 pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Waste of Legal System A class action lawsuit over $175?
Come on. If you can afford paying $50 or so a month for cell phone service, then paying an ETF should be no big deal.
I hope the members of this class enjoy their $10 Verizon coupons.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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 JulioBachatero y Que?Premium
join:2003-03-19
Brooklyn, NY
kudos:1 | even if the carrier is at fault for you wanting to cancel? |
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| said by Julio:even if the carrier is at fault for you wanting to cancel? Yeah. Exactly. I am reading these an thinking, "Why is this such a bad thing."
The reality is that Verizon provides you with crappy service, dropped calls, non-responsive customer service and "you"
have to pay to get out of the contract.
What's wrong with that picture? Shouldn't they have some responsibility too?
I agree you sing a contract. As someone said earlier, doesn't mean it is a legal contract.
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"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots" |
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 RickNYPremium
join:2000-11-02
Manorville, NY
 ·Optimum Online
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said by pnh102:If you can afford paying $50 or so a month for cell phone service, then paying an ETF should be no big deal. Gotta love when people respond to stuff with this stupidity.. Thats the same thing as saying "If people can afford $1000 a year for car insurance, then paying $3500 as a penalty for switching companies should be no big deal." |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
1 edit | reply to kfsutops
said by kfsutops:The reality is that Verizon provides you with crappy service, dropped calls, non-responsive customer service and "you" have to pay to get out of the contract. Verizon, and just about every other cellular carrier, gives you a trial period where you can test drive the service. I know that not every cell phone company works well everywhere, but if you decide to try Verizon and find that their service sucks where you use the phone the most, and you don't cancel at the end of the trial window, who's fault is that?
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | reply to RickNY
said by RickNY:Thats the same thing as saying "If people can afford $1000 a year for car insurance, then paying $3500 as a penalty for switching companies should be no big deal." Uh no. $3500 is real money, and probably worth going to court over.
$175 will buy you a half hour of a lawyer's time. It isn't a lot of money. Paying the fee and moving on with your life is much easier than wasting time and money using the legal system.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | reply to Julio
said by Julio:even if the carrier is at fault for you wanting to cancel? If a carrier cancels you, then you are not legally entitled to pay the ETF.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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Reviews:
·Comcast
 ·Comcast Digital ..
| reply to pnh102
How about the situation of me moving from one state to another. Verizon had acceptable service at my old house, but when I got to my new state I had shaky service at home and barely any coverage at work. I complained over and over, and they kept saying we have coverage in the area. Well, great, it's over some big hill and for some reason standing in the parking lot I get no bars and constantly dropped calls. They still made me pay the ETF despite horrible service as they had "service" in the area according to their map. |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
1 edit | said by reelbigfish:How about the situation of me moving from one state to another. ... They still made me pay the ETF despite horrible service as they had "service" in the area according to their map. But you agreed to pay the ETF when you signed the contract.
The only basis for this silly case is that the "victims" did not like paying an ETF that they agreed to pay if they broke their contracts. Unless Verizon did something shady, I see no point of the lawsuit, and it would be nice if a wise judge threw it out.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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| reply to pnh102
said by pnh102:Verizon, and just about every other cellular carrier, gives you a trial period where you can test drive the service. I know that not every cell phone company works well everywhere, but if you decide to try Verizon and find that their service sucks where you use the phone the most, and you don't cancel at the end of the trial window, who's fault is that? True, but (before they went to prorated ETFs) what happens when 6 months into a 2-Year contract, you have some problem (they start having billing errors every month and make your life miserable to get it fixed, the quality of your signal goes to the pits where you live, etc, etc, etc). What then? If the company does not provide a reasonable level of customer support, what is one to do? Yes, a contract was signed... but um, it's a two party contract... the customer and the company. If the company isn't performing to a reasonable standard, shouldn't the customer be able to terminate the contract without said ETF??? Obviously, the problem becomes defining "reasonable level of support/service."
At one time I had Cingular and had about 6 or 7 months left in my contract. I started getting weird and erroneous billing emails about an expiring credit card for my auto-pay. Come to find out, when I moved my service from one state to the next, they created a new account but never flushed the old account of auto-pay data (card wasn't being charged at least). I said I felt uncomfortable that Cingular was storing my credit card data in an unused and inaccessible account and asked how long it takes it flush said data out of the system. I was specifically told 12 months. Well, guess what, it had been 14 months. The CSR (actually I was already talking to a supervisor) started back pedaling, trying to change his story. In short, I was blatantly lied to. When I confronted the supervisor's supervisor, she didn't care. My next call to Cingular was to cancel my service. It cost me the ETF, but I more than made it up in not paying Cingular ~$50 for 6 or 7 months.
I am now a Verizon Wireless customer and have been a little over 2-years. When my contract expired, I bought a new phone at full price and did not renew my contract. I find some of the businees practices of Verizon Wireless to be unethical, but no more so than any other wireless company. Verizon Wireless' network has been great for me so I have no desire to switch companies. However, I will not be beholden to the company. |
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 BabyBearKeep wise ...with Nite-Owl
join:2007-01-11
1 edit | reply to pnh102
said by pnh102:Uh no. $3500 is real money, and probably worth going to court over. $175 will buy you a half hour of a lawyer's time. It isn't a lot of money. Paying the fee and moving on with your life is much easier than wasting time and money using the legal system. Hmm, That's sounds so familiar, wonder where I've seen that(*cough cough RIAA cough*) before?? 
Poor Verizon, everything would be so much easier if they just could have Mandatory Arbitration.  |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | said by BabyBear:Hmm, That's sounds so familiar, wonder where I've seen that(*cough cough RIAA cough*) before?? And where has the RIAA offered to settle with anyone for $175?
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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| reply to pnh102
said by pnh102:Verizon, and just about every other cellular carrier, gives you a trial period where you can test drive the service. I know that not every cell phone company works well everywhere, but if you decide to try Verizon and find that their service sucks where you use the phone the most, and you don't cancel at the end of the trial window, who's fault is that? What does a trial period have to do with anything? I get 30 days, then they get 2 years or I have to pay them extra.
Early termination fees she be abolished all together. With this fee the cell phone carriers know they have you locked in so they provide crappy service. Cell phone companies rank right up there with the cable companies.
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"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots" |
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BabyBearKeep wise ...with Nite-Owl
join:2007-01-11 | reply to pnh102
said by pnh102:And where has the RIAA offered to settle with anyone for $175? My comment was to the 'added empathise' hence the bold. Either way to most people $3500, $175 for 30 min lawyer time or $150 to cancel is a lot of money. If not, they probably would have just bought a phone outright somewhere else and just picked the non-contract price structure and no ETF to worry about. As we all know hardly anyone reads contracts no matter how long standing at a service counter. Whether its at the cell phone store, auto mechanic, auto dealer, etc. |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | reply to kfsutops
said by kfsutops:What does a trial period have to do with anything? I get 30 days, then they get 2 years or I have to pay them extra. 30 days should be plenty of time for someone to decide if the cell phone service they agreed to works. Heck, you could probably determine in a matter of hours if the service you chose works where you use the phone the most or not.
Just because the ETF sucks doesn't mean you can get out of paying it if you agreed to pay it.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | reply to BabyBear
said by BabyBear:As we all know hardly anyone reads contracts no matter how long standing at a service counter. Whether its at the cell phone store, auto mechanic, auto dealer, etc. So these people have no legal standing against Verizon. Their lawsuit should be dismissed.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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BabyBearKeep wise ...with Nite-Owl
join:2007-01-11 | said by pnh102:said by BabyBear:As we all know hardly anyone reads contracts no matter how long standing at a service counter. So these people have no legal standing against Verizon. Their lawsuit should be dismissed. And both parts of what was said above is what Verizon was counting on. Along with the binding arbitration clause, but ooopps that doesn't always work out either. Damn!  |
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Reviews:
·Cox HSI
| reply to pnh102
$175 in and of itself may not be a bad thing....
What happens when you have a family plan of 5 phones?
5 x $175 = $875 !!!!
Now that is a lot of money, at least it is to me.
My issue is with the cell phone companies re-setting the 2 year contract date so that it is a perpetual contract.
There should not be a contract when you paid full price for the phone or brought your own phone with you. |
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said by pnh102:30 days should be plenty of time for someone to decide if the cell phone service they agreed to works. Heck, you could probably determine in a matter of hours if the service you chose works where you use the phone the most or not. So what you are really saying is that Verizon only have to live up to their end of the bargain for 30 days. While the consumer has to live up to their end for 2 years.
I never disputed whether someone signs for it then they should pay for it. I agree to an extent with that.
But, there is a difference between a lawful contract and an unlawful contract. This is what this case will be about. No whether someone signed an a contract.
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"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots" |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | said by kfsutops:So what you are really saying is that Verizon only have to live up to their end of the bargain for 30 days. While the consumer has to live up to their end for 2 years. Yes.
said by kfsutops:But, there is a difference between a lawful contract and an unlawful contract. This is what this case will be about. But that would only be true if ETFs were illegal.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. |
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