AT&T doesn't want customers? Waiving ETF fee

[jenlevin]

so i called AT&T about canceling my line - wanted to verify how much my ETF fee is at this point. it is down to $195 (att is charging me a $250 premium to upgrade - so obviously going with the $195 is the cheaper option.) a comparable plan for me on sprint would also be $10 cheaper / month. valid points and i'm genuinely considering the switch.

so at&t told me that due to my loyalty with them, they would waive my EARLY TERMINATION FEE. so now instead of it being around $300 cheaper (over 2 years) to go to spring - it will be about $500 cheaper.

great customer service, and a great deal for me. but i don't see at&t's logic here. i understand it's cheaper in the short run for them to credit $195 than to credit $250 - but i would think they make money off having customers.....

 

[iBreatheApple]

Maybe you don't come off as an asset to them. They told me they couldn't bump my date like I requested but instead credited my account $250.

 

[Vertigo50]

I've heard others mention this too and it's just about the funniest thing I've ever heard. What do they gain from doing this?

 

[fjrabon]

so i called AT&T about canceling my line - wanted to verify how much my ETF fee is at this point. it is down to $195 (att is charging me a $250 premium to upgrade - so obviously going with the $195 is the cheaper option.) a comparable plan for me on sprint would also be $10 cheaper / month. valid points and i'm genuinely considering the switch.

so at&t told me that due to my loyalty with them, they would waive my EARLY TERMINATION FEE. so now instead of it being around $300 cheaper (over 2 years) to go to spring - it will be about $500 cheaper.

great customer service, and a great deal for me. but i don't see at&t's logic here. i understand it's cheaper in the short run for them to credit $195 than to credit $250 - but i would think they make money off having customers.....

I'd be willing to bet that this won't apply if you don't resign with them. That's clearly what they're trying to do, get you to stay with them by waiving the ETF and having you to sign back up. I wouldn't be surprised at all if you get a mysterious bill saying you owe them the full ETF if you don't sign back up. Though perhaps not.

 

[iBreatheApple]

I'd be willing to bet that this won't apply if you don't resign with them. That's clearly what they're trying to do, get you to stay with them by waiving the ETF and having you to sign back up. I wouldn't be surprised at all if you get a mysterious bill saying you owe them the full ETF if you don't sign back up. Though perhaps not.

It's $55. Is it really worth that much hassle and get a new number and all just to save $50 bucks? If that's an issue then I don't know why you're even purchasing an iPhone in the first place.

EDIT: When I say "your" I mean the OP, your post is just what conjured my thought.

 

[rjohnstone]

They know you'll be back.

Sprint doesn't exactly have the greatest network.
Depending on where you're at, you may spend a lot of time roaming on a Verizon tower.

Just hope your decision to switch to Sprint includes verifying coverage.
Not being a jerk, just saying.
I see a lot of people walk from one carrier to the next only to find out that not only is the grass not greener, but that it's brown and full of dog crap.

 

[note235]

Maybe you don't come off as an asset to them. They told me they couldn't bump my date like I requested but instead credited my account $250.

how did you get them to credit $250?

 

[cobaltrich27]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Yes I think your approach was wrong?

I called after the purchases mine $199 my wife $449. I talked with cancellations asked what could they do to compensate for the higher cost of my wife iPhone 4S? They are giving us monthly discount on service for next 6 months comes out to $185 each for new iPhones lol.

 

[GaresTaylan]

It's $55. Is it really worth that much hassle and get a new number and all just to save $50 bucks? If that's an issue then I don't know why you're even purchasing an iPhone in the first place.

EDIT: When I say "your" I mean the OP, your post is just what conjured my thought.

To me it would be worth it. I don't have an extra $55 growing on a tree outside. Some of us have also had the same number for years.

 

[bigkito]

I called and asked about both my lines termination fee. they said since line 1 is a 32gb it would be $175 and since line 2 is a 16gb it would be $90 even though i bought both phones within the same week. I knew this guy didn't have a clue so i asked to talk to a supervisor. she tried telling me that it was a glitch in the system and they're both going to cost $175 to terminate...I knew she was a moron too so i asked to speak to someone else....finally came across someone with a clue and explained the change of termination policy on June 20, 2010. 16gig contract said $150 with $4 deducted every month....my 32gb contract said $375 with $10 deducted every month

anyway the fact that i was lied to twice got me $160 in credit for my inconveniences

 

[fjrabon]

It's $55. Is it really worth that much hassle and get a new number and all just to save $50 bucks? If that's an issue then I don't know why you're even purchasing an iPhone in the first place.

EDIT: When I say "your" I mean the OP, your post is just what conjured my thought.

you're supposed to be able to keep your number if you change services now. doesn't always work, but in theory it's supposed to.

 

[ryguy120]

Slightly different subject -

I called AT&T to see if they would give my wife and I any type of credit on our account since we are renewing our contracts early. I explained that we have been loyal customers for a long time. The rep looked at our account and said they would waive the $18 upgrade fee on both lines.
This was after I pre-ordered through Apple early this morning.

Only $36 dollars, but it's still coin back in my pocket. I'll take it. You never know unless you ask.

 

[cobaltrich27]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Well I just called back to confirm my discounts she gave me an additional $10 credit for the hassle lol. So now I'm up to $290 credit making the cost of my 2 new iPhones $180 each hehe.

 

[pyro008]

so i called AT&T about canceling my line - wanted to verify how much my ETF fee is at this point. it is down to $195 (att is charging me a $250 premium to upgrade - so obviously going with the $195 is the cheaper option.) a comparable plan for me on sprint would also be $10 cheaper / month. valid points and i'm genuinely considering the switch.

so at&t told me that due to my loyalty with them, they would waive my EARLY TERMINATION FEE. so now instead of it being around $300 cheaper (over 2 years) to go to spring - it will be about $500 cheaper.

great customer service, and a great deal for me. but i don't see at&t's logic here. i understand it's cheaper in the short run for them to credit $195 than to credit $250 - but i would think they make money off having customers.....

Its a PR move. Even if you didn't like their service, you probably won't be out there telling everyone and their brother how terrible their quality is and what a bad company they are since they let you off the hook with the ETF. There are also BBB concerns etc. if you're cancelling service due to a fault with them such as nonexistent service and they may not want to mess with it. Besides, when you see how ****** the other US carriers are you'll be much more likely to go back to them if they don't try to gouge you when you leave.

Its also the CS you get. They don't really have a horse in the race so if they're softies, they'll probably let you off the hook.

 

[iBreatheApple]

how did you get them to credit $250?

I just stated that I didn't understand what 3 weeks would change and after she put me on hold she said that they absolutely cannot bump Apple dates but any other phone I could. She then told me they were going to credit my account $250 because they didn't want to lose me as a customer. This was after she asked me if I was going to cancel my contract. I said it was a possibility but SHE is the one who asked me about it. I think her supervisor probably said something to the extent of "if he is wanting to cancel just offer him $250" not knowing she wasn't supposed to ask herself.

 

[jenlevin]

I'd be willing to bet that this won't apply if you don't resign with them. That's clearly what they're trying to do, get you to stay with them by waiving the ETF and having you to sign back up. I wouldn't be surprised at all if you get a mysterious bill saying you owe them the full ETF if you don't sign back up. Though perhaps not.

no - i confirmed that the fee would be waived even if i port my number to another carrier. i don't at all think they're encouraging or intending for me to cancel only to sign back up with them.

It's $55. Is it really worth that much hassle and get a new number and all just to save $50 bucks? If that's an issue then I don't know why you're even purchasing an iPhone in the first place.

EDIT: When I say "your" I mean the OP, your post is just what conjured my thought.

i definitely wouldn't cancel and sign back up with at&t - it's not worth that at all (plus i have unlimited data on at&t). i'd purchase the iPhone outright if that was my only option. the fact is that switching = an upfront savings of $250 (since no early termination fee + at&t charging a $250 premium to upgrade). plus an additional savings of $10 a month.

at&t service is iffy where i live anyways, so i'm not real concerned about sprint's being worse.