How to get out of a 2 year contract?

Contracts work both ways as both parties are required to fulfill the requirements of the contract. Right now I am trying to terminate my contract with Cingular because they fail to provide anything close to reliable service and I find myself paying money for what is at best unreliable service. My husband has significant health problems and we recently experienced a situation where he could not contact me by cell phone because Cingular service did not work (he called me repeatedly, but I could not hear him and my calls would not go through). Fortunately, everything turned out OK with him, but it could have been a very serious situtaion.

Even though the customer is given a discounted price for the phone, I expect that the real money is in the monthly fees. In health care for example, glucose meters are practically free despite the technology that goes into them because the company makes its money on selling the test strips that are used in the glucose meter. The meter is a one-time charge, but the test strips are a repeated charge. I suspect the same type of situation holds true for cell phones. Cell phones certainly do not have the accountability issues that go with glucose meters and, strangely enough, glucose meters do not come with some absurd contract. I think wireless companies would need to provide much better service if the client could "walk" at any time.

I see your point, but a person cannot "walk" from diabetes at anytime. If they could, I'm sure the glucose monitors would not be free/discounted.

Either the ATTW or Cing towers should give you sufficient signal strength. it may also be a phone issue.

I went from att-who of course was screwing me-I got out of thier contract because of non-performance-it was a real pain.They took it upon themselves to switch my rate plan and i spent months trying to fix that, tabulated what i should have been billed each month and paid only that, This of course left me with a huge balance, and foe 6 or 7 months I was able to keep service while having a substantial over 120-day old balance. This was a nightmare and a lot of work. also they had serious phone answering problems (taking weeks to have enough time to hold the required 12 hours to get thru) Each week I'd get a collection call and explain the situation, and each week I';d have to explain it 15 times to diffrent reps who had the authority to do nothing before I'd get a lowly supervisor. after 7 months of this crap they terminated me, and billed me over $900 for early cancellation. Simultaneously I had file complaints with every one I could think of. I wrote up the entire situation and attatched a history of all communications. Eventually it wnt to collection agencies, and I IMMEDIATLY responed to thier effort that this was not a legitimate debt, to immediately return this debt to the original owner, that it was in fact uncollectable, that AT&T had breached the contract, to immediately CEASE AND DECIST AND AND ALLCOLLECTION EFFORTS, and not to dare report ant info to the big three (experian, and the other two credit agencies. The previous was a tip from my lawyer. the cease and decist seems to mean something serious in legal-ease. in al my writings, I had a dollar figure that I felt I owed, and felt and told them that this left such an insignificant balance that they should credit it, or keep torturing me and I would sue for breech of contract. This was a horrible ordeal, and as time went on they apparently can't get access to certain records-leaving them with nothing to respond to my (true) allogations--thats one way to get out of the contract- unfortunatly they had great coverage.
from them I went to T-Mobile who was great. 5,000 anytime minutes, free roaming, phones, LD etc.
PROBLEM: I could not get a signal. I was using over 2,000 minutes a month w/ATT plus my wifes 800. My t-mobile bill never shwed more that 400. they switched phones 30 times, I must say they tried, but it was fruitless. IK started calling corporate, asked them what it was costing them to keep me as a customer, They checked it out and weren't happy. they assigned me to a higher up in tech area to fix my problem. Each week this fellow would call me, tell me which new towers went up and check my signal stregnth. about 5 months of this and we had to part. I called customer service to cancell, Thier were detailed records of all of this and all the A-hole supervisors treated me like shit and billed me $400/phone. I called MY MAN and it was credited the next day, and a kind of thank anyway apology letter was sent. If they get it together I'd go back.
Now comes Cingular One (affiliated with ATT, remember them?)
They were great except for one thing-the phones the told me were so great sucked so bad they were worthles and again the numbers showed it. We fought for 6 months. They refused to give me phones that worked.
Well, I made them replace the Motorola C-331g so many times they were having head spins. By the time this was over I had so many goodwill minutes that I never got one overage bill,. in fact about 1,100 expired on me. As for the phones. can you believe I called T-Mobile back and they were nice enough to unlock thenm so I could use them w/Cingular? (similar networks allowed for this) They were Samsung 225's and I love them. They have been dropped, kicked, and gone thru hell and stil work great!!!!!!!!! Well it's been two years and time for free phones. I am trying to avoid getting junk from Cingular again. They are oferring a Nokia 6102-$29.95, LG-2000-free, Motorola V-557-$50, and some other uninteresting stuff. If anybody out there wants to go on thier site, review the phones, and tell me what to pick I'd be thankful.
Thanks
Brian Cecchini
cecchini10@hotmail.com

There is a clause in the contract explicitly stating that Cingular's service is not gauranteed in all places at all times. They provide you with coverage maps outlining where service is provided, however the maps are only approximations. As much as cingular would love to be able to gaurantee their coverage they simply cant.

On an additional note. Do you get to pay whatever you want to the gas company or electric company? You signed up for a service and at that time agreed to early termination fees as well as any lack of service you may have encountered. Yes the companies do give away free phones at the time you sign up because they will make more money on the monthly service. Just because you picked the free phone and its a piece of garbage doesnt not entitle you demand anything free. The contract you signed agreed that the company would provide a service, which is what your monthly fees pay for, not the phone. Cell users need to get the entitlement issues free from their brains. Plus realize that it is a cellular phone, not a landline. So many features affect cellular phone signal that dont a landline that its impossible to guarantee service in every nook, cranny, cavern or cave you may live in. Do your research. If you are already in your contract, dont demand free stuff because you already got it when you signed up. If you want out, pay the termination fee. If you were to threaten to sue, i would politely smile and say bring it on. You have no legal backing for your case and i hope you accrue so much in lawyers fees that you cant afford a cell phone.

Last edited by kopy on Tue Jan 31, 2006 2:25 am, edited 1 time in total

I can agree that you cannot walk away from diabetes. You have no idea how much I wish we could. I wish I could see my husband walk again and I wish I did not need to wake up in the middle of the night to check his breathing. As nice as the emergency room staff are to us, I wish they did not know us by name because we have been to the ER so many times. And you know what else, the companies that make glucose meters are smart enough to know that people with stick with their products so long as it meets their needs.

I do not have contracts with any utility company including electricity, water, gas, telephone, cable, you name it (not even my gym). In fact, when I did have problems with DSL during the time I had it, the company actually adjusted my bill on several occasions so I did not pay for the days they could not provide service. My guess is they knew I could "walk" at anytime if they did not provide the promised service (which is what eventually happened). I did read the Cingular contract and the promised service is not delivered. If it was, I would not be trying to terminate my contract. I have enough challenges in my life without constantly dealing with poor service from a wireless company.

I paid quite a bit extra for the "better" phones and I am not asking to terminate my contract so I can get newer phone or plan from some other company. I actually liked the rollover feature of the Cingular plan and how easy it was to access voicemail. I asked a lot of questions before signing the contract and I explained my concerns regarding my husband's health condition. We even looked at the reception map. If Cingular could not provide me with what I needed as per my questions, they should have been upfront and honest and told me so. Actually, I would appreciate talking to anyone at Cingular who can do more than read sections from the training manual and say the words "no" and "I am sorry, but we cannot do that."

By the way, I do not sue people or companies and I have not threatened to bring on a lawsuit. I just believe that if someone does not fulfill their end of the contract, then a breach of contract has occured. I am not looking for free stuff or some kind of entitlement, but I will not pay for services that are not provided (and no one else should either).

I'm sorry to hear about your condition. I mentioned earlier that you should at least be able to get service from ATT or cingular towers. you can try doing at manual network selection to see if it helps.

Here is the actual clause in your wireless service agreement refering to service availability.

"SERVICE/COVERAGE LIMITATIONS Service is not available at all times in all places. Coverage maps are available at www.cingular.com and are subject to the additional limitations described there. There are gaps in coverage withing the service areas shown on coverage maps, which, by their nature, are only approximations of actual coverage. I accept Cingular's service with these limitations."

And just an additional note about the ETF

"... if I terminate this Agreement before expiration of my Service Commitment, I will pay Cingular and Early Termination Fee of $150 for each wireless telephone number associated with the service."

Not to be mean about it, but you signed it, deal with it. I am a retail sales rep and I have turned customers away because the coverage map didnt include them. I dont lie to my customers, and at least twice a day I personally handle the follies of people whom have purchased their phones and plans thru less than reputable agents. Words of advice. Only go to authorized agents who's primary signage reads Cingular. Dont go to Cellular Warehouse, showcase, Bobs house of phones, gizmo or what not. The real agents out there get paid hourly plus commision so our motivation is not purely commission. Id rather have you happy and send me 2 of your friends. As said before, get an agent. We know what we are doing.

don't forget, you can buy your test strips from someone else - you're not under contract like you are to your service provider. you can go somewhere else to get a different glucose meter if you choose - no contract = no penalty. beyong the terms and conditions, look at it this way: SBC(now at%t,) and bell south run a multi-billion$ company in cingular, and spend several hundred$ a year retaining lawyers who specialize in terms and conditions, contracts, and small litigation. not to discourage you from trying, but fighting the contract over $150 penalty is really just not worth your time, and will in the end cost you much more than the simple cancellation penalty.

Many people these days quickly sign contracts without reading the actual thing. I agree with othersm, the issue is not the cancellation fees or service limitations because if you read what you're signing it states it all in the contract. I read all contracts I sign which annoys the heck outta the persons 'cause it can take a min to read what I'm getting into but its my right to know what I'm "agreeing" on. Don't be blinded by the free phone offers,its a promotional ploy,if you fall for it you're responsible. Of course not all are bad deals, do your research is the best advice! I shopped around for the new Razr phone til I found the best deal out there. I don't like commitment in any way,shape or form which includes a cellular service contract so I bought my phone cheap then went to Cingular for service and they gladly have me on a month to month basis with no contract. Its very nice to know I can walk away if I'm not happy with thier service with no cancellation fees. I advice buying your own phone aside from the service agreement,it doesn't have to be at full price,like anything else - shop around for good deals

.

I would just like to clarify what has been said, for my own sake.

If I understand this, if I were to walk in to a Cingular store, or Verizon, Sprint, etc., I DO NOT have to sign a one or two year contract in order to get post paid service. But I DO have to pay full price for the cell phone itself.

Assuming of course that I pass a credit check, correct?

Ok if that is true, then does Cingular allow you to bring in your own device (say you bought it from eBay or it was hand-me-down) as long as it is compatible, (works on the 850/1900 MHz range), and is unlocked or is locked to Cingular?

On that same note, as a personal curiosity, could I take a CDMA phone that was originally with Verizon, and move it to say, .... Alltel, or Virgin Mobile? They are both CDMA networks, and as long as the phone (Moto V60i) is a CDMA phone it should work, right? Or are CDMA phones locked to carriers in a similar manner as GSM phones?

Any input would be appreciated.

How to get out of a 2 year contract?

Similar Topics

New AT&T Cell Phones

Carriers Talk

Manufacturers Talk

Mobiledia Community