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I found this interesting... how to get out of your cell phone contract without paying an early termination fee
http://foxnews.smartmoney.com/consumer/index.cfm?story=20060713
Consumer Action
Ditching Your Cell Contract
By Aleksandra Todorova Published: July 13, 2006
THREE MONTHS AGO, 29-year-old Mark Girgis decided he'd had enough of T-Mobile's dropped calls on his frequent business trips to upstate New York, Vermont and southern New Jersey. The problem: Dropping his contract seven months early would have cost him a $200 early-termination fee.
So when a co-worker told him about Celltradeusa.com, a web site that would help him find someone to take over his T-Mobile contract for a $19.99 registration fee, Girgis decided to give it a try. It paid off immediately. "I got emails the same day from people who wanted my phone," Girgis says. Within days, a buyer from Delaware got approved by T-Mobile to take over the contract, the transfer was completed and Girgis promptly switched to another carrier.
Many folks don't realize that they can drop their cell phone contract without paying a termination fee, which typically runs as much as $150 to $200 per line. All they have to do is find someone willing to take the contract over for its remaining term.
Granted, this may not be easy: Beyond your family and friends — who probably have contracts of their own to gripe about — who's there to ask? That's why a year ago Eric Wurtenberg and his brother launched Celltradeusa.com, which connects consumers who want to get rid of their contract with those looking to assume one. This way, sellers can drop their cell-phone carriers for a fraction of the penalty fee, while buyers can get a contract with a much shorter term than the now-standard 24 months, pay no activation fees and, in most cases, receive a free cell phone from the seller.
The service is free for the buyers, who can search ads posted by sellers based on criteria such as cellular company, contract length, monthly price or type of phone offered. The $19.99 fee that sellers pay is due only after they start receiving emails from interested buyers and in the case they want to access the sender's contact information. Since it launched a year ago, about 75,000 users a month have visited the site, which typically sports at least 1,000 active "for sale" ads, according to Wurtenberg. (A recent search yielded 1,179 listings.)
But while it offers advantages for both buyers and sellers, the service also comes with a catch: While it can help you find an interested buyer for your contract, it doesn't help with the actual transfer. "We can't get involved," says Wurtenberg. "We're a matchmaking service. Like eBay, we're connecting people."
Spokespeople for Verizon Wireless, Cingular and Sprint PCS/ Nextel confirmed that the companies do contract transfers, but said they don't endorse the web sites that facilitate it. "We caution our customers against doing business online, with companies they don't know," says Tom Pica, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless. (By press time, T-Mobile and Alltel had not returned our calls seeking comment.)
What that means is that once you find a buyer for your contract, it's up to you to contact your carrier and complete the transfer process. It also means that both buyer and seller will have to trust that somebody they've never met will follow through the process with honesty. (Unlike eBay, which can reimburse buyers within certain limitations if the seller doesn't deliver, for example, these match-making web sites don't offer any protection for either side of the transaction.)
Still think the risks are worth it? Here's how to drop your carrier safely. (more)
http://foxnews.smartmoney.com/consumer/index.cfm?story=20060713
Consumer Action
Ditching Your Cell Contract
By Aleksandra Todorova Published: July 13, 2006
THREE MONTHS AGO, 29-year-old Mark Girgis decided he'd had enough of T-Mobile's dropped calls on his frequent business trips to upstate New York, Vermont and southern New Jersey. The problem: Dropping his contract seven months early would have cost him a $200 early-termination fee.
So when a co-worker told him about Celltradeusa.com, a web site that would help him find someone to take over his T-Mobile contract for a $19.99 registration fee, Girgis decided to give it a try. It paid off immediately. "I got emails the same day from people who wanted my phone," Girgis says. Within days, a buyer from Delaware got approved by T-Mobile to take over the contract, the transfer was completed and Girgis promptly switched to another carrier.
Many folks don't realize that they can drop their cell phone contract without paying a termination fee, which typically runs as much as $150 to $200 per line. All they have to do is find someone willing to take the contract over for its remaining term.
Granted, this may not be easy: Beyond your family and friends — who probably have contracts of their own to gripe about — who's there to ask? That's why a year ago Eric Wurtenberg and his brother launched Celltradeusa.com, which connects consumers who want to get rid of their contract with those looking to assume one. This way, sellers can drop their cell-phone carriers for a fraction of the penalty fee, while buyers can get a contract with a much shorter term than the now-standard 24 months, pay no activation fees and, in most cases, receive a free cell phone from the seller.
The service is free for the buyers, who can search ads posted by sellers based on criteria such as cellular company, contract length, monthly price or type of phone offered. The $19.99 fee that sellers pay is due only after they start receiving emails from interested buyers and in the case they want to access the sender's contact information. Since it launched a year ago, about 75,000 users a month have visited the site, which typically sports at least 1,000 active "for sale" ads, according to Wurtenberg. (A recent search yielded 1,179 listings.)
But while it offers advantages for both buyers and sellers, the service also comes with a catch: While it can help you find an interested buyer for your contract, it doesn't help with the actual transfer. "We can't get involved," says Wurtenberg. "We're a matchmaking service. Like eBay, we're connecting people."
Spokespeople for Verizon Wireless, Cingular and Sprint PCS/ Nextel confirmed that the companies do contract transfers, but said they don't endorse the web sites that facilitate it. "We caution our customers against doing business online, with companies they don't know," says Tom Pica, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless. (By press time, T-Mobile and Alltel had not returned our calls seeking comment.)
What that means is that once you find a buyer for your contract, it's up to you to contact your carrier and complete the transfer process. It also means that both buyer and seller will have to trust that somebody they've never met will follow through the process with honesty. (Unlike eBay, which can reimburse buyers within certain limitations if the seller doesn't deliver, for example, these match-making web sites don't offer any protection for either side of the transaction.)
Still think the risks are worth it? Here's how to drop your carrier safely. (more)
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Muck
Enjoy Every Sandwich
I was just going to post essentially the same thing (damn sometimes I think we share a brain).
The X and I were on Verizon from 02-04. They overcharged us on EVERY SINGLE BILLING STATEMENT.
Unlike Scoot's experience they weren't pricks about it with us. When we called them every month to point out the discrepency they removed the extra charges without question.
Since then I've been on Nextel since work decided to require us to have Nextel phones (for the two-way feature).
Luckily that worked out perfectly as they forced it upon us right about the same time our Verizon contract was up.Due to another fortuitous turn of events my contract ends next month. Since I'm no longer working as a field tech (if the company doesn't decide to fire me for the leave of absence lol ) I don't need the Nextel phone so I'll like switch carriers when I get back from overseas.
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