Virginia
Tampa,#2Consumer Comment
Wed, June 16, 2004
I have an almost identical situation to yours. My son lost his cell phone last November. I called and discontinued the cell phone service. After a few weeks, an AT&T Wireless respresentative called me and offered to send a refurbished phone and credit $50 to our account to pay for it. I understood this to be an enticement to have us continue the service. Therefore, I accepted the offer. The representative did not in any way indicate that this would lead to an extension of our current contract. In April, after 7 years as an AT&T Wireless customer, I decided to switch to T-Mobile. I was paying for a total of 400 minutes for myself and 400 minutes for my son. I always went over and he was always way under, but there was no way for us to share the minutes. T-Mobile was cheaper and allows us to share 800 minutes. Anyway, before I switched I logged on to my AT&T Wireless account online to verify that our contracts were completed. I remember specifically that I was certain that my son's contract was done as of March 2004. Therefore, I proceeded with the switch to T-Mobile. Now AT&T says I owe $175 in early termination fees. They refuse to acknowledge that I relied on their information when I decided to switch. I've spent hours on the phone - mostly on hold - trying to resolve the issue, but they won't budge. I simply can not afford to flush this kind of money in the toilet! I'm thinking of paying the fee because I don't want a black mark on my credit. Then I will file a claim in small claims court to try to get it back. I believe a class action law suit is on the way regarding this issue. They must be required to inform you each time they are restarting the clock on your contract and not with a blanket statement when you first sign one. I am so angry. I despise AT&T Wireless
Virginia
Tampa,#3Consumer Comment
Wed, June 16, 2004
I have an almost identical situation to yours. My son lost his cell phone last November. I called and discontinued the cell phone service. After a few weeks, an AT&T Wireless respresentative called me and offered to send a refurbished phone and credit $50 to our account to pay for it. I understood this to be an enticement to have us continue the service. Therefore, I accepted the offer. The representative did not in any way indicate that this would lead to an extension of our current contract. In April, after 7 years as an AT&T Wireless customer, I decided to switch to T-Mobile. I was paying for a total of 400 minutes for myself and 400 minutes for my son. I always went over and he was always way under, but there was no way for us to share the minutes. T-Mobile was cheaper and allows us to share 800 minutes. Anyway, before I switched I logged on to my AT&T Wireless account online to verify that our contracts were completed. I remember specifically that I was certain that my son's contract was done as of March 2004. Therefore, I proceeded with the switch to T-Mobile. Now AT&T says I owe $175 in early termination fees. They refuse to acknowledge that I relied on their information when I decided to switch. I've spent hours on the phone - mostly on hold - trying to resolve the issue, but they won't budge. I simply can not afford to flush this kind of money in the toilet! I'm thinking of paying the fee because I don't want a black mark on my credit. Then I will file a claim in small claims court to try to get it back. I believe a class action law suit is on the way regarding this issue. They must be required to inform you each time they are restarting the clock on your contract and not with a blanket statement when you first sign one. I am so angry. I despise AT&T Wireless
Virginia
Tampa,#4Consumer Comment
Wed, June 16, 2004
I have an almost identical situation to yours. My son lost his cell phone last November. I called and discontinued the cell phone service. After a few weeks, an AT&T Wireless respresentative called me and offered to send a refurbished phone and credit $50 to our account to pay for it. I understood this to be an enticement to have us continue the service. Therefore, I accepted the offer. The representative did not in any way indicate that this would lead to an extension of our current contract. In April, after 7 years as an AT&T Wireless customer, I decided to switch to T-Mobile. I was paying for a total of 400 minutes for myself and 400 minutes for my son. I always went over and he was always way under, but there was no way for us to share the minutes. T-Mobile was cheaper and allows us to share 800 minutes. Anyway, before I switched I logged on to my AT&T Wireless account online to verify that our contracts were completed. I remember specifically that I was certain that my son's contract was done as of March 2004. Therefore, I proceeded with the switch to T-Mobile. Now AT&T says I owe $175 in early termination fees. They refuse to acknowledge that I relied on their information when I decided to switch. I've spent hours on the phone - mostly on hold - trying to resolve the issue, but they won't budge. I simply can not afford to flush this kind of money in the toilet! I'm thinking of paying the fee because I don't want a black mark on my credit. Then I will file a claim in small claims court to try to get it back. I believe a class action law suit is on the way regarding this issue. They must be required to inform you each time they are restarting the clock on your contract and not with a blanket statement when you first sign one. I am so angry. I despise AT&T Wireless
Virginia
Tampa,#5Consumer Comment
Wed, June 16, 2004
I have an almost identical situation to yours. My son lost his cell phone last November. I called and discontinued the cell phone service. After a few weeks, an AT&T Wireless respresentative called me and offered to send a refurbished phone and credit $50 to our account to pay for it. I understood this to be an enticement to have us continue the service. Therefore, I accepted the offer. The representative did not in any way indicate that this would lead to an extension of our current contract. In April, after 7 years as an AT&T Wireless customer, I decided to switch to T-Mobile. I was paying for a total of 400 minutes for myself and 400 minutes for my son. I always went over and he was always way under, but there was no way for us to share the minutes. T-Mobile was cheaper and allows us to share 800 minutes. Anyway, before I switched I logged on to my AT&T Wireless account online to verify that our contracts were completed. I remember specifically that I was certain that my son's contract was done as of March 2004. Therefore, I proceeded with the switch to T-Mobile. Now AT&T says I owe $175 in early termination fees. They refuse to acknowledge that I relied on their information when I decided to switch. I've spent hours on the phone - mostly on hold - trying to resolve the issue, but they won't budge. I simply can not afford to flush this kind of money in the toilet! I'm thinking of paying the fee because I don't want a black mark on my credit. Then I will file a claim in small claims court to try to get it back. I believe a class action law suit is on the way regarding this issue. They must be required to inform you each time they are restarting the clock on your contract and not with a blanket statement when you first sign one. I am so angry. I despise AT&T Wireless