Reader Nicholas is in the military, and while he was serving in Iraq, AT&T decided to give his phone number to another customer. When he returned, he asked for the number back, but was refused. The rep then convinced him that he needed to sign a new 2 year contract in order to reactivate his number. Naturally, right after he did this, his phone broke, and now AT&T is telling him that he’ll have to wait until 2009 to get a decent upgrade.
etf
AT&T Says They'll Charge $25 "Activation Fee" To Move SIM From A Broken Phone To A GoPhone
By 3.13.08
Does AT&T really charge a $25 “activation fee” when you move your SIM card to a GoPhone? A father had to replace his child’s broken cellphone over the weekend, and the rep at the AT&T store told him the only way to avoid an ETF or plan extension was to buy a GoPhone and pay an activation fee, even though the SIM card was the same. Online, you can buy a new GoPhone and have the activation fee waved. Way to treat your current customers, AT&T.
DirecTV: New 2-Year Contract With $480 Cancellation Fee For Switching DVRs
By 1.29.08
I’ve had DirecTV for 8 years and was happy until 2 weeks ago. I purchased a new HD receiver at Best Buy on a whim to upgrade my sturdy old DirecTivo. I got home and called DirecTV to tell them of the switch. The Rep (Mone ID#413435) took the numbers on the new box and TV and told me that my new HD receiver should start working in a few minutes. That’s all she said.
Another Customer Escapes Verizon Contract For Free
By 1.25.08
Okay so I read the script from last years price hike on messaging rates, to get out of your contract scot-free. I thought I read some where else that they were going up again to 0.20. So I called Verizon and ran the script on them. No one in cancellations had heard about it. I called the general customer service line. Of course the csr didn’t know anything and wanted me to pay the ETF’s. So I went to her supervisor. His name was Aundra (pronounced Andre), employee # 7817 out of the Birmingham office.
Cell Service For The Commitment Phobic: AT&T Offers SIM Card Without 2 Year Contract
By 1.23.08
After reports started surfacing that AT&T was offering a SIM-card only option that was tied to a 2 year contract, we contacted AT&T for more information. As far as we knew, AT&T allowed new customers to bring their own compatible equipment and did not require a 2 year contract.
Cancel T-Mobile With No ETF By Complaining To The FCC
By 1.18.08
…just wanted you to know that I am one of the many people who can’t seem to get T-Mobile service even though I live in New York City, a major market. All my calls to the regular customer service line got me no where and they did the standard runaround: $5 credit, work with their tech team to isolate the problem, etc. I read a user comment on one of the many T-Mobile threads on the Consumerist which said to file a complaint with the FCC and, by doing so, T-Mobile will have to address the problem and report back to the FCC a resolution. So I did. (There’s an online form so it’s easy.)
After Twitter Snafu, T-Mobile Reminds Customers Who's Boss
By 12.21.07
Last weekend, T-Mobile users who sent SMS updates to their Twitter feeds found that their messages were being blocked. Naturally, tempers flared. Many customers contacted T-Mobile to complain about the problem, but T-Mobile had no answer for the sudden blockage. (It turns out it was a technical glitch on Twitter’s end.) What’s interesting is that T-Mobile’s Executive Customer Relations rep responded to one user’s complaints with a hardcore reminder that when it comes to customer rights, his pretty much begin and end with being required to pay his bill on time. Nice PR work there, T-Mobile.
My name is Marianne Maestas and I am with the Executive Customer Relations department of T-Mobile. I am contacting you on behalf of Mr. Robert Dotson in regards to the email that you sent him yesterday evening.
Sprint Will Not Stop Billing Me For A Bogus Early Termination Fee
By 11.19.07
In August, my husband and I wanted to change phone carriers from Sprint to Helio. We first looked at the Sprint website to see if our contracts were up. It appeared that my contract was up in January 07 and my husbands was expired by July 07. We called Sprint to make sure. The person we talked to said there was some 1-year renewal that was given to us with a $50 rebate in 2006. We didn’t remember doing this. The man we spoke to said he would get rid of the rebate and add it on to our last bill and not charge us the $150. Great! We thought.
Minnesota Sues Sprint, Customers Would Like To "Give Their CEO A Big Kick Right In The Patootie"
By 9.28.07
Hey, Gary Forsee!
Sprint Drops You Because You Call Customer Service Too Much
By 7.5.07
“Our records indicate that over the past year, we have received frequent calls from you regarding your billing or other general account information. While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time has led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs…”
Michael says:
I have called them alot over the past year, but those calls were to have them fix their errors. I’ve always been polite to their employees (whether it be over the phone or in a Sprint store). I’ve never missed a payment and have always paid my bill early. I’ve never asked them for discounts or freebies.
Comcast Triple Play, Now With 24 Month Contract And ETF
By 5.7.07
You might want to think twice before agreeing to an Comcast CSR’s offer to “extend the price for 2 years,” because Comcast’s Triple Play comes with a contract and an ETF.
Illinois: We Want To Cancel With No ETF If Our Phone Breaks 3 Times
By 4.23.07
According to the Chicago Tribune, Rep. Susana Mendoza, a Chicago Democrat is fed up with her lemon cell phone. That’s why she’s sponsoring legislation in Illinois that would :
allow the state’s 8.5 million wireless customers to cancel their contracts without paying early termination fees if a phone must be replaced or repaired at least three times within a contract period.
Want To Cancel Your Internet? Here's Your Early Termination Fee
By 4.10.07
Not all ISPs charge ETFs. Here’s a list of different providers and their fees:
Cingular To Refund $18.5 Million to California Customers Who Were Charged ETFs
By 3.16.07
If you live in California and canceled Cingular (back in ’00-’02) due to trouble making or receiving calls, this might be of interest to you. From the AP:
Cingular Wireless will refund $18.5 million to thousands of former California customers who were penalized for canceling their mobile phone service because they had trouble making and receiving calls.
Planned Parenthood Helps You Choose Sprint
By 2.22.07
If you’re looking to escape your one or two year-old contract in favor of Sprint, Planned Parenthood has a plan for you.
- “Planned Parenthood Wireless is a new choice for your cell phone service. By signing up for this service, you will help preserve reproductive rights, and ensure access to comprehensive family planning and medically accurate sex education for women and families around the world. You’ll do something you do every day – talk on your cell phone – and you’ll be helping Planned Parenthood as 10% of all monthly charges goes to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, at no extra cost to you.”
Switching carriers often means incurring an Early Termination Fee. To offset the cost, Planned Parenthood will refund Early Termination Fees, up to $175, to be paid after the first trimester three months.
Cancel Verizon Without A Fee Even If You Have A Txt Msg Plan
By 1.17.07
- Effective March 1, 2007, the price for receiving TXT messages from customers of foreign wireless carriers will increase from $0.10 to $0.15 per message.
Verizon: 34 Txt Msgs= Material Adverse Effect
By 1.17.07
We’ve been getting quite a few letters from people who are saying that the reason Verizon won’t let them cancel is because they haven’t Txt’ed enough in the past. One rep even went so far as to tell Reader Andrew that he had to have sent 34 text messages to qualify.
Break Your Verizon Contract Without Fee, Thanks to TXT Msg Raise
By 1.12.07
Do we sense a theme here? Verizon is raising their text message rates for those without a messaging plan. Loyal readers of this blog will know what comes next, if the rate increase constitutes a “MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON YOU” you can “CAN END THE AFFECTED SERVICE, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE”.
