NoMoneyInMyWallet said:If you currently have T-Mobile and you're happy with it and you're out of contract, I'd suggest that you switch to T-Mobile to Go (prepaid).

It's relatively easy to switch. Just call them up (I not sure if you call post paid or prepaid customer care) and they will switch you account over to prepaid and add $5 to your account. You keep your number, phone, and SIM card.

PERFECT! thanks so much!!

To be honest, I like T-Mobile little better than ATT. However, ATT has better corporate discount then T-Mobile.

I was a T-Mobile customer for 2 years before I changed to ATT 3 years ago. Now I am a T-Mobile customer for 3 months again. I like their services and the coverage. But I will still consider transferring to ATT which I used 3 months ago. Why? Because I can sell my free T-Mobile Blackberry Curve and get a new phone free after rebate.

Does msg rate matter that much to many people? I guess not. People who use msg a lot usually have msg plan. It is just an excuse for people like me to switch off without ETF. Besides, I am going to get a new iphone 3G anyway. If I don't switch, I have to hack it to use on T-Mobile network.

peetah68 said:ILIKETATERS said:My T-Mobile service works flawlessly. Although they dont advertise that it will work flawlessly I rarely have a dropped or failed call. T-Mobile's network is up to par with the big carriers in all of the major markets. Although there are some situations where you might consider going to another carrier from T-Mobile (I.E zero coveage at home), why would you want to go to another carrier only to pay activation fees, new equipment fees (if you dont choose the cheapy free phone) and a new contract, as well as over priced rate plans and overages?

T-Mobile's customer service far outpaces any of the other carriers.

I have to agree with the people who support T-Mobile. I had AT&T right after it took over Cell One and at that point in time I was a 10 year customer. They ticked me off one day and then had the audacity to pull an ETF on me. Right after that I flipped to T-Mobile and am still waiting for them to give me a reason to leave them.

Also, I'm not sure why everyone is up in arms about the change in pricing for text messages. Get a text message plan and be done with it. You're going to end up paying for text messages in one form or another. Just because you get unlimited text messages included with your monthly plan, doesn't mean you're paying not for them. Look at it from this point of view, if you don't use text messaging, will they give you a credit because you don't?

I thought it was more like 90 days
Thats the length of time they "hold" you account after you have cancelled a line

ILIKETATERS said:leike said:I want to stick with TMO, but want a new phone. How long can I be off TMO before they consider me a new customer?

6 Months

When you sign a contract with TMO (to get a free phone), can you bring your prepaid number with you? Or does it have to be a brand new number?

What I'm gonna do is cancel my account but keep the numbers - switch to prepaid. As far as I know, prepaid accounts don't have names. Then (after a couple months) my wife can sign up and bring our numbers with her.

If that won't work, I'll just get a no-contract service with ATT and spend 3 months with them before coming back.

david04 said:I actually just signed up with T-Mobile again a couple of weeks ago. Can I call in a couple months and cancel? What exactly do I say??

Just keep the service, why cancel?

you get what you pay for at T Mobile...dropped calls and poor service.

dealmaddy said:Great info OP. Thanks for sharing.

Bit too late for me though. My current contract runs out in September anyway, so I'll just save my energy of bitching to T-Mobile and asking them to cancel my contract.

BTW, to the contract cancellation experts. I recently moved to a new place and T-Mobile coverage over here is very shitty! I don't get a signal at all in my home unless I stand right next to the window. Is this reason good enough to cancel my contract without ETF? I hear that the Sprint network is pretty good over here.

DealMaddy --

Had the same problem with the lack of service in my home. Called customer service...eventually talked to a supervisor and got the new hotspot @home service free (no monthly charge) a free Wifi enabled phone and the router that makes it work. Keep in mind you need to have high speed internet for this to work. Service is great now, no longer have to drive down the block to get my vmail messages. Free phone they give is kind of a POS, not my first choice but free nonetheless.

If your still bent on getting out of your contract I do believe you need 2 bars are less in your area to get out w/o ETF, and not 2 bars or less on your phone but what there system shows and in my experience there is a huge difference between.

I posted this on another forum, and thought it might help some fellow FWers here as well...

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Wow... so many different answers to the same questions my head is starting to hurt!

Personally, I won't be doing this "deal" since I actually LIKE T-Mobile (for the most part) and have $9.99 Unlimited Family Messaging (which works out to $2/line for me) , but let me see if I can help set some things straight...

1) As of now, with T-Mobile, messaging charges are MANDATORY (ie: text, picture, video, IM). A customer can choose NOT to send any text messages, picture messages, video messages, or instant messages, but currently CANNOT choose who can or cannot send messages to him/her. Since T-Mobile charges for all INCOMING and outgoing messages, and currently has no effective way of disabling (or not charging) customers for inherent network messaging features, customers are charged regardless if the messages were solicited or not.

However, T-Mobile DOES have a legitimate argument that this messaging increase does NOT affect customers with the Unlimited Messaging Add-On (since no measurable effects will be felt by the customer on their future bills). Therefore using "increasing messaging charges" as an excuse to waive the ETF on accounts with an Unlimited Messaging Add-On is a BIG YMMV!

Also, when T-Mobile does implement controls that allow customers to block unwanted messages (which according to rumor should be in the near future), using "increasing messaging charges" as an excuse to waive the ETF on ANY T-Mobile account (regardless of messaging add-on) will be INVALID. This is because messaging charges will NOT BE MANDATORY anymore, since there would be a user-controlled way to opt-out of the network's messaging feature.

2) Customers using this "increasing messaging charges" excuse WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STAY MONTH-TO-MONTH! Your options are: A) cancel your line and lose your number, or B) port your number to a different carrier.

3) If you are using this excuse to leave T-Mobile for another carrier or because you don't need the number/line anymore, this is a pretty good opportunity to do that. Better do it this time, as in the future "increasing messaging charges" may not be a valid excuse anymore (see #1).

4) If you are using this excuse to get a new phone at "new customer" prices either for personal use or profit AND you want to stay with T-Mobile, then this may NOT work for everyone due to the following reasons: A) T-Mobile will NOT let you stay month-to-month after using this excuse (either port out or cancel line), B) T-Mobile will only consider you a "new customer" if you DIDN'T have T-Mobile for the previous 90-days or more, and C) the LONGEST "trial period" any carrier gives in the United States is 30-days (correct me if I'm wrong).

Therefore, if you are using this excuse to get a new phone, this would only work IF you could: A) cancel your line and sign up using SOMEONE ELSE'S NAME (ie: new family plan in spouse's or relative's name), or B) if you could survive on a PREPAID phone for 90-days (but if you don't use their phone that much in the first place, then you probably should be on a prepaid plan to begin with to save money), or C) if you switched to another carrier offering NO-CONTRACT options for 90-days or more (only a couple carriers offer no-contract options upon sign-up). For options B & C, after 90-days, you can sign back up with T-Mobile as a "new customer".

5) Usually T-Mobile will have you wait until the official announcement is out and printed inserts/statements are included with the paper/electronic bills BEFORE cancelling/porting your line without ETF. However, it MAY also depend on which operator you get and how nice you are to them. If you can't wait for the official announcement, you can try getting out of your contract ETF-free sooner, but YMMV.

6) And usually once T-Mobile makes up its mind to change the contract (ie: increassing messaging rates), they usually start notifying any new customers signing up about the change and effective date. Therefore, for anyone thinking about signing up with T-Mobile right now for a free/cheap phone and then cancelling their contract ETF-free using this excuse, I would say chances are extremely slim-to-none...

Whew... that took a while to write... but I hope this helps (at least someone)!

EDIT: Added #6.

Edit: nvm

ILIKETATERS said: T-Mobile's network is up to par with the big carriers in all of the major markets.

Not quite. They are just now starting to roll out 3G service. AT&T already has 3.5G coverage in most major markets (and has for at least a year, where I live). And as anyone who frequently uses the internet on their phone knows, EDGE is slower than molasses for viewing web content.