Need advice on early termination

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Bob Ward <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>> Sure. Just cancel the contract and don't pay them anything else.
>>>
>>> It's not that difficult.
>>
>> I can't think of an easier way to destroy your credit rating...
>
> Not paying a cell company's bill will "destroy" a credit rating?
>
> What world do you live on?

Being billed for $150 cancellation fee will not "destroy" a credit
rating. They won't tell you the impact it'll have on your score, but it
will almost certainly be minimal.

---

› See More: Need advice on early termination

Wirelessjuan wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 16:44:31 -0600, "M. L." <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I recently moved to a new residence and cannot get a decent signal there.
>> The low signal was verified by the customer service rep at Cingular.
>> However, she told me that my only options were to go to a lower-priced
>> plan, to find someone else who would take over my contract, or to pay a
>> $150.00 early termination fee. Do I have any recourse here? I don't see why
>> I should have to pay for a service I cannot receive through no fault of my
>> own. Any advice appreciated.
>
> When you were looking for a new home why didn't you check your Cell
> reception before moving? This was something we did when we bought our
> last home since we knew that we would use our Cellular phones and not
> have a landline.

I think that the real estate listings should include a list of all
carriers in an area, and the signal strength of each. "Sorry, I can't
make an offer on this $950,000 house because I might have to pay $150
termination fee for my wireless carrier."

>I think that the real estate listings should include a list of all
>carriers in an area, and the signal strength of each. "Sorry, I can't
>make an offer on this $950,000 house because I might have to pay $150
>termination fee for my wireless carrier."

I think that real estate listings should be organized by DSL speed,
distance from the central office, and landline phone company. You
don't want to make an offer on a $950,000 house and THEN discover
it's 1000 feet beyond the limit for getting DSL.

Gordon L. Burditt

>>>> Sure. Just cancel the contract and don't pay them anything else.
>>>>
>>>> It's not that difficult.
>>>
>>> I can't think of an easier way to destroy your credit rating...
>>
>> Not paying a cell company's bill will "destroy" a credit rating?
>>
>> What world do you live on?
>
> Being billed for $150 cancellation fee will not "destroy" a credit rating.
> They won't tell you the impact it'll have on your score, but it will
> almost certainly be minimal.

Are you sure that's how it would read? I have a feeling that not paying the
$150 cancellation fee might be regarded as not agreeing to terminate the
contract, so the credit report might instead read that you have a continuing
(and growing) unpaid balance and late fees.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com


"SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> Bob Ward <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>> Sure. Just cancel the contract and don't pay them anything else.
>>>>
>>>> It's not that difficult.
>>>
>>> I can't think of an easier way to destroy your credit rating...
>>
>> Not paying a cell company's bill will "destroy" a credit rating?
>>
>> What world do you live on?
>
> Being billed for $150 cancellation fee will not "destroy" a credit rating.
> They won't tell you the impact it'll have on your score, but it will
> almost certainly be minimal.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

>> Being billed for $150 cancellation fee will not "destroy" a credit rating.
>> They won't tell you the impact it'll have on your score, but it will
>> almost certainly be minimal.
>
> Are you sure that's how it would read? I have a feeling that not paying the
> $150 cancellation fee might be regarded as not agreeing to terminate the
> contract, so the credit report might instead read that you have a continuing
> (and growing) unpaid balance and late fees.

Yes, if the carrier does that, rather than trying to bill the
termination fee after the customer cancels. It's possible that the
carrier may refuse to cancel service if you don't pay the fee.

I wouldn't recommend doing this, but I know that with AOL, often the
only way to cancel was to close the credit card account.

One thing you might consider is trying a phone that has
known excellent RF abilities. There are many Cingular
phones I can't use where I live. When I moved I had
to try several different phones before I found a couple
that worked at the new house. Give just about any
current Nokia phone a try (I've had good luck with
the 6620 and 6230) or the Motorola RAZR.


"M. L." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I recently moved to a new residence and cannot get a decent signal there.
> The low signal was verified by the customer service rep at Cingular.
> However, she told me that my only options were to go to a lower-priced
> plan, to find someone else who would take over my contract, or to pay a
> $150.00 early termination fee. Do I have any recourse here? I don't see
> why
> I should have to pay for a service I cannot receive through no fault of my
> own. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

And how do you think that works? It checks the same coverage
map that you would look at yourself.

SMS wrote:

> T-Mobile, for all its faults, lets you check coverage at a specific
> address. It's not foolproof, especially with apartment buildings, but
> it's much better than you'll get from the other carriers.

Mike Berger wrote:
> And how do you think that works? It checks the same coverage
> map that you would look at yourself.

It's not just a map that essentially shows complete coverage of an area.
It has every tower on it, with concentric circles out from the tower
location. Often there's overlapping coverage, occasionally there is no
coverage at all. While other carriers may have something similar, it
isn't publicly available.

RobR wrote:
> One thing you might consider is trying a phone that has
> known excellent RF abilities. There are many Cingular
> phones I can't use where I live. When I moved I had
> to try several different phones before I found a couple
> that worked at the new house. Give just about any
> current Nokia phone a try (I've had good luck with
> the 6620 and 6230) or the Motorola RAZR.

He could also try an external antenna, if the phone supports it.

Gordon Burditt wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>>I think that the real estate listings should include a list of all
>>carriers in an area, and the signal strength of each. "Sorry, I can't
>>make an offer on this $950,000 house because I might have to pay $150
>>termination fee for my wireless carrier."

Sure. And a nice 10% commission might help them pay for all those cell
phones.

> I think that real estate listings should be organized by DSL speed,
> distance from the central office, and landline phone company. You
> don't want to make an offer on a $950,000 house and THEN discover
> it's 1000 feet beyond the limit for getting DSL.

You've really got to watch what they call "available". Several providers
will tell me that it's available to me... until it's time to make the
hookup.

--
If John McCain gets the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination,
my vote for President will be a write-in for Jiang Zemin.

"M. L." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...


>I don't see why I should have to pay for a service I cannot receive through
>no fault of my
> own. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

How many months are left on your contract? Would it be more economical to
just pay for a couple more months, even if you don't use the service, rather
than pay a termination fee?

Cingular has you by the short hairs on the early termination fee. And, in
truth, even though you may not receive a signal at your new home, you would
likely be able to use the service while traveling in your car, so it is not
like you cannot ever use it.

The other side of the coin is this: the carrier gave you a rate that was
discounted from their base rate, and may have given you a phone as well, in
exchange for their receiving a certain guaranteed cash flow for a set period
of time from your account. The question of whether you can receive a signal
at your new home is largely irrelevant. Had you been able to get a signal,
they would have had to provide you with service at the contracted rate.

You do have an obligation to fulfill the terms of your contract. You could
attempt to find someone to assume the remaining term, you could pay the
early termination fee, or you could pay the monthly charge and keep the
service, using it when away from your home.

This is one of these situations where, as they say, "Sometimes you get the
bear--Sometimes the bear gets you."

In article <2eeCf.48897$Ez3.27166@trnddc03>,
[email protected] says...
> "M. L." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>
> >I don't see why I should have to pay for a service I cannot receive through
> >no fault of my
> > own. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
>
> How many months are left on your contract? Would it be more economical to
> just pay for a couple more months, even if you don't use the service, rather
> than pay a termination fee?
>
> Cingular has you by the short hairs on the early termination fee. And, in
> truth, even though you may not receive a signal at your new home, you would
> likely be able to use the service while traveling in your car, so it is not
> like you cannot ever use it.
>
> The other side of the coin is this: the carrier gave you a rate that was
> discounted from their base rate, and may have given you a phone as well, in
> exchange for their receiving a certain guaranteed cash flow for a set period
> of time from your account. The question of whether you can receive a signal
> at your new home is largely irrelevant. Had you been able to get a signal,
> they would have had to provide you with service at the contracted rate.
>
> You do have an obligation to fulfill the terms of your contract. You could
> attempt to find someone to assume the remaining term, you could pay the
> early termination fee, or you could pay the monthly charge and keep the
> service, using it when away from your home.
>
> This is one of these situations where, as they say, "Sometimes you get the
> bear--Sometimes the bear gets you."


Sometimes you're the windshield... Sometimes you're the
bug.


--
Get Credit Where Credit Is Due
http://www.cardreport.com/
Credit Tools, Reference, and Forum

In article <2eeCf.48897$Ez3.27166@trnddc03>,
"Jeremy" <[email protected]> wrote:

> "M. L." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>
> >I don't see why I should have to pay for a service I cannot receive through
> >no fault of my
> > own. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
>
> How many months are left on your contract? Would it be more economical to
> just pay for a couple more months, even if you don't use the service, rather
> than pay a termination fee?
>
The OP didn't say what state he was in. In California an early
termination fee cannot exceed the amount left in the contract. If there
is only two months left, then the ETF cannot exceed that amount,
regardless of what the contract states. This was published in a local
paper recently and I don't recall if it is a law or a CPUC ruling but it
applies to all cellphone companies operating in California.

Other states might have similar laws/rules. Depending where you live
this might be worth looking into, YMMV.

--
-Ernie-

"There are only two kinds of computer users -- those who have
suffered a catastrophic hard drive failure, and those who will."

Have you done your backup today?

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 07:38:21 -0800, SMS wrote:

> M. L. wrote:
>> I recently moved to a new residence and cannot get a decent signal there.
>> The low signal was verified by the customer service rep at Cingular.
>> However, she told me that my only options were to go to a lower-priced
>> plan, to find someone else who would take over my contract, or to pay a
>> $150.00 early termination fee. Do I have any recourse here? I don't see why
>> I should have to pay for a service I cannot receive through no fault of my
>> own. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
>
> There is a video that details the solution for you. The original
> location of it is gone, so I hope that the creator doesn't mind me
> storing it.
>
> See "http://nordicgroup.us/cingular/cingular.wmv"
>
> It will take several minutes to download the video.

Thanks for the comic relief. Seems Cingular did a good job of incorporating
its incompetences as features.

BTW, I have a neice who used to work as a rep for Verizon. She said thet
they regularly waived termination fees for my situation. I've corresponded
with the BBB, my state's Attorney General, and the FCC to get their
opinions. I'll write to the Public Utilities Commission tomorrow.

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Fri, 27 Jan 2006
03:10:11 GMT, Ernie Klein <[email protected]> wrote:

>The OP didn't say what state he was in. In California an early
>termination fee cannot exceed the amount left in the contract. ...

Likewise in other states.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>