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T-Mobile Settles ETF Lawsuit

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I guess...

Tmo Slave

May 13, 2009, 4:38 PM
this goes to show if you whine, complain and act like a child you will get your way. They signed a contract saying they will keep the service for 2 years. Not our fault you washed your phone and don't want to pay for a new one. So T-mobile pays out an extremely large sum of money and then people wonder why monthly services increase and phone prices increase. So don't blame T-mobile for the prices going up blame the a$$hats that sued T-mobile.
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Globhead

May 13, 2009, 6:36 PM
A lot of these people had to pay $200 for ending their service only a month or two early, so they are NOT responsible for "prices going up" just because they want some of that back.

That's the whole point of this lawsuit. All carriers, including t-mobile, were collecting fees beyond a reasonable amount to make up for "losses".
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irockash

May 13, 2009, 9:00 PM
Right. The cancelation fees are usually cited to recoup costs lost when the service is initiated (or discounts on a phone etc). They basically say "Here's $200, we'll make it up over the 2-years."

But the problem is, even after a few months, they've made up part of those costs, yet they still charge you the full amount. I'm sure some of these people were close to the full agreement when they canceled, so most, if not all of that $200 was made up*. This isn't how their contracts are written (I'm not a lawyer, but they have plenty), so they can aruge what ever they want.

Even AT&T's termination fees ($175 minus $5 for each full month of service) still leave you out $60 if you cancel a month early. They'll always win somehow, it is nice ...
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AndrewT

Jun 1, 2009, 7:32 PM
Actually most companies pay about retail price for phones. The money isn't in the handset device, it's in the contracts. In fact 99% of the time a company sells a device at a subsidized price, they take a loss upwards of 30 bucks. When you sell several thousand handsets every week it costs.

Not to mention that most cellular companies don't know whether they've made a profit off a person for at least 6 months after they sign a contract.

The cellular industry is very profitable after a customer has had consistent service for over a year.
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irockash

May 13, 2009, 9:03 PM
Man, "Tmo Slave" is a very understated name. Just because they agreed to something doesn't make it morally right... see my other reply for why I say that.
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Tmo Slave

May 14, 2009, 12:15 PM
Morally right? Its business contract that they broke early. Morals have nothing to do with it.

As for your other post, the ETFs are there for several reasons. Yes its to make money back on discounting the handset but also thats revenue that the carriers are loosing. Regardless of the fact you signed a legal document saying that you would pay a monthly fee for 24 months. You break that contract you there should be a penalty. Same thing if you rent an apartment and you break your lease early there is going to be a penalty.
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thizmobile

May 14, 2009, 1:30 PM
Tmo slave is 100% right, if you sign a contract you are obligated to the contract. If the contract is THAT BAD... dont sign it!!! This is a business, T-mobile is not in it to break even. They MUST make profit to advertise, pay employees, run a store etc. I don't see why this is such a big issue. People want EVERYTHING and expect to pay NOTHING. "Give me better reception, give me better phones, give me unlimited minutes... but i dont want to pay anything."
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tlgreene1021

May 14, 2009, 1:40 PM
We've had our disagreements in the past Tmo Slave, but I'm firmly in your corner on this one. What the F does morals have to do with anything? You signed a contract saying in plain English:

'If you terminate the contract before the 2 year commitment, there is an early termination fee of $200 per line of service.'
-Not exact wording but very close-

Look people, T-Mobile in no way forces anyone to do a 2 year contract. Hell, they don't even force you to sign a contract at all. You can get all the benefits of a regular plan (with the exception of subsidized phone pricing) with NO CONTRACT.

If your too poor to spend 60 bucks on a brand new phone outright or you want a phone with all the bells and whistles but you don't want t...
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irockash

May 14, 2009, 4:54 PM
How long have these no contract options been out there? And how often does that contract get renewed. I'm not talking about current plans and offers.

Back when I was with T-Mobile (4 years ago), even a simple rate plan change would renew the contract. How does that affect it? Because my usage changes, you're locking me in again?
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tlgreene1021

May 14, 2009, 5:57 PM
Ever since Flex Pay plans were launched. I honestly don't remember exactly how long it's been...maybe a little over 2 years ago. So yea, it is a more recent option but there has always been Prepaid service if your that against signing a contract.
As it stands now, you can get a month to month Flex Pay account with no contract and no credit check or you can do a regular account on a month to month basis and of course prepaid is still an option as well.
Our store here may be an exception but we regularly offer customers the option of choosing a month to month plan, especially if there's resistance to signing a contract. Of those people, maybe 2 of 100 of them end up doing it.

The reason?

People have this idea that cellphone...
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Globhead

May 16, 2009, 5:54 AM
Paying real prices for phones doesn't bother me at all. I buy unlocked phones from Amazon/ebay all the time.

What does bother me is the fact that my airtime rate is priced to cover the cost of [crummy and/or crippled] "subsidized" phones. I have to pay for those phones whether I take them or not.

The G1 would be expensive, but not quite $400 which is the ripoff MSRP. You don't pay full MSRP for TVs or MP3 players either. If the G1 were available on the open market like a lot of other phones, it would probably be $300 or less.
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thizmobile

May 16, 2009, 4:17 PM
A G1 is worth $355.91 to t-mobile if lost or stolen from a store so every single G1 sold is a loss of $205.91
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Globhead

May 16, 2009, 11:09 AM
For a long time, contract extensions were not officially required unless you switched to a "promotional" rate.

But "promotional" rates became the normal thing. Eventually, you never saw an officially "normal" rate printed anywhere. So unless you [somehow] knew about the existence of a plan with 100 fewer minutes, and no free weekends, the policy effectively changed before it officially changed.
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thizmobile

May 16, 2009, 4:22 PM
Actually, if you call customer care and just tell them you want to change your rate plan to a cheaper version but don't want a contract, they will explain the non promotional rate plans which don't require a contract.
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BLubak1

May 14, 2009, 12:24 PM
I can see both points of view, I guess. I do think that ETFs have always been excessive, but at the same time, nobody forced them to sign the contract. Like you said, this is just a case of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" - if you complain loudly and persistently enough, the receiving end of the whining is likely to give in eventually, regardless of whether the customer is actually right or wrong.

As a side note, while the U.S. wireless industry isn't nearly is competitive as the European wireless industry, at least in terms of upfront equipment costs, I think people here should be grateful that the state of the industry in the U.S. isn't nearly as bad as Canada! The deals and tariffs are generally terrible, not to mention they have u...
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iori276

May 17, 2009, 12:47 PM
Canadians are so silly. Might just be the cost of living?
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