Re: Most Americans are in cell phone jail

At 11 Feb 2008 22:12:22 -0500 Bob G wrote:
"Imagine if you couldn't switch coffee shops or grocery stores without
paying hundreds of dollars in penalties. Preposterous? No - not in the
world of cell phones. "


It wouldn't be preposterous in grocery shopping either, if the store gave
you a couple of hundred bucks in free groceries upfront in return for your
"loyalty."


I found this sad, but true:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22342054/


The saddest part was the number of inaccuracies and exaggerations in the
article, but that's typical of "journalism" that panders to consumers.

We are willing participants in this little game. We want the latest shiny
object for pennies on the dollar, and we're willing to sell our soul to get
it.

No one is "stuck" in a contract. You can buy yourself out of it by paying
the ETF, which is roughly equivalent to the upfront discount we received
when we accquired our phone. Fair is fair- if my carrier "gives" me $200
in return for a two-year contract, why should I get to keep it if I decide
to bail out early?

He mentions how carriers will raise rates and unilaterally change the
contract giving consumers no choice but to accept it, yet in my experience
as a cellular user (and a dealer in the 90's) I've been offered the
opportunity to walk out of my contract several times because my carrier
added/raised fees, or changed terms, coverage areas, etc.
Of course, I can see the author's point- who wants to read a fair and
balanced article that explains why both the companies and customers share
the blame for contracts when we can read an article telling us how these
James-Bond-Villianesque companies are "locking us in cellular jail" in
their quest for world domination.



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