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story category AT&T Won't Extend Contracts Due to Plan Changes
Joins Verizon on heels of Sprint lawsuit...
(old news - 02:31PM Tuesday Oct 16 2007)
tags: legal · business · wireless · Verizon Wireless Broadband · Cingular Wireless
For some time, the major wireless providers (sans Alltel) have been extending customer contracts for another year or two if they made plan changes -- such as shifting to a different minute package or swapping phones. Sprint was just sued for the practice by the Minnesota AG, who says Sprint wasn't being clear about the extended contracts, and was then hitting users with early termination fees.

Earlier this month, Verizon, insisting they were trying to forge the "most customer friendly" experience in the wireless industry, announced that such changes would no longer result in a new contract as of October 7. AT&T today issued a press release saying that they too would stop the practice as of November:
"AT&T leads the wireless industry in the flexibility, friendliness and fairness of its practices, and the new policies we have announced today are the most recent examples of that leadership," said Paul Roth, president of Sales and Marketing for the company's wireless unit. "Customers have told us they do not like one-size-fits-all approaches. They are right, and that is why we have made these important changes."
That, or AT&T and Verizon lawyers are playing legal C.Y.A. Either way, we'll take it.

Related:
  1. Sprint Settles ETF Lawsuit For $17.5 Million
  2. Gizmodo Tests Nation's 3G Networks
  3. Verizon Fights DTV Transition Delay
  4. Sprint Praises Self For Being Slightly Less Awful
  5. Verizon To Offer Subsidized Netbooks
  6. AT&T Slingbox 3G Fine Print Returns...
  7. AT&T To Gobble Up Verizon/Alltel Divested Markets
  8. AT&T Still Can't Force Arbitration Via Fine Print
Forums » AT&T Won't Extend Contracts Due to Plan Changes
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David
No,there is another.
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I can't imagine

anyone having a problem with this one.

Maxo
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Re: I can't imagine

Negative. This is dslreports. People will find a way to bash anything.
The Way Out

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Shareholders.

cdru
Go Colts
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But what will T.K. get upset about now?
JJV
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Seattle, WA
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Spring?

Joins Verizon on heels of Spring lawsuit...

Anyway I hope this changes the industry. Im tired of my contract being extended at a whim.

inteller
Sociopaths always win.

join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK

Re: Spring?

yes, as opposed to the Fall or Summer lawsuit.
bmn
? ? ?
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1 edit

Good move, BUT...

ATT is full of it...

"AT&T leads the wireless industry in the flexibility, friendliness and fairness of its practices, and the new policies we have announced today are the most recent examples of that leadership," said Paul Roth, president of Sales and Marketing for the company's wireless unit.
If leadership is copying what Alltel and some smaller companies have already been doing for awhile now...

Still, I give props to ATT - good move. This is good for customers, first and foremost, and ATT, who will have an easier time keeping customers.
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Cod

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1 edit

hmmm

What I am confused about is when AT&T wireless was Cingular before the merger, I remember years ago Cingular used to advertise that you could upgrade and downgrade plans with no strings attached. I did it several times myself years ago. When did they stop this? Anyone know?

jgkolt
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Re: hmmm

ATT Wireless was always this way when I had them.. Tmobile and altell are this way already. The cell phone company's are just now being forced to change or be sued.
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quatrix
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Re: hmmm

Funny. Sue for what? On the grounds that AT&T is trying to enforce the contract that I didn't read? Oh, wait. This is the U.S., land of the frivolous, baseless, money-grubbing lawsuit and stupid Robin Hood jurors that think it's okay to steal money from big, bad corporations.

wifi4milez
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Whos next?

I personally hope Sprint adopts this policy. The plan I am on now is no longer offered, and I dont need anywhere near this amount of minutes. As of now they told me I needed to extend my contract for another two years if I want to make a change.
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hottboiinnc
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Re: Whos next?

Sprint offers it for a period of about 3 months. After 3 months its a new contract. Which they just changed to that.

wifi4milez
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Re: Whos next?

said by hottboiinnc See Profile :

Sprint offers it for a period of about 3 months. After 3 months its a new contract. Which they just changed to that.
Offers what for three months?
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hottboiinnc
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Re: Whos next?

uh the option to change your plan without extending it. After the three months you have to extend your contract. Or for better words- renew it. Thats what the article and subject was about

wifi4milez
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Re: Whos next?

said by hottboiinnc See Profile :

uh the option to change your plan without extending it. After the three months you have to extend your contract. Or for better words- renew it. Thats what the article and subject was about
Right, I thought you were talking about something else. I have had my existing plan for almost two years, so no changing for me!
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hottboiinnc
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Re: Whos next?

My last and final change was to cancel my service and went to T-Mobile.

T-Mobile now offers no contract service. Same plans as a contract just without the contract. T-Mobile Flex Pay It's not prepaid either.

tc1uscg

join:2005-03-09
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1 edit
said by hottboiinnc See Profile :

Sprint offers it for a period of about 3 months. After 3 months its a new contract. Which they just changed to that.
It's 6 months. Bet they change it too. Of course you can still pay full price for the phone and not be under a contract. That way all the whiners will shut the heck up about getting out of a contract. Just by the damn phone and cancel anytime you want.. Oh, that's right, if you paid 500 bucks for a iphone and decided to cancel 3 months later, it's not so lucrative any more now is it?

AT&T is also cutty exit fee's too. This could be bigger then the iPhone in as far as shaking up the industry.
hottboiinnc
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Re: Whos next?

Just because you pay full price for the phone does not mean you won't be under a contract. Because if it was that way all of the cell companies would be doing that. I wouldn't count on Sprint-Nextel changing it.

wifi4milez
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1 edit
said by tc1uscg See Profile :

said by hottboiinnc See Profile :

Sprint offers it for a period of about 3 months. After 3 months its a new contract. Which they just changed to that.
It's 6 months. Bet they change it too. Of course you can still pay full price for the phone and not be under a contract. That way all the whiners will shut the heck up about getting out of a contract. Just by the damn phone and cancel anytime you want.. Oh, that's right, if you paid 500 bucks for a iphone and decided to cancel 3 months later, it's not so lucrative any more now is it?
That is incorrect. You get a discount on the handset if you sign up for a two year term, but thats it. You can not use the phone without a plan, and all the plans require a term. In fact, Verizon no longer offers one year terms at all, and Sprint is just starting to also require a two year term on all new accounts, as well as existing plan upgrades!!! Its getting a bit out of hand in my opinion.

**EDIT** To clarify, you can buy a new phone if you have an existing plan without renewing your contract. In that case you are correct that if you simply pay full price they will give you the phone and you keep your old plan. However, we are discussing changing plans here and that does require a new term regardless of how much you paid for your phone.
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tc1uscg

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1 edit

Re: Whos next?

You can walk into a radio shack or a retail store and buy a phone without a plan. You can walk into a store with a purchased phone or call into sprint and get a plan without a contract. Unless they have changed in since June, that's what I did for a friend (I get a discount at radio shack and he wanted a phone that wasn't at the sprint store). He also didn't want a contract. I will call Sprint today and see what they say. I don't want to provide false info but thanks for bringing it up. Getting the cheap phone has always been tied to a contract. I find it odd they would be making customers sign 2 year contracts when that customer has a non-subsidized phone.

On a side note. If you paid full price for a phone to replace a broken phone and did a ESN swap, if you don't tell them your replacing a broken phone, your "upgrade" date starts ticking on the day you do the swap. I just went through this with a in-law.

wifi4milez
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Re: Whos next?

said by tc1uscg See Profile :

You can walk into a radio shack or a retail store and buy a phone without a plan.
Yes, you can certainly do that. If you purchase the phone without a plan you will pay full retail price.

said by tc1uscg See Profile :

You can walk into a store with a purchased phone or call into sprint and get a plan without a contract.
No, they require you to sign up for a term with any plan offered. There is no major carrier today (ATT, Sprint, Verizon, Tmobile) that offers any month to month (ie. no term) plans. Sprint's semi official policy is that even if you change your plan you need to sign a new 2 year agreement. Verizon does not allow new customers to sign anything less than a 2 year plan, although you can get around it by signing up for certain business plans.
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tc1uscg

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Re: Whos next?

So, are you saying all this media hype is wrong? The below is from the Sprint's web site.
When You Don't Have To Pay An Early Termination Fee
You aren't responsible for paying an Early Termination Fee when terminating Services: (a) provided on a month-to-month basis; (b) consistent with our published trial period return policy; or (c) in response to a materially adverse change we make to the Agreement as described directly below."
You can get a month to month account. I have 2 now that I got back in the summer (kids). Also, when a subscribers current plan/contract expires, you are on a month to month basis. They don't just extend your term. Things change everyday to today, it could be different. Plans change. Sprint just changed from 90 days to 180 days you have to change your plan without extending your contract.

wifi4milez
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Re: Whos next?

said by tc1uscg See Profile :

So, are you saying all this media hype is wrong? The below is from the Sprint's web site.
When You Don't Have To Pay An Early Termination Fee
You aren't responsible for paying an Early Termination Fee when terminating Services: (a) provided on a month-to-month basis; (b) consistent with our published trial period return policy; or (c) in response to a materially adverse change we make to the Agreement as described directly below."
You can get a month to month account. I have 2 now that I got back in the summer (kids). Also, when a subscribers current plan/contract expires, you are on a month to month basis. They don't just extend your term. Things change everyday to today, it could be different. Plans change. Sprint just changed from 90 days to 180 days you have to change your plan without extending your contract.
Lets clarify this once and for all. You can not get any kind of month to month plan from Sprint, period. The quote you mention above from Sprint's website refers to customers who have older, grandfathered month to month plans and people who are out of contract (as you state) who are now month to month. I have multiple business/consumer cell phone accounts with different providers, and I assure you that it is 100% impossible to walk into any major carrier and open a new account with a month to month plan. You are correct that plans do change, but unfortunately most carriers have "changed" their plans so that one year terms are no longer offered (only two years!). If you still arent convinced, call Sprint your self at 800-SPRINT1 (consumer) or 800-927-2199 (business) and tell them you want to open a new account without a term. Let us know what they tell you!
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tc1uscg

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Re: Whos next?

ok.. lets just leave it at that. However on a similar note it appears congress is trying to pass some bill that will stop wireless carriers from requiring you to sign a contract or stopping the industry from hitting you with a ETF for doing so. I see this happening. Yes, they will stop, however, in order for most providers to turn a profit, they must keep you for 15-18 months. So, get ready to pay more for phones, at least in the beginning.

N3OGH
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Martin cooper, nice pic choice Karl...

For those of you who didn't recognize him, the elderly gentleman pictured above is Martin Cooper. He is the first man to place a call from a "portable" cellular telephone On April 3, 1973...

In case you were wondering who the old guy was...
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ninjatutle
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Re: Martin cooper, nice pic choice Karl...

I'm pretty sure George Jetson was using one before the old timer. But then again, he was in the future
axus

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Sounds like Verizon is the leader to me

AT&T followed Verizon on faster internet, TV service, customer criticism, and saner contract terms. Though AT&T is the leader in government wiretapping and buying their competitors.

Lumberjack
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Uh huh, Sprint and "contracts"

So I get a letter from Sprint in the mail that says "summary of recent changes to your account". I never made any changes since I dropped them and went to Verizon about two years ago. However, my wife's phone is still on there. Anyway, it said my contract start date was 10/07/07 and ended 10/7/09 and there would be an early termination fee of $200.

So I called and they assured me that if I had no current contract and that there would be no fee if I canceled service. Seems like they were fishing for a "you got the letter and didn't call us" trick or something.
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hottboiinnc
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Re: Uh huh, Sprint and "contracts"

prolly seeing who'd send them $200 LOL

jgkolt
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sprint is notorious about screwing the customer over with their contracts. They love to get them in a contract so they can abuse them and worst case scenario they get a quick cancellation charge.
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GlobalMind
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Really should be how they all do it...

Which is why they haven't until pressed on the issue in court.

This is especially annoying when you make minor changes to the plan. Pretty stupid really.

When I got my Treo 755p back at the end of may my "old" plan was so old they needed to change it to a current variety one for it to show up correctly. No problem, the price was essentially the same. I had told them at the time to change a few other things as well while I was there.

Well ff a month or so and I get my bill and it isn't what we agreed to. So, I call to change things as I wanted them and the CSR dude tries to tell me there would be a termination fee. ROTFLMAO! Yea right buddy. Try again.

So of course he goes and talks to "someone" then comes back and says there's no fee. Uh huh, what I thought. Idiot.
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jgkolt
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1 edit

ATT may not extend the contract but they still bill erroneus

They may not extend the contract but they may not close it either. I know someone who just switched from ATT (wireless) to another carrier and their att contract was already up, just month to month at that point. They transferred the number over to the new carrier and her account was supposed to be canceled. Now it turns out that they never canceled her account but are still charging her. She has an account number but NO PHONE NUMBER to use. I know they bill other people who use absolutely no minutes for phones that have been lost or broken without wondering HEY no usage hmm? This isn't prepaid they should pay attention to the little things. They probably figure if they don't try correcting things they may get extra money until they need to be created.

Kind of like forcing customers to buy a phone line to get competitively priced broadband even when the users don't want one (basically just pads thier decreasing subscriber landline account)>
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joker5656

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ATT

i have been a customer of Cingular for over four years, and now that they have been ATT i have yet to see a change in my contract when i changed my plan which varys on time of year for me. still have my 2yr end contract date. maybe its b/c i was a cingular customer and not ATT

DivineDark

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Re: ATT

It was a rarely enforced rule. This comes on the heels of a competitor advertisement that says "Our service is better because you never have to renew your agreement for changing plans". It was policy to renew you for year but again it was almost never enforced so that's why you did not have to extend your contract agreement. I think ATT is just making it official.

JoeOnSunset
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Re: ATT

That sounds right to me; I've changed my plan a lot and was never asked (or made) to extend my contract.

ThaDark1
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Too Bad

T-Mobile probably won't join in and stop this practice. I hated having to sign up for 2 years when I got new phones. That 2 years is up in March and I was gonna get new phones but really don't wanna be tied to a contract.
Forums » AT&T Won't Extend Contracts Due to Plan Changes


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