No Escape from Early Termination Fees

Iria · Jul 17, 2007, 04:58 PM

Source: The Red Tape Diaries
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Quick quiz: Do you know when your cell phone contract expires? The question isn't as easy as you'd think -- and getting it wrong could cost you hundreds of dollars.

Yon-Paul Siebeneck, of Salt Lake City, Utah, went shopping in a Sprint store last fall and said he was told that both his family cell phone contracts would expire on Nov. 30, 2006. His wife, Chris, even called Sprint to double-check, he said. Believing they were both cell phone free agents, on Dec. 14, he purchased two new phones from a rival cell phone firm and canceled his Sprint phones.

But in January, a Sprint bill arrived for more than $300. Siebeneck's two contracts, Sprint now said, were in force until the end of January. So after paying for nearly 23 months on two two-year contracts, Siebeneck was now stuck two early termination fees of $150 each. Adding insult to injury, taxes were applied to early termination fees, so the total bill was almost $340.

Jul 17, 2007, 04:58 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 87	No Escape from Early Termination Fees Source: The Red Tape Diaries ________ Quick quiz: Do you know when your cell phone contract expires? The question isn't as easy as you'd think -- and getting it wrong could cost you hundreds of dollars. Yon-Paul Siebeneck, of Salt Lake City, Utah, went shopping in a Sprint store last fall and said he was told that both his family cell phone contracts would expire on Nov. 30, 2006. His wife, Chris, even called Sprint to double-check, he said. Believing they were both cell phone free agents, on Dec. 14, he purchased two new phones from a rival cell phone firm and canceled his Sprint phones. But in January, a Sprint bill arrived for more than $300. Siebeneck's two contracts, Sprint now said, were in force until the end of January. So after paying for nearly 23 months on two two-year contracts, Siebeneck was now stuck two early termination fees of $150 each. Adding insult to injury, taxes were applied to early termination fees, so the total bill was almost $340.