Verizon wireless raisng Early Termination Fee to $350.00 for smartphones

[Shutterbug]

As of November 15th it will cost you double to get of your contract if you get a smartphone..ie blackberry, droid

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2355493,00.asp


I think this is to head off people getting a Droid then cancelling their contract and selling the Droid on places like ebay for a small profit.

 

[C.Ann]

Ouch! That's a lot of money.. I'd be thinking long and hard before I signed a contract with them!

Is this retroactive - to people who already have them - or only new customers?

 

[OK!]

Yikes. I thought AT&T's ETF of $175 was steep.

 

[wdwfan16]

Yikes. I thought AT&T's ETF of $175 was steep.

AT&T starts at $175 and goes down by $5 each month you keep the service.

 

[Jeanne B]

I heard it was because of the people who sign a contract, cancel, pay the ETF and then sell the phone for full price on ebay to make a profit.

It's for all contracts after 11/15 (I think that's the date)...not that I plan on going anywhere but I'm glad I just extended mine a couple weeks ago!!

 

[phorsenuf]

The ETF will be applied to consumer and business customers who purchase a one- or two-year contract. The fee will decrease by $10 for each month of service completed.

 

[OK!]

AT&T starts at $175 and goes down by $5 each month you keep the service.

Ah, I did not know that. And totally unrelated, but I'm a January '73 baby as well.

 

[C.Ann]

I wonder how that applies to business accounts? Dson-in-law's boss got a blackberry for him and told him to get rid of his personal cell phone and use the blackberry exclusively - as if he had purchased it himself.. The only problem is the blackberry is horrible! Dropped calls, extremely limited areas of reception, etc..

 

[wdwfan16]

Ah, I did not know that. And totally unrelated, but I'm a January '73 baby as well.

 

[Kimberle]

Please remember, this cancellation fee is for getting a "FREE" or "DISCOUNTED" phone upfront. You do not have to sign a contact. You can pay full price for the phone then cancel whenever you want.

It's your choice. Purchase a phone at full price if you don't want to commit to 2 years or take the "discount" on you phone and lock into 2 years of service.

Read the fine print.

 

[disney1990]

Yes, and this is not for just your normal, everyday cell phone. These are the expensive maga feature phones. All cell phone companies give you a great break on the actual price of these phones and your contract helps them to recoup some of that money.

The regular cancellation fee will remain at $175 with it going down each month that you hold the contract.