The Sprint Free Guarantee for Wireless Contracts

Here's an interesting announcement from Sprint. This was two-months ago dated March 31, 2010. Sorry I missed it so I hope it's too to. Anyway, I think it's good news for consumers as the new "Sprint Free Guarantee" allows subscribers walk away from a wireless within 30 days and not have to pay any sort of fine.

Consumers who terminate the wireless contract within 30 days will money back for the phone. But that's not all. Sprint will also give the activation fee back and refund your entire month’s service including surcharges and taxes. The Now Carrier will also waive associated taxes and Sprint surcharges associated with these charges waived as well as the restocking fee and the infamous early termination fee.

Sheryl Kingstone, Director, Yankee Group comments on the new "Sprint Free Guarantee" wireless contract policy:

"Sprint's new guarantee policy is yet another effort by them to respond to the needs of wireless consumers today. It's giving consumers the transparency they need to best determine whether they are completely satisfied with the services they want from their carrier. Sprint is putting more power in the hands of its customers and helping to create a better experience for them overall."

That's it for this update on Sprint's wireless contract policy. Stay tuned aw we bring you weekly updates, news and opinions on mobile phone contracts.

How can I Terminate my Verizon Wireless 2yr contract?

How can I terminate my Verizon Wireless 2yr contract?

I found a quite a few people asking about this on Yahoo! answers and online forums. However, these questions weren't specific enough to indicate if this involves paying the ETF. I guess I'll have to provide two ways of canceling or terminating a Verizon Wireless contract. The basic steps of terminating a contract and paying for the ETF and escaping the contract without incurring a fee.

First let me provide some steps on can I terminate my Verizon Wireless 2yr contract.

1.) Dial *611 from your Verizon Wireless 1-800-922-0204 from any phone. This will connect you to with Verizon Wireless customer service where can I terminate my Verizon Wireless 2yr contract.

2.) Press the extension (3 or 4) to be forwarded to account services. You may be put on hold for a few minutes.

3.) Then, you will be able to speak with a living Verizon Wireless customer service representative.

4.) Inform the Verizon Wireless rep that you desire to terminate your Verizon Wireless 2yr contract.

5.) The Verizon Wireless customer service representative will then confirm your identity and begin the process of closing the account or terminate your Verizon Wireless 2yr contract.

6.) You may owe anywhere from nothing, to 200 dollars depending on how long you have been faithful to your Verizon Wireless contract. The ETF is pro-rated depending on how close to the end of the two year contract you are.

7.) The Verizon Wireless customer service representative will normally ask you why you are closing your account and who you are switching to, and then hang up.

That's the basic steps on how to cancel an agreement. I hope that those who asked" How can I terminate my Verizon Wireless 2yr contract?", will be able to benefit from those instructions.

However, it is also possible to terminate your Verizon Wireless 2yr contract without incurring any ETF. Here's the statement from your contracts terms of service:

Your service is subject to our business policies, practices and procedures, which we can change without notice. UNLESS OTHERWISE PROHIBITED BY LAW, WE CAN ALSO CHANGE PRICES AND ANY OTHER CONDITIONS IN THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME BY SENDING YOU WRITTEN NOTICE PRIOR TO THE BILLING PERIOD IN WHICH THE CHANGES WOULD GO INTO EFFECT. IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE YOUR SERVICE AFTER THAT POINT, YOU’RE ACCEPTING THE CHANGES. IF THE CHANGES HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON YOU, HOWEVER, YOU CAN END THE AFFECTED SERVICE, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE, JUST BY CALLING US WITHIN 60 DAYS AFTER WE SEND NOTICE OF THE CHANGE.

This basically means that if these changes have a material adverse effect on you and you would like to to terminate your Verizon Wireless 2yr contract, then you can leave without an early termination fee.

That's it for this post. I hope it answers the question: How can I terminate my Verizon Wireless 2yr contract?

T-Mobile Announces New Approach to Early Termination Fees

Here's some interesting wireless contract news for T-Mobile fans. According to Gizmodo.com, T-Mobile has just announced that they are taking a new approach to the early termination fees for their mobile phone contracts to provide greater flexibility for their customers.

Well, it seems that that ETF's are still a hot issue in the mobile phone industry. This announcement may also be related to AT&T's announcement that they have begun prorating their early termination fees. Here's a statement from Sue Nokes, Chief Customer and Operations Officer, T-Mobile USA, regarding this new approach,

“T-Mobile continues to set the pace in offering customers a number of flexible plans and services that don’t require a contract to help them stay connected to those who matter most. In addition, by providing this flexibility and choice, our hope is that T-Mobile customers will be happy customers for years to come.”

Let's discuss the details of this new T-Mobile early termination fees approach as it may be a bit confusing. T-Mobile wants their customers to know that starting on June 28, 2008, the ETF for customers who choose a one-year or two-year service agreement will decline during the course their contract.

This means that if customers terminate service with 91 to 180 days remaining on their agreement, then the ETF decreases from $200 to $100. It will then decrease again to $50 with fewer than 91 days remaining. Now in the event that a customer want to terminate in the last 30 days of their term, then the ETF is $50 or their standard monthly charge, whichever is less.

Now according to Gizmodo, this new approach to the ETF's of wireless contracts is not the same with pro-rated ETF's because the fee goes down in increments and never touches zero.

I think that this is a positive step towards resolving the wireless contract disputes between the mobile phone carriers and customers. Much of those complaints are focused on ETF's so any move towards reducing it should appease customers. Even the FCC has made proposals to reduce the conflict over early termination fees for cell phone contracts. Perhaps this move by T-Mobile will encourage other carriers to develop their own consumer friendly approach towards ETF's.

Tune in to this blog for more wireless contract news and information.

FCC Plans for Wireless Contract and ETF

In my last post I discussed the struggles that are centered on the controversial ETF or early termination fees that are charged for canceling a wireless contract.

Mobile phone companies usually charge early termination fees that can range from $150 to $225. These fees help them to recover the cost of devices, which they subsidize under long-term wireless contracts. These ETF's also lessens the burden signing up new customers. However, these fees have been assailed because they have curtailed the freedom of customers to shift to another carrier. The imposition of these fees have resulted in class-action lawsuits in several states and legislative proposals.

Now it seems that the FCC has decided to act and laid out some proposals on ETFs. Hopefully, these proposals will solve some of the problems concerning this policy but let us first take a look at the FCC proposals.

Kevin Marti, the current FCC Chairman, expressed that the proposal is similar to an industry plan that was offered by mobile phone carriers headed by Verizon Wireless. He also expressed that the proposal was drafted because ongoing class-action lawsuits would probably not provide an answer to the ongoing issues about the unpopular fees.

Here are the main elements of the proposal:

• the ETF would be related to the actual retail price of the device being purchased so that a $100 handset would have a cheaper ETF than a $300 phone

• ETFs should be prorated and reduced over the length of a cell phone contract

• wireless contracts should only last for a reasonable length of time

• Extended wireless contracts should not necessarily have their ETFs reinstated

• allow class action lawsuits regarding ETFs against certain carriers to move forward

These proposals seems to provide some answers to the problems that are plaguing the mobile phone industry, However, some experts think that the proposal lacks many vital elements. For instance, the proposal did not offer specific information on the government body that would be in charge of monitoring ETFs. The proposal also did not propose any federal program that would preempt state governmental rights.

I guess we have to wait for more updates on this development. Let's hope that the FCC and the mobile phone companies can come up with plans to provide the best service to customers. Tune in to this blog for more wireless contracts news and information.

Cancel Your Wireless Contract Without Paying for the Early Termination Fee

Many consumer groups and customers feel that the early termination fees that are charged by wireless carriers are unfair. This fees prevent people from withdrawing their commitment to a wireless contract and discourages them from transferring to another service provider.

These complaints eventually caused some networks to become less strict with the early termination fees of their wireless contracts. They have done away with fixed fees and have chosen to go with prorated fees which are more consumer friendly. However, the dispute on early termination fees are not yet over. For instance, a class action suit has recently been certified against Verizon Wireless due to the early termination fees they have charged their customers.

Early Termination fees may dampen the spirits of unsatisfied wireless customers but there are actually legal ways to terminate a contract with out paying a fee. A customer simply has to read the wireless contract he signed in order to discover these ways. Let me enumerate some of the ways in which people can cancel their cellphone contract without paying any termination fees.

One of the best ways to avoid paying an early termination fee is by canceling your wireless contract within a month or thirty days of accepting it. I've looked at the Terms and Conditions of many contracts and thirty days seems to be the standard for the early cancellation of a contract. I even found out that with AT&T you can even receive a refund if you cancel your contract within three days of signing it.

However, you will still be charged for any services that you used within this 30 day period. Returning the device and accessories that are pert of the long term deal or wireless contract is also a requirement. Here is a statement from AT&T's terms and conditions that deals with early cancellation:

You may cancel your service, for any reason and without incurring the Early Termination Fee, within thirty (30) days of signing your Wireless Service Agreement, PROVIDED, however, that if you cancel service you will remain responsible for any service fees and charges incurred. If you cancel within three (3) days of signing your Wireless Service Agreement, you will be entitled to a refund of your activation fee, if any. If you exercise this option, you may be required to return devices and associated accessories purchased in connection with your Wireless Service Agreement.

Another way of escaping from a wireless contract without spending a dime for the early termination fee is by canceling it after the carrier initiated a "material" change in the contract. Mobile phone service providers, give their customers to opt out of their contracts if a change they made causes adverse effects. Customers who cancel their contract within a certain period after the material change takes effect are not required to pay any early termination fee.

This statement from Sprint Nextel's Terms and Conditions describe cancellation after a material change in the services and also includes the conditions a customer has to follow to become exempted from paying an early termination fee,

We will provide you notice of material changes, and may provide you notice of non-material changes, in a manner consistent with this Agreement (see "Providing Notice To Each Other Under The Agreement" section). If a change we make to the Agreement is material and has a material adverse effect on Services under your Term Commitment, you may terminate each line of Service materially affected without incurring an Early Termination Fee only if you: (a) call us within 30 days after the effective date of the change; and (b) specifically advise us that you wish to cancel Services because of a material change to the Agreement that we have made. If you do not cancel Service within 30 days of the change, an Early Termination Fee will apply if you terminate Services before the end of any applicable Term Commitment.

These are just a couple of legal ways of ending a troublesome contract. I'm sure that there are a few more ways to end your commitment to a wireless contract you find unacceptable. The best way to find one is to read the contract or ask questions. I hope this information can help you become free from an unwanted wireless contract.