Alright, so I switched to AT&T half a year ago, their website and everything says they have great coverage, and it is just horrible in my area. I've dealt with it for half a year, but I can't anymore. Also, I would like to save $25 a month by switching to Alltel. Is there any way I can get out without paying an ETF? I mean, I know that if there's a change you can say that you don't agree and they'll waive the ETF, but as far as I know, there haven't been any changes. Can anyone tell me if there has? Or, can I dispute that I have poor coverage and get them to cancel off that? I might just have to pay the $300 ETF... don't want to. Anyone have any ideas?
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Any way to get out of this AT&T contract?
- Thread starter upsguy27
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They are, but they are still technically seperate until Q4. And my iPhone was stolen last month.
I said that before, and they said that they can't do anything since the coverage map shows I have great coverage.
Then tell them to come to your house and see for themselves. I mean seriously though, you can get anything you want from this companies if you try hard enough. Just keep calling and asking to speak to higher and higher up people.
Hmm...have they changed ANY part of your contract lately? Maybe something like increased text message fees, late fees, etc. If so, you can often use that to get out of the contract.
Check it out: http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2006/10/how-to-get-out-of-a-cellphone-contract-early.html
Here is another link: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/804255/
Check it out: http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2006/10/how-to-get-out-of-a-cellphone-contract-early.html
Here is another link: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/804255/
Yeah, I've already read up on that, and they haven't. The only thing they changed was the name Media Net to Data Package, which doesn't affect any pricing or anything.
One other possibility I have seen is excessive roaming charges. Basically, if you can find somewhere you are roaming on another carrier's network, use a bunch of minutes there, especially data minutes. I'll try to find an article on this trick.
OK, this is kind of old, so I don't know if it will work or not. Here is one:
http://roaminghack.blogspot.com/
Here is a slightly newer article from Cnet: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10113619-233.html
I could have sworn I read one on Lifehacker (one of my favorite sites) recently, but I can't find it right now.
Read through AT&T's terms. Found this:
Does this mean if I use 6 MB or 3,000 messages my plan will be terminated?
It looks like it can be terminated. Be careful, though, because it looks like those terms also give them the right to just cut off roaming on the plan. Of course, if they did that, it could be considering altering the contract.
Basically, be prepared to annoy the living daylights out of them. If you are persistent enough, you may be able to get out of this. Since you are only six months in, though, it may be a bit more difficult. If you were, say, 18 months into a 24 month contract, they may be more willing to let you go.
I went through something like this years ago when they were Cingular. After one of the multiple acquisitions of the company (I think it was when they bought the original AT&T Wireless), service at my house stopped completely. There were NO bars, and in fact, the Cingular logo wasn't even there. I believe they took down a tower near my house, but they refused to admit it. It ended up being like a 12 round boxing match going back and forth with them to cancel my contract.
And that is why I do not have an iPhone, and will not have one as long as AT&T has the exclusive contract.
It looks like it can be terminated. Be careful, though, because it looks like those terms also give them the right to just cut off roaming on the plan. Of course, if they did that, it could be considering altering the contract.
Basically, be prepared to annoy the living daylights out of them. If you are persistent enough, you may be able to get out of this. Since you are only six months in, though, it may be a bit more difficult. If you were, say, 18 months into a 24 month contract, they may be more willing to let you go.
I went through something like this years ago when they were Cingular. After one of the multiple acquisitions of the company (I think it was when they bought the original AT&T Wireless), service at my house stopped completely. There were NO bars, and in fact, the Cingular logo wasn't even there. I believe they took down a tower near my house, but they refused to admit it. It ended up being like a 12 round boxing match going back and forth with them to cancel my contract.
And that is why I do not have an iPhone, and will not have one as long as AT&T has the exclusive contract.
Alright, so how do I know that I'm in a roaming area? And then what? I just use a ton of calls/texts/data?
Well, I'm on a CDMA service, but when I hit roaming, my phone pops up a little yellow triangle at the top. Check your phone's manual or check with AT&T to see if they give some indication of roaming. Of course, finding an area where you are actually roaming may be difficult. There is a difference between terrible service on their network and roaming.
Other than that...yeah, just find an area that is roaming, and go to town with the text and data. The problem is you have to do it for a couple of months before they drop you.
Other than that...yeah, just find an area that is roaming, and go to town with the text and data. The problem is you have to do it for a couple of months before they drop you.
Okay... I get zero coverage in certain places so I'll go there tomorrow and check them out. Thanks for your help.
They need to read Denis Wood's The Power of Maps.
Sorry, I know it's not helpful, but this comment really fascinated me. They actually base policy on representations of reality, not reality itself... weird. You would have thought they could at least have a tech person check it out.
As a constructive comment, if the reception is poor in your area and other people are experiencing similar problems, would you be able to involve your local town council? My town took action against a cable provider several years ago because of problems with the services they offered. The company responded pretty quickly.
Make sure you check all the enclosures to your bill carefully. Just last month they sent me a revised binding arbitration agreement. They love doing stuff like that.
I just got a notice that they are changing terms of dispute resolution, requiring binding arbitration, and that all disputes must be brought individually we now give up the right to a class action suit.
Since I have personally had problems with AT&Ts billing practices, and a friend of mine is invloved in a class actino against them right now for repeatadly adding services to his contract without permission, I don't agree to these changes. It actually bothers me even more because I don't think companies should legally be able to ask customers to sign the right to due process in court-yet they do it all the time.
I guess my point is to check carefully, your contract might have been changed and you just don't know yet.
Funny story. A cell tower was down near my work, and our company uses AT&T phones. Signal strengh was good, but calls were scrambled and you just heard digital garbage. We knew it was a problem with the area because no AT&T phone worked, and our phones worked fine a block away. For two months at&t refused to accept that there was a problem, and kept saying that all 30 of us needed to buy new phones.
Then we ordered a change to our internet connection, and the at&t tech couldn't use his phone while on site. Amazingly, the problem was fixed the next day.