AT&T has angered many this week, when customers were flatly denied the ability to cancel service without paying an Early Termination Fee (ETF). There have been two, separate, material changes to the AT&T Terms and Conditions over the past month. Under AT&T’s Customer Code, a customer is allowed to cancel without paying a termination fee should AT&T make a material change to the customer’s terms of service.
Over a year ago, all carriers agreed (under terms set forth by the CTIA), that customers would be allowed to terminate service without paying a termination fee, should a carrier make any material changes to their terms of service. This previously was a hotly-debated issue, as some carriers actually insisted that a carrier could hold a customer to their contract term, while removing consumer benefits inside of the service itself.
The first Material Change started in late February, when AT&T modified its Arbitration Clause. Essentially, the new terms mandate that (not only can you not sue AT&T, for virtually any reason) but that you must arbitrate on AT&T’s terms. Worse, if you lose arbitration, you must now pay AT&T’s (exponentially higher) arbitration fees. This makes arbitration risky, unequal, and unfair to the consumer. It clearly is a material change to your contract.
The second Material Change stems from the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) portion of the contract. Essentially (and as we previously reported), AT&T has added new terms that prevent the customer from webcasting (and in some cases, placeshifting), using their phone. If that’s greek to you, it basically means you can’t use the phone for Skype Video Calling, nor can you hook your phone up to a Slingbox or PC to share TV with a friend. Originally, these terms (first introduced in late March) went as far as to prohibit Slingbox viewing altogether, but AT&T revised them after consumer outcry.
Each of these are clearly material changes to your contract. In the first case, they limit how you can dispute AT&T problems (gee, like this one). And, in the second case, they limit what you are allowed to do with your phone (flying in the face of FCC mandate issued in the Comcast/BitTorrent ruling). So, you do indeed in our opinion have the right to cancel service for either reason.
What AT&T Should Do: Per their own Customer Code, AT&T must immediately open a 45 day window, where anyone can cancel service (for these reasons) sans ETF. Anyone that cancelled because of these reasons, but was still charged an ETF, should have those fees immediately refunded or credited back to them. And, we will take this one to the FCC if they don’t… but we strongly, strongly encourage you to file a complaint yourself.
AT&T Media Relations Director Mark Siegel, when contacted late last week, was unaware that any changes had been made to the AT&T Terms and Conditions.
We are continuing to work with AT&T to attempt to bring them up to speed, on their own contract changes, and their own Customer Code.
Hundreds of customers have reported in to PhoneNews.com as being shot down or generally refused in canceling their contracts, without paying a termination fee. Only a few (literally, a few) have reported getting their ETFs waived during or after cancellation.
What you should do: Cancel service in protest. AT&T clearly bungled this one, but they’re continuing to bungle it. Until they reform, port out as soon as possible to another carrier (even a prepaid one like Boost Unlimited). You can always come back (or port back) after 90 days as a new customer, and take advantage of new customer deals on phones.
Then, if/when you are charged an ETF, file BBB and FCC complaints. It’s simple, and takes about 10 minutes each to do.
The more people that cancel service, and are wrongly charged an ETF, the more people will complain to the FCC. Unfortunately, in this one, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. We’ve cancelled our three accounts in the offices already (and yeah, they charged us over eleven ETFs).
Digg This: http://digg.com/tech_news/AT_T_Generally_Unaware_of_Contract_Changes_Won_t_Waive_ETF
Oh yeah!! this is real smart. Your article is good but your solution SUCKS! You want people to cancel their ATT service in protest. Lets see what would really happen.
1. You cancel your service.
2. Spend countless hours on the phone trying to get ATT to waive your etf.
3. File BBB complaint which just goes to BBB who forwards to ATT for resolution.
4. 120 days later your account is written off and sold to a collection company!
5. Now you have to work with an attorney to clear up your credit report!
Yeah really good thinking. This will help the economy…..
I am so glad I didn’t get an IPhone and go back to ATT. I chose the G1 and TMobile for my recent change which wasn’t due to being unhappy with my carrier. It was because of their dataplan prices for smartphones being way too high.
Actually Max, if 1% of the customers on this web site alone called and canceled service, it would shut down an AT&T call center.
That would then cause AT&T to recognize their own policy changes, and take corrective action.
Then, those 1% of customers that called in, would get their ETFs waived automatically, and it wouldn’t have to go any farther (or, take up any of their time).
Max, we care about the consumer long before we care about a temporary slump in the economy. A bad economy is no excuse for AT&T not recognizing that their contract has changed… twice… in the past 30 days.
This is not something we do or suggest lightly. But we have to keep AT&T honest here. If you’re part of the solution, and help in this effort, you’ll help keep people’s accounts from going into collections (when they should instead be legitimately refunded their ETFs).
That would be great if 1% of your customers did this but if your going to play the what if game.
What if 15 people canceled their service? Do you really think ATT would give a damn. NO
So you are willing to risk even a few peoples credit?
Oh and I do not work for nor condone any of these actions by AT&T. I am merely giving my opinion that your article has the potential to do more harm then good.
Max, I suggest you re-read the article. We have received reports from well over a hundred people who have tried to cancel. And, those are just the people who tune in to PhoneNews.com!
We are confident that hundreds of people have already tried to cancel because of this. That number could be in the four figures, but we know for certain it isn’t as low as you are trying to argue… and that was before we put out the call to action.
If you are concerned about your credit (and quite frankly, we don’t think the FCC will ever let this matter go that far), but you can always place your account in formal dispute, and not have it canceled until the matter is resolved. Then you file BBB and FCC complaints as if you had demanded cancellation on-the-spot.
Finally, again, we are only taking this action to expedite re-education at the AT&T call centers, and in other key areas of AT&T that were not properly informed of these changes. It is crystal-clear to us that AT&T will, at some point, refund ETFs…
… We just don’t want the customer to lose out on the (legally-required) opportunity, and then be locked in (to the new terms) after the 45 day cancellation window. I am also confident AT&T will (later) claim that 45 day window has already started, even though they are refusing to let people out of their contracts right now.
Very good point christopher. I guess some people just like letting others step over them and are to lazy to do anything to protect themselves. It’s not that hard to file a complaint with fcc & bbb. Unless your credit is already ruined it is easy to prevent any negative repercussions on your credit report. Iv’e had to do it before and it’s not that hard to do especially with the internet.
[…] material changes to the customer agreement. AT&T did just that over the past two months, yet are not letting consumers out of their contracts. PhoneNews.com takes a look at this issue and why it’s wrong, wrong, wrong for […]
Great article. See people, filing a claim with the fcc does work, you just have to do some small leg work. Its good when the little people fight back with companies who cheat them out of service. This goes for any company.
So, how do I cancel the service with AT&T while transferring my number elsewhere at the same time? Isn’t it usually done the other way around – your new carrier cancels for you?
Here’s the procedure for porting your number and having the Early Termination Fee waived.
Call AT&T. Tell Customer Service that you are planning to port your number to another carrier. Tell them that because of the material changes, you would like the ETF waived, so that the port will go without incident.
AT&T will either approve you or deny you. If they approve you, you’re then free to initiate the port. Your final bill will show the ETF either waived or credited.
If AT&T denies you, then you have a choice. You can either go ahead with the number port (as normal), and then place the final bill in dispute (don’t pay any part of it… that can be considered as accepting all the charges). Then file BBB and FCC complaints.
Alternatively, if AT&T denies you, you can place the matter in formal dispute (and wait to port your number out until it is resolved). Then file BBB and FCC complaints and have them work with you to hash the matter out. Once they do agree to waive your ETFs, then port your number out.
Can you get the ETF waived without canceling or porting?
To get the ETF waived, you must cancel service (either by porting out, or by flatly canceling). That process must be fully initiated within one month from you receive the bill that notifies you of the change.
And, that’s fair. Either you are okay with the changes to the contract, or you aren’t. If you aren’t okay, then you port-out/cancel and take your business elsewhere. If you are okay with the changes, then you would do nothing and implicitly agree to the modified contract.
We are not telling people to cancel, in order to exploit a contract change. Many people believe these TOS changes are illegal. Some feel the arbitration changes are unconscionable, others feel the AUP changes fly in the face of existing FCC mandate. Many agree with both statements. Those customers should take their business elsewhere.
We are encouraging everyone to call and cancel service, because AT&T is not instructing their customer support centers to honor their own Customer Code. They aren’t letting hardly anyone get their ETF waived, even when they say exactly what they should when calling. That, in our view, warrants every single AT&T wireless customer to take action.
Imagine what would happen next time, if they take away your Night & Weekend minutes, and say you’re stuck in your contract anyways? That change would be just as material as the ones AT&T has made within the past month.
Hey Christopher, So you want people to cancel their service even if they are happy with it. You want to get call centers closed so people that aren’t even responsibel for this to lose their jobs.
No one has to do this.
You have a choice to do this or to let AT&T restrict what you can do with your phone that you pay for every month. I’m sure all you iphone users didn’t buy them so that you could be “restricted” as to what you can do.
They are also making it so that if you argue with them it will be on their terms and if you lose it will cost you $$$$.
So your choice is get walked all over or cancel. Doesn’t matter to me… I learned my lesson from AT&T 9 years ago when i canceled….
So enjoy the article take it to heart, and make your own decision about what YOU should do.
Yep. That is what its all about. Making the choice for yourself. Either let people walk over you or make a decision and defend yourself. No is forcing you to do anything. Its just a choice you can take. So for those of you who are happy with att then good for you, and for those who are not happy then you have an opportunity to do something about it.
Troy, you’re using poor (and broken) logic. Your claim has nothing to do with the actions here.
AT&T is the one that changed the agreement. In said agreement, the customer has the right to cancel service without penalty.
It’s clear AT&T has changed the agreement, and the agreement clearly states the options that the consumer has. AT&T is refusing to honor one of those options.
All we are doing, is keeping AT&T honest, and demanding that they uphold their agreement. If AT&T wants to make a contract, wherein they can rewrite the rules with no penalty… I would encourage them to try it in this marketplace.
I love it when consumer advocacy somehow gets contorted into being the reason “people will lose their jobs.”
i agree with Christopher although i am not an AT&T customer. i believe that if my carrier have something like that i would do it because it send a signal to the company that we consumers do know our rights and other companies that thinking of doing the same thing as AT&T would take another look before they would try to copy AT&T actions.
[…] Following our reporting last week, chronicling AT&T’s multiple material changes to their terms of service (and refusal to […]
I was stuck in a cell phone contract that just self renewed without informing me or getting my approval so instead of the two years I thought I was in for I ended up having to pay for four years. I ended up paying the early termination fee and in the end it was worth it just to get rid of the contract. Now I have canceled the contract and good riddance to it, I will never sign a contract for a cell phone again. I decided to get a prepaid Net10 phone instead and I have been very pleasantly surprised to find how much cheaper they are. Long distance and roaming is the same price as local calls and I don’t have to pay any hidden fees. Even if you have the pay the ETF and can’t get it waved I’d say do it and cut your losses because you guys are being cheated.
Any more luck haning ETF waived?
Any luck having ETF waived?
No.
We will continue to cover the story, and we are preparing a brief for the FCC. We hope they will begin an inquiry shortly.
Once again, the more FCC complaints against AT&T over this, the more likely they will take action. We need you to file a complaint, if you feel this is illegal behavior.
Can I still try to cancel? How soon after a contract change can you do this? I didn’t even know there was a change!
I want to cancel and switch to sprint. How can I get out of the 1 year left on my contract?
Can I still call and cancel?
I am cancelling my service due to spotty or no coverage in my area. I tried to get my ETF changed and they said because I had no tech support incedences with them to warrant my claim. I told them to look at the coverage map and its plain to see. Sorry sir, call tech support, file a report so I can see it and then I can help you. I do.(800-331-0500) I call in hours of stated operation, and they said they were closed. It’s says to call this number (8666952750). I do. They say THEY are closed and to call (800-331-0500)…..hmmmmmm, ok, getting the run around. I call back, speak to them again and the rep says, Oh Yeah, you cant call them, that won’t work, I’ll transfer you to them. I get the tech to note my bad coverage, he aggrees. He transfers me to Customer service again. Now they say that they cant waive the EFT because it’s an IPHONE and they have all sorts of contracts with Apple and they can’t do it. He syas go to an AT&T Corporate location and they may be able to waive the fee. YEAH, RIGHT. I ask to speak to his supervisor. After I tell him, you guys are acting like lawyers, draggin this debate and jackin me around to wear me down, so I’ll settle, IS NOT GOING TO WORK WITH ME! He then says that yes, corporate cant help either, but the only solution is to have your plan transferred to someone else, and I’ll waive the fee. No Thanks. I will go for arbitration and file a complaint with the FCC and BBB, and since that I am in charge of 50 blackberry’s at my job, I will have them ALL switched over to Verizon if I dont get a response in 24 hours. Well, I’ve filed my complaints and will wait (holds his breath)
I’m trying to get out of an at&t contract right now– does anyone know of current material changes I can use to get out?
Thanks all!!
I’m having the same problem as Frank. Poor coverage. Dropped calls. I have made several tech calls though and taken my phone into two different AT&T locations. Wish me luck as I try to get out of this contract. I’ll keep you posted.
I was one of those suckers that paid AT&T a fee to cancel my phone after I lost it. I’m still with AT&T though, just not their plans. I switched to a Straight Talk prepaid phone and because Straight Talk uses AT&T and Verizon’s networks, I still get get the service I liked without the expensive bill.