Cancellation fees

[Rich Stewart]

I just canceled my Sprint cell phone contract early. No particular reason other than I liked the T-Mobile phone better. Now I get the bill which has BOTH phones having a 200.00 cancellation fee. 400.00 total. I expected the 200 and was willing to pay, but I am not liking the 400.00. I was complaining about it to somebody at work and he told me that you don't legally HAVE to pay cancellation fees. He said they will send the bill, and threaten collection agencies, but if you don't pay them there is really nothing they can do. Anybody have any experience with the legalities of cancellation fees?

Needing a contract lawyer,

Rich

[Brad Olson]

Yes you have to pay, and yes you have to pay on each line you cancel, but you could fight it in court since you probably didn't actually sign the contract. But after it is all said and done you it will cost you more than the ETF.

Why do you have to pay?

You probably got a phone for less than $150 when you started service and the actual cost of that phone (yes even the free cheapies) are more like $300 or more. You end up paying (quite a bit more) than the cost of the phone by increased monthly charges and if you cancel early the ETF helps recover that money as well as preventing subscriber churn.

[Justin McCurdy]

I thought that there was some sort of legislation passed where the termination had to be prorated for the amount of time left on the contract ( i.e. 24 month contract with a $240 cancellation policy, if you cancel 2 months before the contract is up you would only owe $20).

Having said that, eventually they will probably just give up and even if they don't, you can probably talk them down from how much they want. I would offer to pay $200, but do not actually give them any money until they agree to the $200 and send you a bill for $200 that says something to the effect of "2 phone cancellation" or "final bill". Otherwise, you will be giving them $200 without any closure, they could still turn you into collections, etc.

[Bruce Page]

Rich, Look at your contract’s fine print.
If it goes to a collection agency, right or wrong, you’ll take a big hit on your credit rating.

[Robert foster]

Rich:

This probably won't work for you but maybe it will for someone. When we moved from TX we were with Verizon. However where we live now we are in an extended area and not in their regular area. Though we could and did use the phones here we couldn't use all the services like Vcast etc. After a while we decided to cancel before the contract was up. All we had to do was to send them a copy of a utility bill in our name from here and write on it "Cancellation Exception". No cancellation fee at all.
Hope this helps.
Bob

[Christopher Stahl]

I was able to get out of my Sprint/Nextel contract 4 months early with minimal fees back in August. It took several hours on the phone to get to the right person, but I finally did. In the end, I cancelled both of our phones for $100 total.

If you didn't work out any arrangements, then you'll have to pay $200 per phone. That contract states $200 per line and of which you agreed to by using their service. Sorry, not trying to be harsh, but those fees are legal, unfortunately.

I'd give them a call and try to get them to transfer you to somebody who can maybe negotiate a better cancellation fee. It will also depend on how many months remain on your contract.

[Matt Meiser]

Since I got my first cell phone 12 years ago there have been early termination fees. There were early termination fees in my DirecTV and Direcway contracts, and even our YMCA contract has an early termination fee.

When I called Sprint and threatened to leave a few months back the charges were prorated. But maybe that's a state-by-state thing?

[Scott Coffelt]

The fees are there to cover folks wholeave early before Sprint or any other carrier can recoup their subsidies. The reason you get phones for less than $350-$600 is cause the carrier covers the majority of the cost. You may be able to get some of the costs reduced, just call them and be nice. If you are a jerk on the phone with them, it is harder. In the end you may be able to recoup some or you may not. Also, when you sign up for service and it states there is a 1yr or 2yr contract, that's your choice. You can always pay full price and not have to worry about leaving early.

[Joe Pelonio]

We had 4 phones on T-Mobile when my son went to work for the summer in an area where T-Mobile had no service. We switched his to Verizon and they waived the fee because they verified no service there. if they hadn't we'd have gotten a new number for him at Verizon because it would have been cheaper at $39/month for the 3 months than to pay the $275 fee.

BTW there are lawsuits pending on these fees.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...2/ai_n16478214

There are also other ways to get out of the fees, though these may not help in this case:

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com...hone-fees.html

[Rich Stewart]

Thanks very much for the info fellas.