I just picked a phone off Rogers' website, the SE W810i. With a one year contact, it's $269.99 CAD, which is $240.57 USD. (http://tinyurl.com/2fudoo)

Yet, I can buy that exact same phone from NewEgg (and plenty of other places) for *less*. NewEgg offers it for $199 USD (http://tinyurl.com/3ywzrr)

Aside: And the phone you purchase from the carrier isn't even necessarily guaranteed to function as well as one you get at cost. For example, the SE W810i is branded to Rogers, which means that any functionality it has that competes with a Rogers service (like .mp3 ringtones) is disabled and cannot be enabled without voiding the warranty. My girlfriend recently purchased a similar phone, and we couldn't understand why .mp3s she copied onto the phone couldn't be used as ringtones. It took a protracted call to customer service to discover that only ringtones *purchased* from Rogers website will work (and I believe those "expire" after three months and must be purchased again). Any .mp3 file, even one you created yourself using Rebirth, can not be set as a ringtone.

The subsidy on phones purchases does not justify the carriers' absurd contracts. These horrible contracts are necessitated by the fact that nobody would continue to pay for such terrible service otherwise.

nels.anderson

I think cell phone contracts are dubious at best like the rest of the folks with IQ's above 100 out there, but you signed it...forging US embassy documents and committing fraud to terminate a contract may end up costing you more than $175 in the end...don't do it...or at least don't do it now that you've created a public record of your efforts on the internet.

crayonshinobi

"Reading this article made me mad.

I am a major Consumerist fan 99 times out of 100 because I agree with the principle of demanding 100 percent honesty and decency from the businesses that receive our money. I'm overjoyed that the web is enabling a much-needed shift in power back to the consumers, helping hold companies accountable by exposing bad companies' trickery, sliminess, and stupidity. I don't even care whether good companies are celebrated all that frequently ... what, a company deserves a cookie just for upholding its half of the you give me money, I treat you fairly equation? ... but I enjoy the celebrations when you run them, too.

But a how-to-lie-to-Verizon-to-get-out-of-your-contract ditty violates the spirit of Consumerist as I've understood it: now the mission has shifted from "demand integrity and shame the companies that cut corners" to "wage war on big business using the very tactics we so oppose." The former is principled; the latter is childish anarchism.

Even if you don't buy into my self-righteous moralism, consider the tactical damage this article has done, too. Formerly, honest companies could regard Consumerist as an ally - helping to out the bad guys is good for the good guys... - but now they can regard you as a threat, since you're advocating dishonesty in the evasion of a contractual obligation. This would seem to jeopardize your chances of working with any of these companies in the future to fairly resolve a dispute on behalf of a reader. This probably doesn't improve your standing with better business bureaus or attorneys general, either.

I really hope this represented a momentary lapse of judgment, not a shift in strategy, else you'll be losing my readership and my respect."

Ben Popken

in fact, yes. given more than 30 days notice my landlord was happy to let me out of the lease AND return my deposit. of course, leaving an nyc apartment which could rent for hundreds more than i was paying didn't hurt my case.

ikes

Jimmy M

"
It would be intresting to know what the companies position on why these fees are there and what purpose they are supposed to serve (Other than screwing the customer even more.
"
that's easy... they gave you the discount on a phone because they're counting on your paying them 24 months worth of $40+ phone bills. That's why you sign the contract, and why they give you the discount. If you break your contract early, they lose money on you because they already gave you $100-200 credit on a phone. If they let anyone who wanted to leave just leave... well, it's not much of a contract, then, is it? Then they wouldn't be offering 2-year-contract discounts, and we'd all be paying full price for phones. Which might not be so bad, since then phone companies would actually have to compete for your business with better service and support...

In any case, have you ever had a lease on an apartment?
Ever tried to tell your landlord, "oh, by the way... i'm moving to a new apartment tomorrow. You won't mind if i leave and break the lease without finding you a subletter, will you? Oh, and can i have my deposit back, while we're at it?"

droppedD

you know, if you don't want to be stuck in a two-year contract... don't sign up for one. Don't get me wrong, i jumped ship from verizon nearly a year ago... but lying and/or faking government documents to do it just seems like a dick thing to do.

/still pretty funny, though.

droppedD

"I might just be on Verizon's side here, unless you actually are moving to Cambodia, it seems a perfectly reasonable thing for Verizon to want extra documentation.

While it would be nice if mobile phone companies would try to retain customers with their stellar service rather than those silly contracts, it does not surprise me that they would try to enforce those contracts that they have. After all, they subsidized the price of that locked phone you probably use.

But regardless, I find it hard to empathize with someone being deliberately dishonest and manipulative over a company (albeit a big one) that is simply adhering to published policy... Isn't the next step to advocate pricetag-swapping on overpriced dishes at Williams-Sonoma?

If you want to best represent justifiable consumer outrage, please keep your outrage justifiable.

Of course, if you ARE moving to Cambodia, then you have my condolences in the overcomplicated hoops they are forcing you to jump through. "

Ben Popken

Seriously...come on. They put it out there that they will accept a letter from an employer, and forging such a letter is not some great, original, novel idea. Easily thought up, easily accomplished. If you're reading The Consumerist, you're probably smart enough to dream up your own employer rather than just using this one, let alone that happening to the point where Verizon makes policy changes.

MrEleganza

"The fees are there for a purpose"

It would be intresting to know what the companies position on why these fees are there and what purpose they are supposed to serve (Other than screwing the customer even more.

The_Truth

New motto: Making already burdensome verification requirements even more of a pain in the ass!!

thatabbygirl

Ben Popken

http://phnompenh.usembassy.gov/uploads/images/EDiuBB8SYiv0...

RandomHookup

CONSUMERIST: (grunts)

Heh.

Ben

Vinny

RandomHookup