HOT: Avoid Verizon Early Cancelation Fee, get out your contract free

[Shimmishim]

just wanted to give a little update.

i got out of my contract which still had 1 year on it.

becareful though. the lady i spoke to said my fone service would end on midnight of this past friday.

as of sunday, my fone was still working!!!

the catch here is, i was trying to get my number ported and the way porting works is... your fone line has to be active in order for your port to go through.

however, the lady failed to mention that. she said after i cancel, i should be able to get my old number back by telling tmobile (after my service was terminated). oh.... and here's the kicker. if your next fone provider calls and cancels your service, then you HAVE to pay the early termination fee. so since i had an active service still... i'd be hit with the early termination fee if tmobile called verizon.

luckily, the next guy i spoke to at verizon was more knowledgeable and he knew exactly what to do. first, he gave me a 2 day credit for not cancelling my service on time and then he worked with me so that my phone would stay active until the porting was completed.

his name is Kareem (not sure how it's pronounced) and his extension is 1858.

hope this helps.

 

[AirTrax]

is it possible to cancel with verizon and then sign up with verizon again to get a better phone?

-airtrax

 

[ballmode]

girlfriend did this, the guy gave her crap because of the 40 cent fee she was canceling for. he was dumbfounded, i told her while she was on the phone, well this probably wont be the last "new" charge so i'm getting out while i can

 

[AStar617]

This thread is correct. I actually used this info to help a coworker get out of a plan a few weeks back. He got very little pushback but maybe we got lucky with the rep.

In any event, it is not up to Verizon to determine what constitutes a "material adverse effect" from your perspective. The change is NOT part of the original arrangement that you agreed to when you signed the contract, and therefore they cannot force you to accept it under pains and penalties of the ETF. The admin fee is not simply a federal tax being passed along directly to you, it's just a means of helping them offset their infrastructure costs ($.40 x 47 million subscribers, every month... you do the math). This is exactly why they had to inform all the customers of the change, because BY LAW they must provide subscribers with fair lead time to object and opt out of the edited service agreement.

This poster's advice is very sound...

Originally posted by: ECartman
I got notification of the new fee on the last page of my August 03, 2005 bill. I have 60 days after Verizon sent that notice to call and "end the affected service without any early termination fee". That means I have until roughly October 3 to call and terminate service. If I use the phone after October 1, I have, according to the customer agreement, accepted the new terms (the 40 cent fee) and cannot cancel thereafter without the early termination fee.

Bottom line -- DO NOT WAIT. That is bad advice. Call now and cancel if you are gonna cancel. If you use your phone after October 1, you cannot cancel without early termination fee.

And yes, a 40 cent change in monthly charges is, legally, a change that has "a material adverse effect on you." Don't confuse a lay definition of material with a legal definition. In contract law, any change that changes the legal effect of a contract is "material." "Adverse" simply means it goes against your interests, and does not speak to degree.

 

[forkd]

Very well said.

Originally posted by: AStar617
This thread is correct. I actually used this info to help a coworker get out of a plan a few weeks back. He got very little pushback but maybe we got lucky with the rep.

In any event, it is not up to Verizon to determine what constitutes a "material adverse effect" from your perspective. The change is NOT part of the original arrangement that you agreed to when you signed the contract, and therefore they cannot force you to accept it under pains and penalties of the ETF. The admin fee is not simply a federal tax being passed along directly to you, it's just a means of helping them offset their infrastructure costs ($.40 x 47 million subscribers, every month... you do the math). This is exactly why they had to inform all the customers of the change, because BY LAW they must provide subscribers with fair lead time to object and opt out of the edited service agreement.

This poster's advice is very sound...

Originally posted by: ECartman
I got notification of the new fee on the last page of my August 03, 2005 bill. I have 60 days after Verizon sent that notice to call and "end the affected service without any early termination fee". That means I have until roughly October 3 to call and terminate service. If I use the phone after October 1, I have, according to the customer agreement, accepted the new terms (the 40 cent fee) and cannot cancel thereafter without the early termination fee.

Bottom line -- DO NOT WAIT. That is bad advice. Call now and cancel if you are gonna cancel. If you use your phone after October 1, you cannot cancel without early termination fee.

And yes, a 40 cent change in monthly charges is, legally, a change that has "a material adverse effect on you." Don't confuse a lay definition of material with a legal definition. In contract law, any change that changes the legal effect of a contract is "material." "Adverse" simply means it goes against your interests, and does not speak to degree.

 

[DaRock42]

if i were to cancel, would I still be able to keep the same number when I switch over to another service?????

 

[AStar617]

Originally posted by: DaRock42
if i were to cancel, would I still be able to keep the same number when I switch over to another service?????

No. By terminating the contract you walk away from all rights in the contract, including the number on the line.

 

[carbine15]

 

[carbine15]

So if you are not under contract they can change your phone number on you? I'm calling Bullsh!t on that one. All the termination does is give you the option to walk away without paying early termination fees. It's just as if you are a regular customer who's contract has elapsed. Just tell them you want to remian a customer for the time being, you just want out of the one or two year contract. You are still a cutomer, and as such you have a phone number that you can port over to any service you wish at any time. Any charges for Verizon service will be pro-rated wile youre switching services to get that new phone and all the goodies.

 

[ironcrotch]

Originally posted by: AStar617

Originally posted by: DaRock42
if i were to cancel, would I still be able to keep the same number when I switch over to another service?????

No. By terminating the contract you walk away from all rights in the contract, including the number on the line.

Carbine said it best.

But I spoke to a couple reps who stated that I would be able to switch carriers port my number over and call back to have my ETF waived. I made sure that they noted in my account that this was the case and so I'll probably switch to tmobile and call again to make sure before I do the port.

Has anyone had anymore success porting your number and avoiding the ETF?

 

[Lark888]

I'm wondering if I can use this to terminate my son's phone (family plan) only. A few months ago, I signed up for Verizon and their service works pretty well (better than AT&T/Cingular) in my area. Problem is that my son's phone was misplaced when visiting relatives in another state and the cost for a new phone is more than the remaining time on contract. Cost for new phone is beyond my son's budget

Has anyone terminated a single phone on a multi-phone plan?

... or anyone have a verizon one they want to sell cheap.

 

[Super56K]

I was just wondering about getting rid of a family plan member only aswell...I never use my cell phone and I might as well get out of $20 + tax each month. Has anyone done this?

 

[cookj]

Thanks for the info! I've been waiting for a notice since I read this thread, but didn't recieve one in the last 2 bills. I called anyway tonight and got rid of 2 phones that still had 8 months each left. He said that i'd get a bill or 2 for the termination fee, but it would be taken care of.

 

[RaGe420]

this is BS they wont let you out

 

[kamranziadar]

Ok i don;t wanna read the whole 5 pages, please tell me how you can get out of the contract.
From some reading i understand that you will see a small amount of fee in your bill, When you see that then you call verizon and ask for termination of contract.
But i did not saw any fee in my bill, or my brother's bill, but can i still call them and ask them to terminate my contract.
Is there is a time limit on this?
Please explain it to me.

 

[ECartman]

Go back about 10 or 11 posts. It's all explained concisely there in 1 post.

 

[RaGe420]

Originally posted by: kamranziadar
Ok i don;t wanna read the whole 5 pages, please tell me how you can get out of the contract.
From some reading i understand that you will see a small amount of fee in your bill, When you see that then you call verizon and ask for termination of contract.
But i did not saw any fee in my bill, or my brother's bill, but can i still call them and ask them to terminate my contract.
Is there is a time limit on this?
Please explain it to me.

You cannot cancel your contract without getting charged the fee

 

[labgeek]

Others say you can and that THEY HAVE...

 

[bldckstark]

LG VX8100 - 1.3 megapixel camera, video, flash, zoom, etc... I have a VX7000 and I want one of the 8100's.

 

[Cable God]

Originally posted by: RaGe420

Originally posted by: kamranziadar
Ok i don;t wanna read the whole 5 pages, please tell me how you can get out of the contract.
From some reading i understand that you will see a small amount of fee in your bill, When you see that then you call verizon and ask for termination of contract.
But i did not saw any fee in my bill, or my brother's bill, but can i still call them and ask them to terminate my contract.
Is there is a time limit on this?
Please explain it to me.

You cannot cancel your contract without getting charged the fee

I did.

 

[DarthRanger]

Any chance that this policy would apply to either of Verizon's DSL residential service?

DarthRanger
Boston, MA

 

[ECartman]

Originally posted by: RaGe420
[
You cannot cancel your contract without getting charged the fee

That is absolutely wrong. Read the posts. If you use your phone after TODAY though you've agreed to the new charge/fee and you won't be able to cancel with no early termination fee. Just read the posts.

 

[crockman]

Does this Cancellation Thread pertain to Verizon National/Broadband Internet Access ???

I'd like to cancel my Verizon Internet Service without paying the $175, is that possible ???

Thanks

 

[Bodine]

I opted out of paper bills and don't see the notification in my online statement. Can anyone who uses online statements point me in the right direction? I'd like to go month-to-month, as I'm not even 1 yr into my 2yr agreement.

 

[RaGe420]

Originally posted by: ECartman

Originally posted by: RaGe420
[
You cannot cancel your contract without getting charged the fee

That is absolutely wrong. Read the posts. If you use your phone after TODAY though you've agreed to the new charge/fee and you won't be able to cancel with no early termination fee. Just read the posts.

Not true I have spoke with 4 different managers and verizons lawyers have released a statement about customers not be able to get out of their contract without a fee. All they are doing is crediting the 40 cent charge back to your account so that there is no affect on you and your bill is unchanged