The day the program is announced, people with a year or less left are going to be banging the doors to get out. I'm guessing Sprint is trying to delay the flood as long as possible.

@Bodgy: We have two. CARE and Telegence. And yes, it's auto proration. Sucks that people in EXISTING contracts are not affected by this.

However, yesterday I was informed by a customer service agent that At&T will be charging to make payments via a customer service agent by phone, or in person at the store.

@Anks329: Yea that makes sense, go to a carrier that hasn't even announced when it will prorate cancellation fees... If you want ot switch to another carrier, you really don't have to whine about anything, just do it.

@iEddie: The first step is admitting you have a problem.

i.e. Termination fee on 24 month contract is $175... if you cancel on month #23, assuming it has been pro-rated by $5/month, my math says the termination fee would be $60 (less the $115 of 23 $5/month).

I have had a cell phone contract (2 year) from 2005 - 2007. I went on a month-to-month billing cycle. I called in to cancel one of the two lines on the phone after I was off contract in 2007. I specifically told the guy I wasn't interested in an upgrade to my phone, that I just didn't use the second line and wanted to cancel.

He told me (and I double-checked) that I would continue on month-to-month billing. (This was June 2007).

Flash-forward to last Friday, I called in to cancel the remaining phone. I was told that a $135 ETF would apply because I had accepted an 'upgrade' to my account in 2007.

I told the CSR that I had no intention of paying, that I had been with them since 2005, rarely used the phone, and had never been late in nearly 3 years on any bill. I also told her that I had specifically requested not to continue on contract the previous time I'd called in, and was told that I would continue on month-to-month billing since I wasn't upgrading my phone. She didn't put up too much of a fight, and told me that "the system had done it automatically and I can take that off for you." and that my final bill will be this month.

So stand by for my story if they somehow 'forgot'. I followed up with their online chat CSR and took screen shots to verify that I was told what I was told.

I still think it is bullshit that a company can arbitrarily enter you into a contract without your approval. Even if it was in my original contract or in fine-print on a bill - I had explicitly asked and was told no.

@Bladefist-안녕:

Not any more - the other businesses were spun off into Embarq. Sprint=wireless.

I can assure you that Sprint isn't going out of business anytime soon.