Shock City Cellular Cell Phone Early Termination Charge of $700 Fargo North Dakota
I purchased two cell phones and service with Verizon through shock city cellular on 2-2-07. I paid 370.51 for the two phones at the time of the contract. It was a Motorola KRZR phone and an LG chocolate phone. We were very unhappy with the cell phone service through Verizon and were having a hard time keeping up with the bills (1st bill was over 300.00) so we chose to cancel our Verizon service and transfer over to Alltel. I paid 175.00 per line as an early termination fee to Verizon wireless. The service rep at the ALLTEL store called in to Verizon wireless to verify that this was all we would have to pay. On 6-4-07 I received a notice in the mail from shock city cellular stating that I was in breach of my contract and that they were charging me 350.00 per phone for cancelling before 181 days of signing the contract, further the letter stated that a total of 700.00 was already charged to my husbands credit card to cover the 350.00 for each phone. The reason for this was that we had cancelled before 181 days and not returned the cell phones to shock city cellular. So much time had passed between 2-2-07 (date of contract) and 6-4-07 (notice came from shock city) that I had already sold the phones on the internet and had no way of getting them back to return them.
I believed that when I signed the contract for service and paid 370.51 for my phones that I was PURCHASING them when come to find out that I still was being charged an extra 700.00 for the phones for a total of 970.51. I believed that these were my cell phones and that I could do what I wished with them. The retail price of these phones if purchased new in a store is not even 350.00 each, but I paid more than that for them when you include the initial 370.51. They sent a copy of a contract signed by me which was never reviewed by me or explained to me by the salesperson who assisted me. Further copies of all signed documents were NEVER sent home with me at the time of purchase. If they had been I would have continued my service for 181 days and then cancelled to avoid all of this. I feel that I was mislead and manipulated into signing something that was not explained. If you notice on the bottom of the WIRELESS EQUIPMENT PURCHASE AGREEMENT there is a copy of the imprint of my card from 02-02-07 I signed the bottom of this paper to agree to the 370.51 charge at the initial signing of the contract. I believe that the top portion of this document was covered up with a piece of paper when it was presented to me for signing. The first time I ever saw this document in it's entirety was on 6-4-07 when it came in the mail to me with the notice of the 700.00 dollar charge. I do not believe that a company can be this misleading, I have had cell phones for many years and had no trouble like this.
I have disputed the charge with the credit card company without success and at the time of this letter I have mailed payment in full to my husbands credit card to avoid further interest accumulating on the card. I have contacted shock city cellular several times and not been able to resolve the issue.
unhappy in ND
Christine, North Dakota
U.S.A.
9 Updates & Rebuttals
Sab
Saint Paul,Minnesota,
U.S.A.
I Know
#10UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sat, May 02, 2009
Take it from me; I worked for SCC for over 4 years and I know how they operate, not only that I was a Store Manager so trust me. They got you on the EPA. thats the form where they made you imprint your Credit Card. Now take it from me; the employees there are trained to come up with slick ways to pitch it because if they are too detailed about it, no customer in their right mind will ever do it. So why buy from guys like them? you shouldn't things may not always go right with your service provider so yes you have the right to cancel. take verizon; your case. They only charge 175 to cancel, shock city wants to charge you an extra 350 per phone because they are under contract with the provider that the customer will keep the phone for at least 6 months/181 days otherwise verizon does a chargeback. To cover their butts scc goes after you. So I am sorry you went throught this cause i am for sure the employee didnt tell you exactly what it was; I didnt do it really but I needed to get sales no matter what; thats what they taught us. Its a dirty game and I dont recommend that anyone should ever buy from them. its not fair for the customer to have to pay an additional 350 on top of what they already owe for the provider.
Destructo
Stuarts Draft,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Audrey
#10Consumer Suggestion
Fri, March 07, 2008
I currently work for a PCS company, and Shock City is not only giving you a run-around, but they refuse to provide you with the proper paperwork as "proof" that you owe them money. It doesn't matter whether they're a small company or multi-billion dollar company, you still have the right to proof as to why you owe THEM money.
The KRZR is retailed at $369.99. I'm not sure about the Chocolate, because we don't offer it, but I can assure it's around the same price, if not lower.
They're trying to take you for all you're worth. You MAY owe them something, as you did purchase their phone at a reduced price, BUT, it's not your original $300+ and the $700, putting it over $1000.00. That's truly insane.
You need to keep asking for the "proof" (contract), that you owe them the money for cancelling. If they can't provide it, their claim is as good as your claim. The burden of truth is on them. They're claiming you owe money, and THEY should have PROOF you owe them.
If you keep getting harrassed, you should file a police report for harrassment. If the charge ends up on your credit report, you need to file a lawsuit to have it removed, and if I were you, I'd sue for mental anguish.
Audrey
Christine,North Dakota,
U.S.A.
Something just doesn't add up here
#10Author of original report
Thu, March 06, 2008
So what your saying is that I should have to pay $150 per phone plus another $350 per phone when I cancelled right? So that adds up to $500 per phone for a grand total of $1,000 for two phones. Somethings not adding up here...why should I pay 1,000 for two phones when you say the full retail price is only $800? At any CORPORATE cell phone retailer the amount you pay for the phones at the time of the contract is the only amount you will ever pay regardless of how long you continue service. You need to read my original report all I wanted was a refund of the $380 I paid for the phones upfront since I was mislead to believe I was purchasing them. I was never rude to shock city until the laughed at me a refused to give me copies of the paperwork. Your right in theory someone should read all the paperwork before signing, but when your standing at a kiosk in the middle of a busy mall that is a little easier said than done. I'm just saying people need to be aware that INDEPENDANT dealers do not have the same contracts as CORPORATE stores.
Tony
Fargo,North Dakota,
U.S.A.
Actually you are wrong...
#10UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, March 05, 2008
The cell phone game is a tricky one. This is how it works.
Shockcity buys your phone from the dealer for 400 dollars. They then sell it to you for 150. Why you might ask? They get paid on the back end, after 180 days on a two year contract or 90 days on a one year contract. They get back between 250/1 year 400/2 year contract (thats why phone prices differ from a one year to a two year contract). Now Verizon has their own early termination penalties in effect, which breaks down to 175 per line, since they are losing revenue.
So you DID pay for Verizon to cancel your contract with them, but you still owe the money to Shockcity for the price of the phones. The money you paid was to Verizon only, not to Shockcity. The rep at alltell was an idiot for not telling you(why you didn't have your phones flashed from Verizon to Alltell boggles my mind, and yes they can do it, I worked for Cellone/alltell). What you can do now is ask Shockcity if they can work with you, which I doubt because you sound like you were rude to them, OR pay their fee's. Lesson learned I guess to read everything you sign I guess.
Audrey
Christine,North Dakota,
U.S.A.
update
#10Author of original report
Sun, February 24, 2008
So your saying that it's my fault that your employee did not give me a copy of the contract to take home with me? If he would have sent the paperwork home I would have had a chance to read it and would have known I needed to wait to cancel that wouldn't have been a problem. The only papers that were sent home with me were the Verizon Contract not the Shock City "double contract."
Why would you berate me for not being able to pay my bill do you not understand that things happen such as illness,injury and loss of work which could make it hard for some people. Not only am I upset about the fee, I am upset by the way you and your company treated me like I was worthless. You laughed at me when I asked you to send me a copy of the contract! Also you say I was trying to rip off your business?
Why is it that I was told by verizon customer service that your company doesn't even get equipment through verizon. So if you don't get the phones through verizon why should my early termination cause a problem. Kyle all I wanted was to have the 380.00 I paid for the phones at the initial contract signing subtracted from the 700.00 I paid for not returning them. I have given up on reciving any money back, and have moved on.
I just want people to be aware that independent dealers have their own set of "guidelines" and just because they say they are sending home copies of everything that is often not the case.
Optimus651
St. Paul,Minnesota,
U.S.A.
EPA agreement...
#10UPDATE Employee
Sat, February 23, 2008
I understand you are upset about having to pay a fee of $700, but didnt you ask what you were signing when they stamped your credit card and asked you for your social, initials, signature and date? did you really not wonder about, or read the contract? And is shock city really at fault for you not being able to pay your bill ontime? That doesn't make sense to me, you picked your plan, you picked your phone, you signed your contract and the EPA agreement and you didn't think about a monthly bill? Dumb. Also had you asked or read the EPA you would know it is made to prevent "activation fraud", which is whe people buy phones at a discounted price with contract, cancel service and then sell them online. So really you committed "activation fraud" and know you want Shock City to pay for that? SO you can profit from a small businesses loss? Way to go, real mature of you, You should be on rip off report for trying to rip off a small business and get away with it. I pity you.
Optimus651
St. Paul,Minnesota,
U.S.A.
EPA agreement...
#10UPDATE Employee
Sat, February 23, 2008
I understand you are upset about having to pay a fee of $700, but didnt you ask what you were signing when they stamped your credit card and asked you for your social, initials, signature and date? did you really not wonder about, or read the contract? And is shock city really at fault for you not being able to pay your bill ontime? That doesn't make sense to me, you picked your plan, you picked your phone, you signed your contract and the EPA agreement and you didn't think about a monthly bill? Dumb. Also had you asked or read the EPA you would know it is made to prevent "activation fraud", which is whe people buy phones at a discounted price with contract, cancel service and then sell them online. So really you committed "activation fraud" and know you want Shock City to pay for that? SO you can profit from a small businesses loss? Way to go, real mature of you, You should be on rip off report for trying to rip off a small business and get away with it. I pity you.
Optimus651
St. Paul,Minnesota,
U.S.A.
EPA agreement...
#10UPDATE Employee
Sat, February 23, 2008
I understand you are upset about having to pay a fee of $700, but didnt you ask what you were signing when they stamped your credit card and asked you for your social, initials, signature and date? did you really not wonder about, or read the contract? And is shock city really at fault for you not being able to pay your bill ontime? That doesn't make sense to me, you picked your plan, you picked your phone, you signed your contract and the EPA agreement and you didn't think about a monthly bill? Dumb. Also had you asked or read the EPA you would know it is made to prevent "activation fraud", which is whe people buy phones at a discounted price with contract, cancel service and then sell them online. So really you committed "activation fraud" and know you want Shock City to pay for that? SO you can profit from a small businesses loss? Way to go, real mature of you, You should be on rip off report for trying to rip off a small business and get away with it. I pity you.
Optimus651
St. Paul,Minnesota,
U.S.A.
EPA agreement...
#10UPDATE Employee
Sat, February 23, 2008
I understand you are upset about having to pay a fee of $700, but didnt you ask what you were signing when they stamped your credit card and asked you for your social, initials, signature and date? did you really not wonder about, or read the contract? And is shock city really at fault for you not being able to pay your bill ontime? That doesn't make sense to me, you picked your plan, you picked your phone, you signed your contract and the EPA agreement and you didn't think about a monthly bill? Dumb. Also had you asked or read the EPA you would know it is made to prevent "activation fraud", which is whe people buy phones at a discounted price with contract, cancel service and then sell them online. So really you committed "activation fraud" and know you want Shock City to pay for that? SO you can profit from a small businesses loss? Way to go, real mature of you, You should be on rip off report for trying to rip off a small business and get away with it. I pity you.