I read your post describing the bunk you went through in a reply to another poster a little ways down the list of comments (after I had made my inital post) and you are right, it's very sloppy customer service, especially when you eventually got things cleared up within 5 minutes. Never should have happened. With regards to extending a contract without notification in person, who knows, there may be some tidbit in their contract regarding contract extension and therefore alleviates the rep from mentioning that little fact in person - which, yeah, will erk the customer. And to be honest, I have never read, in full, either contract I signed that legally binds me to my mobile carrier's terms and I bet I'm not alone. But isn't that how the mobile carriers act, that is, make sure they gotcha for one more year or so as a dedicated, contractually locked-in customer, so they can get their monthly income from billing, as well as, make more money from any overage charges in minutes and data that may accrue?
I went to a t-mobile store to look at newer phones, long before the iPhone came out. I had finished my locked in two year agreement with them and was month to month. I knew, from rumor sites, that Apple was intent on introducing some sort of phone that I may be interested in. When I looked at the new phones, I asked the t-mobile rep if this would effect my month to month, mind you I was not upgrading my minutes or choosing a new plan or anything. YES, I was told, buy a new phone and only a phone and T-Mobile puts you under contract for that phone for a year even if using the same plan. Now had I not asked, might I have been informed before the purchase, maybe, maybe not, we'll never know. But since I asked and they informed me that buying a phone locks me into another year's agreement, I left with my old phone and waited to see what Apple delivered. I'm still with T-Mobile and still interested in purchasing an iPhone but I look upon any mobile carrier with ambivalence and what they might pull. There's always a story out there that someone has... your's with at&t, the guy who was charged $71.00 by Verizon for data usage in Canada as opposed to the actual charge of .71¢ because Verizon can't do math in calculating rates and not knowing that there is a difference in denominations of "cents" and "dollars" which was clearly published in Verizon's own manuals and pricing guides - he went through about five or six people on the phone before having to write letters to corporate and thank goodness for the bad press on the internet, and the laughing stock that Verizon was becoming, otherwise he may not have won his case, my friend who had an Altell plan some 10 years ago that was Unlimited talk for $49.00 - I guess Altell was loosing too much money on the deal because too many people were taking advantage of it or talking too much but Altell canceled her plan in the middle of the contract, to which she disgustingly said good-bye and did so without any penalty because Altell was in breach of their contract agreements, t-mobile - starts a new locked in contract if you just want to buy a newer model phone... and other stories from other carriers etc. I'm sure.
Just saying, carriers make their money by contractually locking you in as a customer and they make even more money via overages in minute and data usage and if they can extend your contract by any means, that is what they will do. All of them I bet, and maybe they will inform you in person and maybe they won't. Doesn't make it right, especially if they don't inform you and you don't ask, but I bet, as a goal, they all try to get you contractually obligated by any means. But I'm with you!, just sayin...
