EarlyTerminationFees
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Sprint bumps early termination fee to $350, wants to play with the big boys
Never count the little guy out. It seems Sprint's ramping up its game in preparation for the possible three-way carrier brawl lurking just out of view. The Hesse-led company revealed a coming change to its ETF for customers with smartphones, tabs, laptops and netbooks. Beginning September 9th, Sprint will charge a $350 termination fee -- the same as Verizon and AT&T -- that will be pro-rated depended on the number of months left on a subscriber's contract. The charge is a hefty step-up from its prior fee of $200, clearly signaling to the marketplace that it demands to be seen as a contender.
Telus makes it simple to terminate contracts, replace your feature phone
Taking a page from its own playbook, Telus Mobility has extended its Clear and Simple Device Upgrade program to the logical conclusion of contract termination. Now, if a customer chooses to cancel their service, they must pay only a $50 administrative fee and the remaining portion of their phone's subsidy -- it could still result in a lot of loonies, but the amount decreases monthly according to a fixed schedule. Similar to Rogers, Telus offers its customers early upgrades by allowing them to pay this unrecovered subsidy and commit to a new contract. To make the process even easier (and more tempting), the carrier is now including this magical number with its monthly bills. So, as you dream of getting cozy with a new Nexus S or Optimus Black -- or ditching the Telus network -- just follow the break for the PR.
Sprint rolls out new 30 day 'money back guarantee' trial, claims it's not a promo
Every so often, an American wireless carrier will toss out a no-holds-barred 15 or 30-day money back guarantee, likely initiated to spur customer walk-ins, and in turn, boost the adoption rate. Sprint, however, is sick and tired (but mostly tired) of playing such games, and it has today announced a new "Satisfaction Guaranteed or Money-Back" program that it has no current intentions of ever nixing. We spoke to Sprint this morning regarding the news, and a spokesperson affirmed that it will be in place for the foreseeable future, with no expiration date already dialed up in the background. The new deal (which starts tomorrow, all kidding aside) enables any customer to open up a new line of Sprint service for 30 days; if they aren't feeling it, they'll get "reimbursed for the device purchase and activation fee, get the early termination fee waived, get a full refund for service plan monthly recurring charges incurred and get all associated taxes and Sprint surcharges associated with these charges waived." We'll confess -- that's pretty darn thorough, but do you seriously expect to return that EVO 4G? No, no you don't.
Verizon looking to bump early termination fee to $350 on 'advanced' devices
You know what's worse than showing your Bitter Beer Face to the world after you passed on Apple's iPhone and let AT&T enjoy the spoils? Raising your early termination fee to stratospheric heights. Just over a year ago, we honestly though this whole ETF thing was headed in the right direction, as most of the major carriers (VZW included) sought to prorate contracts in order to lessen the charge as one's contract drew closer to an end. Now, however, Big Red is evidently gearing up to pull a 180, with the slide above showing a $350 ETF for "advanced" devices (read: probably anything deemed a smartphone). The newly hiked rate will go into effect on November 15th, and while that $350 will decrease by $10 per month over the life of the agreement, this pretty much guarantees that you won't be adding a line, disconnecting and then flipping that phone on eBay.
Sprint details proposed $14 million ETF class action settlement
It's a far cry from the $1.2 billion number that was bandied about at one point, but it looks like Sprint could still be taking a fairly sizable hit over those pesky early termination fees, at least if a proposed class action settlement plays out as it seems likely too. As Sprint itself announced today, the company's reached a $14 million settlement in the case, which will be placed in a common fund to be distributed accordingly to all the parties involved, which is where you come in (assuming you're a current of former Sprint, Nextel, or Sprint Nextel customer, that is). The short of it is that you can either sign on to the class action suit or opt out of it by hitting up the site linked below, and then you'll have to wait for the final approval hearing now scheduled for October 21st, which should actually settle the settlement once and for all. Details on the exact payout amounts to customers are buried in the documents on the settlement website, but it looks like the majority of customers will be receiving between $25 and $90 depending on their contract, plus some free bonus minutes.Read - Sprint ETF Settlement websiteRead - Sprint statement[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sprint loses early termination lawsuit, ordered to pay $73M -- but it's not over yet
Man, Sprint just can't catch a break lately -- the beleaguered wireless carrier was just told that it would have to pay some $73M in refunds to customers for improperly charging early-termination fees. The ruling, from a California state court, will basically set off a flood of similar cases if it stands -- but Sprint still has two weeks to respond to the ruling before Judge Bonnie Sabraw, and you can bet Yellow Swoosh will appeal if it loses in the end. Interestingly, Verizon was facing a similar lawsuit earlier this year and chose to quickly settle -- a lesson Sprint, with far less revenue and shrinking profits, might do well to learn from.[Thanks, Roger A]
FCC details ETF regulation proposal
Following prior comments that he supported standardization of early termination fees imposed by carriers, FCC head Kevin Martin went into detail last week at a public hearing on exactly what the Fed has in mind. As he's said before, he wants ETFs to be prorated -- which many carriers are now doing anyway -- and would like customers to be able to go over their first bill before deciding whether they want to slide out of their contract penalty-free. He also raises a point that the fee for breaking a contract on an expensive phone should be higher than that on a cheap or free phone; at first glance that seems logical, though we'd imagine that some of those "free on contract" phones actually end up costing more for a carrier to subsidize than handsets in the $50-and-up set. There's no indication yet that the FCC will actually end up wresting control of the nation's ETF policies, but the way Martin's talking, it certainly seems like they want to.[Via Phone Scoop]
Report says Nextel waived early termination fees for the government
Want to get around those costly, annoying fees the telcos hit you with if you break your cellphone contract early? Get a job with the US government. According to internal emails from Nextel which were uncovered by the Associated Press, the company debated whether it could charge the folks in power early termination fees (ETFs), with then-vice president Scott Wiener arguing that "the government will never, never accept such penalty amounts." Nextel ultimately decided to forgo the charges for Uncle Sam, while continuing to bilk its average users without as much as a batted eyelash. The FCC is currently taking a look at the fee situation -- let's see if they can give end users a fairer shake than the providers.[Thanks, Travis]
Cellular South wants you so bad, it'll pay your early termination fee
Cellular South, which is headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi and provides service to around 5 million folks in its home state, coastal Alabama, the Florida panhandle and portions of Memphis, really wants your business. So much so, in fact, that it's willing to pay your early termination fee that'll undoubtedly bite you in the wallet as you attempt to port your number over from your current carrier. Of course, there are some strings attached: it will only pay up to $200, and that cash will be applied as credits towards your bill rather than bills towards your pocket. Still, the premise alone here is extraordinarily fantastic, and we'll go ahead and wish that more mainstream carriers would get the notion that they too should adopt such a consumer-friendly policy (and fast).[Via Phone Scoop]
