That will be two hundred dollars sir

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

I have been with at&t since they bought out Cingular. I have fulfilled my phone contracts with them time and time again. I have ALWAYS paid my bill on time. I recently moved to a house where I SHOULD HAVE HAD coverage, but it was spotty at best. After dealing with dropped calls, missing calls and not being able to make calls, my wife and I decided to try another carrier. To our shock we received a two hundred dollar E.T.F. fee. Now if we had just signed a new contract on a smart phone or something fancy I’d fully understand, but my wife and I were eighteen months into our twenty four month contract with a pair of pantech impact p7000 cell phones. For those of you who don’t know these are 90.00 dollar phones brand new. So I called customer support up and told them my story, after being a good customer for over a decade….. They said ………. That will be two hundred dollars sir. I’ve never had a company deal with me in this way; I guess I should have kept paying for a service they couldn’t provide. I strongly advise anyone, friends and family included, to think twice before entering into a contract with this company. Because it doesn’t matter how long or how good of a customer you’ve been, the bottom line is they don’t care about you and this is not the way companies should behave.

MicCheck · ‎08-31-2012

jared1219 wrote:
I have been with at&t since they bought out Cingular. I have fulfilled my phone contracts with them time and time again. I have ALWAYS paid my bill on time. I recently moved to a house where I SHOULD HAVE HAD coverage, but it was spotty at best. After dealing with dropped calls, missing calls and not being able to make calls, my wife and I decided to try another carrier. To our shock we received a two hundred dollar E.T.F. fee. Now if we had just signed a new contract on a smart phone or something fancy I’d fully understand, but my wife and I were eighteen months into our twenty four month contract with a pair of pantech impact p7000 cell phones. For those of you who don’t know these are 90.00 dollar phones brand new. So I called customer support up and told them my story, after being a good customer for over a decade….. They said ………. That will be two hundred dollars sir. I’ve never had a company deal with me in this way; I guess I should have kept paying for a service they couldn’t provide. I strongly advise anyone, friends and family included, to think twice before entering into a contract with this company. Because it doesn’t matter how long or how good of a customer you’ve been, the bottom line is they don’t care about you and this is not the way companies should behave.

I'm sure 18 months ago when you purchased the phones, the full price was more than $99. Similar phones are anywhere from $289-$489 today.

You readily agree you had at least 6 months left on your contracts (for two lines) and you chose to go with a different provider rather than fulfill your contract. Why was an ETF a shock? You decided your needs would be better fulfilled with another provider; I can't say that I blame you if your new home wasn't getting good service. However, you chose to move, you chose not to fulfill your obligation. Why should you not have to pay the fee resulting in from your decisions?

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

Sir I’d love to argue with you but as you clearly post without researching I’m not going to. But I must ask where did you come up with those numbers? Check around a little bit more and you would find them as cheap as 65.00 with free shipping on eBay.

stclair49 · ‎07-08-2006

AT&T does not go by what price you can find a phone on Ebay, they go by the posted "LIST" price as set by the Manufactuer.

It is clearly stated in the T o S that you agreed to that if you left before completing the 2 year contract you would be charged an ETF, prorated for the number of months left on said contract.

Non payment of the ETF will incur interst and penalties. Then it will go to collections, which will ding your credit rating.

richfray · ‎09-01-2012

jared1219 wrote:
I have been with at&t since they bought out Cingular. I have fulfilled my phone contracts with them time and time again. I have ALWAYS paid my bill on time. I recently moved to a house where I SHOULD HAVE HAD coverage, but it was spotty at best. After dealing with dropped calls, missing calls and not being able to make calls, my wife and I decided to try another carrier. To our shock we received a two hundred dollar E.T.F. fee. Now if we had just signed a new contract on a smart phone or something fancy I’d fully understand, but my wife and I were eighteen months into our twenty four month contract with a pair of pantech impact p7000 cell phones. For those of you who don’t know these are 90.00 dollar phones brand new. So I called customer support up and told them my story, after being a good customer for over a decade….. They said ………. That will be two hundred dollars sir. I’ve never had a company deal with me in this way; I guess I should have kept paying for a service they couldn’t provide. I strongly advise anyone, friends and family included, to think twice before entering into a contract with this company. Because it doesn’t matter how long or how good of a customer you’ve been, the bottom line is they don’t care about you and this is not the way companies should behave.

It is the same with any wireless carrier. Wireless service cannot be guarenteed everywhere. Wireless service is physics bound in that building materials, trees, other structures, all can create reception problems. It will be mediocre or poor in some areas for every carrier. That is why ALL carriers have limitation of service clauses in their contracts. Also, ALL carriers will expect you to honor the contract you agreed to when you receive new equipment. Also, ALL carriers will charge you the stated ETF fees outlined in their contract if you try and end the contract early.

Once in awhile, there are extenuating circumstances for some customers wtih ALL carriers that may allow them to make rare exceptions to their own stated policies. Many people believe for some reason that always paying bills on time or longevity as a customer should grant them absolution of contractual liability, or extra upgrade eligibility. You can go on the forums for Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and see all of the same complaints. People are all too happy to enter new contracts when they get that shiny new equipment and dismayed when they are expected to honor said contract as agreed to. You are certainly free to go elsewehere but to expect any carrier to waive off the ETF's you agreed to because you paid your bills on time and honored previous contracts is not reasonable.

I've been with T-Mobile for 17 years with 5 lines on a family plan for the majority of that time. I've faithfully paid my bill on time and agreed to and completed countless new device contracts. I'd be rather teed off if I found out others could get out of their contracts with the argument of bill payment and longevity as customer. I have spotty coverage where I now work. It's frustrating at times. It is my choice like yours to leave early and pay ETF as agreed to, or ride it and make decision accordingly when I've lived up to my end of the contract. I don't understand the blame the carrier mentality.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am an AT&T employee and the postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent AT&T’s position, strategies or opinions.

Evandela · ‎03-23-2011

Hey there.

Sorry to hear about your current issue.

After reading your post, it seems that the Early Termination Fee was legimitately charged. This is not something that only occurs with AT&T, but with every carrier. The carrier outlines in your contract that service is not guaranteed everywhere, and even if you are not receiving coverage, you still agree the monthly charges billed to you.

Sorry that this is not the answer you were looking for, but this is a common policy with every carrier you encounter.

~ Evandela ~

21stNow · ‎07-07-2010

jared1219 wrote:

Sir I’d love to argue with you but as you clearly post without researching I’m not going to. But I must ask where did you come up with those numbers? Check around a little bit more and you would find them as cheap as 65.00 with free shipping on eBay.

I'm not the same poster who made the initial assertion, but an online search shows a retail value of the phone today being $450.00. AT&T probably had a similar price as the "no-commitment" price when you originally bought the phone.

I can't post a link to that price due to forum rules; I would if I could.

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

Thanks, But I've paid it. My point here was that when a company can do something, it doesn't always mean they should. I'm just saying If I ever move back to an area that has coverage I'll never return to AT&T nor will I recommend them to anyone one else.

21stNow · ‎07-07-2010

jared1219 wrote:

Thanks, But I've paid it. My point here was that when a company can do something, it doesn't always mean they should. I'm just saying If I ever move back to an area that has coverage I'll never return to AT&T nor will I recommend them to anyone one else.

I'm genuinely curious. Are you going to prepaid or giving up a cell phone entirely? Any other contract carrier would have done the same thing.

You've said that just because a company can do something doesn't mean that they should. Yet it sounds like you are saying that you can sign your name to a contract (that gives you a benefit as well as the agreed upon service), yet you shouldn't have to live up to it. Forgive me, but I'm not following your line of reasoning here.

Evandela · ‎03-23-2011

Hey Jared,

Sorry to hear you have decided to leave the AT&T family. If you wish to come back and continue on with the current contract, you may return within 59 days from when the service was cancelled. Speaking as a consumer, AT&T would be glad to have you back!

Good luck with your future endeavors!

~ Evandela ~

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

It’s clear where my post has been moved to, and I’ve already spent more time with this then its worth. With that said my line of reasoning is this, the phones MARKET PRICE, you know the price a ….. Let’s say, sane person would pay is about is sixty five bucks. I don’t care about some absurd list price. Know, I understand they need contracts to help ease the price down, to get the fancy phones into people’s hands without hitting them up with a six hundred dollar bill. But I’m talking about a pantach 7000! Again here we go “it lists for 479$” Get real I could ask 1000$ for a gallon of milk at my store but come on. But hey who cares right? You had a contract! Sure did. And I will honor that contract to its entirety. The bottom line is this, it was, an still is a cheap phone. If they would of worked with me at all maybe I’d not felt like I got bent. I must tell you though, I hear more people on my face book and other posts that agree with me. In the long run this will cost AT&T far more.

Honey and vinegar have a good week!

MicCheck · ‎08-31-2012

The price an 18 month old phone is going for on an auction price is not a good indication of the value of the device you received.

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

That's truly funny! Really LOL. But seriously look them up, 64.99 Ebay brand new in the box,That's right brand new , free shipping even. It takes less then ten seconds to look up. Speaking of funny thought it even plainly says its an AT&T CONTRACT PHONE. Hum.

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

489… in part of the world do you live in? oh you must be talking about pesos! You can buy as many at&t pantech 7000 contract phones online for 65.00$. Get real. Have a look an get back withme. Or if you like I"d love to supply you with them 200 bucks a pop. Cheers

MicCheck · ‎08-31-2012

Again, this is an 18+ month old phone. It is not worth nearly as much as it was 18 months ago. The same could be said of, for example, the orignal iphone, or really almost any technological device. I can buy a brand new DVD player for $20 today. That doesn't mean if someone gave me a DVD player ten years ago they gave me a $20 gift. Market values change over time, especially in a market that releases new devices as quickly as the wireless device market.

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

Ok, ten years and a year an a half are two different things. You guys sure do seam to stretch your points to the extreme, then I prove you wrong and you take another road.

MicCheck · ‎08-31-2012

jared1219 wrote:
Ok, ten years and a year an a half are two different things. You guys sure do seam to stretch your points to the extreme, then I prove you wrong and you take another road.

DVD players and cell phones are two different things. The point remains: you can't look at the price you could buy a cell phone for today and say that's the value of the phone you received 18 months ago. Cell phones are outdated approximately 18.584 minutes after you buy them; the next, best phone has come out.

I'm sorry that you don't like that fact and that you think you had a "cheap phone". That's just simply not a fact, however.

richfray · ‎09-01-2012

jared1219 wrote:
Ok, ten years and a year an a half are two different things. You guys sure do seam to stretch your points to the extreme, then I prove you wrong and you take another road.

whether or not anyone stretched the point, you cannot look at the value of your phone only after you want to use the argument to break your word/contract. You agreed to those phones for two years. Go to another carrier if you like. If you maintain your mentality and aren't happy with signal from someone else, you will be ticked off at the next carrier, and then the next, and then the next. Most people understand that prices for most tech items including phones tend to decrease fairly rapidly as new tech emerges. A $200 contract phone today is typically free-$50, 12-18 months later. The carrier still subsidized your original purchase when you agreed to the two year contract.

Do you REALLY believe you are in the right here? In your heart of hearts, and if you read the contract you agreed to, do you really believe you should be exempted from the same rules the vast majority of people play by?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am an AT&T employee and the postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent AT&T’s position, strategies or opinions.

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

We've kind of got off topic here. You see the problem started after I moved and my cell coverage got spotty. I didn't drop AT&T because I wanted a shiny new phone. I realize that the prices of cell phones decline. My point there was it wasn't and I phone, black berry ect. Like I said earlier I've been with AT&T since Cingular, and I was pretty happy with the coverage. Know we had to part ways due to the fact of low to no signal, missing, and dropped calls. You wouldn't pay for your cable TV if you didn't have any picture on your TV.? The short story is this yes I had a contract, yes I had a contract phone and yes I owe the e.t.f. I thought due to the circumstances, i.e. have to move AT$T could have showed a little leeway to a long time good customer especially with only 6 months left on a contract and a shall we say in all fairness a less then top shelf phone. I think where we are not seeing eye to eye is you say hear it is in black and white, I say circumstances out of my control changed, you say TUFF. Well like you said it’s in the contract, sure is, and you are paid but don't expect me to feel good about it. You know it was only two hundred bucks, you asked how I feel and it’s really not the money that compels me to write back, it’s the hard nose approach, black and white, tuff luck you moved. You know if they’d of said lets drop one of those eft fees I would have felt like we parted on good terms and had nothing but nice things to say.

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

why is it "whether or not anyone stretched the point" when they clearly did?

MicCheck · ‎08-31-2012

I'm sure all of AT&T's customers would be happier if AT&T gave them $100. That's simply not a good business model. I understand you feel your circumstance is special. There countless customers with 'special circumstances' every day.

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

So the better business model is to lose a good customer for life. And I’m sure that hundred would have dropped the company’s stock significantly. Another good business model is not being a smart Aleck. “ I understand you feel your circumstance is special. There countless customers with 'special circumstances' every day.” I've run across another post that also sums up how I feel.

" WOW! After steamimg over this for several hours I sent an email to CEO Randall Stephenson. Someone from his team called me within an hour and my service has been restored. Why can't CS Reps make it right immediately? It was so obvious it was their error... I think AT&T has gotten so big they mirror big government. To much red tape! To many "supervisor" approvals to do anything."

They where havening a different problem then I, But " ... I think AT&T has gotten so big they mirror big government. To much red tape! To many "supervisor" approvals to do anything." sure hit home to me.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

jared1219 wrote:

      So the better business model is to lose a good customer for life. And I’m sure that hundred would have dropped the company’s stock significantly. Another good business model is not being a smart Aleck. “   I understand you feel your circumstance is special. There countless customers with 'special circumstances' every day.” I've run across another post that also sums up how I feel.

                                              " WOW! After steamimg over this for several hours I sent an email to CEO Randall Stephenson. Someone from his team called me within an hour and my service has been restored. Why can't CS Reps make it right immediately? It was so obvious it was their error... I think AT&T has gotten so big they mirror big government. To much red tape! To many "supervisor" approvals to do anything."

        They where havening a different problem then I, But " ... I think AT&T has gotten so big they mirror big government. To much red tape! To many "supervisor" approvals to do anything." sure hit home to me.

No the best business model is not to make an exception to policy, you start with one, then the next will complain "well that guy got it why can't I?" then it just snowballs from there.

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

Ok, I understand that. However I wasn't just trying to weasel my way out of the contract. I legitimately moved and lost reception, would have been more then willing to send a copy of my driver license with changed address. Instead of a blanket denial, how about looking at things on a case by case basis, you know taking care of your customers.

MicCheck · ‎08-31-2012

I lost my job and can't pay my bill. When I called AT&T and asked for money they told me no. How horrible!

Face it, you told them you didn't want to send them any more money and then you called and tried to get money off the bill you already owed. What did you expect them to say?

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

What are you talking about? Who lost a job? Do you read before you answer? Reread and try again.

ShaunMN · ‎03-03-2011

Hi folks. Lets try and keep it courteous please. Thank you

Remember to always mark items that you find useful as "Accepted Solutions”, you can even mark multipleposts in a single thread. This will help other users find this information too!!

MicCheck · ‎08-31-2012

I was giving an alternate scenario.

jared1219 · ‎10-01-2012

Yeah. Thats what I thought. Sarcasm is just one more service AT$T offers.

HiCap · ‎09-06-2012

I paid ETF of $285 for my HTC Jetstream tablet, as I wanted to share data with my other phones/tablets/computers and backup for DSL line. Now have 5 GB Hotspot data plan from AT&T with $39 Acer Aspire netbook on 2 year plan. Bought a AT&T Elevate 4G Hotspot from Amazon that I use with SIM card from netbook. Now I can share data with all my devices.

As a retired AT&T employee I do receive a discount on the 5GB data plan, but I use AT&T prepay for my smartphones, as it is cheaper for my needs than contract plan with discount. Now I have the cell service I want, and don't mind paying the ETF on other plan I had.