Cancelling a Cell Phone Contract

[HopefulInOhio]

Anyone know how to get out of one? I'm being charged almost $200 for service that was to only cost me $59 a month...no way!

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

DEPENDS! For example if you bought a phone (lets say a $300) phone but only paid less than half or maybe even less, than you had to of signed a contract with the phone company for usually 2 year service agreement (depending on what plan you asked for!). If you boot out of the contract than they can charge you THAT price $200 for breaking the contract! The only thing I can suggest is buy a lower plan! Or add to your BK file of creditors.

Catchmeifyoucan

[HHM]

How long have you been in a contract. Unless you are specifically on a pay as you go plan (which is offered by Cingular), odds are you are in a 24 month contract. (possibly 12, but the standard is 24). If you cancel early, you have to pay a penalty, which is typically $300 dollars, but can be more or less.

As for the charges, is it that you are using your phone beyond on your plan. What exactly is the phone companies explanation for the increase in charges.

[SinkingFast]

Our cancellation fee is $150/line is we drop a line before the 2 years is up.

If you can't pay, then your alternative is to include the Cell Phone Carrier into your BK and discharge the debt.

Be prepared to pay a heft deposit with some other carriers if you want a monthly plan. If you go "Pay as you Go" then it won't be an issue.

[niteflytes]

I stopped paying my Cingular bill and included it in my BK. I had a family plan with 3 phones. The final bill is a little over $600. I'm now on Cingular's "pick your plan". It's a prepaid plan that debits a monthly amount from my checking acct to add minutes to my phone. If it's not enough minutes I can add more before the next month's debit but so far I haven't needed to do that. I've been doing this for about 3 months now and it's working out great. No contract, no hidden fees, and I went from paying over $100 a month for 3 phones to about $55 for prepaid plans for me and my daughter (I just buy minutes as needed for her phone). the third phone was for my mom and she switched to a prepaid plan and buys minutes as needed also. Was able to use the phone that I was using under the contract so I didn't have to purchase a different one. Couldn't keep my old cell number though but that was the only drawback.