I simply said that the new fee increase and the prospect of it continuing to increase in the future was too much for me to financially handle. By pointing out that my customer agreement says:

"IF THE CHANGES HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON YOU, HOWEVER, YOU CAN END THE AFFECTED SERVICE, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE"

And when she went to point out that the "Federal Universal Service" was a government fee that they had no control over I read to her:

"These include Federal Universal Service, Regulatory and Administrative Charges, and may also include other charges related to our governmental costs. We set these charges. They aren't taxes, aren't required by law"

Before I had even finished she asked to put me on hold. When she came back she said I would be let out of my contract w/o the ETF. I asked her to hold off on the cancellation so I could have the time to find an alternative and she said I could call back at any time before the end of my billing cycle to finish the process.

The supervisor really wanted to know why I wanted out of out my contract so bad, and I get the distinct impression that I saved myself 30 minutes of a our-iClones-are-just-as-good pitch by simply stating (and restating) my desire to execute my rights per the contract (to cancel within 60 days of notice of a material adverse effect). Alos helped to have each of the relevant clauses printed out and at hand.

Now, to find an iPhone...

Also, found this on the iphone gallery ([www.iphonealley.com]).
If you follow the FCC link, under 'Who Pay's For Universal Service?', it states : "The FCC does not require this charge to be pass on to customers." This is your retort should they try to convince you it is not a fee but a federal tax. You don't have to pay it, per your 'materially adverse' portion of the Verizon contract.

I just went to my on-line account and clicked on 'Statement Information' and there, buried in the info about add-on services it drops the FUSC info:
FUSC Change
The Federal Universal Service Charge (FUSC) is a Verizon Wireless charge
that is subject to change each calendar quarter based on contribution
rates prescribed by the FCC. On July 1, the FUSC changed to 2.42 percent
of assessable wireless charges, other than separately billed interstate and
international long distance charges. The FUSC on these charges changed
to 11.4 percent. For more details, please call 1.888.684.1888.

I will be trying this out over the weekend, we wanna go to ATT first and get the scoop on costs before actually deactivating our VZ accounts (they are the only phones we have). I just don't trust a CSR putting a 'note' on my account to waive the etf, just doesn't seem like a sure thing. Will report back this weekend! Any other VZ customers have success stories to share?

@haoshufu: T-Mo has done this as well effective June 28,2008.

don't encourage people to sign up with AT+T. its a terrible, facist company that practices arbitrary censorshop.
don't give them a dime of your money. f*ck the iPhone. go buy a Macbook or something.

This might be too late of a response.

We scheduled T-Mobile cancellation for next week to give us time to move, you know, just in case. Then we moved today. Number was ported completely within 5 minutes flat.

@tricky69: I got an iPod Touch 16G late last year to replace my Palm, and because the iPhone was still too expensive for the storage. Now they've come out with this version, and I agree -- they need to up the storage if they want to market this as a combo iPod-cell phone.

In our systems, it states that we can waive your etfs if you've paid sms overage in the last 3 bill cycles, as a courtesy.

The store I went to then called their customer service center and gave me the phone to talk to them. I laughed again. I bought the phone and contract from these people, and they are just going to do what I could have done from my own home? The lady on the other end said it says in my contract that they can "Change the rates without notice, to any rate they please" I laughed again.

She put me on hold, and said if I wanted to cancel the account, and the 3 phones that were on sharetalk with it, that it would cost $800. I hung up, tossed the phone to the CSR in the store, and left. Cell phone people suck.

Not to mention, the week after I had to return. My grandmother had her phone stolen so I went to do an insurance claim and get the number suspended until we got a new phone. Keep in mind I bought my phone, and the 3 others at the same time. I asked for handset insurance on all 4 phones. They tell me that there is no insurance on that phone. I fight with them for hours and they say all the can do is suspend the account until the contract is up. Woohoo so I get to pay another $10 a month for a non-existant, non-working phone line? Not to mention my grandmother was now without a cell phone?

Stay away from US Cellular.

I cancelled my contract with T-Mobile. They didn't say anything about it, just said the ETF would be waived. same thing for my mom. It was kinda insulting actually. I have been their customer for 4 years with no compliants and they did nothing to keep me.

Anyway, I have switched to the SERO plan and should get my new phone today!

When T-Mobile hikes the SMS fees by 33% to 20¢, for example, I wouldn't care what my historical usage is. I may only have sent 2 SMS messages in the past few months, but that doesn't mean I gave up the option to send 10,000 messages at the old rate. The new price has precluded me from exercising an option I had when I agreed to the contract.

(And oh! How I long for the early 21st century, when a T-Mobile SMS was 5¢. That's a 400% increase in 6 years, but I haven't had a contract since 2003, so I got nothing to stand on.)

Shocking story. I called to ask about this and see how I could go about getting out of my contract. The man told me about the price increase, and then implied that because I had 400 txts plan and I had never come close to going over, it would only be the other line on the account (my mom's, with no text plan on her line) that would not have the ETF applied. Then, he turned around and he seemed to imply that the ETF exemption could apply to both.

But this is the tricky thing he did next. He kept talking over me and said that now that you've been in contact about the change over the phone, if you stay, you are ACCEPTING the change in fees. Literally, if I don't make the decision then and there to leave (not just get out of the contract and go to monthly pay, but IMMEDIATELY END SERVICE), I lose the opportunity to get out without ETF in the future, simply because he's spoken to me, as if I've made the implicit agreement by hearing him speak, that the price hike is OK and so give up my claim to want to get out without ETF in the future!

So don't let them overtalk you. Even better, do not even call unless you are ready to move out of T-Mobile and make the number port to a new carrier. I think if I said, yes, end service by porting me to AT&T, I would be fine and get out of the early termination fee, but otherwise, he sounded like I had to forfeit the termination fee exemption if I didn't agree to leave in that same conversation.

Luckily, I turned this around on his head by telling him I'm not the person paying/the primary account holder (which I'm not, my mom is) so I can't make that decision to stay or go. He got defensive and said "I didn't mean "you" as in "you personally," I just mean the generally, this is how it works", so I asked him to hold and I hung up. Basically I think I can still get out because it's up to my mom to make the request to leave to them, but damn...watch out. They will try to swindle you, corner you, pressure you, and since they know you probably are calling to find out for sure if this works and that you were planning on calling later to make the actual cancellation, they will try to stop you by giving you this BS. Be VIGILANT!

Are these contact clauses that cover materially adverse changes essentially stating desired policy as opposed to what's enforceable? (to bluster both customers and CSRs)

Obviously, IANAL.

Do you have to provide proof of this, such as plane tickets, employment/military orders, etc?

Sprint has already modified their T&C to state that other than your base plan, any other fees change not affecting the price and services on your base plan does NOT constitute a material change. So no juice for Sprint even if they raise the per SMS charge. Government fees are also excempted from material changes according to the new T&C. Sprint has also bundled a couple of fees into a new category call "Administrative charge" that's subject to change and does not constitute material change, according to them. Try to use any of those to cancel etf fee and you probably have to fight them in court.

Here are some things that I encountered:

1. They will try to tell you that you are not within 30 days of signing your contract. Read verbatim the Customer Agreement "...materially adverse within 60 days..." and that it does not apply to the first 30 days.

2. I used the FUSC as reason to get out of my contract. Stay firm with this. You will be put on hold several times to look into this change.

3. Be polite and patient. They will give you the option to cancel or port your number. I chose to port, and they mention that FUSC applies to the new carrier.

4. Make sure to get their name in case an issue arises, and that they will be noting your account.

Good luck and hopefully all goes well for you!

Your contract actually freezes and picks right back up when you reactivate. I know I had the plan when I was in the Marines. So if you had 6 months left, when you reactivate you'll still have 6 months left

How are you being penalized? I am sure you received a discount for the phones that you currently own, the phones you have now were subsidized and thus you received a contract. If you would of paid full price for the phones you would not have had a contract and would of got the Jesus phone for $199.

If you have around 8-6 months left on your contract simply tell them you are leaving the country, you can go down to a $6 a month plan which basically shuts your phone off. You can stay on this plan for 6 months and if that is all you have left (like me) that means a $36 ETF.

THIS DOES NOT EXTEND YOUR CONTRACT.

It's simply unacceptable to treat your customers that way. Seems I would have been better off giving my money to Verizon the past few months.

What will I pay for iPhone 3G?
If you are upgrade eligible and your account is in good standing, you will pay $199 for 8GB (black) and $299 for 16GB (black or white). Two-year contract required.

You have the option to purchase an early upgrade priced at $399 for 8GB (black) or $499 for 16GB (black or white). Two-year contract required. Coming soon, AT&T will offer a no-commitment option of $599 for 8GB and $699 for 16GB.

Sockpuppet warning: I work for a PCS provider

@KiLE:
-Food milk and gas don't have contracts that agree upon specifics (like price).

-Response: "Oh, that must have been part of an older contract...the one with the ETF, right?"

-Go HERE and lookup your address. Compare your phone's current reception to what the color-key says it should be. If they don't match (and your phone's signal is less) than you have a very strong rebuttal to that argument.

In general, be polite, but firm. Don't let them push you around. Have the contract up on your screen or printed out in front of you. Have the relevent escape clause highlighted. If needed, get a Websters Dictionary and dog-ear (or bookmark) the pages for "materially" and "adverse." Note that the terp "adverse" is subjective and the way the clause is worded their interpretation is immaterial. Natch, none of these are gurantees. Best of luck.

Also, when I looked at my account (not upgrade eligible) online, versus my Mom's account (eligible), there was no difference in price.

So, I don't think it matters, if you want the iPhone (and trust me, you do), you'll have to pay full pop.

That said, standing in line for it seem rather silly. The phone will still be there in a couple of weeks. As long as you have something to talk through right now, just wait until the dust has settled.

@Alex Chasick: I am going to have to try that when I get home. I have been fighting tooth and nail with those bastards trying to just get rid of my "extra line" which wasn't explained to me as being a seperate contract. Now I want nothing more to do with them.

@KiLE: Typical. If it weren't for a severe company discount, I'd left them a long time ago.

-"The cost of everything is going up; food, milk, gas and so must text messages. They use up minutes on our towers!"

-"We don't have to inform you of any rate changes or let you or anyone out of there contract. We do it to be nice. Read your contract."

-"I don't care if your phone doesn't work at your house. No cell phone company can guarantee reception. Get a land line if it's that big a deal."

Hooray for t-mobile!

I really would like to be able to get an iPhone this weekend with out paying $400 for it.

@JennQPublic: Supposedly you can and still activate the phone on iTunes.

You'd just need to find the phone. I'd imagine they're a steal on eBay with all of the people trying to dump theirs before upgrading to 3G.

@outinthedark: Virgin technically aquired Helio on the 27th but I haven't heard anything about them changing anything yet (though I don't use either so I wouldn't know if they started billing you different or not), like most buy outs/mergers it takes awhile before you see the results.

Either way, its going to have to be something more then just your feelings for the new company. I hate Verizon now but that doesn't mean I get out of my contract.

I simply stated that my bills seemed to keep going up, with the most recent being the Federal Universal Service Charge, and that my contract said that I could cancel within 60 days of being notified of such an increase with no early termination fee. I also mentioned that it had been 5 days since I was notified of the change. The rep put me on hold for a while and then said that she verified the charge increase and wanted to know where I heard I could cancel with no early termination fee, to which I responded "my service contract with Verizon". Afterwards I was put on hold again and she came back and basically said that yes she found that in the contract and that I wouldn't have to pay any early termination fee.

Also, I made it clear that I did not want to cancel today. I wanted to activate with a new carrier and port the phone numbers on the account. So I asked the rep to make a note in my account that we do not have to pay the early termination fee when we port our numbers.

Is there nothing I can argue? How about their support of Net Neutrality? Anything?

I really do not want Virgin Mobile...I liked my Helio service for pennies compared to Sprint [the only decent carrier in my area] hence the reason why I went with the MNVO...blah just don't like the Virgin Corporation.

@outinthedark: Wouldn't think so because you haven't been affected in anyway by it yet. If Virgin had already started raising rates or something definatly but its still to far into the early stages to get anything out of it me thinks.

Can I argue the buyout by Virgin Mobile is adverse?