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Who all switched from Verizon to AT&T while still under contract?

J

jshelton

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 4, 2008
528
8
How many of you switched to AT&T just for the iPhone? Were there any problems?

I will have a $90 early termination fee from Verizon. Verizon signal is perfect around here and AT&T is sub-par. In the past few days, I have decided to switch, and then talked myself out of it at least 100 times. Argh...
 
I switched from Verizon to AT&T a few days ago, can't wait for my dad to see the early termination fee. :D
 
Since Verizon just recently raised some fees - I saved $220 in ETF. It's right in their contract that if they raise prices - you can get out of their contract within 60 days without ETF.

Link
 
I still had 13 months left on my contract, and got all 3 of my lines out without having to pay and ETF due to their message price increase.
 
My mother and I were on Verizon and a couple of months away from the end of our one-year contracts. My mom loves Verizon and has no need for a fancy phone, but I wanted to get off Verizon early to purchase the 3GS.

I first cited small increases in my bill that I thought gave me the right to void my contract without an ETF. They came back with the claim that the fees that went up (small surcharges) were government-issued and thus weren't Verizon's responsibility. After escalating to a manager and still coming up empty, we reviewed the two plans (my mom and I weren't on a family plan but, rather, we were both under the same bill, if that makes sense).

Turns out a little finagling is always worthwhile, as the manager came back with an excellent offer. I extended my Mom on Verizon for two years. She got a free phone and a free month of service as well. I got out from under my contract without incurring any ETF. Bought an iPhone 3GS that day.
 
blurb23 said:
I still had 13 months left on my contract, and got all 3 of my lines out without having to pay and ETF due to their message price increase.
Click to expand...

Can you go into detail regarding this? I just switched from VZW to AT&T for the iPhone and I have a $115 ETF. Any info would be helpful.

Thanks.
 
PackFan said:
Since Verizon just recently raised some fees - I saved $220 in ETF. It's right in their contract that if they raise prices - you can get out of their contract within 60 days without ETF.

Link
Click to expand...
OMG that's some awesome news! My dad actually wanted to get an iPhone (which surprised me) but he's holding out because he's locked into a Verizon contract for several more months.

I'm gonna see if I can find this rate increase on his bills so he can cancel for free too :cool:
 
I dropped VZW after being with them for the past 12 years, and I paid the ETF to do so. My biggest concern was the service with AT&T. VZW has been awesome, and I can count the number of dropped calls on 1 hand that I've had since being with them. I got my 3GS on release day, and so far AT&T has been much better than I thought it would be. I'm very happy with my iPhone, and so far the service too.

I think the phone helps with service too. My buddy has the 1st iPhone and hasn't been able to make calls from his house since he got it. I stopped by with my 3GS and had full bars in 3G. He went out & picked one up that night. Needless to say, he gets full service from his house now.
 
PackFan said:
Read the thread at that link. They raised an "Administrative fee" as well as some fees specific to some states. If you look over the text in your recent bills - there should be notices for these fee increases.
Click to expand...

according to that website though it is allowed since it is a tax.
 
I moved to an area where Verizon has horrible service, and went with AT&T since they have the most bars at my house, and i moved july 7th last year so the iPhone was a bonus for me. I managed to get out of the ETF because they had my address as a "problem area." I switched because of service issues so if i were you i would probably keep VZW but if you want an iPhone then go for it, not once have I regretted buying an iPhone, and I cant say that for many other purchases.
 
deimos256 said:
I moved to an area where Verizon has horrible service, and went with AT&T since they have the most bars at my house, and i moved july 7th last year so the iPhone was a bonus for me. I managed to get out of the ETF because they had my address as a "problem area." I switched because of service issues so if i were you i would probably keep VZW but if you want an iPhone then go for it, not once have I regretted buying an iPhone, and I cant say that for many other purchases.
Click to expand...

i switched from VZW as well to iPhone.

I had perfect service with VZW and was worried about AT&T.

Honestly, I see no difference at my house.
 
PackFan said:
Read it again - it is not a tax. Even Verizon's own contract says it is not a tax.
Click to expand...

what's a good way of putting it to the customer service people at Verizon so I can get out of it?

I'm sure you only have one shot because they will mark on your account what you tried to do.
 
hokiepokie07 said:
what's a good way of putting it to the customer service people at Verizon so I can get out of it?

I'm sure you only have one shot because they will mark on your account what you tried to do.
Click to expand...

The best advice I can give - be polite - be friendly. Tell the rep that you read about an increase in this fee, and ask if it applies to your account. (In my case it was the Administrative fee, as well as a city and county 'recovery fees' to take care of state taxes.)

When the rep says that it does - quote the paragraph from the contract pertaining to an increase of price allowing you to exit without ETF, and ask to disconnect without ETF.

The rep may give you a hard time, but stick to your guns - it is what the contract says.

It also helped for me that I mentioned that I only get one bar signal for Verizon at my house and frequently get dropped calls...
 
I did, i have an $85 early termination fee and the bill came in the other day. Seeing as how it was a family plan i'm just gonna pay my mom the $85 since it was under her name.
 
hokiepokie07 said:
i switched from VZW as well to iPhone.
Click to expand...
hokiepokie07 said:
what's a good way of putting it to the customer service people at Verizon so I can get out of it?
Click to expand...
Uh... did you not port your number over to AT&T? If you did you're probably SOL, because they'll know you're just lying to avoid the fee.

If you didn't and they have no way of knowing about your AT&T service all I can say is... are you really too lazy to read the link he posted? All the advice you could possibly need is in there. :rolleyes:

You deserve to pay a $200 fee if you can't take 30 seconds to read what has already been posted a dozen times.
 
I'm thinking about (again) going back the other way - from AT&T to VZW.

I love my iPhone. Even just upgraded to a 3GS. Hate AT&T's service, however. It's stupidly unreliable here (Wilmingon & Newark, Delaware area). I can have 5 bars but drop calls. Data stalls and signal is poor to non-existent inside many buildings. Yet, I see people chatting away on their Verizon phones where my iPhone (or anyone with AT&T) get nothing.

AT&T got better for a little while - for a couple months I thought problems were behind me. But over the last 2 months its gotten really unreliable again.

I probably keep the iPhone since I'm fortunate enough to be finanically capable of having two cell bills, but I'm seriously looking at a VZW BlackBerry Tour so I can have some reliable form of communication.

:mad:
 
I came from Big V in September 08 with my 3 line Family plan. Now all using iphones and couldn't be happier. BTW, we are all mac and Mobile Me users. You can't beat the way the iphone, macs, and Mobile Me interface. JMHO
 
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