Consumerist

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Contracts

etf

Verizon Announces Monthly Plans With No Early Termination Fees

Facing increased pressure from consumers and lawmakers alike, Verizon has announced that they will begin offering monthly cellphone plans with no early termination fees. Consumers wishing to take advantage of the plans will be required to pay full price for a phone, or provide their own phone, as Verizon will not be subsidizing the cost of handsets. More »

verizon wireless

Verizon Wireless Going Contract-Free Next Week?

If the website Boy Genius Report is correct, next week Verizon Wireless will start offering contract-free, month-to-month service. Pretty much everyone will be eligible for it, but of course you'll have to pay full price for a phone or bring your own, there'll be an activation fee that can't be waived, and if you take advantage of any special offers that require a contract, you'll have to switch over to a contract agreement. It's supposed to start on September 21st. More »

bally

Bally Total Fitness Scams College Student By Swapping Contracts

Chanda signed up for a month-to-month membership at a Bally Total Fitness in Montclair, California, but when things went wrong—as they frequently do with this company—Chanda found himself signed up for a 3-year agreement. Their proof? An unsigned contract that doesn't look like the one he was given. More »

contracts

AT&T's New 2,500 Page Contract 'Directly Violates' The Law

Do you want to know if AT&T boosts your rates? Maybe you want to pay only for services you ordered or explicitly authorized. Tough! AT&T's new 2,500 page "guidebook" is the latest spawn of California's failing experiment with deregulation, one that is in "direct violation" of the law, according to the Public Utilities Commission. More »

class actions

Join The Verizon ETF Class Action

Wanna get in on the Verizon Early Termination Fee class action settlement? I did and went to verizonETFsettlement.com just like the postcard told me. Basically, if you were a Verizon Wireless customer from July 23, 1999 to August 10, 2008, and you were either charged an ETF, whether you paid it or not, you could be eligible for a piece of a $21 million pie (after the attorneys get their fees first), just file a claim form by October 14. In typical fashion, I tried filing a claim but the site keeps timing out. Something to bookmark and check in on later and hope they fixed it. Even when you think you're giving Verizon its comeuppance, somehow you get screwed over. UPDATE: The website seems to be fixed now. By the way, at the end you will have to print out and mail in forms. They want you to attach documentation of your ETF. If you don't have documentation, you can still make a claim but you will get a lesser amount.

VerizonETFSettlement [Official Site] (Photo: Ben Vershbow)


crime

AT&T: Being Robbed At Knifepoint Will Not Help You Qualify For The Cheaper iPhone

Reader Anthony was robbed at knifepoint by a jerk with a 10" blade, but his real complaint is that he feels that AT&T is robbing him again. After he filed a police report and told AT&T that his new iPhone had been stolen, they told him that since he already bought an iPhone he no longer qualified for the subsidized price of $199. More »

contracts

Sprint Extends Yet Another Contract Without Permission

Sprint signed David up for a two-year contract without permission after he transferred his service between a Motorola RAZR 2 and a Sanyo 8400. David owned both phones when he made the transfer last month, long after his contract had expired. Sprint recently decided to send him a letter, charmingly called "keeping you in the know," which showed that he was the proud new owner of a surprise contract extension. More »

verizon

Verizon Changes DSL Without Your Permission, Demands Multiple Fees To Fix It

Reader Kevin wanted to sign up for Verizon's One Bill service, so he called to see if he qualified. The CSR told him that he did, so he signed up for it. Turns out, the CSR secretly signed him up for a more expensive DSL plan because his current one did not qualify. Now Verizon wants an early termination fee for the new, faster DSL and an activation fee to put Kevin back on the plan he used to have. Yuck. More »

early termination fees

Video Tutorial For Escaping Cellphone Without ETF

Who needs a bunch of words to tell you how to get out of your cellphone contract without early termination fee when a nice boy will tell you how do to it? You just sit back, grab some popcorn, and watch Ely Rosentock's video tutorial. 9 minutes later, you'll know how to break your cellphone contract without ETF, or moving to California. Video inside... More »

tactics

Get 75% Off Your ATT ETF By Switching To Pay-As-You-Go

If arguing for completely getting out of your AT&T early-termination-fee isn't your thing, you can try doing what Felix did and get 75% off it. More »