As I was getting into my car to go to work a Fed Ex Express van pulled up behind me. It was my replacement Jawbone from Aliph. I definitely wasn't expecting it to be overnighted to me.

I opened the box and inside with the brand new Jawbone was a hand written note from Lindsey Cromwell who is Richard's executive assistant. Also include were 2 Jawbone car chargers and 2 sets of their new earbuds which was another unexpected surprise.

This was a great customer service experience!

Excellent. Horrible problem reported Monday night, no-questions replacement + personalized prizepack received Wednesday morning, going from Jawbone melting to jaw-droppingly good customer service. You just earned yourselves a place in the "Above and Beyond" hall of fame!

PREVIOUSLY: My Jawbone Melted

Bill says:

I had a $500 billing dispute with T-mobile. Long story short: I lost my phone. Got a new one through their insurance program that was configured incorrectly (wasn't using WIFI to make free phone calls) and was charged for tons of minutes that should have been free.

After being rebuffed by customer service and eventually having my phone disconnected, I filed a claim with the BBB and then, when that seemingly had no effect, performing an EECB, emailing the CEO, VP of external affairs, and VP of customer service of T-mobile.

The result:

I received a phone call the next day (today) from someone from the T-mobile "Executive Response" team. The woman explained that she was calling because of the email I had sent (EECB = Success!). She then explained that she was surprised that the BBB said T-mobile did not response because they, in fact, had. In addition, she said that she removed the charges from my account almost 2 weeks ago and left me 2 voice mails (which I never received) saying as such. She was very appreciative that I forwarded her the email the BBB had sent me, because she seemed quite anxious to resolve the situation with them...even though they are not a BBB accredited business they still respond to their claims.

Summation: The BBB and EECBs DO work. Thanks for the tips, Consumerist!

For more information about launching your own EECB, click here.

(Photo: cmorran123 )

Smoke began pouring out of Marc's Jawbone cellphone headset last night:

I purchased a new Aliph Jawbone 2 directly from Aliph back in July. I owned an original Jawbone and was happy to see it shrink in size. It's been working extremely well and I haven't had any issues with it...until last night.

I connected my charger to a USB port on my computer and I charged my headset like I have any other time. I was on my computer doing some web surfing when I noticed a burning smell. I look over at my headset and saw smoke coming out of it.

I immediately disconnected it from the charger but the smoke kept coming. I noticed that it was also getting hotter. I didn't want it to burst into flames so I ran into the bathroom and ran it under the faucet. I've attached some photos showing what ended up happening to the headset.

I contacted Aliph support and was told that since it's not a technical issue that they could fix (really?) that my issue would be forwarded to a specialist. I'm still waiting to get a call back and will update once I do.

Must have been one too many steamy calls on the $.99 per minute lines.

Stephanie writes:

I did my research and found out that Credo Mobile (a MVNO piggybacking on the Spring network) is offering $200 towards cancellation fees on your current cell phone plan. So, I called my cell phone provider, Verizon Wireless, and explained that I'd been a loyal customer and that my contract was due to expire in less than three months but that Sprint had this great offer and that I was considering switching. They representative told me that Sprint's coverage sucked and she was sorry to hear that I was considering a switch, and offered to give me a month free! She put me on hold and within two minutes she came back on and confirmed that I'd been given an $80 credit on my bill.

I couldn't believe how easy it was.

Next I called Comcast. I was more than a bit intimidated, because I've had issues with Comcast in the past, but I figured I'd give it a try anyway. I tried the same tactic: loyal customer, can you give me a break on my bill. The customer service rep played hard ball. I told him that their website had all kinds of deals. He said they were only for new customers. I told him Verizon Fios was offering deals. He wouldn't budge.

Finally, I said, "Would Comcast rather I switch to another company?" He finally said he would check for any promotional offers. He put me on hold and said he could knock off $25 from my bill for the next six months.

So, I just wanted to say thanks.

RELATED: Consumer 101: 3 Ways To Lower Your Out Of Control Cable, Internet And Phone Bills

Here's the fee notice:

Administrative Charge
Effective Jan. 1, 2009, the Administrative
Charge will increase to $0.99 per line. For
details on surcharges, please see Sprint Terms
& Conditions or visit sprint.com/taxesandfees

And Matt's story:

I called sprint with the bill (with the exact wording) open, and their taxes and fees site (sprint.com/taxesandfees). First I got a normal CS rep, asked about getting an ETF waiver because of this "materially adverse" change, she said no, but that she would transfer me to an "account specialist" (retentions).

Was transferred to retentions, got a woman who also said no. We debated a little bit, me asking why it wasn't materially adverse, her saying because its a fee, etc etc. Once I realized I was going no where with her I asked to speak to somebody else. Apparently I got to talk to the King of Retentions, or something.

I remember this part the best, because he picks up the phone and says "Hello! I heard you had a question about one of our government mandate fees?" This really set me off. I had been saying the whole time it was their administrative fee and picture message increase. Anyways, we debated, a lot. Basically the only key was to never stop. He kept saying they could change their fees at any time, it even says so in their T&Cs. I pointed out how that was not valid, and how it was the whole point of a contract that both parties agree to the terms as presented, and how could you agree to terms in advance? After about 10 minutes of this I said "is there anybody else I can talk to" and he said "no, I'm the end of the line before you cancel", and then he said "Do you want the number to legal" and I said "yes!".

I was put on hold for about 10 minutes, when he came back he was much much nicer. He said they couldn't ETF free it now because it hadn't affected the account. I told him the reason I called now is because I wasn't to make sure paying the Nov bill is "agreeing" with the change (I'm sure if I called back in Jan there would have been nothing that could have been done). I said ETF free in Jan was reasonable, and asked him to put the note on the account to let me cancel ETF free in January if the account was affected by the change, he obliged.

Called back the next day, and the note was there.

Yes, the account is still not canceled. Yes, that note could mysteriously disappear. But Matt was able to go most of the way towards getting it ready to be cancelled once that new fee starts hitting the account. He just needs to go the next step. He needs to argue with them that it doesn't matter if it hasn't hit the account yet, the terms of the contract have changed. That alone gives him sufficient reason. If they respond by waiving the surcharge, he should insist that the contract has still been changed.

Just because it's in the terms and conditions that they can change the contract doesn't make it so. Ski lodges can make you sign death waivers but if you really do bust your leg up, the lawyers know you still can sue and probably will win. If
contracts could really be changed like this mid-term, then car dealerships could decide 6 months into your lease that you need to start paying a $300/month administrative fee.

Whether or not they obviate the effects of the contract change, the contract was still changed without his consent. If you stab someone, and then put all the blood back in the wound and put a band-aid over it, you've still stabbed them.

Administrative Charge Increasing Jan 1... [Howard Forums] (Photo: your_favorite_mart ian)

PREVIOUSLY: Sprint To Start Discounting ETFs Monthly (Photo: Sam Wilkinson)

Sprint to join rivals in cutting termination fees [AP]
Sprint pro-rated ETF finally gets a date [neowin] (Thanks to Brandon!) (Photo: bryanbope)

RCRWireless reprinted part of T-Mobile's response:

“Although your letter states that carriers’ prices for text messaging appear to have increased since 2005, the opposite is true,” states Robert Dotson, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA Inc. “Since 2005, the prices that T-Mobile charges for text messages — 90% of which are purchased in texting package plans — have fallen by more than half.

AT&T came right out and (almost) blamed Senator Kohl for the spate of lawsuits:

“As you probably know, since your letter was made public, 20 class-action lawsuits have been filed around the country against AT&T and other national carriers, specifically alleging price-fixing for texting messaging services. All but one of these cases cite your inquiry as one of the bases of alleged collusion. We are therefore eager to clear up any misunderstanding,” said Timothy McKone, executive VP for federal relations at AT&T.

If fees for text messaging bundles have dropped, while fees for single-serve text messages have shot up 20 cents, then in a way both sides are right—but if that's the case, we think the carriers are being intentionally dense about the true meaning of the Senator's line of questioning, which (we think) is an attempt to determine whether the carriers colluded to hike individual rates enough to drive customers into more profitable bundle services.

Wireless carriers counter antitrust concerns over rising costs of texting [RCRWireless]
(Photo: Getty Images)

Sprintholidayoffer.com [Official Site via Fry's Forum] (Thanks to Luis!)

Here's his story:

I have been an AT&T/Cingular customer for some time (5+ years). I own small business and have 7 phones with them on a small business plan, my normal monthly bill is well over $300. Shortly after Mother's day this year I started getting $2000+ bills for roaming in Nicaragua and Mexico. Neither I nor my phone have ever been to Nicaragua. I called AT&T and they actually fixed the problem in a few days and gave me a credit. So far so good.

However, the next month's bill came and the calls are still there, and the next month and the next month. Finally I had them shut the phone off completely, because they couldn't stop the billing. So the phone is now off, and I am still paying monthly service on it. However, they managed to rack up over $6,000 in charges for roaming in Mexico and Nicaragua before I forced them to shut it off.

Here's the kicker, AT&T says the phone is in both places at the same time. Their own bill shows a call being made from Nicaragua at the exact same minute it is incurring a data roaming charge in Mexico. When I point out that this is physically impossible they just respond with "pay the bill," I imagine it to be similar to what dealing with the Mob must feel like.

I won't get into the byzantine mess that is AT&T's dispute issues process (to be fair, in the 5 years before this incident, I always thought they were pleasant and helpful when I called for anything); suffice to say after over 12 hours on the phone with AT&T (who have a wonderful system that won't allow you to call anyone back), they finally shut my phones off today. This is despite swearing just last night that my service wouldn't be interrupted.

For the record, despite all these issues I was a "good" customer and continued to pay the portion of my bill that was legit.

Please help, or at least if you can't help publish this so other people can stay away.

Serves me right for buying an iPhone.

Thanks,
Chris

Hey, we didn't say it, he did.

Chris, have you tried these numbers?

[via TopClassActions]

Short Codes to look for on your bills:

1103
20795
21000
22999
24000
25516
25692
26000
27000
28394
29000
29940
31000
33555
33999
34135
35322
36000
37215
38297
39999
40544
40684
41933
44674
44999
45555
46357
46621
47777
51000
52975
56846
57396
58560
59999
61240
63556
63937
64651
65589
66047
67777
71888
72449
72545
75556
75557
76036
76284
77444
78448
79171
81636
84287
85960
86455
87313
87572
88015
88789
88922
89147
89623
91097
95521
95787
98651

(Photo: blueoneiam)

Mobile Messenger was a classic middleman, managing the billing for third-parties who sold ringtones, games, alerts, jokes, horoscopes, and applications. Since they didn't directly provide services, your itemized bill might display a short code instead of "Mobile Messenger." Carefully check this list of codes (pdf) for anything familiar that might have cropped up on your bill.

The scammy subscription pusher's settlement covers anyone who received an unauthorized charge between January 1, 2005 and August 13, 2008. Mobile Messenger had previously agreed to settle a class action covering only AT&T subscribers; if you're eligible for both settlements, you can only file one claim form. Sorry!

Class members who received a one-time charge are eligible to dip into a settlement fund of up to $12 million. Anyone who was billed for subscription services without authorization can receive a refund for up to three times the amount of their monthly fee. The settlement is great news for the mother whose son charged $600 in a single month. She can look forward to an $1,800 payout.

The claim forms are available at the class action's website.

Gray v. Mobile Messenger Class Action Settlement [via Top Class Actions]
(Photo: KB35)

Under the terms of a preliminary settlement agreement, [Timberland and e-commerce company GSI] will pay $7 million into a cash fund to reimburse those who received the messages, according to KamberEdelson LLC, one of the law firms that helped bring the suit.

To sign up for your slice of the $7 million pie—pending court approval—visit www.timberlandtextsettlement.com and register as a claimant. You have to register by Feburary 2nd, 2009.

"Timberland pays out to settle text spam lawsuit" [InfoWorld via IntoMobile]

A spokesperson did confirm, however, the monthly members will pay the same rate as contract customers. If you're already a Verizon customer, you can switch to the monthly plan after your current contract is up.

From Bloomberg:

Verizon, which made about half of its $24.1 billion in revenue last quarter from wireless service, agreed in July to resolve a consumer lawsuit over early cancellation fees by paying a $21 million settlement. The agreement covered contracts that had a flat-rate cancellation fee and were issued before Verizon Wireless introduced a declining-fee structure in 2006.

Verizon's termination fees start at $175 and decline $5 for every month a user stays with the contract after 30 days. Customers can cancel for free in the first 30 days, Raney said.

Verizon Offers Monthly Plan With No Termination Fees (Update2) [Bloomberg]

The insider writes:

I work in a Walmart store in KY, and I'm writing in to let you know that my store has raised the prices on all of its cell phone chargers by almost 50%. These price changes were automatically put into effect in our system by Home Office. This, I feel, is in direct response to Hurricane Ike.

Here in KY, we didn't get the rain, but we did get high winds on Sunday morning, which knocked out power to some 300,000 people here. The next day when we opened, people bought every car charge and battery we had because they were still without any power. Now today all of our car chargers go up nearly 50%. In fact, every charger, car or wall, in our store is a flat $19.00, when car chargers were $10.00 and wall chargers were $15.00 yesterday. This is hardly a coincidence, and it's so blatently obvious to our customers. I can't believe Walmart would do something so totally against their own mantra of Save Money, Live Better. This is more like "Raise Prices, Screw Suffering Customers!"

It could be a coincidence, maybe not. Either way, the timing is certainly suspicious.

(Photo: chasingfun)

"Verizon Wireless Going Contract-Free?" [Boy Genius Report via IntoMobile]

He writes:

I read your post from yesterday about Flipswap. So I took my three old cellphones, plus AC plugs, plus two car chargers, to the nearest Flipswap dealer near my home in LA. It did not go as expected.

They do not pay me for the phone, do not offer store credit and, as far as charity, I was told to throw all the stuff in a box and "the boss" comes once a month to pick it up. They do not offer a receipt or any confirmation that it goes to any charity. Mind you, this was before they even saw the phones, so that determination was not based on the phones' condition.

I went to the Flipswap dealer on Overland Avenue in West LA.

Our verdict as of today: maybe Flipswap isn't all it's cracked up to be. In addition to this story and the one we covered yesterday, there's the matter of their fine print, which we discovered when we checked out the trade-in value of an old phone via their website. You must agree that Flipswap can change the amount they promised, after they see the phone, and can even change the offer to $0, and under no circumstances can you ask that the phone be shipped back to you. We think that's too much trust to put into an untested company.

[Update: the last paragraph has been rewritten to address a misperception that we were blaming the OP or other customers.]

To begin with, Wireless Lifestyle, the authorized Sprint dealer that accepted Swanson's phone, didn't sufficiently explain the process to Swanson. Wireless Lifestyle partners with Flipswap, a company that accepts used cellphones in exchange for store credit or donations to charity. Flipswap takes in these used cellphones—"between 40,000 and 45,000 phones a month," according to the Wichita Eagle—and resells them on eBay or to overseas distributors.

Swanson could have either taken a store credit or agreed to have any proceeds from the phone donated to a charity. For whatever reason, she thought the phone itself was going to charity. We don't really care one way or the other in this case, but wanted to explain to you how Flipswap actually works so that you'll know better than Swanson should you decide to donate your phone through them.

As for not wiping the phone before reselling it, Flipswap told the newspaper that although they try to erase every phone that passes through, they're not contractually obligated to do so.

You, however, are obligated to do so, if you value your privacy at all. If you don't know how to erase the date on your phone, visit Recellular's Data Eraser page, where you can download step-by-step instructions on a wide variety of models. (And if you can't find your phone there, try Googling terms like "reformat" or "erase" and your phone model.)

The Wichita Eagle also offers some tips on what you should do before buying a used phone. The most important—well, after making sure the phone will work with your carrier, of course—is to ask for the phone's electronic serial number (ESN) before you purchase it, then contact your carrier and verify that the ESN isn't blocked. From what we understand, very few carriers actually block ESNs with any regularity, because it's not in their financial interest to do so, but better safe than sorry.

"Be aware if you buy or sell a used cell phone" [Wichita Eagle] (Thanks to myvotecounts2008!)
(Photo: Getty)

I've had a Sprint account for a little over three months now. The very first SMS I received was from a Sprint number, 9099. It was a notification that my "request to add service features" to my Sprint account was complete. I received two more of the same message that day. I went online to check out my selected features and everything appeared to be in order, so I went about my day.

Two days later, I received another text message from 9099, Sprint's auto messaging number. This time the message read: "SpringFreeMsg. As requested on 20080712, your Account PIN = xxxxxx. Security Answer = xxxx." I didn't recognize the PIN or security answer, figured it was a fluke, and again went about my day.

I've since received the security information text message 7 times and the service features message 6 times. My bill continues to be correct each month with no services features added or removed, and the security information that they send me is always the same, and is always not mine.

I finally decided to call them today to figure out what was going on. Not surprisingly, they had very little to say about the situation. The CSR's best guess was that someone was requesting their security information, and the system was redirecting it to my phone rather than theirs. She suggested that perhaps it was the person who had my phone number before me, which makes little sense to me. To the CSR's benefit, she was very kind, but explained all this to me as if it was no big deal. I expressed to her my concern that if someone's information was getting sent to me, my information could be sent to someone else. She said she understood, but offered nothing in the way of comfort or assurance that my information was secure.

She told me that she put a note on my account about our conversation and that if anything suspicious (I assume she meant other than the text messages) happened, to give them a call.

I'm not sure if I should/can move forward with this as I have received no negative repercussions related to the messages.

Chelsea, we're gonna go with the CSR and say it's probably some frustrated Sprint customer out there who can't figure out why his/her security-related text messages aren't coming through, and that it won't affect your account at all. What's troubling about that, though, is the obvious security breach of sending that info to someone else (you). Luckily, in this case you seem to be safe.

Still, you may want to keep pushing Sprint to correctly separate the two accounts, just to be on the safe side in case something big happens to the mystery account and the Sprint system decides to think that it's yours.

(Photo: Maulleigh)

VerizonETFSettlement [Official Site] (Photo: Ben Vershbow)

The similar price increases, coming at similar times, Kohl said, "is hardly consistent with the vigorous price competition we hope to see in a competitive marketplace."

Kohl noted in the letter that the top four carriers combined have over 90 percent of the U.S. market, and wants the carriers to provide information on

• how their pricing structures differ from their competitors;
• the factors that led to their decision to raise prices;
• a comparison of text message pricing to other wireless service pricing;
• the utilization of text messaging over the past three years.

"Congress questions high cost of texting" [Cnet: The Iconoclast] (Thanks to Brett!)
(Photo: Getty)

Just sign up, hand over your bank username and login (yes, this is potentially dangerous), and reply to a text message on your cellphone to get it running. After that you can text BAL to 636363 to get your balances and last 5 transactions, along with a few other commands. You can also set it up to send you a daily message with your account balances, alert you when your balance goes below a certain level, or alert you if a purchase over X amount gets charged to your account.

I gave it a shot and it was quick and worked perfectly. It's a very streamlined service but it's handy for checking on your balances on-the-go, for free. Some banks will charge you a fee just to check your balance from an ATM. It's also great if your bank is the kind that will let you withdraw from the ATM or use your debit for more than your balance and then charge you fees for it. Now you have no excuse for not knowing how much money you have on hand.

QuickenBeam [Official Site]

Thanks to Jon!)

Family Racks Up $19,370 Cell Phone Bill [WFTV] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)

So, why was this particular arbitration clause unconscionable, anyway? Groklaw says that it includes provisions that have nothing to do with the purpose of arbitration — such as the requirement for secrecy.

The court explains:

It forbids class actions and requires that all arbitrations be kept confidential. The agreement also states in relevant part that "[n]o dispute may be joined with another lawsuit, or in an arbitration with a dispute of any other person, or resolved on a class-wide basis," and "[a]ny arbitration shall remain confidential. Neither you nor AT&T may disclose the existence, content, or results of any arbitration or award, except as may be required by law or to confirm and enforce an award." CP at 718-19. The dispute resolution section also provides that any claim must be brought within two years and limits a consumer's right to collect punitive damages and attorney fees.

They also added that AT&T just wasn't fooling anyone by trying to hide a bunch of baloney in the arbitration agreement:

Limiting consumers' rights to open hearings, shortening statutes of limitations, limiting damages, and awarding attorney fees have absolutely nothing to do with resolving a dispute by arbitration. Courts will not be so easily deceived by the unilateral stripping away of protections and remedies, merely because provisions are disguised as arbitration clauses.

AT&T EULA's Terms Are Found "Unconscionable" - What Does That Mean? [Groklaw] (Thanks, tz!)

(Photo: Todd Kravos )

AT&T Data Network Knocked Out in Northeast [Gizmodo]

Patrick says:
In May, I broke my iPhone. I dropped it and it cracked. I sold it on eBay, expected new iPhones to be announced June 9 at the WWDC. When I found out I’d have to wait until July 11, I bought a Motorola Q, because all the stores were sold out of iPhones. I would wait for the 3G on July 11.

As the date got closer, I went back to the store and asked about my upgrade eligibility for the 3G. They informed me that since I just purchased a Motorola Q, I couldn’t get an iPhone – not at any price. This, we know now, is incorrect, but to fix matters I returned the Motorola in under 30 days and popped my SIM card in a buddy’s old RAZR for a couple weeks awaiting the new iPhone 3G’s. The sales guy at the store said this would cancel my contract obligation from the Motorola and I’d be eligible to get the new iPhone at the subsidized price.

On July 11, I went to my local AT&T store because I knew there would be trouble; my account online was showing me as upgrade ineligible. Despite everything they could see at the store (that I was, in fact, perfectly eligible to upgrade and get the new iPhone), the computer wouldn’t let the transaction happen. Someone at the other store didn’t do the right paperwork when I returned the Motorola Q, and it was causing an issue.

iPhones we’re selling out all around me, so the salesperson and manager said in order for me to get an iPhone that day, they would create a new line on my account, and then I was to return the following week when they’d have the block on my account removed, and move the iPhone over to the correct line, and delete the newly created line. I begrudgingly accepted this solution, and dealt with the hassle of having a different number for a week.

The next week I went in and they moved the iPhone to my old (correct) number, and said they’d do the paperwork to get the billing right – delete the new line, cancel the charges, and fix my bill.

In the interest of keeping this story simple, I’ll summarize it like this:

This never happened. To this day – nearly two months later and spanning three billing cylces – my account has a huge balance because I continue to be charged for the extra line they’ve added, and a family plan which I don’t need, and an iPhone data plan on the line they created (which, consequently, has no phone even associated with it – the voice and data usage is ZERO!).

I’ve spent countless hours in the store and on the phone and nothing has been done. They say they don’t know what to do. Customer service can’t change or modify my bill. They all say the same thing – the computer won’t let them remove the line or fix the billing. No one – managers, regional managers, etc. – can tell me what I need to do. My bill is climbing at three times the rate it should. The store has told me not to pay the bill until it’s fixed. I’ve never missed a payment but now my account is past due.

I’m just a regular guy, trying to pay my bill and be current. NO ONE IS HELPING ME. I leave messages and call for help and just continue to get the runaround. I want my account fixed so I can move on. I feel like I’m going to be shut off soon, and this will never be right!

Thanks for any help you can bring to this issue.

Patrick

Even though we're sure that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson is currently quite busy machine gunning terminators in his executive bathroom, you should probably send his team an EECB. Perhaps there is still one man who can regain control of the computer before it shuts down the life support systems at AT&T...

Here's his contact information.

Anthony writes:

My name is Anthony [redacted], and I was just robbed at knifepoint in Queens, NY, for my iPhone. I was walking home fairly late at night and a man walked up to me wielding a 10-inch or so blade and demanded my money and my iPhone.

I am writing you because after reporting the robbery to the police, I called AT&T – my service provider for 3 years – and asked if they could possibly work with the NYPD to track down my phone via the iPhone 3G's GPS. They said it was not possible to track any closer than the closest cell tower if the iPhone's functions were used, which kind of defeats the purpose of GPS in many ways. Given the Patriot Act and everything, I figured they can track down where we're taking a piss at this point.

But the big problem came when we started talking about replacing my iPhone 3G. Now I was an early adopter of the original 8GB iPhone and I just purchased the iPhone 3G in July. So when I asked if there would be a free replacement or a discount of sorts, the woman at customer service responded that since I just purchased the iPhone 3G that I would have not qualify for the discounted $199 iPhone 3G and I would have to purchase the phone at the higher price point of $399.

So after being such a long time AT&T customer and supporter of Apple's marquee product of the moment, I have been told that despite the fact that I was robbed by someone brandishing what was essentially a mini-machete I am now being robbed by AT&T.

I feel insulted as a customer, and appalled by the customer service at AT&T. This is beyond poor customer service; this is a lack of basic human compassion.

It's a shame that you're stuck in a 2-year contract because of a phone that you now no longer have. Ugh! AT&T is probably a dead end, but if you bought the phone with a credit card, you might want to call your credit card company. Many credit cards have 90-day "purchase assurance" or "purchase protection" programs that protect your recent purchases from loss, damage or theft.

Most people don't think to call their credit card company when something like this happens, which is a shame because they can be very helpful, and certainly more pleasant to deal with than your cellphone company. Don't delay, however, once the 90-days is over, so is the coverage.

(Photo: jetsetpress )

The court ruled the class-action waiver clause, included in every single cellphone contract and many other types of contracts, was "unconscionable," as it denied consumers basic protections. Here's the kill quote from the Opinion: "Courts will not be easily deceived by attempts to unilaterally strip away consumer protections and remedies by efforts to cloak the waiver of important rights under an arbitration clause."

Read full Supreme Court Ruling here.

Court says AT&T can't force arbitration [Seattle Post-Intelligencer] (Thanks to Mark!) (Photo: Todd Kravos)

Here's part of the pseudo-congratulatory email.

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:20:31 -0400
Subject: You've earned a new phone

UPGRADE TODAY!
Call 1.888.333.0047 or visit your local Verizon Wireless Store today

Upgrade today to any one of our advanced phones or PDAs we carry. Plus, for our exclusive customers, we've added an additional discount on one of our most popular devices, the LG enV2TM. All of this brought to you by Verizon Wireless, with the nation's largest 3G network and most reliable wireless network.

LG Dare Bold touch screen, fearless features, 3G speed capable.

$249.99 2-yr. price
-$ 50.00 Mail-in rebate
$199.99 Your Price

(New 2-yr. agreement required on a new Nationwide Calling plan.)
LG enV2 Full keyboard gives you two ways to text or email.
EXCLUSIVE OFFER for our loyal customers.

It goes on like that for several models. Verizon gets special bonus points for including mail-in rebates as part of the "deal."

(Photo: Getty)

The sales rep did his song and dance and insisted that I test out the phone service for 2 weeks. I said no a few times but he wouldn’t hear it. Well, he gave me 2 phones and 2 phone numbers. No credit check, no money whatsoever. I walked out of the store with 2 free phones and some paper work.

Now Rob can't give the phones back. After several fruitless visits where the store manager told Rob he had to talk to the original salesman (who was never there) to return the phones, Rob simply left them on the counter. A few days later, they arrived at his doorstep via FedEx—along with a photocopy of another customer's driver license.

Here's the full story of what happened after Rob brought the two phones home back in July:

Seven days later we returned to the same store to drop the phones off. They hadn’t been opened or anything. Previously in the week I was cleaning and probably threw out a white piece of paper with what phones we had.

...I had to speak with the exact rep because I didn’t have the all important white piece of paper and there was no way to look at what I had. The rep was not working that day and was told to return Tuesday during the afternoon. I refused because I don’t drive and I'm not taking a bus to a mall from the southern part of the twin cities to the northern part just to drop phones off.

We return that next Sunday (27th) and again were told we can’t give back the phones because the rep isn’t working. I demanded to speak with a manager. I tell him my story, and he finds it interesting about how I got the phones and service. I made a point to say "I said no," and he said, “Yeah he does that a lot.” He mutters something about letting him go and says he can’t do anything because I don’t have the piece of paper.

Flash forward to August 11th, almost a full month after getting the phones, my fiancé and I finally have time to go back to the mall (she works nights I work days). I walk in with the phones. The manager sees me, throws his hands up in the air and says "Not you people again." He tells me to stand over out of the way while helping people. We wait for 15 minutes. Only one person approaches us, some sales rep, and I explain the story and he’s dumbfounded. Finally I walk up to the counter and put the phones on the counter and explain again what’s going on and all I want to do is drop them off. I was assured that it would be taken care of.

Later that night my fiancé and I went to a real T-Mobile store and purchased our phones and service.

On August 15th, a Fedex box is sitting on my door step. Not expecting anything, I open it—what do you know they sent the phones back to me! But whats this, there is more then just two cell phones. The missing piece of white paper they said they don’t have, the whole reason I couldn’t return the phones. But wait there is even more! Two other identical pieces of paper but with others people’s phone information / plan information and a copy of someone’s drivers license!

So I quickly called Mobile Solutions HQ and talk to some girl in California. I explain the situation and she says, “Well we need those phones back. I’m shipping you out some prepaid UPS labels.” I asked what about me getting other people’s identification information. “Well I’m not there so I don’t know what to do.” I look at the address of the license, and it turns out the woman on the license only lives about a mile and half from me if that.

My fiancé and I get in the car and we drive to her house. I knock on the door, ask her if she is so and so on the card she says yes. I asked her if she purchased a phone from the Mobile Solutions in Northtown Mall in Blaine? Again she says yes. I then ask, “Does this look familiar?” showing her her license. Her jaw is on the floor. She exclaimed, "How in the world did you get that?" I explained to her how it came in a Fed Ex package and she was very grateful and thanked me several times, and she was also upset and said she would call Mobile Solutions promptly.

So now I’m still stuck with 2 phones, 2 lines of service that I’m sure still runs if I cared to try and other people’s information. What should I do now?

If Mobile Solutions doesn't have any of your personal information where they can't ruin your credit, return the phones via the UPS labels and promise us you'll never step foot in that store again.

If they have a copy of your drivers license or other important personal info, it's time to make it very clear to Mobile Solutions that you have no intention of being their customer, no matter how hard they make it for you to return the unopened phones. This is a funny story, but it sounds to us like they're trying to force a sale on you, which is criminal rather than incompetent.

Contact Mobile Solution Corporation's main office in San Diego and file a complaint against the Blaine store. Make it clear that you have tried three times to return the phones, and that they are refusing to accept your return. You should also make it clear that the only acceptable resolution for this issue is for Mobile Solutions to accept your return and promise to leave you and your credit history alone. Look at our various EECB posts for more information on how to effectively communicate with a business.

Mobile Solution Corporation
3030 Plaza Bonita Rd
National City, CA 91950
(619) 472-1018
(619) 479-1648

You may also want to contact the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General and file a formal complaint against the store for its business practices, even if the corporate office in San Diego is able to resolve the problem for you. We suspect the Blaine store has some rotten apples on staff and you may help future customers by sounding an alarm now.

Update: Rob sent the following information to us after we posted the story.

As an update I called back the corporate # and [they] didn’t find it cool I wanted to sell the phones. There is some sort of investigation being done and the original salesmen has been fired. After reading some comments I could have been more clear. The only info they got was a copy of my State ID which had my current address on it. I also signed a piece of paper saying “You have two weeks if you don’t return them the phones in two weeks we can charge you blah , blah, blah.” Well, they never took money or a credit card.

Anyway people have been in contact with me. I took the phones because the guy kept insisting and I wanted to be nice. At best I thought what's the worst can happen? I keep the phones for a week bring them back unopened and that will be that.

We still think you should make sure the company accepts a full return and absolves you from that signed agreement, because even without a credit card they may still try to bill you, then eventually send the bill to a collection agency.

Hesse told the New York Times:

“We did it knowingly,” he said. “We are interested in quality, not quantity.”

After two quarters of hemorrhaging, Sprint has begun the process of trying to attract new customers, ones who pay their bills. This might prove something of a problem for a company that has the highest "churn" (the rate at which customers defect for other similar services) of the big three wireless companies.

Hesse says that potential Sprint customers don't know that the company has improved. What do you think? Has Sprint improved?

Sprint Puts Positive Spin on Losses [NYT] (Thanks, Dan!)
(Photo: Maulleigh )

Ely used the material from our posts and used it to break his ETF without fee. Now he gathers together all that information into easily-digested video format (he's also blogged it (posts 1, 2, 3).

This video talks about Verizon, but most of the tactics can be applied to every national cellphone carrier. Just lookup the relevant verbiage in your contract and replace it with what Ely quotes.

Video Tutorial: How to Get Out of Your Verizon Contract Without an Early Termination Fee [Crastinate]

He negotiated with the CSR and said he would switch to a pay-as-you-go plan and not switch to MCI if they waived his ETF. She down to sell him a smaller package. He remained silent. She tried the reduced package again. He repeated that he would switch if charged. Then she offered 50% off. He restated his position once more and stayed silent. She tried the smaller plan again. He said no. Then she offered him 75% off. So now he's free of annual contract and can switch to any other provider whenever he feels like.

Not a tactic that will make financial sense for everyone, but it might come in handy for some.