My wife an I renewed our AT&T contracts in 11/07. In 8/2008 my wife mother (also an AT&T customer) bought an iphone for my wife. She used her own (my mother-in-law) account for the upgrade discount and the phone was applied to my wife's account. We just found out that AT&T extended her contract an extra 24 months, which would put her out of contract in 08/10 instead of 11/09, which is when my contract ends and we signed our original contracts at the same time.
At this point they have said there is nothing they can due and they refuse to show us a signed contract. They say that there was a mistake, but since it has been so long they can't help. Just wondering what the best course of action would be?
option 1 - at end of original contract, which would be next month. Cancel services and decline to pay the early termination fee. If it goes to collections, dispute the charge forcing them to show a non-existent signed contract.
option 2 - In 01/10 buy another iphone at a heavily discounted price and sell both (one new/one used) on criagslist/eBay and pay the early termination fee of $175
option 3 - pay early termination fee of $105 in 11/09 and sell phone on criagslist/eBay
option 4 - ?????????
option 5 - pay my bills and quit being a deadbeat
Message edited by: tante on 2009-10-26 16:30:23 CDT
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xoneinax said:Only 9 months of opportunity cost, if you :
Option 6 Assuming you like and want to keep using both IPhones, keep contracts till 8/10 and dont worry about it
sorry for the confusion. My contract ends on 11/09, hers ends on 8/10. I am out of there next month regardless what happens, so don't really want to use two iphones on a single account.
Message edited by: tante on 2009-10-23 12:59:31 CDT
We have called 3 times (even talked to a floor manager) and went to the store where the transaction occured. The store says they only keep records for 90 days (could be lying) so we have do all the work online. The floor manager called the store and called my wife back and gave here the same, we can't do anything answer.
tante said: She used her own (my mother-in-law) account for the upgrade discount and the phone was applied to my wife's account. We just found out that they extended her contract an extra 24 months, which would put her out of contract in 08/10 instead of 11/09, which is when my contract ends and we signed our original contracts at the same time.Did both lines of your wife's and MIL's contracts get extended by 24 months? You are supposed to have only one line extended. If so, you should either make them correct the contract term or do option 1.
Is your wife's line (not yours) eligible for another iphone purchase at a discount?
Message edited by: nycll on 2009-10-23 13:12:37 CDT
Personally I would go with option 1 and give them one last opportunity to get things right when you call in to cancel. If they don't want to make things right wait for the collections to show up on your credit report and sue them for damages. It wouldn't hurt to record your conversations with them now but it isn't necessary seeing how they don't have a signed contract or any way to support their collection attempts.
nycll said:tante said: She used her own (my mother-in-law) account for the upgrade discount and the phone was applied to my wife's account. We just found out that they extended her contract an extra 24 months, which would put her out of contract in 08/10 instead of 11/09, which is when my contract ends and we signed our original contracts at the same time.Did both lines of your wife's and MIL's contracts get extended by 24 months? You are supposed to have only one line extended. If so, you should either make them correct the contract term or do option 1.
Is your wife's line (not yours) eligible for another iphone purchase at a discount?
They both got extended, but the MIL got another phone about two months later, which extended her contract. They should have extended the MIL contract in the first place instead of the wife, but they messed up and they know it.
The wife is elgible in 01/10 for an iphone purchase at a discount.
tante said:My wife an I renewed our AT&T contracts in 11/07. In 8/2008 my wife mother (also an AT&T customer) bought an iphone for my wife. She used her own (my mother-in-law) account for the upgrade discount and the phone was applied to my wife's account. We just found out that they extended her contract an extra 24 months, which would put her out of contract in 08/10 instead of 11/09, which is when my contract ends and we signed our original contracts at the same time.And by "they" you mean your wife, right?
When you change your contract terms so that they make more money, AT&T is happy to let you do so. The trade-off is that you restart your contract term. So, when your wife switched to the iPhone plan, she must have agreed to the change in contract and, therefore, the change in term. No one had to sign anything.
Now, if you want to dispute that she agreed to changes in her contract (and, thus, the change in term), you can do that. But it'll be a tough row to hoe.
tante said:nycll said:tante said: She used her own (my mother-in-law) account for the upgrade discount and the phone was applied to my wife's account. We just found out that they extended her contract an extra 24 months, which would put her out of contract in 08/10 instead of 11/09, which is when my contract ends and we signed our original contracts at the same time.Did both lines of your wife's and MIL's contracts get extended by 24 months? You are supposed to have only one line extended. If so, you should either make them correct the contract term or do option 1.
Is your wife's line (not yours) eligible for another iphone purchase at a discount?
They both got extended, but the MIL got another phone about two months later, which extended her contract. They should have extended the MIL contract in the first place instead of the wife, but they messed up and they know it.
The wife is elgible in 01/10 for an iphone purchase at a discount.Well, the later upgrade (assuming at subsidized price) on MIL's made it impossible to fix, even if Att wants to help you. You can only hope MIL didn't use it on a cheap phone. Then it seems options 2 3 or 6 are valid options.
tante said:sechs: no I meant AT&T changed the contract. Lets say you buy an iphone off craigslist and add it to your account. Do you expect a contract renewal?
Contracts are to subsidize the free/discounted phone cost so i do not think you should get a contract extension if you bought one off of Craigslist. Plan changes MAY cause a contract renewal...I know with Sprint they say you can change your plan at any time without worrying about extending your contract. AT&T may be different.
tante said:sechs: no I meant AT&T changed the contract. Lets say you buy an iphone off craigslist and add it to your account. Do you expect a contract renewal?I think if you added it to your account on an existing line, it should not reset. It's like losing your phone and you're telling them that you have a different phone that needs to be linked to your line. They should not care what phone you use as long as they did not subsidize it. If it's a new line, then existing lines stay the same, only that new line should have a 2 year contract.
So they're saying they made the mistake but they cannot correct it in their system because it happened a long time ago. Have them admit this to you in writing. Even if they cannot correct it, it's easy for them to waive the termination fee for the right reasons (and I do not mean those who just want to weasel out of a contract or looking to defraud AT&T) and them making a mistake should be one of those reasons.
Be careful about buying another iphone at the discounted price. When I got my Blackberry through Verizon, they made me sign a form saying that if I canceled my contract within 200 days, they would bill me for the discount.
They won't waive the termination fee and they won't end the contract on 11/09. They won't even allow her to upgrade to a new iphone today (or in November) so I can do option 2 early and just do the termination fee. The literally said there is nothing we can do.
>>>>>>From my experience with AT&T from last month: 1. They are crooked 2. They are liars 3. They can't count
Whatever you do: Be sure to record absolutely everything possible and be up front that you are recording.
+1 on all that.....They did not give me a rebate I was clearly entitled to, and I tried the Executive Office, FCC, FTC, BBB, etc, and they had a terrible attitude and flat out refused to give it to me........I later upgraded (and was supposed to get another $25 rebate) and I never got that one either.......Like I said, the people at the executive office seemed nastier and less willing to help than the front line people who seemed concerned and were trying to make things right.....That is not the normal situation with customer service in most companies........
Message edited by: rooms222 on 2009-10-23 14:42:50 CDT
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