said by Bill Neilson:No need to apologize. As I said and is done every day, most are not free to leave with the hundreds of dollars in penalties leveled against them for wanting to get out months after buying the phone.
Did you happen to stick your head under a pillow recently when AT&T jacked up their ETF's for what...the 3rd time in 2 years? Did you happen to see the sheer number wanting to switch yet not doing so b/c they didn't want to pay an absurd amount even after months of buying the original phone?
If I wanted to choose a company that offered coverage in my area WITHOUT any ETF's, I would not have had any cell phone in 3 of the last 4 cities that I lived in. Ah, what great competition. I had so many choices!
Once again - those supposedly "raped" by AT&T's terms do so voluntarily - they only apply to new customers. Those are the customers referenced at the top of this thread. The rest of the flock, under contract, joined voluntarily, with the full knowledge of the ETF / balloon payment, which did not increase within their contract. ETF's were increased with new "smart" phones, to buy down the phone and the rate plan. No one was forced to sign those agreements or buy those phones. Everyone in question is free to go.
I don't know where you live or shop, but I've yet to go anywhere in this country that I couldn't obtain a cell phone from a half-dozen companies without an ETF. Maybe you should ask here, or on HowardForums, before you make your next commitment.
said by Bill Neilson:This site sees story after story of people begging someone else besides AT&T or Verizon to come into their area and offer something...anything....remotely decent....and they would jump
But, they can't...and they won't b/c cell phones or service is vital to their jobs, families, etc...and the need of it in general will override the absolutely atrocious service given to them.
The idea of competition being there but the thousands of people on here and elsewhere who cant find it...are just missing it somehow....I mean, huh? Do people not laugh out loud at the stupidity of that?
Competition exists all over the place, but in the populist DSLR forum, it is ignored and belittled. I grew up in the monopoly era, and watched it be torn down by the DOJ and Judge Greene, with a little help from the FCC and Congress. I would have preferred we kept the regulated [natural] monopoly, but that ship has sailed.
But of all the domains concerned here (Broadband, Landline, Cellphones/Wireless, Pay TV), cellphones are by far the winner in the deregulation derby. If you can't find multiple competitive options in your town, indeed, maybe we should laugh out loud at the stupidity, if we were as uncivil as Maxine Waters. Where in this country is anyone so limited?