Help with an Early Termination Fee

If that's the way that they want to treat you then you should just
cancel as soon as your contract is up. Make it your policy to boycott
companies who don't feel that they need to care about their customers.
Verizon is rather expensive anyway, and the service is not nearly as
great as they proclaim it to be.

Just one question. What does 29 years of "serving our country" in the
air force have to do with you not wanting to fulfill a contractual
obligation with Verizon?

My brother's wife DIED and he had to pay the early termination fee if
he wanted to turn her phone off, it was cheaper for him to pay the $10
for a second line until the contract expires. BTW he is a veteran in
law enforcement and a widower with 3 young children so count your
blessings. The fact that verizon didn't care about his situation is
really the least of his problems.

I was with you until you brought up your Air Force service. Bloody
distasteful!

Your son terminated the contract prematurely. There is a fee. Suck
it up.

Since he is trying to be independent and take control of his life this
is a good lesson for him to learn. Always ask questions before doing
something so you know the reprecussions it holds if any.

As for your being a customer in good standing all these years I do
understand your request.
But my son just went through the same thing when he dropped off my
family plan with T-Mobile and had to pay $200 early term fee. But it
was his decision to do so and as long as he paid it I stayed out of
it. He is still responsible for 1/2 of my family plan until its time
to make changes to my plan. (And that is MY term not T-Mobile's!)

Your son can chalk this one up to experience and with independence
and responsibility one also has to use common sense and keep informed

But we all learn from mistakes.

Your sons line had a contract and it was broken before its maturity
date. I would be upset with him and myself if it were me, since
neither of you decided to look into it before doing it.

I really get turned off when people waive military or law
enforcement/public safety service in a company's face and try to use
it as a pass.

I've been an EMT for 10 years. Does this entitle me to a hero cookie
and free lunch? No. I do it because IT IS MY JOB and I don't think I
am entitled to anything but a paycheck, and only because like everyone
else who works for a living: I earn it.

Get over yourself. You signed a CONTRACT and I am sure with your long
military career you understand commitment. Going AWOL from Verzion
costs you 125 bucks, pay it and move on General.

My father always bought his cars (over forty years) with the same
dealership. Nearing the end of his driving career he decided to lease.
It turned out to be his last vehicle. The lease had two months to go
but the dealership wouldn't budge. Such is life.

I do not know what the Air Force has to do with it. I actually kind
of wonder when I see claims like this. It seems as if most people who
served in the military take their service much too seriously to
cheapen it by using it to get something for themselves in civilian
life.

However, I otherwise pretty much agree with you. You are not claiming
Verizon owes you this exception. You are asking for it and using
Planet Feedback to escalate that request. Fair enough. It is not so
unreasonable that a company might waive a fee for a loyal customer --
especially one showing a willingness to go elsewhere over the issue.
If you were asking for $125 every three months, probably not. If it
costs $125 every ten years to keep you happy and keep you as a
customer, that might be a good move.

Now that your son's his own man, I'm afraid he's going to have to
start facing the reality of his own fees along with his freedom. C'est
la vie.

Your military service is much appreciated by the citizens of the
United States, but I don't see how it relates to this situation at
all. Neither does what a wonderful customer you have been.

This is a very clear policy and very clearly a case that deserves no
exception. This isn't a case of VZ turning its back on you or being
inflexible. Rather it is a case of VZ upholding a policy that applies
to ALL of its customers.

There is no reason in the world you should leave VZ over this. You
might as well cancel your credit cards and all of your utility
services to avoid the fees they will charge when you break their
rules. After all, they won't make exceptions either, and while
inconvenient this course of action would prevent further
disappointment on your part.

You agreed to the early termination policy when you signed up, plain
and simple.

Did you know your son was going to port his number to another carrier
before he did it? Either way, you are obviously under contract to
Verizon and as such owe them the early termination fee. There is no
reason why they should make an exception for you.

Once again, what part of the company policy are you not understanding?
If they have to make an exception for you, they have to for
everyone...

Like someone mentioned on the Ann Taylor letter, yet another customer
who fully understands the rules but genuinely believes they should not
apply to him or her. Being a loyal customer (who is ready to abandon
that loyalty when you don't get your own way)doesn't mean you're
exempt from the rules. Nor does having "spent 28 years in the service
of our country in the Air Force"

"I know that there is always someone in executive management who can
evaluate situations on a case by case basis and make exceptions to
policies and regulations when appropriate."

Obviously,in this instance they do not feel it is appropriate.

Can someone please explain to me why if a company chooses to stand by
the policies they operate by that equates to inflexibility, rudeness
and poor customer service? I just really don't get that.

Yes, it would have been nice if they had done that for you, given your
years of loyal but they said no.

I agree with the others - if your son is a big enough man to sign up
for new service and port his number without checking to see if that
number is still contractually active, then he's a big enough man to
pony up the $125, which in the grand scheme of things, isn't that bad
a penalty.

$125 is actually pretty cheap compared to some. This is how cell phone
carriers keep their customers, and although there is talk of
legislation to prevent the ETF, for now there is no reason they should
waive it.

What does your Air Force background have to do with this?

You know who owes you $125? Your son.

Loyal customer or not, it's their policy. Why should they waive the
fee? Your son is no longer going to be a loyal customer since he went
to another carrier.

While your Air Force service is admirable, it has no bearing on this.

I don't get letters like this. Would it have been nice if they made
an execption, of course. But why complain about, and threaten to
leave, a company because they are following their policies, policies
you must have agreed with for all the time you were a loyal customer?

What was the situation? It sounds like you canceled a line of service
early. Not due to any failing on Verizon's part, but because your son
(a) is now responsible enough to pay his own bills and (b) he wanted
an iPhone.

Kudos to your son for taking responsibility for his own bills. I can
imagine that being tied your father's Verizon account does feel like
he's... well... tied to his father.

But I don't understand why this, as positive as it is, is a reason to
be let out of the ETF. You seemed surprised by the fact that you'd
even be charged an ETF.

You've made a good case for how much money you've spent over the
years. But think about what you're asking: break the rules for me so
that I can spend less money.

Given that, do you really think anyone would agree to give you the
favor?

You then go on to say that, once your contract on the other 3 lines is
over, you'll cancel. Yes, Verizon would then have lost 3 lines.
That's bad for them. But, y'know what? They're counting on you not
remembering that you're upset when that day comes. They're counting
on the fact that you'll not even notice that your contract period has
ended. They're counting on the fact that you'll make some change,
such as getting a free or discounted phone, between now and then...
which'll give you a contract extension.

If this is that important to you, find out the contract end date for
all remaining lines. Circle the date on your calendar. Call, not on
that date, but a day later, and (a) confirm that the contract has
really ended and (b) insist on canceling.

In the meantime, do not make ANY changes to your account. Don't
accept new phones. Don't change the number of minutes on your plan.
Don't add or remove lines. Don't do anything.

By the way... I'll bet that if you'd called when your son was ready to
break off and asked that they give him his own account, they would
have agreed to let you out of the contract requirement for his line.
Why? Because he's taking on a new, and presumably more expensive,
contract.

Problem is, son wants an iPhone and not a stinky Verizon phone.
Therefore, someone's gotta pay for the broken contract. In the end,
of course, you're planning on sticking it to Verizon and having them
"pay" by losing you as a customer.

One last thing: what does having been in the service got to do with
it? It's not like the US government will "forgive" me for anything...
no matter how many years I've been a citizen.

Thanks for your service, but it has nothing to do with a business
transaction and a contract that you, it seems, broke. On the other
hand, if you know someone who will pull some strings to let me out of
paying my taxes this year, please let me know. After all, as you say,
there is always someone who can make exceptions to policies and
regulations.