Apple iPhone - Early Termination Fees Illegal Penalties
The California Court of Appeal has ruled that Sprint's early termination fees represented illegal penalties.
Does anyone know if this applies to AT&T?
iPhone ATT
1) This case is against Sprint/Nextel. No other carrier.
2) It is not a class action suit so it does not apply to anyone other than the people in this case.
3) It has not been all the way through the appeal process so we can't be sure of the final outcome.
4) If some how the courts (and or) the congress find a way to outlaw ETFs, then you could see the end on subsidised cell phones, greatly increasing the cost of phones. This is by no means all good. I'd like to see a choice but if no carrier offers discounted (IE) subsidized Phones, it could price a lot of consumers out of the market.
5) What I see is ETFs may get smaller which will get them closer to actual cost rather than a punishment.
-----There has been a class action against Verizon. About a year ago I got $50-$75 because some court didn't like how they imposed termination fees. I have no idea what the issues were. But I do know that Verizon was one of the most punitive companies I have dealt with.
I think most carriers have termination fees that somewhat reflect their cost and reduce over time.
-----AT&T still has early termination penalties. I would hope there could be some sort of court ruling, country-wide, to stop the practice, when, as in my case with my 3GS phones, a customer pays full retail for a phone. When there is no compensation, I don't think a provider should be entitled to capture a penalty for early contract termination.
-----What I would like to see happen is one of the cell companies start offering to buy out contracts for people that want to switch. If one does it, the others will too and then they would realize they should just drop the practice.
-----I can't see that happening and in reality even though they seem exorbitant the fees do go down each month (at least Verizon and AT&T do) - I would like to see them start decreasing the price of the phone each month as they decrease the ETF.
-----Why are you on a contract if you paid full retail for the 3GS? AT&T offers month to month service for the same price if you purchase your phone without a subsidy?
-----I purchased directly from Apple. At the time, at least, Apple required acceptance of a two-year contract from AT&T. (This was in the pre-Verizon era.)
-----If you purchased directly from Apple, you likely got the subsidized price. The unsubsidized price is around $700 -800 depending on the memory. Is that what you paid Apple?
-----I did not pay that much. I guess I did get a subsidized price.
-----..even if you bought the 3GS from Apple, you paid the subsidized price. They did not offer a non-subsidized iPhone in the US, only Canada which would not have AT&T as a carrier.
-----If you sign a contract, you are required by law to abide it. So there should of course be some kind of penalty for breaking said contract. My gripe is being forced into a contract. If a consumer prefers paying full price to avoid a contract, that really should be option.
-----What I would like to see happen is one of the cell companies start offering to buy out contracts for people that want to switch. If one does it, the others will too and then they would realize they should just drop the practice.
-----That's a great idea!!!!
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