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rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 25, 2013
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I'm curious as to what would happen if you signed a 2 year contract and then immediately cut and run. I signed a 2 year deal w/ Verizon through Best Buy over the weekend. Aside from the Activation fee and ETF, what other charges would there be if I ported out to my previous carrier and didn't return the device?
 
it'll affect your credit. in this life, you should not ruin 2 things -- your reputation and your credit.
How would it ruin my credit? If I paid the ETF right away why would I take a hit on my credit?
 
ah, i misunderstood. i thought you were just outta there without making any further payments/fees.
 
I'm curious as to what would happen if you signed a 2 year contract and then immediately cut and run. I signed a 2 year deal w/ Verizon through Best Buy over the weekend. Aside from the Activation fee and ETF, what other charges would there be if I ported out to my previous carrier and didn't return the device?

You can go any time you want as long as you pay the etf and prorated charges of services that you used so far.
 
If you pay all applicable ETFs and any other fees, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Were you to cut and run without paying ETFs, it would be a hit on your credit.
That makes sense! This is a straight up 2 year contract.
 
That makes sense! This is a straight up 2 year contract.
You can't just sign up, pay ETF and then leave. You have to be with the provider for 'x' amount of days before you can cancel, otherwise you have to return the phone. I believe its 60 days, or 2 months of billed service. Then you can pay the ETF.

Also know that if you leave Verizon, you can never again sign a two year contract with them. Only existing customers that have previously signed a 2 year contract can get a new 2 year contract and subsided phone.
 
Did you look at the fine print, you should be able to cancel the contract without any ETFs or issues, since you just signed it a couple of days ago. You'll of course need to return the phone

^This. You should be able to cancel within 14 days of signing up with no penalty. That's if things have changed, but I doubt it.
 
Here's the thing, I signed a 2 year deal through Best Buy on Sunday. Due to a few returns I did over the holidays I have been flagged for no returns on things for 90 days. I wasn't clear on what I needed to do to get out of my AT&T contract so I'm going back but I'm worried that Best Buy won't allow me to return my device so I may be stuck with it!
 
Here's the thing, I signed a 2 year deal through Best Buy on Sunday. Due to a few returns I did over the holidays I have been flagged for no returns on things for 90 days. I wasn't clear on what I needed to do to get out of my AT&T contract so I'm going back but I'm worried that Best Buy won't allow me to return my device so I may be stuck with it!

I think that might work a little differently since there's an associated contract/service, rather than just Best Buy selling you a product? (also, how many items did you return, if you don't mind me asking? I'm a little curious what the "limit" is) If not, you might want to find a corporate Verizon store and see if they can help. I'm not sure since Best Buy was acting as a Verizon-authorized dealer, but the corporate store might be able to at least explain the process for Verizon and what Best Buy should do if applicable.

I've dealt with AT&T more, and I know that they typically do the "buyer's remorse" window for a few different scenarios. I paid off two phones early on our account (they were done with Next), and had to wait 2 weeks for that window to clear before they could be unlocked. Verizon might have something similar for new contracts.
 
I think that might work a little differently since there's an associated contract/service, rather than just Best Buy selling you a product? (also, how many items did you return, if you don't mind me asking? I'm a little curious what the "limit" is) If not, you might want to find a corporate Verizon store and see if they can help. I'm not sure since Best Buy was acting as a Verizon-authorized dealer, but the corporate store might be able to at least explain the process for Verizon and what Best Buy should do if applicable.

I've dealt with AT&T more, and I know that they typically do the "buyer's remorse" window for a few different scenarios. I paid off two phones early on our account (they were done with Next), and had to wait 2 weeks for that window to clear before they could be unlocked. Verizon might have something similar for new contracts.

Best Buy does not give any specifics about the returns, they say they use a 3rd party company called "Retail Advantage" that monitors returns and transactions for multiple companies, Home Depot is another that I know uses them. I returned 3 items in less than three months which is what I think triggers the warning.
 
Well you signed a contract and that contract I believe it has verbiage that states that you can get out of it within x number of days. I'd say that legal binding contract has precedence of store policy.

At this point, can it really hurt if you go back there and return it?
 
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Well you signed a contract and that contract I believe it has verbiage that states that you can get out of it within x number of days. I'd say that legal binding contract has precedence of store policy.

At this point, can it really hurt if you go back there and return it?
I'm going to try, but am prepping myself for the worst case scenario.
 
So why did you buy it in the first place? Did you want to get a different model of iPhon with different LTE bands than what the ATT model offers or what?
 
So why did you buy it in the first place? Did you want to get a different model of iPhon with different LTE bands than what the ATT model offers or what?
Sales guy at Best Buy gave me bad information about how my corp discount would work through VZW which made them much more attractive plus their "We'll pay you to switch" is very misleading too!
 
Best Buy does not give any specifics about the returns, they say they use a 3rd party company called "Retail Advantage" that monitors returns and transactions for multiple companies, Home Depot is another that I know uses them. I returned 3 items in less than three months which is what I think triggers the warning.
My wife is manager at Best Buy. Three items in three months shouldn't even alert anyone, unless those three items are identical high value (thousands of dollars) items. Another scenario would be using the store as a "rental service"; you buy a game controller, return it, buy another controller, return it, etc. in other words, you keep buying and returning the same/similar items back to back in order to avoid being stuck with the bill indefinitely.


Not trying to argue or judge based on your returns, but I can say that returning three basic items shouldn't be causing you these issues and I felt that needed to be said so as not to mislead anyone stumbling across this thread.
 
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