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AT&T Adds 61-Cent Admin Fee to All Customers

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I wonder if this could be considered a change to the contract?

Versed

May 23, 2013, 4:45 PM
In other words, I can term from AT&T because they changed the terms of the contract in the amount having to be paid?
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Hays21

May 23, 2013, 5:12 PM
If you call AT&T and try, let us know whether it works or not. I wouldn't mind switching to Verizon myself.
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T Bone

May 23, 2013, 5:22 PM
If you read the contract you will see that it says very clearly and directly that none of the prices or fees are locked in and that they can change at any time without notice.

So the answer is an emphatic 'no'.
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acdc1a

May 23, 2013, 9:43 PM
I admittedly haven't read AT&T tos recently but that's not possible or enforceable. You can't have a one sided contract like that. Essentially you agree to pay your rate plan for 2 years, they give you a subsidy. Consideration by both parties. Just as you can't leave without a penalty, they cannot change your terms without letting you out.
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T Bone

May 23, 2013, 10:04 PM
It's not just at&t, it's any company you do business with anywhere.



Of course you can't guarantee a price, prices are things which CANNOT be guaranteed, there's no way anyone who is not a liar can possibly promise you that prices will no go up ever.


Prices are based on factors that are largely outside the control of any human being. If there's a sudden natural disaster which wipes out half the cell phones towers in the country, or if there is the sudden passage of new law by Congress (like Obamacare or an increase in the corporate income tax) which increases the cost of doing business, or if the world economy collapses causing hyperinflation....then prices are going up. And there's nothing the carrier can do to stop it.

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justcallitanight

May 23, 2013, 11:53 PM
From AT&T's Terms and Conditions:

IF WE INCREASE THE PRICE OF ANY OF THE SERVICES TO WHICH YOU SUBSCRIBE, BEYOND THE LIMITS SET FORTH IN YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUMMARY, OR IF WE MATERIALLY DECREASE THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA IN WHICH YOUR AIRTIME RATE APPLIES (OTHER THAN A TEMPORARY DECREASE FOR REPAIRS OR MAINTENANCE), WE’LL DISCLOSE THE CHANGE AT LEAST ONE BILLING CYCLE IN ADVANCE (EITHER THROUGH A NOTICE WITH YOUR BILL, A TEXT MESSAGE TO YOUR DEVICE, OR OTHERWISE), AND YOU MAY TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT WITHOUT PAYING AN EARLY TERMINATION FEE OR RETURNING OR PAYING FOR ANY PROMOTIONAL ITEMS, PROVIDED YOUR NOTICE OF TERMINATION IS DELIVERED TO US WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER THE FIRST BILL REFLECTING THE CHANGE.

IMO, this would be a materia...
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Downscripting

May 24, 2013, 7:52 AM
Okay, but ATT put it on your bill in all those paragraphs after your bill charges before it happened. You may have noticed this if you read your bills... So putting it on your bill is classified as WE’LL DISCLOSE THE CHANGE AT LEAST ONE BILLING CYCLE IN ADVANCE (EITHER THROUGH A NOTICE WITH YOUR BILL, A TEXT MESSAGE TO YOUR DEVICE, OR OTHERWISE),
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dalius_maximus

May 24, 2013, 8:57 AM
Actually, I reviewed with ATT in regards to the new fee. If you read section 1.3 carefully you'll notice that paragraph one provisions they may add fees/charges, etc.; however, if you review the second paragraph you'll find that they are only prohibited from changing the price of a "service to which you subscribe." For example, they can add an admin fee, but if you have a $25.00 2GB data plan they cannot simply change the price to $35.00. This would be an example of a time in which you can cancel without penalty.
The intranet system for ATT that provides CS with documents regarding policy and procedure specifically advises CS that this is not a breach of contract for this very reason. (Intranet is MyCSP)
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Downscripting

May 24, 2013, 1:55 PM
I know this. I work for ATT CS
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dalius_maximus

May 24, 2013, 3:58 PM
CCare/SB EUC perchance?
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Downscripting

May 25, 2013, 8:26 AM
EUC
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trey1475

May 24, 2013, 12:38 AM
That's not completely true..... Yes there is a clause in the TOS that states they may change any terms, conditions, rates, fees, expenses, or charges regarding your Services at any time. But even though they have this clause, they are required to give you at least a 30 day notice of the changes and they are required to give you (usually) at least 30 days from the first bill that reflects the changes for you to cancel service without having to pay the ETF.

No company can just put you in a contract and change the prices when ever they want to without any protections for the consumer. If that was the case then whats stopping them from increasing everyone's bill by $100/month.

The problem is most people won't notice the price increase. A...
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T Bone

May 24, 2013, 9:35 AM
I think everyone knows that 99% of the time the ETF is waived when you quit and all you have to do is call customer care and be as obnoxious and abusive as possible and they'll waive everything just to just you off the line.

Indeed, when I was in customer care (I still thank God every single day that I'm not working in customer care anymore because it was a living nightmare) I once felt so sick of listening to a particularly obnoxious customer I very nearly paid his bill with my own credit card just to get him off my line......the only reason I didn't actually pull out my own credit card and enter the information in the system to pay off his bill with my own money was the fear that once that information was in the system he'd be able to u...
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T Bone

May 24, 2013, 9:51 AM
And by the way....I worked for at&t for years....and I know what's in the contract because every clause was gone over with fine toothed comb during training....there's a whole bunch of stuff in there that most people don't know about, like the clause where you agree to waive your right to sue.

I quit working for at&t in August 2010, just because dealing with all those obnoxious customers was making me hate the entire human race.....so my information may be out of date on some details here and there...

But I'm not ignorant of the contents of the contract.
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Downscripting

May 24, 2013, 1:58 PM
T Bone said:
there's a whole bunch of stuff in there that most people don't know about, like the clause where you agree to waive your right to sue.


Arbitration Clause 😉
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jsd0108

May 24, 2013, 8:15 AM
If yo tried to cancel, they could issue a one lump-sum credit in the amount of the fee for the remaining months left on your contract. At that point, you it wouldn't be a material change in your contract and you would have to pay the ETF.

People try hard to get out of contracts, the lawyers try harder to make sure that doesn't happen easily.
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KOL4420

May 27, 2013, 6:02 PM
Its true the taxes and fee's are not guaranteed in the contract. However they have to notify you by law and give you a 60 day notice I think before they increase the cost on the bill.

So to answer your question unless ATT has violated this requirement to notify you then no you cant cancel without a termination fee.
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