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Soldier in Iraq Cannot cancel cell phone Contract

gunny

Apr 28, 2006, 2:51 PM
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http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.ph...5-013920-4577r »

Soldier in Iraq wants to cancel cell phone
MADISON, Wis., April 25 (UPI) -- A U.S. Army soldier called to active duty last year and serving in Iraq has run into a problem trying to cancel his $68 monthly cell phone contract.

Pfc. Dane Gabrielson's mother, Tamara Harris, says she's sure her 25-year-old son is not using his Sprint Nextel phone in Iraq. "Dane is over there risking his neck, and he shouldn't have to deal with a cell phone company," Harris tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Under federal law, a soldier called to active duty can break a lease on a house, apartment or car within 30...
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MIKE3222

Apr 28, 2006, 2:53 PM
would verizon do it though?
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gunny

Apr 28, 2006, 2:59 PM
I would like to believe so
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MIKE3222

Apr 28, 2006, 3:00 PM
you aren't optimistic about that either huh?
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gunny

Apr 28, 2006, 3:02 PM
I think anyone would stand a much better chance with verizon cs then sprint
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nwdavis

Apr 28, 2006, 3:11 PM
It is Verizon policy to let anyone out of a contract if they are in the military and are being stationed out of the country. We have it happen almost everyday at my store. They only need to provide a copy of the orders and we disconnect them and waive the ETF. In some cases they are only going to be gone for 6 months so they call customer service and do a suspension instead so that they will have their MTN when they get back. But in cases where they are being reassigned outside the US they are let out of their contracts.
The only time I've seen it be a problem is when the phone is in mommy and daddies name and son/daughter are the user. In that case they would NOT be let out of the contract because the account is not in the name of t...
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MIKE3222

Apr 28, 2006, 3:13 PM
thanks.
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gunny

Apr 28, 2006, 3:15 PM
nwdavis said:
It is Verizon policy to let anyone out of a contract if they are in the military and are being stationed out of the country. We have it happen almost everyday at my store. They only need to provide a copy of the orders and we disconnect them and waive the ETF. In some cases they are only going to be gone for 6 months so they call customer service and do a suspension instead so that they will have their MTN when they get back. But in cases where they are being reassigned outside the US they are let out of their contracts.
The only time I've seen it be a problem is when the phone is in mommy and daddies name and son/daughter are the user. In that case they would NOT be let out of the contract because t
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sowhatsowhat10

Apr 28, 2006, 3:57 PM
because when he called to cancel he spoke to david "the pakistanian" 🙄
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BlindMansTicket

Apr 28, 2006, 5:29 PM
Sprint offers soon to be deployed soilders the option for using a "military suspension plan" which puts their charges off for atleast 2 years, which I believe is the life of the contract.
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sowhatsowhat10

Apr 28, 2006, 5:35 PM
but wont that just hold the contract? so when they come back they still have a contract to finish?

if they r just gonna let the contract keep rolling then they should just let them cancle because they aint gettin no money anyway.
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guido1869

Apr 30, 2006, 4:25 PM
the military supsend plan will last one year and the soldier will have to sign a new 2 yr contract to go back onto a plan when he/she comes back
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Longshanks

Apr 28, 2006, 5:57 PM
I'm a contractor for VZW - we can terminate or suspend a contract for military deployment. I'd be heavily surprised if Sprint didn't have that clause to.

There are actually valid reasons for ending contracts w/o the ETF.
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MIKE3222

Apr 28, 2006, 6:02 PM
we covered that already.
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Animosity_Reigns

Apr 28, 2006, 6:02 PM
If you are with any branch of the military and are being called into the line of duty anywhere, you have the right to a Military Suspension (indefinite suspension of your account) and Canceling of service with no ETF with Verizon
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spum

Apr 28, 2006, 6:06 PM
This is jumping ships a little bit, but...

Cingular has actually told good, up to date customers that they will stop their service in my area, but they'll give the customer the chance to port the number before they stop service. Cingular sucks.
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sowhatsowhat10

Apr 28, 2006, 6:27 PM
what area is this? please include zip code.
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sowhatsowhat10

Apr 28, 2006, 6:28 PM
nevermind wrong thread 🤭
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spum

Apr 28, 2006, 6:38 PM
It's ok. Wrong thread or not, Cingular still sucks.
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sowhatsowhat10

Apr 28, 2006, 6:57 PM
explain why!
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spum

Apr 28, 2006, 6:58 PM
Because they don't have any coverage in my state.
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sowhatsowhat10

Apr 28, 2006, 6:59 PM
what state provide zip
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spum

Apr 28, 2006, 7:00 PM
82072
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spum

Apr 28, 2006, 7:05 PM
They must have updated their website. They used to tell me I had coverage in Laramie, CO when Laramie isn't actually in Colorado.
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sowhatsowhat10

Apr 28, 2006, 7:15 PM
sorry brother as much as i'd like to talk you into joining cingy the nearest coverage to you is fort collins, denver.
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spum

Apr 28, 2006, 7:16 PM
I know. Like I said, they don't have coverage in my state.
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Vatothe0

Apr 28, 2006, 9:55 PM
Whoa. Just looked that up on Google maps... You need to move..to a place with people...and electricity...
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spum

Apr 29, 2006, 12:29 AM
Yeah, whatever. I've lived in Dallas TX, Phoenix AZ, Flagstaff AZ, Chicago IL, and a few places scattered in WY. Despite its reputation, this is a pretty kickass place to live.
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gunny

Apr 28, 2006, 7:04 PM
It sucks big time in Seattle, you tell me why 😈 I would love to use GSM but in this area it's nowhere close to verizon quality. Here is my zip code 98028 Anx says there is lots of towers yet it still sounds like crap. Can you look into that for me? 🤣
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sowhatsowhat10

Apr 28, 2006, 7:21 PM
98028 isn't working for me. could be (you) gunny being funny 🤣 . but if your close to kenmore coverage for you should be great.

give a city and i can define the search for you.
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jmac32here

Apr 28, 2006, 10:42 PM
Sprint at least lets them suspend the account, so no charges occur.
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olimonde

Apr 28, 2006, 8:05 PM
Verizon only offered to drop me to the lowest monthly plan (which was still pretty expensive).

However, I'm sure that some stores do let you break the contract without penalty. And the policy probably has changed over time as well (my request was back in 2003).

Like many things, it depends a lot on which customer service agent you talk to and/or which store you go to.
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MidnightDT

Apr 28, 2006, 8:59 PM
this isnt a new policy, you are either lieng or were misinformed by the rep. you can always cancel if you are active duty out of the country you need only fax proof of your deployment to VZW and they will cancel it and waive the ETF.

only time this is a problem (as was posted above) is if its in another persons name then the etf isnt waived as its not the deployed persons account.
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olimonde

Apr 28, 2006, 9:27 PM
Thank you for accusing me of 'lieng', but I can assure you I am not.

The second customer service representative I spoke to did offer a waiver but I was forced to take the lowest plan in the end anyhow to keep my phone number.

As I indicated in my first post, it seems that there is a lot of variety in how customer service agents are trained.

Many people would just take the first answer they are given and I believe that is part of the reason there is often broad disagreement on the overall quality of customer service.

Unless it is an extremely simple question, when I call Verizon customer service I usually call three times and take the average of the responses I am given. They rarely match exactly and I'm often given ver...
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wfine81

Apr 29, 2006, 9:59 AM
olimonde said:
Unless it is an extremely simple question, when I call Verizon customer service I usually call three times and take the average of the responses I am given. They rarely match exactly and I'm often given very different answers to the same question.



Haha, thats funny, I do the same thing and I am an agent, anytime I call and have a request, that I know is plausable, and they say it cant be done I just call back and 90% of the time the next person helps me.

Being in the business I see everyday how little the "average" customer care rep knows, some are really on the ball and others are just morons.
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MidnightDT

Apr 29, 2006, 12:50 PM
thats funny wfine becuase i have the same view of our agents that call in, most are idiots that cant even do an esn change without calling into care so maybe we all suck 😲
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wfine81

Apr 29, 2006, 12:58 PM
MidnightDT said:
thats funny wfine becuase i have the same view of our agents that call in, most are idiots that cant even do an esn change without calling into care so maybe we all suck 😲


Your right, there are a lot of retarded sales people out there, I would say that the majority of sales people, as well as Cust service reps are not properly trained or have enough training, unfortunaly the only way to learn all the ins and outs of the business it just by doing it for years.
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johnnyslick

Apr 30, 2006, 1:45 PM
The kicker here is you wanted to keep your old phone number. If you want to do that, the account has to stay open. That being said, there is a military suspension option that can be turned on indefinitely (i.e. unlike the vacation suspend, there's no time limit) with proper documentation. I just spoke to a customer last week who had been on a military suspend for 18 months.
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olimonde

Apr 30, 2006, 2:11 PM
The military suspension is definitely a new policy since 2003 or else the reps are poorly trained of its existence. I tried so hard to have the vacation suspension extended for the full thirteen months but none of the three representatives I talked to were willing to let that happen.

Eventually I was permitted six months of suspension but after that time I had to pay the monthly fees to keep the account open.

I am glad it sounds like this policy has changed but it seems available only sporadically. Many Verizon customers I know in the military were told the six month vacation suspension could not be extended for them either.
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guido1869

Apr 30, 2006, 4:34 PM
i have worked for both sprint (before and after merger) and now verizon,

sprint, verizon, and t mobile will waive etf, verizon and tmobile require deployment papers of some sort, sprint says they do but will do it without,

cingy told me (i spoke with several reps and sups) that they will not wave the etf because it's the custs fault that they signed up for military service and knew that they may be deployed when they signed the contract
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carlsberg

Apr 30, 2006, 5:10 PM
Thats just wrong that Cingular sad that. Just for that the company should fold.

How is patriotism the customers' fault??? Just wrong.
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johnnyslick

Apr 30, 2006, 5:24 PM
Roffle. Cingular, raising the bar!
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Vatothe0

May 1, 2006, 1:57 AM
Raising the bar just high enough to hit you in the face!
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MidnightDT

May 1, 2006, 2:15 AM
Vatothe0 said:
Raising the bar just high enough to hit you in the face!



LOL.
More bars in more places, for you to jump over.

k i give up anyways that is funny if thats truely their policy.
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