Getting Out of a Cellular Contract Alive!
They need to pay the bills somehow.
I had been planning on getting out of my current cell phone contract for the past six months in anticipation of reaping some cost savings with a family plan once I was married. Cell phone companies do their best to keep us from switching with large early cancellation fees and I was determined not to pay one. I had been doing some reading on how to get out of a cellular contract early but I had been unsuccessful in finding any loopholes.
My wife however, managed to speed up the process a few weeks ago by dropping my phone into the sink.
To make a long story short, the phone didn’t work and I needed a new one quick because I used it for work. I went to the local store and tried to buy just a phone without renewing my contract because I only had about 9 months left. I was unsuccessful at getting a reasonably priced phone from them so I decided to just pay the fee and get out now.
Here are the finances behind my decision:
- New phone with old company $100-$200.(without renewing my plan)
- New phone with new company $20(after mail in rebate)
- Phone bill with old company $73/month
- Phone bill with new company $12/month(additional line charge)
- Early termination fee $175/9 (~20$/month for the first nine months)
Basically it was $32/month to switch for the first nine months and $12/month after that vs my old bill of 73$/month plus the cost of a new phone. I hate to pay that $175 but I still come out ahead just not as much as I wanted. Kind of like selling a losing stock, its hard to convince yourself that a large loss now is better in the end. I hope you will have better luck than I did.
