Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Grrr Verizon Grrr Help Please

Z

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jun 10, 2006
7,299
2,052
I know this isn't the right place, but this is as close as I could get.

I want to terminate my contract with Verizon when the next iPhone comes out, and assuming it happens in June, at that point, I will be 3/4th through my 2 year contract. I read a long time ago that Verizon has prorated their terminated fees, so now how much you are charged (as opposed to the previous flat 175$ fee) depends on how much time you have left in your contract. I've been searching for an hour and a half, and I found some other random helpful stuff that totally isn't related, but I am wondering if someone can point me in the right direction to the details of the prorated termination fees, so I can see how much it will cost me. And I cannot call Verizon, haven't been able to for two months (travelling) and will not be able to for awhile longer. Thanks :eek:
 
We have a relatively new two year Verizon contract which prorates by decreasing the early termination fee by $5 per month that we have the contract.
 
I am in the exact same situation as you. My contract is up in November and I want an iPhone ! Although I will have to sell my ipod touch this summer. But anyways I looked it up today and also found that it decreases $5 a month like the above poster said. So I guess I'll just have to wait it out until November :(
 
Okay sounds good. But if I'm right, this means that it is 175-(# of months remaining x 5). That means 85$ for me. Ugh, that is still pretty bad. I think that paying the remainder of my 6 months is actually cheaper (only 60$ since I'm in a family plan).
 
Zwhaler said:
Okay sounds good. But if I'm right, this means that it is 175-(# of months remaining x 5). That means 85$ for me. Ugh, that is still pretty bad. I think that paying the remainder of my 6 months is actually cheaper (only 60$ since I'm in a family plan).
Click to expand...

You are correct, sitting on the account until you can terminate would be cheaper for you. Just remember, you can't port your number untl you terminate the contract for that phone. Attempting to port the number automatically terminates the contract with Verizon.
 
avaloncourt said:
You are correct, sitting on the account until you can terminate would be cheaper for you..
Click to expand...

Wait, how do you know that? :p


(Just change the plan to the cheapest thing Verizon offers...still, is that cheaper then 15 bucks a month? I can't keep up with Verizon's plans)
 
As a note about the Verizon ETF fee. Remember that the changes ONLY apply to those NEW contracts that were signed with this in the agreement. If you signed your 2 year contract before the implementation of this you WILL NOT be grandfathered in :(

I know I spend numerous phone calls and several support techs to find this out...
 
zap2 said:
Wait, how do you know that? :p


(Just change the plan to the cheapest thing Verizon offers...still, is that cheaper then 15 bucks a month? I can't keep up with Verizon's plans)
Click to expand...

Well, since he said he's a secondary phone on a family plan you could pay almost an entire contract price and not match the ETF. You can't "change the plan" to anything cheaper than that. Yes, $10 a month is cheaper than $15 a month.
 
Maxington said:
As a note about the Verizon ETF fee. Remember that the changes ONLY apply to those NEW contracts that were signed with this in the agreement. If you signed your 2 year contract before the implementation of this you WILL NOT be grandfathered in :(

I know I spend numerous phone calls and several support techs to find this out...
Click to expand...

Exactly! The terms of your contract are the terms. They don't make it retroactive. We had a guy at work who suddenly started texting on the work phone hundreds of times a day. I caught this on the first bill. Why? "The ads say free text messaging to other Verizon phones." Um, no. That's not IN our contract. That's new. So, he ended up paying the company back for the thousands of text messages at 15 cents a piece. As a safety-measure I turned off text messaging on all the phones to prevent it from ever happening again.

People hear about such things in ads and automatically think it applies to them.
 
Maxington said:
As a note about the Verizon ETF fee. Remember that the changes ONLY apply to those NEW contracts that were signed with this in the agreement. If you signed your 2 year contract before the implementation of this you WILL NOT be grandfathered in :(

I know I spend numerous phone calls and several support techs to find this out...
Click to expand...

Really? Man that sucks. So I'm gonna have to pay the 175$, that blows. And if I don't pay the money, I can't port my number! Ahhh screw cellular providers.
 
I was able to port my number from Verizon and have them reassign me a new number so I could finish out my contract(2 months). I told them I had to change service providers for work and they did it, although it wasn't easy. Get approval before you port. I friend recently got out of his Verizon contract by telling them he was going over to Iraq, they rapidly terminated his contract and thanked him for serving his country. Also I recently read about a few services for selling/trading your cellular contracts. Check out this article at iPhone Alley:

http://www.iphonealley.com/tips-and-tricks/dump-your-contract-early-and-get-an-iphone

I hope that helps, I love helping people stick it to Verizon.

-NF
 
Basically, I just want to keep my number and get out of Verizon. So it seems like I will either have to pay 175$ or wait until January to get a new contract with AT&T. Any other recommendations? Sorry about beating the horse, but would it be possible to give my current phone to someone I know with the current contract, but have it's number changed so I can use my current number elsewhere? Man I hate these companies.

Oo and thanks for the links
 
There's actually a way to get out of the Verizon contract without paying any fees, but you have to put up a great argument. It deals with the Txt message per price increase...and if you have a txt available on your line.... you can use that to get out of your contract without paying fees. Read the following link:

Operation: Verizon Freedom
 
I absolutely loathe verizon. Crappy phones, crippled bluetooth and functions, overcharging for everything, the list goes on. On the flip side, it's a phone and traveling around the U.S. to some pretty desolate areas, I almost always have service with few dropped calls. They do have the best coverage in my opinion hands down.

Went through years w. AT&T and Sprint. They just couldn't compare so I eat siht and deal. Got by with some nice Nokia's that were hackable until recently when Verizon dumped Nokia altogether.

Good luck getting out of your contract. You may be better off as other posters wrote to ride it out w. as little a plan as possible. Hold off on the new iPhone as long as possible and it won't be too bad on the wallet.
 
EHUnlucky7x9@ao said:
There's actually a way to get out of the Verizon contract without paying any fees, but you have to put up a great argument. It deals with the Txt message per price increase...and if you have a txt available on your line.... you can use that to get out of your contract without paying fees. Read the following link:

Operation: Verizon Freedom
Click to expand...

Yeah, it is pretty easy to get out of the verizon ETF if you know what to say. I have canceled two lines a year early and it only took about 10 minutes each time. Trying to cancel ATT without an ETF however, took at least 2 hours and then I had to call back repeatedly to actually get them to issue the credit after I got the bill the next month.
 
I've taken a look at the txt loophole but at first dismissed it because I didn't think it applied to me. I already have a txt plan that includes something like 10 pic msgs and mobile web 2.0. So it looks like I will have to cancel my txt plan in order to get out of my contract that way. Well now it turns out I will be flying home by the end of this week so I will see how it goes. Thanks for all the help!

edit giggity! I forgot that I am part of a family plan and I am not the "main" phone in the plan so technically I am an accessory or however you want to look at it and am currently playing a very cheap rate because I am in such a plan. I will investage and see if I can cancel this part of the plan and report back.
 
Zwhaler said:
I've taken a look at the txt loophole but at first dismissed it because I didn't think it applied to me. I already have a txt plan that includes something like 10 pic msgs and mobile web 2.0. So it looks like I will have to cancel my txt plan in order to get out of my contract that way. Well now it turns out I will be flying home by the end of this week so I will see how it goes. Thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...

You only have 60 days to cancel once you receive notice of the increase, so you are going to need to find another way out unless you got the notification really late. The sms increase notice was sent out in January/February.
 
NeoMayhem said:
You only have 60 days to cancel once you receive notice of the increase, so you are going to need to find another way out unless you got the notification really late. The sms increase notice was sent out in January/February.
Click to expand...

Ya know I think I just completely failed at math skills there for a sec, because I double checked and I believe that the new termination fee prorated stuff actually does apply to me. I got confused and thought my contracted started in early 2006 instead of early 2007 (since I got my phone replaced before then and I mixed that up with actually getting a new contract). So I think I will just pay the 80 or whatever dollars and buy the best phone in the world :D
 
I work for Verizon Wireless and can tell you that the company is headed in an interested direction. Now anytime you make any changes to your account, such as upgrading your phone, there will be a $20 fee even if you are eligibile. There will also be a $20 fee assessed when you come in to activate a phone that is from Asurion and that is just crazy. They did away with the unlimited wireless aircard plan, and introduced a 39.99 - 50MB plan that I personally have seen people with up to $3,000 in overages. I dont know how they do this and are OK with it. Its becoming more difficult to work their and have to tell people all this because its just another obstacle for them to overcome. O yea, and phonebook transfers are no longer free, they are $10 dollars!
 
mylexon20s said:
I work for Verizon Wireless and can tell you that the company is headed in an interested direction. Now anytime you make any changes to your account, such as upgrading your phone, there will be a $20 fee even if you are eligibile. There will also be a $20 fee assessed when you come in to activate a phone that is from Asurion and that is just crazy. They did away with the unlimited wireless aircard plan, and introduced a 39.99 - 50MB plan that I personally have seen people with up to $3,000 in overages. I dont know how they do this and are OK with it. Its becoming more difficult to work their and have to tell people all this because its just another obstacle for them to overcome. O yea, and phonebook transfers are no longer free, they are $10 dollars!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Phone book transfers meaning Verizon to Verizon or cross network? Well either way I don't mind spending the money, but still I hate it when companies nickel and dime you like that (cough Hyatt)
 
Zwhaler said:
Really? Man that sucks. So I'm gonna have to pay the 175$, that blows. And if I don't pay the money, I can't port my number! Ahhh screw cellular providers.
Click to expand...

Well you signed the contract, so you really can't complain. You're just gonna have to bite the bullet. You did mention you have a Touch. Why not just sell that for the ETF cash?

Or maybe join the military and tell Verizon you're going to be over seas for a while. :D

If you go to the HoFo Verizon forums you'll see many threads of people trying to find a loophole to cancel their service w/o paying the ETF. Not many are successful though.

To me I'd just wait. By the time your contract is up, im sure the 3G iphone will drop in price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back