AT&T has started having early termination fees go down each month for new contracts (old customers are still screwed). The $175 fee for canceling AT&T service before the end of your two-year contract will go down $5 every month. This means that even by month 23 out of the total 24 you will still pay a $60 fee. While the other providers have announced their intention to do the same, Verizon and AT&T are the only companies to actually have ETFs go down over the course of the contract. This should not be confused with “pro-rating,” however, as the fee is not being divided proportionally. If it was, the fee would go down $7.30 each month and by month 23 you would only pay a $7.30 penalty.
telephony
To Avoid Billions In Lawsuits, Cellphone Companies Propose Tepid Early Termination Fee Reform
By 5.22.08
Sprint To Cap"Unlimited" 3G Data Service at 5GB
By 5.20.08
A leaked internal Sprint memo says that the company will be placing limits on the previously unlimited EV-DO mobile broadband data service. If you go over 5GB per month total or 300MB/month while off-network roaming you will be subject to extra fees. Two Sprint employees writing on Sprint user forums vouched for the leak’s authenticity. Now Sprint will no longer be the only carrier to offer actually unlimited 3G service. Somehow I don’t see CEO Dan Hesse bragging about this move while strolling through black and white cobblestone streets.
Beware: Calls From "The Jobline" Actually $9/Minute Scam
By 5.16.08
Consumers report receiving automated message calls from a service calling itself “The Jobline” where you’re told they have jobs for you if you call back, but it turns out it’s just a scam. If you call the number back, you will get charged $9 per minute, according to messages left in online forums where people share information on telemarketing numbers. They seem to be using the number 976-4477 in different area codes. A scam targeting people already hard up for work and money, that’s pretty high on the Richter scale of sleaziness.
By 5.16.08
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The Florida AG is fining Verizon up to $6.5 million for what he says is the telephone company’s willful violation of service laws, in particular, taking too long to repair customer’s landlines. [The Tampa Tribune]
AT&T Customer? No Go Phone For You!
By 5.12.08
In case you though AT&T wanting to run a credit check before they sell you a prepaid phone was as dumb as AT&T could get, reader Dan writes in to tell us about an AT&T store that wouldn’t sell him a phone because he was already an AT&T customer. If he hadn’t copped to being an AT&T customer, he could have walked out of the store with a lovely LG CG180 Go Phone. But since he admitted he had an AT&T number, the sales reps at the store wanted him to put an extra $100 down. More, after the jump.
Tmobile Call Center Bans Kleenex
By 5.9.08
Update on that outsourced Tmobile call center that banned paper and pens earlier this week: our insider reports that Kleenex is now verboten as well. He furthermore notes that, “paper and pens, if they are to be used, have to be signed out from a supervisor. When signed back in, the paper is shredded by the supervisor.” Any reps feeling the need to cry about their vaporizing dignity can use the back of their sleeve, after their request form is approved. A comment from our previous post explains why this might be a bad idea…
Sprint: Can You Please Give Us $39,952 Today?
By 5.6.08
Reader Richard says he came home this summer to angry parents “because of our sprint bill with the family share plan was insanely high.” Of course, it turned out to be the same typo we’d written about before, but we really enjoyed the polite but firm manner in which Sprint asked Richard’s parents for $39,952… “today.”
Reach Verizon Wireless Executive Customer Service Desk
By 5.5.08
Here is another phone number to reach the Verizon Wireless executive customer service desk: 845-365-7700. If that number doesn’t work, here are some others to try.
Reader Uses Being Nice To Quickly Escapes Verizon Without Early Termination Fee
By 4.30.08
Mason used the increase in monthly administrative…
Verizon Offering Credits To Keep You From Escaping Contract Without Early Termination Fee
By 4.30.08
Alicia wants to escape her Verizon contract…
Escape Verizon Without Early Termination Fee Based On Administrative Charge Increase
By 4.29.08
Verizon is increasing the monthly administrative…
Cellular South Pays Your Early Termination Fee If You Switch To Them
By 4.29.08
Cellular South is so eager to get you as a…
"BBB Is Useless" Says Cable Company Call Center Manager
By 4.28.08
If you have a hassle with a cable company and you…
Motorola Flip-Flops On Flap Failure
By 4.25.08
When reader Stuart bought his Motorola Razr V3XX, he was pleased with the phone but could not understand why the tiny flap covering the charger port was held in place by only 2 fragile plastic hinges. As if channeling the spirit of Nostradamus, Stuart made a startling prediction: This flimsy flap will fail. And it did. Twice. The first time, Motorola happily sent Stuart a new flap. But when the flap failed again 8 months later, Motorola unleashed a volley of red tape that left Stuart stuck. Stuart’s letter and Motorola’s response inside…
