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Post by Connie on Jul 31, 2008 15:45:24 GMT -5
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Post by audrey on Aug 1, 2008 8:53:33 GMT -5
I hate this rule. When we cancelled AT&T we had to pay a fee since it was early. I'm thrilled to read that they might actually have to offer service to keep customers versus having customers as hostages.
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Post by pandabat on Jan 21, 2009 5:36:45 GMT -5
ETF are one of the reasons that cell phone companies can sell phones for cheap or even give them out for free. You pay for service with a monthly bill, but without the ETF people would switch companies and take their phones with them and the companies will lose money. And people tend to think they deserve free phones.
My belief is that the ETF should fit the price of the phone or be reduced based on how much time they have left in the contract (and I believe AT&T just started doing that last year)
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Post by Connie on Jan 21, 2009 12:33:41 GMT -5
I know they claim that the cheap/free phones are why they want the early termination fee but I find it hard to swallow... I can buy a phone at a yard sale yet they wouldn't waive the ETF would they?
The cable company does the same thing.. if you cancel within a year there is a ETF... for what?
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Post by havingfunnow on Jan 21, 2009 14:38:08 GMT -5
So I had to go and look at our cable contract, and our company does not charge an early termination fee. I know the one I had in SD didn't either. Maybe the one in Boise has a monopoly
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Post by Organized Chaos on Jan 21, 2009 14:55:34 GMT -5
One sentence in that article stood out for me..."The industry is also pushing for the federal government to step in and claim oversight over the early termination fee issue, which would invalidate any state ruling."
How typical of today's industry, if you don't get what you want, go crying for Federal intervention.
Before I even read the part about ETF's allowing for cheaper phones, I thought to myself, uh oh this means more expensive phones and higher bills. That's the way business operates today, it's no surprise. For some reason too many people accept lesser service that costs more w/o a fight. We as the American public have so much power as a group but choose not to wield it.
OK sorry, I'll step away from the podium now.
Right now I believe the average contract for cell carriers is 2 years...around here anyway. I think that's ridiculous. Considering in those 2 years the technology advances tremendously and you're stuck with outdated hardware. I think if we're going to be stuck with ETF's then at least lower the contract to 1 year w/o having to pay extra for it (because around here you can pay extra for only a 1 year contract).
Our cable company does hold the monopoly here (unless you go with satellite). So does our landline phone company and our power company.
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Post by weebitty on Feb 5, 2009 12:32:52 GMT -5
organized chaos, I agree with you about the people should wield their weight around and quit asking the government to fix things for them. If consumers would only quit buying something that is wrong the companies would soon change on their own. It is the power in the people. We are giving the government more and more power because we always run to them to "fix" things!!!!! We have too much government already. We need to start taking some of the power away!!!!! Yes and there are monopolys as far as phone, power and cable companys here too in Oregon.
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