EarlyTerminationFee
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T-Mobile will soon pay you to switch from a smaller carrier
Some Americans have no doubt been tempted by T-Mobile's willingness to pay early termination fees for switchers, but the offer has many catches -- you have to jump ship from a major carrier, for one thing. However, the network tells Re/code that its requirements will soon loosen up. It plans to extend the deal to cover the fees from more than a dozen smaller providers, including US Cellular. Magenta will also accept more devices for trade-ins, and they won't even have to be in working order; if a broken phone is your excuse to switch, you may still get some cash. It's too early to say whether expanding the incentive program will have any meaningful effect on T-Mobile's bottom line, but it's hard to complain about getting a better bargain.
Ting announces $100,000 ETF payout fund, will reimburse switchers up to $350 per line
If the only thing keeping you from making a switch to low-cost mobile provider Ting is the pain of early termination fees, we've got a bit of good news: come February 1st, you can tell your current carrier to get lost. Ting has just announced that it's set aside $100,000 for all those willing to call it quits with their current provider. For every cancelled line, Ting will reimburse switchers with up to $350 in non-expiring credits, which will be applied to all future service with the contract-free provider. This means that, depending on your usage -- and the amount of your ETF -- you could effectively score more than a year of free mobile service from Ting. You'll find all the details at the source link, but here's the important bit to commit to memory: "Anyone that activates within the month of February and that submits their final bill within 30 days of their activation date is eligible for the ETF payout." Now, the only question that remains is whether you're willing to tell your current provider, "It's not me. It's you."
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.
Rogers Canada offers 'early upgrade' for your horribly outdated phone
Long term relationships can be hard. After a year or two, it's easy to lose interest -- but a contract's a contract, right? Not in Canada, apparently. Wireless carrier Rogers is offering a get out of jail early card, letting you get some new hardware before the end of your contract with its new "early upgrade" offer. But if you want, say, the Xperia Play pictured above, ditching your antiquated handset will cost you, naturally. The service provider has a tiered pricing plan, charging a different level depending on the device and the amount of months that you've got left -- something of an early termination fee for those who don't mind sticking with the carrier. If math isn't your thing, Rogers recommends you pop by one of its retail locations to help you figure out just how much it'll run you. In the meantime, try to avoid hurling the thing out a window in disgust, okay?
Verizon loses ETF class action lawsuit, ordered to pay $21 million
Congratulations Verizon, you're the latest wireless provider to lose a class-action early termination fee-related lawsuit! It's a dispute that's been circulating in courts since 2008, and while the settlement was agreed upon quickly, there were a few lingering appeals that have taken this long to get cleared up -- and not in VZW's favor. The issue at hand was the company's $175 flat early termination fees, behavior that has proven legally naughty again and again when the same fee is levied regardless of whether you were one month or 20 months into your contract. Each customer named in the suit will receive approximately $87.50 for their troubles, a total of $21 million Verizon will have to pay out. That's a bit more than AT&T got hit with back in January, but a whole heck of a lot less than Sprint's massive $73 million fine.
FCC offers 'simple' 'tips' for avoiding pesky early termination fees
The government is just about the last place we'd look for helpful pointers on much of anything, much less when shopping for a new phone -- but that didn't stop the FCC's Consumer Task Force from whipping up a PDF of things you can to do prevent yourself from getting burned with a multi-hundred dollar early termination fee when buying the handset of your wildest dreams. There's nothing in here that isn't obvious to a seasoned phone buyer -- buy the phone at full price instead, ask about a trial period, look into proration, and so on -- but it goes without saying that these are the kinds of tidbits average consumers should know before setting foot in the store. Perhaps the more interesting thing about this effort on the FCC's part is that it indicates the feds haven't forgotten about the stink it made about rising ETFs not long ago -- and AT&T's move to hop on the bandwagon can't be helping to smooth things over in Washington. Anyhow, go get your learn on before some seedy carrier sales rep takes advantage of you, won't you?
AT&T follows Verizon, jacks up ETF on netbooks and smartphones
There's the good kind of follow-the-leader, and then there's this. While the world cheered as all four major US wireless carriers implemented prorated early termination fees, we can all hang our heads accordingly for this one: AT&T has just followed Verizon Wireless' march into the dark, evil corners of contractland by adjusting ETFs higher for netbooks and smartphones. In an email sent out to select customers, the carrier notes that beginning on June 1st (that's less than a fortnight away), customers who select "advanced, higher-end device[s], including netbooks and smartphones, will have an ETF of $325, reduced by $10 for each month during the balance of the service agreement." That's up significantly over the $175 ETF that affects all of AT&T's handsets today, though still $25 less than VZW's plan. The silver lining -- if you could call it that -- comes with this point: customers "who are buying basic and quick messaging phones will have a lower ETF of $150, reduced by $4 for each month during the balance of the service agreement." Naturally, existing contract customers won't see any immediate change, but you can bet you'll be nailed with the new terms once you head in this summer to pre-order that iPhone 4G. The full memo is posted after the break -- so much for "rethinking possible," huh? Update: AT&T has published an "open letter" explaining the changes. Thanks, Daniel! [Thanks, L.]
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, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Google all respond to FCC's ETF inquiry
All of the players roped into the FCC's early termination fee inquiry -- T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, and Google -- have met the Fed's February 23 deadline for responding, and needless to say, you could destroy a small forest with the amount of paperwork that's been sent back to Washington. The majority of the inquiry focused on carriers' ETF pricing structure and whether there are different ETFs involved based on the device a customer chooses, and the subtleties in the differences between answers from different carriers are pretty fascinating. T-Mobile seems resolute that a single $200 ETF is the way to go and emphasizes that its customers can avoid the fee altogether by going with an Even More Plus plan, while Sprint says that it "continue[s] to evaluate the market" with regard to a multiple ETF setup. Google, meanwhile, is quick to note that it's just dropped its $350 Equipment Recovery Fee down to $150, though that amount still effectively represents the only device in T-Mobile's subsidized lineup that commands a grand total ETF greater than $200 upon cancellation -- but it gets even better later on when they get snippy for being lumped in with carriers on the inquiry and remind the FCC that the ERF reduction had been in the planning stages prior to the inquiry being issued. At any rate, they note that the ERF isn't intended as a revenue stream -- rather, it's a way to recoup the losses Google incurs when T-Mobile asks for its commission back if a customer cancels within 120 days (as you might imagine, T-Mobile conveniently fails to mention this point in its own reply). Verizon -- which effectively triggered this whole mess by introducing its two-tier ETF -- basically echoes much of what it said in its last response, a surprising move considering the Commission's general displeasure with it, so it'll be interesting to see what kind of reaction it garners this time around. AT&T takes perhaps the most pragmatic approach through most of its response, answering the FCC's questions very matter-of-factly, but goes into a great deal of depth rationalizing early termination fees at the tail end and takes the opportunity to remind everyone that they've offered both commitment-free month-to-month and prepaid service for many years. Something tells us this isn't the last we've heard on the subject, but for the time being, check out everyone's responses in the galleries below (more after the break). [Thanks, Dan P.] %Gallery-86339% %Gallery-86341%
Google imposes $350 early termination fee for subsidized Nexus One in addition to carrier's own ETF
Here's another reason to consider going the unlocked route with the Nexus One, in addition to having the AT&T (non-3G) and international GSM option. As a number of people have noticed, Google's got its own Early Termination Fee (ETF) equivalent, here called the Equipment Recovery Fee, in the terms of sale, to the tune of $350 if you cancel within the first 120 days. Sound familiar? It's because we saw it in a leak just before the new year. Here's the kicker, though: this is in addition to any fees imposed by the carrier -- not necessarily a problem on its own, but we just glanced at T-Mobile's terms of sale, and sure enough, there's an associated ETF up to $200. If we're reading this right, Nexus One owners who decide to end their service after the 14-day trial period is over but before four months have passed will be hit with upwards of $550 in fees -- more than if you bought the phone outright from the start, especially when you factor in the upfront $180. There hasn't been enough time for someone to tempt fate, but who knows -- come January 20th when early adopters' trial period ends, there might be some interesting stories abound.
Verizon to FCC: hey, you said ETFs were okay!
Even though the FCC just gave Verizon until Monday to respond to its inquiries regarding the company's new $350 "advanced device" early termination fee, they've shown some hustle here and delivered their 77 (yes, seventy-seven) page response today. Here are the two big takeaways consumers are going to care about: The company justifies the advanced device ETF a couple ways; it starts out by referring to some 2003 statements by the FCC in which the Commission says that it doesn't support the concept of customers breaking contracts and that carriers have a right to recoup those fees. Of course, that really doesn't drive to the point here, which is that Verizon's now charging two completely different ETFs based on a rather arbitrary line in the sand drawn by Verizon; to that end, the carrier says that the additional cost it incurs to procure the devices on its advanced list is greater than the difference between the two ETFs ($175) on average. It also says that it needs that extra guaranteed revenue to keep its broadband network up to snuff, since advanced devices are more likely to strain it. Regarding the weirdness at the end of the contract -- where a customer still owes $120 23 months into a two-year deal -- Verizon says that it's still losing money (read: we should be thankful they're prorating at all). As an example, it says that its average loss for a customer canceling 12 months into a contract is about double the $230 prorated ETF on an advanced device, and that statistically speaking, customers are far more likely to cancel early on than late. While we don't doubt that, we think they're trying to divert the conversation here just a bit. It's hard to say whether these responses are going to sate the FCC on the matter, but seeing how Verizon's showing no signs that it's interesting in changing its policies, this could still turn into a battle royale. Stay tuned -- something tells us this isn't the last we'll hear on the matter. [Thanks, Daniel P.]
FCC gives Verizon the third degree over $350 'advanced device' ETF
Early termination fees have always represented the flipside of subsidized pricing -- the necessary evil that keeps free phones free. Thing is, they were tough enough to swallow at $175 or $200, but Verizon's recently gone for the jugular in a hell-bent effort to keep subscribers locked in by upping the fee on vaguely-defined "advanced devices" (read: any phone a power user would ever want) all the way up to a mind-bending $350. Turns out the FCC is as confused and worked up as everyone else, though, having fired off a 4-page communique to Verizon's veep of legal and external affairs today asking how customers are notified of the new ETF, how the prorating formula is calculated (hint: they don't like that you still pay $120 after 23 months of a 24-month contract), and how an "advanced device" comes to be, among other things. Riding on the letter are a few extra questions about inadvertent mobile web charges for customers that aren't signed up for a data plan, totaling nine paragraph-long queries that the feds want answered by December 17. Your move, Verizon. [Thanks, Daniel P.] %Gallery-79591%
Don't shop drunk: Verizon's $350 ETF is now live
Just a word of caution to anyone out there with an itchy credit card finger: signing up for a contract with Verizon just became a considerably more binding affair thanks to a big boost of its contract early termination fee from $175 to $350. Rumored for a few days now, the change became official as of yesterday, which means that anyone who bought an "advanced device" prior to the 14th is in the clear. The advanced device list can be found on Verizon's site, and as you might expect, it's a little broad and ridiculous -- winners like the Versa, Exilim, and Glyde are on there, so they're obviously not just referring to smartphones. They throw you a bone by reducing the ETF by a stout $10 for every month of the contract you successfully hurdle, but that still leaves you with a $120 ETF 23 months into a 24-month deal... so yeah, just be careful out there and don't do anything rash, alright?
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 now facing $1.2 billion class-action suit over early termination fees
We told you it wasn't over, and now, that once "manageable" $73 million payment could possibly balloon to upwards of $1.2 billion. As predicted, the prior suit -- which was held in a California state court -- has led to a far reaching class-action lawsuit that could "potentially cost the company as much as $1.2 billion." The suit alleges that the $150 to $200 fees violated the Federal Communications Act and laws in every state of the country, and when summed from 1999 to 2008, they total a magical $1.2 billion. Things aren't looking great for Sprint on this one either, as lawyer Scott Bursor is running the show. Who's he? Just a guy who was involved in getting Verizon to fork over $21 million for the same thing earlier this year.[Via textually]
Sprint could implement prorated ETFs by year's end
While the other big boys in the US have already enacted prorated early termination fees, Sprint has still been holding out on its promise to follow suit. In fact, we've been waiting nearly a full year for its talk to be walked, and according to a recent interview with CEO Dan Hesse, the change could be made as early as December. Unfortunately, that's hardly concrete, as he also noted that the implementation was reliant on its billing software being updated, and anyone in the corporate world could tell you that something such as this could slip back for eternity with ease. We hate to make you rethink your decision to ink that new Sprint contract on the very same day the Touch Pro is released, but maybe a little patience would pay off in the long run. Or not -- hard to say.[Via phonescoop]
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]
T-Mobile details prorated ETF policy, dodges rotten vegetables
Why those T-Mobsters couldn't just fall into line with the rest of their national US carrier brethren, we don't know, but here's the skinny: yes, T-Mobile's going to prorate its early termination fees just as it promised to do last year, but the discount schedule is a little shady. Not until the last six months of a contract do you start to see any cash come off that $200 charge, when the ETF drops to $100. At three months it drops to $50, and with less than 30 days left on the contract, you pay the lesser of $50 or your remaining bill. In other words, assuming you're on a two-year plan, you don't see any benefit from this little arrangement until it's already three-quarters of the way spent. That's a far cry from the monthly discounts calculated by some of T-Mobile's competitors -- and likely a far cry from what Kevin has in mind, for that matter -- so with any luck this little scheme will fix itself eventually.[Via Phone Scoop]
