AT&T Will not let me cancel my contract WITH the ETF!

[Cescfabregas4]

Ding ding. We have a winner!

See OP, this is karma coming back at you. Your trying to work the system, however, the system is now working you.

You have 30 days to cancel the contract and not have to pay an EFT and only pay for the minutes you used on your contract. However, since you are now PAST the 30 days, you have to pay an EFT, your first months bill and ANY pro-rated service as well. That is how it works.

He wants to pay the ETF. He just does not want to pay for service that he is not going to use.

 

[Cescfabregas4]

ok heres the deal. if he had actually read the material provided to him when he signed the contract he wouldnt be so surprised now about his billing cycle.

Really. Show me where it says that in the contract. Where it says that you have to have service for a minimum amount of time.

 

[dave006]

Ok, here's the deal guys, the OP said he was willing to pay for his 31 days of services and the ETF, that is all that he should have to pay for (given how the contract is written), he should not have to pay for a complete second month of service. It's simple, you should only have to pay for what you use.

Actually you are not looking at the same Contract terms that I see and we all agreed to if we got an iPhone recently. The Thread Starter and all his FANs... have no wiggle room based on the following:

Here is the key item from the AT&T iPhone Terms and Conditions:

Pricing/Taxes/No Proration: Final month's charges are not prorated. Prices are subject to change. Prices do not include taxes.

Source: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/legal/plan-terms.jsp#iPhone

Next time you sign or agree to a contract, make sure you read the details...
You also might want to swing by this link for why you should cancel the last day of your billing cycle.

http://www.wireless.att.com/answer-..._dyncharset=UTF-8&solutionId=53601&isSrch=Yes

Dave

 

[samcraig]

Ok, here's the deal guys, the OP said he was willing to pay for his 31 days of services and the ETF, that is all that he should have to pay for (given how the contract is written), he should not have to pay for a complete second month of service. It's simple, you should only have to pay for what you use.

FAIL

He's not paying for a complete second month. He is paying for the pro-rated amount from purchase to billing cycle which is OUTLINED CLEARLY in the CSS

Your next bill may be higher than expected! The bill may include:
Understanding My Next Bill (Estimate)
• Upgrade fee.
• Prorated charges and fees for the month when you made the change.
• One month's service billed in advance.

 

[racer1441]

You could always do what I did to get out of my sprint contract a few years ago. I had about 16 months left, but wasn't happy and was ready to move, but was not going to pay the ETF, so i just kept showing up at the store or calling their help line with little BS issues. After about 2 weeks Sprint corporate called and asked what would make me happy...I got out of sprint, not ETF, and they waived the last month's fees for my 'trouble'. I wouldn't say I was mean or nasty any of the times, just was very very annoying about 4 times a day.

On the other hand, I really like my ATT right now, so...

 

[Cescfabregas4]

Actually you are not looking at the same Contract terms that I see and we all agreed to if we got an iPhone recently. The Thread Starter and all his FANs... have no wiggle room based on the following:

Here is the key item from the AT&T iPhone Terms and Conditions:

Pricing/Taxes/No Proration: Final month's charges are not prorated. Prices are subject to change. Prices do not include taxes.

Source: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/legal/plan-terms.jsp#iPhone

Next time you sign or agree to a contract, make sure you read the details...
You also might want to swing by this link for why you should cancel the last day of your billing cycle.

http://www.wireless.att.com/answer-..._dyncharset=UTF-8&solutionId=53601&isSrch=Yes

Dave

How does that explain what the OP is going through? What the OP is trying to do is being done by others everyday.

 

[ruinfx]

Really. Show me where it says that in the contract. Where it says that you have to have service for a minimum amount of time.

see post #54

 

[dave006]

How does that explain what the OP is going through? What the OP is trying to do is being done by others everyday.

I thought we already covered the basics.

But for you slow learners out there in the "interweb" , once you go past the initial 30 day Buyer return period you are in your last month of service and so you get to pay for the whole month of service even if you don't want to use a single minute. Which part of my previous post don't you understand, just read complete contract at the link I provided.

The Thread Starter is confused by all the big legal terms in the contract and it seems that some other posters on this thread are confused but the facts are very clear. The OP might not like to fact that he has to pay through Aug. 13 but that is the cold truth.

Dave

 

[RetiredInFl]

The will prorate the final month of a cancelled account. I recently cancelled an ATT family plan 550 account that had 2 lines on it. My FINAL month (partial period of June 7 to June 25) was prorated. My final bill was $48.23 (plus the ETF). It had 1 iPhone, 1 iPhone data plan & 1 "regular" phone on it. My normal bill is around $89 after FAN discount. They even took off the FAN discounts.

 

[cWeems]

You are trying to screw them or else you would have cancelled a day earlier and returned your phone and would have had no problems. The only reason your having this problem is because you are trying to sell the phone and make money off of them and you're not going to get any remorse from anybody on here for doing that. Suck it up and pay an extra months worth of service. It's people like you that make them change the rules and end up screwing honest contract-biding customers.

IMO, they should make the person return the phone no matter what if they cancel the contract. Either return the phone or pay off the difference of what AT&T has subsidized for your phone. It will stop these children from screwing companies over so they can make a couple hundred bucks. Why don't you stop putting in all this effort into trying to scam companies and put that effort into your education and maybe you'll have a better job and won't have to worry about money so much.

You're a disgrace. Get off these forums.

agreed

 

[cWeems]

okay, i used to work for At&t, not saying im a genius or really care about this but here...

There are two types of systems At&t uses, Telegence and CARE.

These systems are randomized throughout the country into different markets(at&t is trying to make it all one system)

BUT, Telegence does not bill ahead, as CARE does. So depending on his market, his bill is different. and most right now are CARE, which sucks.

Anywho, heres examples...

Telegence system: say u sign up for new service on the 14th and your billing cycle is set for the 12th(keep in mind att doesnt have a billing cycle for every day, theres only like 5 dates they have for it)... your first bill wont even cut until the 12th of that next month, and you're only charged from the 14th-12th, thats it... then after that your normal bill from the 13th-12th.

CARE system(which most are on): on the other hand... same scenario, you purchase on the 14th and billing cycle is on the 12th. CARE system bills current cycle plus one full cycle. so not ONLY are you billed 14th-12th but also 13th-12th for the next month just on the first bill... hence where all the prorated mess comes from.

so again, just example dates of how the system works depending on where you live. But you see how CARE is lame and bills ahead of time before that month has even begun.

So OP, obviously you're in a CARE market, and since they have already billed you(whether you received the bill or not) you must pay that and finish out the cycle, in most cases, not saying supervisor might be able to do something.


dunno if that helps at all? probably not, but just an FYI for anyone lol

 

[macslayer118]

CANCELLATION PERIOD / TERMINATION
You may terminate this Agreement within thirty (30) days after activating service without paying an Early Termination Fee. You will pay for service fees and charges incurred through the termination date, but AT&T will refund your activation fee, if any, if you terminate within three (3) days of activating the service. You may have to return any handsets and accessories purchased with this Agreement, and AT&T may charge you a restocking fee. If you terminate after the 30th day but before expiration of the Agreement's Service Commitment, you will pay AT&T an Early Termination Fee for each wireless telephone number associated with the service. Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time after your Service Commitment ends with thirty (30) days notice to the other party. We may terminate this Agreement at any time without notice if we cease to provide service in your area. We may interrupt or terminate your service without notice for any conduct that we believe violates this Agreement or any terms and conditions of your rate plan, or if you behave in an abusive, derogatory, or similarly unreasonable manner with any of our representatives, or if we discover that you are underage, or if you fail to make all required payments when due, or if we have reasonable cause to believe that your Device is being used for an unlawful purpose or in a way that may adversely affect our service, or if you provided inaccurate credit information or we believe your credit has deteriorated and you refuse to pay any requested advance payment or deposit.

I didnt have any problems with cancelling one of my lines years back when I had 2 lines. I don't know what the difference is now

 

[samcraig]

I didnt have any problems with cancelling one of my lines years back when I had 2 lines. I don't know what the difference is now

The OP isn't having an issue about cancelling. His "complaint" is that he feels that AT&T is not charging him JUST the 30 days but also the pro-rated amount for when he bought/started service and his 30 days. And its been explained that when you start new service, the first month is pro-rated for when you start plus a month to get you on a normal billing cycle. The OP believes (as do others - not myself) that ATT shouldn't be allowed to bill him for more than 30 days since he cancelled.

Cancelling is NOT the issue here.

 

[Kaemon]

The post about being a journalist is pretty spot on. Also you can try writing your state Attorney General. That WILL get things taken care of.

That is such crap. I work at a job where I get threatened with "I'll report you to the Attorney General" all the time, and ya know what? It is always, 100%, the fault of the person I'm dealing with. It is always their stupidity, their misreading, them not paying attention, and them trying to scam. In not one case have I ever seen a point where it could not be their fault.

In this case, the guy here is trying to scam AT&T out of the money they paid to have the phone at a discount rate for him. And he can cancel, yes, but he didn't even BOTHER to find out if he would have prorated time before his billing cycle starts, and anything at all.

The Attorney General wouldn't do anything for him, he's the one trying to break contract.

 

[AbSoluTc]

The OP isn't having an issue about cancelling. His "complaint" is that he feels that AT&T is not charging him JUST the 30 days but also the pro-rated amount for when he bought/started service and his 30 days. And its been explained that when you start new service, the first month is pro-rated for when you start plus a month to get you on a normal billing cycle. The OP believes (as do others - not myself) that ATT shouldn't be allowed to bill him for more than 30 days since he cancelled.

Cancelling is NOT the issue here.

The problem here is - he didn't cancel WITHIN 30 days. He canceled after 30 days, 31 to be exact. He screwed himself over.

 

[pdpfilms]

The problem here is - he didn't cancel WITHIN 30 days. He canceled after 30 days, 31 to be exact. He screwed himself over.

If he had cancelled at 30 days, I believe that's still within the "30-day trial period", and he'd have to give his phone back. Right?

EDIT: And I just have to say, ATT is a massive corporation in which each tiny business decision (the amount of the ETF, the terms of the contract, etc.) go through review after review. If a policy were to put them in jeopardy in any way, it would never be approved. Simply put, ATT decided their own terms and conditions, and a customer is not in the wrong for following them. Opting to cancel service after 31 days, pay the ETF, and keep your iPhone is not "screwing ATT". It's simply choosing one of the many paths that ATT has deemed suitable for ongoing business.

 

[fr33 loader]

I wonder who pays for this ATT "overheads"?

 

[-aggie-]

If he had cancelled at 30 days, I believe that's still within the "30-day trial period", and he'd have to give his phone back. Right?

EDIT: And I just have to say, ATT is a massive corporation in which each tiny business decision (the amount of the ETF, the terms of the contract, etc.) go through review after review. If a policy were to put them in jeopardy in any way, it would never be approved. Simply put, ATT decided their own terms and conditions, and a customer is not in the wrong for following them. Opting to cancel service after 31 days and keeping your iPhone is not "screwing ATT". It's simply choosing one of the many paths that ATT has deemed suitable for ongoing business.

I wondered the same thing about whether you have to give the phone back. It would seem like you'd have to, but don't know exactly what it says. There are a whole bunch of posters on this thread that seem to care about all this, so I'm sure one of them knows.

 

[darngooddesign]

That prorated **** is a gimmick by ATT to get extra money from you.

Pro-rating is not a gimmick to get extra money. Its there to help the consumer

 

[darngooddesign]

The problem here is - he didn't cancel WITHIN 30 days. He canceled after 30 days, 31 to be exact. He screwed himself over.

Correct and since he knew after 20 days he didn't want the phone he should have called AT&T to find out when he should cancel by.

 

[pdpfilms]

I wonder who pays for this ATT "overheads"?

The company themselves. Profits have been calculated to account for any of these fluctuations (which ATT themselves acknowledge as less than 0.01% of their total business). These profits would be factored in whether people were doing things like this or not- in no way are the rest of the customer base paying for these overheads directly.

Example: Your wireless bill is $79.99 per month ($39.99 for voice, $30 for data). ATT may have figured out that a "safe" profit margin is 15%, or $12. As a customer, you pay this $12 whether the OP cancels or not. If not a single person in the next 12 months cancelled their plan and walked away with a subsidized phone, you'd still pay ATT the same amount.

 

[pdpfilms]

I wondered the same thing about whether you have to give the phone back. It would seem like you'd have to, but don't know exactly what it says. There are a whole bunch of posters on this thread that seem to care about all this, so I'm sure one of them knows.

From the Terms and Conditions:

You may terminate this Agreement within thirty (30) days after activating service without paying an Early Termination Fee. You will pay for service fees and charges incurred through the termination date, but AT&T will refund your activation fee, if any, if you terminate within three (3) days of activating the service. You may have to return any handsets and accessories purchased with this Agreement, and AT&T may charge you a restocking fee.

Other than that there is no mention of having to return handsets, so it is assumed you can keep your device after 30 days. Experiences by user SBG posted in this thread seem to corroborate on this assumption.

 

[Coraline]

You could always do what I did to get out of my sprint contract a few years ago. I had about 16 months left, but wasn't happy and was ready to move, but was not going to pay the ETF, so i just kept showing up at the store or calling their help line with little BS issues. After about 2 weeks Sprint corporate called and asked what would make me happy...I got out of sprint, not ETF, and they waived the last month's fees for my 'trouble'. I wouldn't say I was mean or nasty any of the times, just was very very annoying about 4 times a day.

On the other hand, I really like my ATT right now, so...

Yes, that is what all intelligent adults should do. If they don't like something they should just whine and complain until someone gets fed up with them and gives into their little demands. This is excellent advice.

You had 16 months left of your contract and somehow felt you shouldn't (or weren't going to) pay the ETF you agreed to pay when you SIGNED the contract?

 

[uberamd]

You are trying to screw them or else you would have cancelled a day earlier and returned your phone and would have had no problems. The only reason your having this problem is because you are trying to sell the phone and make money off of them and you're not going to get any remorse from anybody on here for doing that. Suck it up and pay an extra months worth of service. It's people like you that make them change the rules and end up screwing honest contract-biding customers.

IMO, they should make the person return the phone no matter what if they cancel the contract. Either return the phone or pay off the difference of what AT&T has subsidized for your phone. It will stop these children from screwing companies over so they can make a couple hundred bucks. Why don't you stop putting in all this effort into trying to scam companies and put that effort into your education and maybe you'll have a better job and won't have to worry about money so much.

You're a disgrace. Get off these forums.

Truth. I strongly feel its very low to buy a phone, and cancel the contract after 30 days so you can keep it at a lower price to make a few hundred dollars. Get a life, thats such a dirty scam tactic it makes me sick. This is one reason I'm sure cell phone service prices won't ever decrease, they need the extra money to protect themselves from lowlifes like the OP.

I *really* wish canceling a signed contract within X months went on your credit rating to help discourage this crap and alert other carriers you may seek that you have this track record. -or- force the return of the phone or make them pay the remainder of the subsidy.

Total disgrace.

 

[fr33 loader]

The company themselves. Profits have been calculated to account for any of these fluctuations (which ATT themselves acknowledge as less than 0.01% of their total business). These profits would be factored in whether people were doing things like this or not- in no way are the rest of the customer base paying for these overheads directly.

Example: Your wireless bill is $79.99 per month ($39.99 for voice, $30 for data). ATT may have figured out that a "safe" profit margin is 15%, or $12. As a customer, you pay this $12 whether the OP cancels or not. If not a single person in the next 12 months cancelled their plan and walked away with a subsidized phone, you'd still pay ATT the same amount.

Good to know that it's the ATT's $12 and not mine.