Cell phone contract remorse

Evil Multifarious

So my girlfriend signed a contract with Telus two months ago because her last phone with them had been compromised and she was getting tons of spam. She got a BlackBerry and an email plan for 50 bucks a month, and I believe the contract is for 3 years.

She was pressured into a BlackBerry by the sales rep, who said it was "better than Android and iPhone which are junk," and she's realizing she hates the phone. She is also paying 50 bucks a month for a shitty plan that doesn't even provide data. Today I switched to a much better provider myself, and she was looking at the prices with a sad expression on her face.

What are her options if she wants to escape this contract, or at least get a different phone, without spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on either breaking the contract or straight-up buying an unlocked phone? Is there anything at all, or is she just stuck until breaking contract is more affordable? Two months in, can she still complain that she was pressured into a decision she didn't want to make by the sales rep, etc?

Elin

Evil Multifarious wrote: »

So my girlfriend signed a contract with Telus two months ago because her last phone with them had been compromised and she was getting tons of spam. She got a BlackBerry and an email plan for 50 bucks a month, and I believe the contract is for 3 years.

She was pressured into a BlackBerry by the sales rep, who said it was "better than Android and iPhone which are junk," and she's realizing she hates the phone. She is also paying 50 bucks a month for a shitty plan that doesn't even provide data. Today I switched to a much better provider myself, and she was looking at the prices with a sad expression on her face.

What are her options if she wants to escape this contract, or at least get a different phone, without spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on either breaking the contract or straight-up buying an unlocked phone? Is there anything at all, or is she just stuck until breaking contract is more affordable? Two months in, can she still complain that she was pressured into a decision she didn't want to make by the sales rep, etc?

Based on US terms she is pretty much stuck. Buyers remorse time frames are generally 30 days here, I'm not sure if Canada is any different. She can try calling customer service and asking nicely but I think she's going to end up paying an early termination fee.

Rikushix

With all due respect - and I'm biased here because I'm with Telus and I have no issues with them at all - that's what a contract is. It's their job to sell your girlfriend a phone. If she hates the phone, that's fine, but there's no getting out of the contract without paying an exorbitant fee. And two months is a hell of a long time to garner sympathy from sales reps. So I doubt that will work.

Now that being said, she can switch to a phone she likes if she doesn't mind ponying up ~400 dollars. The phone she buys is discounted based on the length of her contract; a Blackberry is around $500 and on a three year contract I'm guessing she got it for $50. give or take another 50. When you want to upgrade to a new phone, Telus lets you do that at any point in your contract, as long as you pay what's remaining on the discount you got for signing up for a three year contract.

(Original Phone Price) - (Contract Price) = Total Discount

Total Discount - [2 months x (Total Discount/36 months)] = Upgrade Fee

So if she wants to switch, she's looking at several hundred dollars...and then, I presume, the cost of the NEW phone. I'm not sure if she gets it at the 3 year contract rate or the original price, which would really suck if that was the case.

Here's the link to explain all of that: http://www.telusmobility.com/en/BC/Upgrades/cs_details_after_nov_21.shtml

And if you don't mind clarifying, where do you live? Because in BC at least there's NO smartphone plan that doesn't come with data. I have the minimum one just like her for my Milestone - $50 a month and it comes with 500 MB, which is great.

edit: The Upgrade Fee - technically called the "Device Fee" - is the same thing that you pay if you just want to straight up cancel your account, plus a $50 surcharge. http://www.telusmobility.com/en/BC/Billing-Support/contracts_explained_after_nov_21.shtml

Let's say she got the Bold 9780. That's 499.99 down to 49.99 on a 3 year contract: a discount of 450 bucks. 450/36 is $12.50 a month; since she has already had the phone for two months, her remaining Device Fee is $425. Thus, every month she waits, that cost to upgrade or cancel decreases by $12.50.

So to cancel her contract now, your girlfriend needs to pay $475. That's not so bad, really. The silver lining is that she gets to keep the Blackberry - perhaps you can sell it on Craigslist?

Valaena

To be honest I don't know much about it, but I've seen websites that let you sell your contract to other people.

corky842

You can buy a phone on ebay or whatever, transfer your service to that one (you go to the carrier's website or call a phone number, the whole process should take about 15 minutes max), then sell the Blackberry.

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up

corky842 wrote: »

You can buy a phone on ebay or whatever, transfer your service to that one (you go to the carrier's website or call a phone number, the whole process should take about 15 minutes max), then sell the Blackberry.

This is probably going to be your cheapest option when you take into account all the fees +cost of new phone. Especially since reselling the blackberry will garner some of that money back.

If she just isn't happy with the company at all you two can get a shared rate pretty cheap and toss her on with you. That way she's not paying a huge fee and a full bill.

amateurhour

What these guys said.

I've got a co-worker who is never happy with his toys or cars and he's constantly buying new or gently used cell phones from craigslist, then selling his old one. He usually breaks even on the deal, at worst spends an extra $100 or so a year doing this.

You're not getting out of the contract unless the company blatantly changes the terms of it. I think at that point they have to give you an out, but it's doubtful that will happen.

Evil Multifarious

apparently that won't even get you an out, since there is a clause in Canadian contracts that lets them change them willy nilly, with certain limitations

she'll probably go the route of selling the phone and paying the device fee + 50 bucks. if she takes advantage of the deal with my provider where they give you credit for switching to them, she can cut down the price hit she'll take, as well.

when i was with roger's they charged $20 per month remaining in your contract, flat out, with a ceiling of $400 and minimum $100, which is much worse than telus's system, so at least there's that.

thanks for the responses folks.

Deusfaux

look at what other plans they offer you could switch to and if you dont like any of them, break contract, sell the phone and put what you get towards that fee.

then sign with someone new. ideally without a contract. but most people scoff at the idea of having to pay for a phone out of pocket then.

/6 years contract free