nikhil

Does anyone know of any ways to get out of a cell phone contract? I have been having a few problems with verizon when at my parents' house and the surrounding area. I get my voicemail late(days late) and the signal isn't very strong at my parents' anymore, even though it was very good the first month or so after I bought the phone. I feel like my previous ATT coverage/service was better in the same calling area.

Anyone have opinions about ATT's new GPRS/GSM coverage/service?

Is anyone interested in assuming a 2 yr contract with verizon wireless(the contract was started May 2002)? The phone is a Mot. V60 w/ upgraded software(if someone is interested I might be able to get a new V60 for them in place of the one I have now..).
Thanks!

TTschwing

But my Sprint contract just ran out yesterday. I think your contract spells out the penalties...Usually $175-200 for early termination. Don't bail and not pay...It WILL go on your credit report. I see them every day.

BigTT

Here in California, ATT's GSM is just starting to get rolled out and the coverage is spotty at best. GSM in general sucks here (Cingular and T-Mobile) with the poorest coverage and the most capacity issues. I have ATT's TDMA system here and I think it sucks - oddly enough they are tied for number one with Verizon. You really need to find out what service is best in your region.

nikhil

but I feel that I have a few valid reasons why the contract should be terminated. The seller(verizon) has not fulfilled its end of the contract because I am not receiving the services that I am paying for under said contract, thus this could constitute breach of contract(?). For example, the point of voicemail is that people can leave you a message when you're not available, then you can retrieve that message when you are available. However, if I am not receiving these messages in a timely fashion, the voicmail functionality is worthless, yet I am paying for this function. The seller is not fulfilling his end of the contract.

o2bnme

I have been with ATT for 5 years or so. I love the service they provide. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I get all phones at 50% because I was an IBMer. ;-)

This is what I was told...

ATT is supposed to have GSM signal wherever they had TDMA signal by the end of the year. It is supposed to match the signal exactly (no less or more coverage compared to their TDMA tower). This is great, but you are limited to that coverage area if you don't get a phone with Analog (AMPS) coverage.

I can go 45 minutes south from where I live and TDMA coverage along with ALL other digital services disappears. So, AMPS becomes very important still. Since I travel a lot I need to worry about things like this.

So, if you want to use GSM I suggest being sure you get a phone that covers TDMA/GSM/AMPS. This means you can use just one phone (Siemens).

So, for now, I'm waiting for better GSM coverage or a phone from Nokia/ATT that covers all three (the 6340 does, but that isn't offered for ATT).

What else would do it? If they gave me a web site where I could go to switch my phone service between phones, then I'd be all set. I would actually get two phones. One for GSM and one for when I need AMPS service.

All told, I think ATT gives the best service, support, price combo.

o2bnme

If you call and explain that your level of service has declined because of the loss of signal quality and the fact that you don't get messages in a timely manner you should have a good argument for dropping without the termination fee. It is worth a shot, right?

nikhil

overall I was extremely satisfied with my ATT phone(8260) for the ~2 years that I had it. The only problem at that time was the price..it was very expensive(for me anyways) to have national coverage($60 for 450 minutes...ick..), so I thought I would give Verizon a try. It's good to know that they plan to have GPRS service everywhere that they have TDMA in the near future...that further entices me to give it a try. I wonder if it would be possible for me to try GPRS for awhile to make sure that it has the coverage area that I would need..hmm maybe they would let me if told them that if it didn't have the coverage, I would sign up for TDMA instead... :-) Thanks for your advice

o2bnme

You can return or exchange it during that period. You can use three phones during the exchange process...totalling 90 days. Just a thought. Confirm before you jump in of course.

nikhil

I could *technically* try 1 for 30, then say i don't like it, and try a different one...then do that again? If I could try GSM/GPRS for a couple months, that would be perfect because I would be at home for a bit and at school for awhile also. I'll definitely look into it. Thx.

o2bnme

I asked my local store (where I've bought quite a few phones over the years) if I could try out GSM. He said sure. Just buy a phone. You have 30 days to return or exchange for another phone. If you don't like that phone, you can trade it in for another. That last one you have to either keep or return, but then you can't do the exchange after that.

Something to that affect.