirely to generating fees.

Maybe AT&T was just frustrated with its customers who paid their bills on time, and decided this was a good way to squeeze a bit more money out of them, too.

By comparison, the PC World columnist points out a recent AT&T letter he received that announces how AT&T will be using his account data for marketing purposes unless he jumps through some opt-out hoops online or by mail. "An opt-out (versus opt-in) policy is a lousy way to gain approval for using private data," he writes, "and frankly it ticks me off." Hooray for Loopt for recognizing privacy on some level.

"First Location-Based Cell Phone Ads Get Privacy Thumbs-Up" [PC World]

RELATED
"Loopt"

"AT&T to pro-rate early termination fee" [Seattle PI]

RELATED
"Carriers Promised Congress They'd Pro-Rate ETFs; Senator Asks Them, 'When?'"

Because the issue doesn't implicate Verizon's subscriber contracts, the plaintiffs claim the carrier's arbitration clause isn't enforceable.

"Suit alleges Verizon Wireless text service amounts to illegal gambling" [RCR Wireless]
(Photo: Jeff Kubina)

She's also threatening to place caps on fees for SMS services and data plans if carriers don't cut their rates.

Compare that to the U.S., where as recently as last week a lone congresswoman had to ask three national carriers when they were going to honor their promise to pro-rate ETFs, and AT&T Mobility wouldn't even answer her.

(Thanks to Sanjay, who says that in France there are already some carriers offering per-second billing.)

"EU wireless regulatory body looks into mobile phone billing - European Commission wants per-second mobile phone billing" [IntoMobile]
(Photo: World Economic Forum)

"Carrier ETF plans targeted" [RCRWireless News]
(Photo: Getty)

Saw your GoPhone post. I work with AT&T Corporate Communications, and wanted to clarify our policy related to this.

There is no activation fee with GoPhone. Customers can buy the GoPhone and activate but they cannot use service until they add airtime to their account. Customers can buy airtime for as little as $15 in over 200K locations. We do offer a promotion where if you buy $25 worth of airtime to start we will give you $10 in bonus airtime.

Customers also have an option if they are looking for a replacement device for postpaid to buy a Nokia 2610 for $39.99 in COR and not sign a contract extension. That program launched in mid-January.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Brad

RELATED
"AT&T Says They'll Charge $25 'Activation Fee' To Move SIM From A Broken Phone To A GoPhone"

Fortunately, Jason was able to resolve the issue. He wrote a detailed, very civil email to T-Mobile's executive support department—

I received a call this morning from Timothy in the Executive Response dept - they are going to issue a full refund as a "one time courtesy". :)

He admitted that the 2-3 day number that they give for batteries is a very over-the-top estimate. "The manufacturers charge the phones, and leave them on a desk until they die. There is zero usage during that time. Phones like the Sidekick are very well known for having only about 24 hours of battery life, because they are constantly sending/receiving data - whether you are actively using them or not."

Howard Forums is a great place to look for this information if you can't find it on an official carrier's website—here's T-Mobile's policy, for example. You should still verify the policy with the carrier at the time of purchase (from a printed document or a CSR, not a salesperson), so you're certain to have the most up to date information.

RELATED
"Buyer's Remorse AKA Trial Period for T-Mobile"
(Photo: Gizmodo)

One member of this forum posted a response he received from a Sprint CSR explaining why Sprint does this:

I understand your frustration. I also have a Touch and when I send pictures, I have to use the same method as Mary O outlined below.

Understand that Sprint uses CDMA technology to provide cellular and data usage to our customers. So, even though the phone may have been designed to send pictures a certain way, the phone had to be altered by HTC to work on our network. You may be able to send pictures as text messages on other networks, but the speeds of your data and the quality of your phone calls would not be as they are with Sprint.

We hear your feedback loud and clear. A lot of employees here at Sprint have the same phone as you and I and have to send pictures the same way.

Again, I am sorry for any inconvenience that this causes you on a daily basis. But please understand that if this feature was altered in some way, it was for the benefit of customers, not to aggravate them.

What's even more ridiculous is that the affected customers are paying for the same multimedia messaging plan that every other customer has—yet they're being artificially restricted from using MMS. One frustrated Sprint customer writes,

Sprint has started blocking the messages from their end and now claim that the feature isn't intended for these devices. It's a shame that they have taken this stance because a lot of people bought these expensive devices precisely because they are capable of all sorts of functions like multimedia, messaging, and web browsing.

The issue a lot of us have is that

• The devices are capable of sending MMS messages
• The same devices on other carriers can send these messages
• My plan includes these messages
• The device was advertised as being capable of multimedia messages
• I was sending the messages until recently
• The ability to send the messages is now blocked

(Cage photo: Getty)

Within five years, Pizza Hut aims to earn half its revenue from orders placed via computers and mobile phones, he said.

Pizza Hut is not the first to offer mobile ordering services, but the Dallas-based company says its service is the broadest and most comprehensive.

Domino's in September gave customers with Web-enabled phones the option to place mobile orders at nearly half of its 5,100 U.S. restaurants.

"Pizza Hut rolls out nationwide mobile ordering" [Reuters]

It would be maps of shopping malls in your metro area, downloadable to your cell. But that's just the start of it. I would then envision participating shopping centers being outfitted with technology that could hone in on your cell signal when you activate this application on your cell. If you are looking for a specific store in the mall, you would then enter a voice command: such as "Wet Seal."

Your request would go to a database located on a server in the mall. The server would then retrieve Wet Seal's location in the mall from the database, and then compare that location with where you are at present. Optimally, this information could be derived from triangulating the source of your cell signal. More practically, your location could be obtained by you reciting the name of the nearest store to your current position.

Using your current location as Point A, and your desired destination within the mall as Point B, you would then receive a set of directions on your phone. You then should be able to play them back as talking directions. Just like your larger-world, outside-the-mall GPS or navigation system may be able to do right now.

Shaw thinks one way the service could pay for itself is as "a value-add for carriers, who might charge shopping malls a modest participation fee for being in the database"—but we think that's a very 1990s business model, and we'd prefer carriers be cut out of it completely since they don't play well with others. Much better is his idea that "individual retailers who would like to be in their mall's geolocator database could pay for ads" that would appear within the application. (Yes, we know, more ads. Someday you'll be able to pay for surgery with ads, and for the rest of your life your femur will broadcast little text messages to any RFID-equipped device that passes within 15 inches.) Even better than that, we think, is a model that doesn't tap the consumer for payment, whether in cash or ad views—if the service was helpful enough to increase shopping activity for a retailer, it should pay for itself.

"The best mobile application idea I can think of..shopping mall geolocation services!!" [ZDNet]
(Photo: Getty)

The mobile version of the site has been tested with Opera Mini, but supposedly works with any mobile browser that can handle SSL connections.

"Wesabe's New Mobile Finance Site Helps Track the 'Latte Factor'" [Wired]

RELATED
m.wesabe.com (Wesabe account needed to login)

Some things we'd like to see:

• hardware functionality — what do those buttons on the side of the phone do?
• more soft key functionality
• realistic interface animations - we know using Flash breaks hardcore usability principles, but it would also allow customers to better see how the interface really functions
• sounds
• more phone models — offering only four is a joke

"TryPhone allows you to test-drive handsets before buying them" [IntoMobile]

RELATED
TryPhone

Just a few hours earlier today I had spoken with a T-Mobile CS rep and he didn't mention it to me. At that time he recapped my entire plan and the cost of each item, including my $29.99 internet plan.

I'm pretty sure they would not have
lowered my rate if I hadn't seen it on the website and called in to
ask for it. I'm sure a lot of people would like to know they can save
$10 a month without a change in service.

(Thanks to Bamboozler!)

Survey respondents were mainly dissatisfied with mandatory contract extensions imposed on them by wireless carriers, as well as the high cost of service. More than 60% of respondents that made changes to their service plan last year were required to extend their contract. In some cases, carriers aren't upfront with customers about extensions so the 60% survey result might downplay the problem, according to Consumer Reports.

"More Than Half Of Cell Phone Users Dissatisfied: Consumer Reports Survey" [Information Week]
"Consumer Reports study garners rave reviews for iPhone, Verizon
" [Daily News]

RELATED
Consumer Reports
(Photo: Getty)

We thought maybe it was a non-taxable, refundable security deposit, mainly because on their website, when you first select the phone to rent, it says DEPOSIT, and then when you agree to the transaction later on, they call it a SECURITY DEPOSIT and use the word "refund":

So now you know: if you do business with Cellular Abroad, be prepared to pay unnecessary taxes on your refundable security deposit we mean purchase price.

(thanks to Joanna!)

The Wall Street Journal says Google will announce its general phone plans for 2008 sometime in the middle of November, which we hope will clear things up. In the meantime, someone at Google should maybe remind the others that talking about business opportunities with a U.S. cell phone carrier doesn't quite fall into the "do no evil" category.

"Google in talks with Verizon Wireless: sources" [Reuters]

This is where it gets fun, because at this point LetsTalk entered into a creative game of empty promises and excuses (for a while it was a "computer glitch"). Then, in a particularly ballsy move, they told Brandon that they reserved the right to change their prices at any time as per their fine print.

He found the fine print:

Despite our best efforts to keep pricing information accurate, there may be rare occasions when our pricing is outdated. We reserve the right to update our prices at any time, but will always contact you to confirm any change before you are charged or before products are shipped.

Our primary advice in this sort of situation is to return the phone immediately, and in this particular case consider filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. He can also call LetsTalk's corporate offices in San Francisco at 415-357-7600. As of March of this year, their CEO was Delly Tamer, so look for that name in the corporate directory rather than leaving a message in the "general mailbox."

After threatening legal action, Brandon said they agreed to a return, but he'd already canceled his old plan and decided to stick with the new one. So we'll modify our advice for other readers, in recognition of how difficult it is to get untangled from a new cell phone deal that's gone sour: if LetsTalk puts your phone on backorder, cancel the order and look for something else rather than risk a similar pricing/CSR nightmare.

RELATED
Better Business Bureau customer complaint form
2005 post that contains contact info

A lawyer for the Consumers Union sums it up quite nicely:

Contract extensions and early termination fees are the #1 consumer annoyance with the wireless industry. Consumers are powerless to negotiate better terms with their cell phone carrier, but this bill would help to level the playing field.

"U.S. curbs sought on fees to quit wireless contracts" [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)

Even worse, you don't "own" the ringtones you buy from carriers—they disappear after a period of time, and you have to pay another $2-3 for new ones.

As Pogue points out, there are several ways to sneak around Apple's iPhone security and put any damned ringtone you like on your phone. We can also happily confirm that the last two Nokia models we bought had no restrictions on setting mp3 and certain other audio formats as ringtones (On our latest model, we can assign a different mp3 file to every number in our address book. If we were insane. Which we might be, with this whole "royal we" thing.)

The ringtone sham industry is an example of carriers intentionally throttling access to phone features so that they can make money off of what you're able to do for free with a song you already own and a free audio editing program like Audacity, provided you don't buy a "subsidized" phone that's been locked down with specialized software.

If you're the type of person who loves custom ringtones, you might want to work out how long you plan on owning your phone and how many ringtones you think you'll buy over its lifespan—it could work out cheaper to just buy an unlocked phone that you actually control.

"A Baffling New Phenomenon: Customized Ringtones" [New York Times]
(Photo: Getty)

In a given month, I currently use about 400 whenever minutes, about 5.8 megabytes of bandwidth (mostly e-mail), and send and receive about 140 text messages. For that, I pay about $68/month for a Blackberry minutes and mail plan.

If I wanted to go prepaid with T-Mobile, I would have to switch to a Sidekick to get internet and e-mail. 400 minutes would cost about $50. Unlimited e-mail is another $1/day, or about $30/month. Text messages are $.10 to send, $.05 to receive, or about $21/month.

So at my current usage, I would spend $101/month for the equivalent usage (not counting the cost of purchasing a Sidekick). Without the internet and e-mail, though, the cost of switch would only be about $4/month, plus the new handset. Not bad.

If you don't use internet and e-mail on your phone, it might be worth it to switch to a prepaid system, which gives you freedom to change providers whenever you want as well as the freedom from "surprise" charges. Plus, then you can bug your parents for minutes for your birthday instead of another useless 32MB flash drive. — SAM GLOVER

• T-Mobile price matches. "T-Mobile has a policy that they do not advertise that is called a price match guarantee. This states that they can honor any price that has been printed (advertisement), as long as the terms and conditions are the same as T-Mobile's. It also states that you can get an account credit if the price of the phone goes down within 30 days. "

• T-Mobile lets reps give away accessories. "Most reps have the ability to give away accessories for free without checking with their managers. If we give any bit of discount, we don't get paid out on the accessory so you might as well ask for it for free. Things like waived activation or discounts on phones can be done, but usually through the manager or senior sales reps permission."

• Use features to get free stuff, avoid insurance. "As other reps have stated, features are a big portion for reps. Any data feature nets the rep some extra cash. Use that to your advantage and ask them to throw in some accessories if you buy unlimited messaging or t-zones. The only thing that does not earn us money is insurance, so stay away from that one."

• Shop at the end of the month. T-mobile has a quota system for reps. They'll be more generous at the end of the month. "Go in to purchase service during the last 5 days of the month. This is the time that is most crucial for store reps and their managers. They need to make sure to get quota, and everyone is more lenient during the end of the month." If it's not the end of the month, you can still try to take advantage: "If you have already been approved for service and you are not offered the deal that you want, give the rep your phone number and tell them to call you when they can give you a good deal. I had a customer do this and get what they want on the last day of the month because we were 2 activations short of goal."

• Never get a 2 year contract. "As the VZW rep said, only sign a one year contract. Yeah you have to pay 50 bucks more, but you can upgrade again in 11 months. "

• Your rate plan doesn't mean anything at T-Mobile. "At T-mobile, we don't get paid very much on how high the rate plan is, so don't push that you are going to spend a lot on the plan. We care about the accessories and the features. "

• Get your rebate at the store and on-line. "As the cingy guy said, if you ask and get an in-store instant rebate, you can still find the mail in rebate at www.tmobilerebates.com. The rebate center will still honor it."

• Get free stuff by calling within 14 days and threatening to switch to another carrier. "If you want to squeeze a bit more out of the deal and you are within 14 days of new service, call the store and ask to speak to the rep that helped you. Remind him/her who you are, and ask what you need to do to cancel. This will set off alarms in the reps head since you are their customer, and they will get a chargeback if you cancel. When they ask why you want to know how to cancel, let them know that you have been offered a deal for a similar type phone for the same price from a DIFFERENT carrier, but with a couple free accessories and waived activation. Most likely the rep will try to offer you a free accessory to stay with us, being as how they worked hard at getting you to sign that initial contract and don't want to lose the sale. You have to tell the rep it is a different carrier because if you say its another Tmobile store, the rep will not lose the credit if you cancel and sign back up with a different store. "

• Replace a broken T-mobile phone with a prepaid one."Go to Walmart and buy a T-Mobile prepaid phone. Your contract sim card will work in the phone no problem, and there is NO difference (software or hardware wise) between a prepaid phone and one that is upgraded with contract. Then put the prepaid activation code and sim card up on ebay, and make $10. (from what I hear, this is the same with Cingular and Verizon)"

• Upgrade over the phone, not in a store. At T-Mobile, reps don't get paid much for upgrades and don't care if you get a deal on a phone. Upgrade over the phone to get the best deal.
"If you are out of contract, you have a bargaining chip with customer care over the phone. Ask for a cheaper price on a phone, or a "preferred" rate plan that's cheaper but gives you the same amount of minutes. If you have been a good customer and made payments on time, you have a good chance of getting a discount. T-Mobile corporate store reps cannot discount the upgrade price at all in store. We don't make very much money off an upgrade, and many will spend less time with you if its busy. Go in during a off-peak time if you want an honest opinion or to chat about the phones. There is nothing worse for us than to get an hour-long upgrade on a Saturday and watch as our coworkers are getting new lines and getting paid."

• Unlock your phone. Immediately call into customer care and ask to have your phone unlocked. Unlocking your phone allows your phone to be used with any GSM carrier (Cingular is the only other national US carrier). T-mobile will unlock your phone for free at anytime during or after you contract. Once you unlock your phone, you can now use a cingular sim card or any sim card in the world. Whether or not you plan on traveling, you have still increased the resell value of your phone by quite a bit.

Would you like to confess to the Consumerist? Do you work at Alltel or US Cellular? Best Buy? Office Max? Walmart? Microsoft? Dell? Toyota? Ford? United Airlines? Delta? JetBlue? Do you have a job? We want to hear your confessions. tips [at] consumerist [dot] com. Your job sucks and you're not appreciated. Heal with us. —MEGHANN MARCO

(Photo: medalian1)

UPDATE: Another T-Mobile rep rebutts some of the statements made above:

Being a TMO sales rep myself and having been with the company for over three years, I must point out a few possible inaccuracies in the other rep's post on Consumerist:

Most reps have the ability to give away accessories for free without checking with their managers. If we give any bit of discount, we don't get paid out on the accessory so you might as well ask for it for free. Things like waived activation or discounts on phones can be done, but usually through the manager or senior sales reps permission.

This may be true in that rep's market or area, but is most certainly not true in many markets across the country. For example, in my area, management forbids any sort of discounting on accessories at all without a darn good reason, so unless you're getting four or five new lines, don't expect this to happen. The prices of accessories are what they are. YMMV. (Although, activation fees are waived pretty regularly in my market.)

Go to Walmart and buy a T-Mobile prepaid phone. Your contract sim card will work in the phone no problem, and there is NO difference (software or hardware wise) between a prepaid phone and one that is upgraded with contract. Then put the prepaid activation code and sim card up on ebay, and make $10. (from what I hear, this is the same with Cingular and Verizon)

Don't expect a rep in a store to suggest this, as it's considered commission fraud and I've seen reps reprimanded and terminated for suggesting it to customers.

T-mobile will unlock your phone for free at anytime during or after you contract.

This is completely false. TMO will unlock a phone at your request, but you must have continuous service with us for at least 90 days, be an active customer (not suspended or canceled) and in good standing.

RELATED:
6 Confessions Of A Former Sprint Sales Rep
7 Confessions of a Cingular Sales Rep
8 Confessions Of A Former Verizon Sales Rep

Apparently, Verizon ties 3 addresses to your account which can all be different. There's your BILLING address, YOUR address and your CELLPHONE'S address. The tax rate is tied to where your CELLPHONE resides which can be completely arbitrary for all they care.

Well, my previous internet search also revealed that Nevada (1.14%) had the lowest tax rate of all the states. So I arbitrarily decided that my cellphone was going to live in Nevada. Not hiding my shadiness, I asked the cheery CSR if I could change my cellphone's address to someplace in Nevada instead of Colorado. "As long as it's a valid address", he said. One more internet search quickly revealed a valid Nevada address, some random electronics store in Elko. And just like that, my cellphone had a new home and taxing entity.

On further consideration, I realized it would have been more fun to ironically use the address for a Verizon Wireless store located in the Silver State, but oh well, maybe next time I upgrade.

(Photo: itjournalist)

My current cell phone bill is $8,677.29. I had Cingular since 2003. In November of 2006 I purchased the Cingular 8125 Pocket PC. I loved it. I had a cell phone that could access the internet and my bills were about $100 a month. After 2 months I cancelled the internet option because I wanted a smaller cell phone bill. After about 3 weeks of not having my internet I requested that they turned it back on. They did.

Now my bill went from an average monthly bill of less than $100 to $8,677.29. It had something to do with my data transfer rate. Obviously, they did not give me my original plan. Instead they gave me some $8,677.29/month plan.

I have filed a complaint with the BBB and the FCC. I still have not been able to resolve this issue. Cingular told me they will get back to me "soon." I'm really worried that I may get stuck with this bill. This is devastating me.

Fix this, and we might even start calling you "Cingular, now part of the new AT&T" in a perky robot-voice like that douchebag host of American Idol. Nah. We won't. But you should still fix Eddie's bill. —MEGHANN MARCO

(Photo:Justinbaeder)

A former Verizon sales rep, let's call him Steve, wrote to us recently offering insider advice to all Consumerist readers. We were excited because by knowing how the sales force at Verizon are compensated, consumers can get an edge when haggling over a new phone. What? Haggling!? Over a phone!? Yes, even you can do it. Verizon Steve confesses all he knows, from the simple to the sublime...:

• Never get a 2-year contract. "The only benefit to a 2 yr contract is a $50 savings on your phone. Its not worth it. Take the $50 and get a 1 year then you can upgrade to a new phone every 10 months."

• Verizon reps get tons of money from new lines and certain accessories and text packages, take advantage of this. They won't let a new customer walk out the door. "Play hardball, they will do anything to get the new lines. VZW makes $ off the service, not the phones. Tell them you don't want to mail in the rebate. There does come a point of diminishing returns. For example, if you walked in and wanted a $39 plan and a free Treo 700, not gonna happen. But I have given away almost every non-PDA phone in the store for the right deal. Also tell them you will buy the accessories, and text package. Trust me here, these are 2 of the biggest metrics for the reps. Return the accessories the next day and call customer care to cancel your text package."

• Mention the lost or stolen program to get 25% off a new phone, even if you're under contract. Who's to say you didn't lose it?

• If you're on a rate plan of $59.99 or higher, you can get "a new phone (and new contract) for the discounted price after 12 months."

• Insurance is a rip-off. It costs too much and has a $50 deductible.

• Tell them you'll sign up for the Unlimited Data Plan with your Treo. "Speaking of Treos, often they offer an extra $100 off if you get the Unlimited data plan. Get it.. Save $100 and cancel it the next day if you don't want it. The leverage here is amazing also because that high end data package counts as a new activation in a roundabout way for the rep. None of the data packages are contractual. I use to tell the customers this just to save them $."

• Reps don't get as much money if you're still in a contract. If you upgrade on the phone with Verizon, the store reps won't be as motivated to help you.

• Ask for a loyalty credit on the phone before going to the store. "One way to work the system if you have New Every 2 and are out of contract is to call customer care, have them put you back into contract, but ask for a loyalty credit (up to $60 off your next months bill), then go into the retail store and use your New Every 2. The two credits can't be combined and that is the only way to get both. I've never seen this not work, although they could technically say that you already got a credit, but the system are not that informative and I have never seen that happen. Just make sure you know the contract rules for VZW in your state, and make sure you go to the store in time to cancel the new contract in case you cant use the NE2."

Work for Cingular, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile and want to confess? Write to us at tips [at] consumerist [dot] com.—MEGHANN MARCO
(Photo:cmorran123)

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE POSTS USEFUL

• HOW TO Reach Executive Customer Service

• Sprint CEO's Phone Number, And 25 Other Sprint Execs'

• 14 Verizon Executives' Phone Numbers

• 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.

Did I want to Top Up? Did I want to Upgrade My Account? Did I want to Buy An Amazing New Phone? No, no, no. I wanted to get rid of my old and mediocre phone and wash my hands of my old account. JUST LET ME OUT! my mind (and occasionally my mouth) screamed. I WANT THE NO HASSLE NO CONTRACT PART. By that point I would've rather paid a cancellation fee. Any supposed benefits to "no commitment" phones were mercilessly mocking me.

I waded through a number of menus and somehow ended up on hold for a very long time. My mother frolicked with the Nintendo Wii in our family room. I stayed on hold. She bowled a strike. I stayed on hold. She hit a home run. I stayed on hold. Generations passed before my eyes, and I was on hold. Life went on around me. Children graduated from high school. And I was on hold.

No commitment, no hassle? Right.

Eventually I got through to a human being. I told him I would like to cancel my account. He asked me why. I wanted to scream that it was because my mother was playing with the Wii and I was aging and I liked my new phone and I hate it when people spell "you" with only a U and WHERE ARE THE NO COMMITMENT PARTS but I just said I found a better deal somewhere else.

Sarah writes:

A friend mentioned informing all of you about this, so I am doing that. This is a copy of an email I sent to Virgin Mobile a week ago. I decided to just have fun with it, because I am realizing that getting them to do anything or respond in any way is like... doing something very impossible that I lack the proper metaphor to describe.

Email:

I am extremely frustrated with the lack of service I have received. A few weeks ago, I decided to switch cell phone providers, because it was far too expensive to stick with Virgin Mobile prepaid. I got a much better deal elsewhere, and so I got a new cell phone plan. I have a relative who is still with Virgin Mobile and I told her I would give her my old phone as soon as I got my new one. She was quite excited and looked forward to receiving it. I looked forward to giving it to her. All seemed right. After all, the entire purpose of prepaid was the lack of contract. No contract! No commitment! What could be better?

Many, many things, apparently. After repeatedly searching the website, I could find no information on how to cancel my account with Virgin Mobile. I understand that this is not something that any company wants to encourage people to do, but making it completely impossible to find the information is not exactly the best course of action. It does not make me want to stay with your company, and even if I had been considering staying in the slightest, the idea would have been completely banished from my mind upon finding out that the information wasn't readily available. Such a move seems irresponsible at best, and at worst, childish. I decided to leave it alone: it was prepaid, after all. No contracts! I figured I would just spend the remaining dollar-something in my account and switch the phone over to her.

I tried spending all my money; I couldn't. I had too little to spend and too much to fully expire. For a no-contract no-hassle no-commitment phone plan, I was starting to feel very tied down by that last 16 cents. I delayed the horror of trying to deal with customer service for as long as I could but it was inevitable. If I wanted to switch the phone to her account, I was clearly going to have to do something more drastic. So I called the dreaded number.

After listening to a number of unnecessarily jovial options (all of them very pro-Virgin Mobile. Like I said, I understand that a company wants business, but it was ridiculous). Did I want to Top Up? Did I want to Upgrade My Account? Did I want to Buy An Amazing New Phone? No, no, no. I wanted to get rid of my old and mediocre phone and wash my hands of my old account. JUST LET ME OUT! my mind (and occasionally my mouth) screamed. I WANT THE NO HASSLE NO CONTRACT PART. By that point I would've rather paid a cancellation fee. Any supposed benefits to "no commitment" phones were mercilessly mocking me.

I waded through a number of menus and somehow ended up on hold for a very long time. My mother frolicked with the Nintendo Wii in our family room. I stayed on hold. She bowled a strike. I stayed on hold. She hit a home run. I stayed on hold. Generations passed before my eyes, and I was on hold. Life went on around me. Children graduated from high school. And I was on hold.

No commitment, no hassle? Right.

Eventually I got through to a human being. I told him I would like to cancel my account. He asked me why. I wanted to scream that it was because my mother was playing with the Wii and I was aging and I liked my new phone and I hate it when people spell "you" with only a U and WHERE ARE THE NO COMMITMENT PARTS but I just said I found a better deal somewhere else. He was sorry to hear that. I wasn't. Eventually he said he would cancel my account. I went on hold for a while longer. I came back. I was told something about 60 days and 90 days and I don't know what it was. I don't want 60 days, I don't want 90 days, I don't want 60 seconds. I want my account cancelled. Done. I am through. If I had ever even wanted to consider coming back, that moment is now going. It is over. I want out. We are done. This relationship is no longer working.

I asked him about transferring my phone. He said it would be no problem.

It has been a week and it is still a problem. I am not sure what part of CANCEL MY ACCOUNT is hard to understand, but here it is again: CANCEL MY ACCOUNT. I AM DONE WITH VIRGIN MOBILE. DONE. END IT. DELETE MY INFORMATION. LET ME SWITCH THE PHONE AND BE DONE WITH THIS. There is no reason to perpetuate the insanity any longer.

My phone serial number is ****. Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, switch that phone over to ****. It is not stolen. It is not missing. It is not a mistake. The phone is just waiting to be used by someone who will enjoy it. I am not going to wait sixty or ninety days to switch my phone to her account. I am done with it RIGHT NOW. I was done with it a week ago.

***

They have not replied in any way, not even a form letter. The phone still can't be switched.

Bank of America's free mobile banking service, delivers more convenience and control to customers by providing secure access to their banking information anywhere, anytime. The bank is launching the service in Tennessee beginning in March and will roll mobile banking out to markets across the country through mid-year.

The key is to scratch of the logo without leaving and marks on the surface of the phone (in my case PDA). Sugar works perfectly.

How to remove Logos from your PDA / cell phone with sugar [Instructables via BoingBoing]

I searched the transcripts of both the investor conference call yesterday with Cingular, and another today with AT&T, and neither says anything like that at all. In fact, the Street.com story is dated yesterday, and AT&T didn't even hold its call until this morning. I also talked to Cingular spokesman Mark Siegel, who said that the company has not announced any details on service plans for iPhone users yet, and won't do so until shortly before launch.

Yeah, free service? We didn't think so. —MEGHANN MARCO

Apple: Cingular To Give Away Free Service With iPhones? Don't Believe Everything You Read [Barron's]

Mobile phone use 'linked to tumour' [Telegraph via Gizmodo]

Cramer said "AT&T is one of the most interesting stories coming out of the tech period. In its call, the company made it very clear that it's going to use Apple's iPhone to get customers from Verizon Wireless by giving away its service for a year and a half to those customers who buy the phone."

Pardon us for being skeptics, but generally that's not how cell phone companies work. Typically, as you well know, cell phone companies use discounts or rebates on phones to encourage customers to sign contracts at a specific rate plan level. For example: Sign at $39.99 for 2 years and you'll qualify for whatever phone, etc. It doesn't make any sense for AT&T to give away cell service outright to Verizon customers or anyone else. Then again, if AT&T has gone psychotic, perhaps this is a way to lure people away from Verizon. "Get an iPhone now, don't pay for service until your Verizon contract is up." That sounds insane to us.

So what did this guy really mean? We're not sure, but we think it's likely that AT&T will be introducing new bundles and discounts to go with the iPhone. Maybe they'll bundle wired service and internet with the iPhone, or perhaps there will be deep discounts in service rather than the iPhone itself, but we doubt they'll just give service away. Then again, we did not manage a hedge fund and we are not host of anything on CNBC. And AT&T is insane.—MEGHANN MARCO

The Street.com TV Recap [TheStreet]

Cingular's outlook is pretty rosy lately.We wonder how much of an effect the iPhone will have on drawing new customers? And if Cingular can keep all these new customers happy....—MEGHANN MARCO

Cingular quarterly profit surges on new customers [Reuters]

Suspected cell phone spammers sued [SJ-R]

Madison Avenue Calling [New York Times]