A contract renewl without acknowledgement

I think it's funny that I get a bigger discount with Verizon through
my company that you do by working there. That surprises me.

I have changed my plan with Verizon many times and my contract has
never been extended.

Well if you work for Verizon you should know that your contract is
automatically extended if you call in and change to any PROMOTIONAL
plan which you admit you did. Your employer does this, as does Sprint,
T-Mobile and at&t. So why should you not be responsible for the ETF
when you accepted a plan change you elected?

I wonder about everyone who is siding with the company, because unless
you're lying and have selective hearing, I'll assume either the CS
offered something that should not have been suggested without the
qualifier "this is a new contract"...

...orrrrr you selected a new plan without reading the fine print, and
the CS just went along with it because hey--if you call and order
something, they don't have to provide extra warning. Buyer be careful,
in this case.

Which is it?

I think this is a good letter. I know that they automatically renew
your contract when you change plans. I also know this was in your
contract when you signed up with them. But that's because I'm a fine
print reader.

But anyway, Sprint SHOULD let you out of it if they were a decent
company at all (which it doesn't seem any cell phone companies are).
There is no reason they can't mention to you while you are on the
phone with them that changing your plan is going to extend it. The
only reason they do that is to screw you. So how could anyone possibly
defend a company like that?

For them to have updated your contract you either would have to sign
an up date or they would have to have you recorded saying yes to the
update. Request a copy of a signed contract that expires in 2008, they
won't be able to deliver (unless you did sign when you changed your
plan).

Michelle,

The key here is how your old plan was canceled and they told you to
change plans.

I've been a Sprint customer for years. It's been my experience that
Sprint is particularly good about letting people keep their old plans,
even when one is discontinued. In fact, until just last week, I was
on a plan that they discontinued years ago.

I don't disbelieve you. However, I wonder about the details of your
old plan that caused them to cancel it and then to force you to sign
up for a new plan. Was it particularly weird or unusually
underpriced? Something that was physically incompatible with their
current technology (e.g., a plan that supports analog only phones)?

In any case, if they told you that your plan was canceled and that
you'd need to pick another plan, then I can see your point about being
able to switch to the new plan without a contract extension. However,
if they gave you the offer THEN to get out of your contract OR sign up
to a new one, that's a different story.

Keep in mind that your reason for ending your contract is because you
WANT to go with a competitor, not because you have to for Sprint
underperformance. Had you not accepted a job with Verizon, would you
stay with Sprint?

This is a separate issue, of course. But if this turns out to be a
gray area thing, do you really think Sprint is going to give up the
$300 because you took a job with a competitor?

So, it all comes down to whether or not you were given an option when
you old plan was canceled.

If you work for Verizon wireless then you should know how contracts
work. ANY change to your plan results in a contract extension. They
don't have to mail you a new contract since that's in the terms of
your original contract.

Threatening them about your current employement with a competitor is
not going to give them any incentive to cancel your contract without
fees. In fact, that can only work against you!

"It's not fair to hold someone against their will" If you understood
wireless contracts at all you would realize how ridiculous that
statement is.

Just from the posts of knowledgeable people here who DO know a lot
about cell phones and cell phone contracts, I can tell you that any
change ("fix," whatever) to your plan does result in an automatic
contract renewal, and that is standard procedure in the cell phone
industry.

I'm guessing that if you work for Vorizon and don't even know this,
Sprint isn't too worried about how "damaging" you could be.