Number Portability and Early Termination Fee Workaround?

Ok, here's the situation. I'm in a contract with attws that ends
mid-April. I've grown tired of giving them money for repeatedly
dropped calls and the like so I'm ready to switch. My current phone
is a v60i that I will be trading into Bestbuy for credit towards a new
Sanyo 5500 on SprintPCS. However, I have an old nokia 8260 that is in
working order. My question is this, is there any way that I can
somehow get a new number on that 8260 and maintain my contract with
attws while pulling my current number over to SprintPCS? The logic
behind this is that it would be cheaper for me to keep the 8260
activated in a drawer and pay 4 months at $19.99 (attws' cheapest
plan) than for me to pay the $175 early termination fee. I'm guessing
the answer is no, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

thanks in advance

-Tim

---

› See More: Number Portability and Early Termination Fee Workaround?

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Tim Miller) wrote:

> Ok, here's the situation. I'm in a contract with attws that ends
> mid-April. I've grown tired of giving them money for repeatedly
> dropped calls and the like so I'm ready to switch. My current phone
> is a v60i that I will be trading into Bestbuy for credit towards a new
> Sanyo 5500 on SprintPCS. However, I have an old nokia 8260 that is in
> working order. My question is this, is there any way that I can
> somehow get a new number on that 8260 and maintain my contract with
> attws while pulling my current number over to SprintPCS? The logic
> behind this is that it would be cheaper for me to keep the 8260
> activated in a drawer and pay 4 months at $19.99 (attws' cheapest
> plan) than for me to pay the $175 early termination fee. I'm guessing
> the answer is no, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
>
> thanks in advance


if you change your AT&T plan, they will extend your contract.

In alt.cellular.attws Tim Miller <[email protected]> wrote:
: Ok, here's the situation. I'm in a contract with attws that ends
: mid-April. I've grown tired of giving them money for repeatedly
: dropped calls and the like so I'm ready to switch. My current phone
: is a v60i that I will be trading into Bestbuy for credit towards a new
: Sanyo 5500 on SprintPCS. However, I have an old nokia 8260 that is in
: working order. My question is this, is there any way that I can
: somehow get a new number on that 8260 and maintain my contract with
: attws while pulling my current number over to SprintPCS? The logic
: behind this is that it would be cheaper for me to keep the 8260
: activated in a drawer and pay 4 months at $19.99 (attws' cheapest
: plan) than for me to pay the $175 early termination fee. I'm guessing
: the answer is no, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Find out from Sprint what, if anything, it would cost to port your
number in five months. In the meantime, set your AT&T phone to
forward to your Sprint number until April (activate your old nokia if
you can).

But if you are not already paying $19.99/month, as someone else said,
they'll extend your contact when you change plans. Even then, five
months at $19.99 is still $100 + tax, so you'll save only about $60
vs. the early termination fee. As much as you might hate it, you
might simply pay the fee or live with crappy service for another few
months.

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
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----> http://www.bizave.com <---- Photo Albums and Portland Info
----> To Email me remove "MYSHOES" from email address
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[email protected] (Andrew) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> In alt.cellular.attws Tim Miller <[email protected]> wrote:
>: Ok, here's the situation. I'm in a contract with attws that ends
>: mid-April. I've grown tired of giving them money for repeatedly
>: dropped calls and the like so I'm ready to switch. My current phone
>: is a v60i that I will be trading into Bestbuy for credit towards a
>: new Sanyo 5500 on SprintPCS. However, I have an old nokia 8260 that
>: is in working order. My question is this, is there any way that I
>: can somehow get a new number on that 8260 and maintain my contract
>: with attws while pulling my current number over to SprintPCS? The
>: logic behind this is that it would be cheaper for me to keep the 8260
>: activated in a drawer and pay 4 months at $19.99 (attws' cheapest
>: plan) than for me to pay the $175 early termination fee. I'm
>: guessing the answer is no, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
>
> Find out from Sprint what, if anything, it would cost to port your
> number in five months. In the meantime, set your AT&T phone to
> forward to your Sprint number until April (activate your old nokia if
> you can).
>
> But if you are not already paying $19.99/month, as someone else said,
> they'll extend your contact when you change plans. Even then, five
> months at $19.99 is still $100 + tax, so you'll save only about $60
> vs. the early termination fee. As much as you might hate it, you
> might simply pay the fee or live with crappy service for another few
> months.
>
> Andrew

When I asked Sprint about a new number now and moving my old number when
they can support it, the answer was "thats a new contract".


--
dan SCHEIN
http://www.dschein.com

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 18:14:43 GMT, Patrick Bosley <[email protected]>
wrote:

>if you change your AT&T plan, they will extend your contract.

Isn't this true ONLY if you accept promotions? What if you change your
plan to the 19.99 plan and tell them to keep the promotions?




----------------------------
To email me, remove the zz.

"Tim Miller" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ok, here's the situation. I'm in a contract with attws that ends
> mid-April. I've grown tired of giving them money for repeatedly
> dropped calls and the like so I'm ready to switch. My current phone
> is a v60i that I will be trading into Bestbuy for credit towards a new
> Sanyo 5500 on SprintPCS. However, I have an old nokia 8260 that is in
> working order. My question is this, is there any way that I can
> somehow get a new number on that 8260 and maintain my contract with
> attws while pulling my current number over to SprintPCS? The logic
> behind this is that it would be cheaper for me to keep the 8260
> activated in a drawer and pay 4 months at $19.99 (attws' cheapest
> plan) than for me to pay the $175 early termination fee. I'm guessing
> the answer is no, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
>
> thanks in advance
>
> -Tim

How can you keep an account with ATTW, if you ported your number over to
SPCS?

My advice, if you are so unhappy with ATTW, just port over your telephone
number with a new account with SPCS, and pay the cancellation fee.

Bob

Getting a second att line on the 8260 might extend your att
contract. And porting the old number early may still trigger an
cancellation fee.


Tim Miller wrote:

> Ok, here's the situation. I'm in a contract with attws that ends
> mid-April. I've grown tired of giving them money for repeatedly
> dropped calls and the like so I'm ready to switch. My current phone
> is a v60i that I will be trading into Bestbuy for credit towards a new
> Sanyo 5500 on SprintPCS. However, I have an old nokia 8260 that is in
> working order. My question is this, is there any way that I can
> somehow get a new number on that 8260 and maintain my contract with
> attws while pulling my current number over to SprintPCS? The logic
> behind this is that it would be cheaper for me to keep the 8260
> activated in a drawer and pay 4 months at $19.99 (attws' cheapest
> plan) than for me to pay the $175 early termination fee. I'm guessing
> the answer is no, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
>
> thanks in advance
>
> -Tim

In article <[email protected]>,
Jerome Zelinske <[email protected]> wrote:

> Getting a second att line on the 8260 might extend your att
> contract. And porting the old number early may still trigger an
> cancellation fee.
>
>
> Tim Miller wrote:
>
> > Ok, here's the situation. I'm in a contract with attws that ends
> > mid-April. I've grown tired of giving them money for repeatedly
> > dropped calls and the like so I'm ready to switch. My current phone
> > is a v60i that I will be trading into Bestbuy for credit towards a new
> > Sanyo 5500 on SprintPCS. However, I have an old nokia 8260 that is in
> > working order. My question is this, is there any way that I can
> > somehow get a new number on that 8260 and maintain my contract with
> > attws while pulling my current number over to SprintPCS? The logic
> > behind this is that it would be cheaper for me to keep the 8260
> > activated in a drawer and pay 4 months at $19.99 (attws' cheapest
> > plan) than for me to pay the $175 early termination fee. I'm guessing
> > the answer is no, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
> >
> > thanks in advance

There is a basic common law principle called "Fit for purpose". If your
cell phone is really dropping calls all the time, and not just once or
twice a week, then they are not providing you service, and Tim should
write to your State's Attorney General, with a certified copy to HQ of
AT&T WS, (Bothell, WA) demanding to be let out of your contract.

On Fri, 05 Dec 2003 15:20:47 GMT, James Tullin <[email protected]>
wrote:

>There is a basic common law principle called "Fit for purpose". If your
>cell phone is really dropping calls all the time, and not just once or
>twice a week, then they are not providing you service, and Tim should
>write to your State's Attorney General, with a certified copy to HQ of
>AT&T WS, (Bothell, WA) demanding to be let out of your contract.

Almost right. Forget the government agencies, they have nothing to do
with the issue.

What you should do is write a letter to ATTWS, demand they fix their
defective service and dropped call problem. Give them a time limit to
do so to your satisfaction. 10 days is reasonable.

Tell them if they fail to perform you will sue them for your damages.
Send it certified. Send a copy to their "agent for service of
process" in your state, you can find that from your secretary of
state.

They will probably respond by phone, a person who is a specialist in
such cases, who will try to make you happy. Let them do so, or tell
them you will get another provider who can provide satisfactory
service.

You should be out of your contract.

If not, sue them for $500 or so in small claims court. After you get
them served they will then be anxious to make you go away, and will be
negotiating in ernest.

This process is kind of fun. It's a ball suing multi billion dollar
companies for pin money. I actually did this to Pacific Bell, because
of bad cellular service. They did NOT want to deal with me. Heh.

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

> Almost right. Forget the government agencies, they have nothing to do
> with the issue.
>
> What you should do is write a letter to ATTWS, demand they fix their
> defective service and dropped call problem. Give them a time limit to
> do so to your satisfaction. 10 days is reasonable.
>
> Tell them if they fail to perform you will sue them for your damages.
> Send it certified. Send a copy to their "agent for service of
> process" in your state, you can find that from your secretary of
> state.
>
> They will probably respond by phone, a person who is a specialist in
> such cases, who will try to make you happy. Let them do so, or tell
> them you will get another provider who can provide satisfactory
> service.
>
> You should be out of your contract.
>
> If not, sue them for $500 or so in small claims court. After you get
> them served they will then be anxious to make you go away, and will be
> negotiating in ernest.
>
> This process is kind of fun. It's a ball suing multi billion dollar
> companies for pin money. I actually did this to Pacific Bell, because
> of bad cellular service. They did NOT want to deal with me. Heh.

Now this is a good post! I used to get DSL through Concentric
Communications a few years ago. XO Communications bought them out and
service went to hell. They always had an excuse between some damn redback
router in Chicago to bad ATM provisioning to ... I was told [by XO] that if
I kept initiating trouble tickets to fix it that they [Covad] could cancel
my service. This would have been very useful advice.

Tom Veldhouse

No they won't. They will only extend the contract if new promotions are
accepted. This is well known in the ATTWS group. You can go up and down on
their base plans without a contract extension. I did exactly this last year.
Started with Sprint on Dec 1 and changed my AT&T $39.99 plan down to the
$19.99 plan due to expire on Feb 1. They changed it no questions asked and I
cancelled Feb 1.

The problem you're going to have is porting your current number to Sprint
and getting a new one from AT&T. They're not going to like doing that. Might
as well cancel early now.

"Patrick Bosley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...

> if you change your AT&T plan, they will extend your contract.

If that doesn't work hook your laptop up to Vision and start downloading via
Kazaa 24 hours a day nonstop, then plead ignorance and give them hell when
they call.

"Thomas T. Veldhouse" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Now this is a good post!

On Fri, 5 Dec 2003 13:42:41 -0600, "Thomas T. Veldhouse"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Now this is a good post! I used to get DSL through Concentric
>Communications a few years ago. XO Communications bought them out and
>service went to hell. They always had an excuse between some damn redback
>router in Chicago to bad ATM provisioning to ... I was told [by XO] that if
>I kept initiating trouble tickets to fix it that they [Covad] could cancel
>my service. This would have been very useful advice.
If you are paying for service that can't be used, and you have a
contract, just document your problems.

Take "contemporaneous notes" as to the problems you have.
They can't stick you with a contract for service that can't be used.
It's just impossible.