Do you find yourself wanting a brand new shiny BlackBerry Pearl, but, are stuck in contract with Sprint, a CDMA carrier that you know won’t have the Pearl for quite some time? Well, believe or not, some of that fine print actually works in your favor under certain circumstances.
Sprint has a clause in their agreement that allows you to terminate your contract without any penalty if a material change to their agreement. Sprint’s recent hiking of their text message fee to $.15 constitutes a material change.
If you want to get out of your Sprint Contract for free you must call 1-888-567-5528 within 30 days after the text message rate hike goes into effect.
Read…
So, your a lawyer Rob. Don’t you think Sprints lawyers understand what constitutes a material change. i.e. technolgoy etc.
This is the text from an agreement: Define Material Affect if your a legal mensa.
Agreement. We may change the Agreement at any time with notice. Any changes to the Agreement are effective when we publish them. If you use our Services or make any payment to us on or after the effective date of the changes, you accept the changes. If we change a material term of the Agreement and that change has a material adverse effect on you, you may terminate the Agreement without an Early Termination Fee by calling 1-888-567-5528 within 30 days after the changes go into effect. You understand and agree that taxes, Universal Service fees and other charges imposed by the government or based on government calculations may increase or decrease on a monthly basis, and that this paragraph does not apply to any increases in such taxes, Universal Service fees or other charges.
I am not a lawyer but I do watch at least 6 to 7 hours of Law and Order per day. The battery in my remote is dead, the channel is stuck on the USA network, and I am too lazy to get off the couch to go change the channel.
I just called Sprint’s number. They discounted my plan 5% and threw in 300 text messages for $5.00. The net effect is about $2-$3 dollars per month savings + a free text plan. I had made a payment in October, and had also sent text messages. They don’t want to lose the business, so after a little negotiation, they give in.
All you gotta do is tell them you moved to somewhere that the phone doesn’t work.
They’ll want to see any document with your name and a diff mailing address. That’s it –
It’s a surefire way to get out of any cellphone contract with any provider.
Spread the word to all your friends. This $275 termination fee is B.S. in a free market.
-justin
Sprint is great. I love the service and the time they give to me while I text eveyone, I love to have this great time with sprint, and I went over to my friends house on one night and we got all crazy with eachother and texed like it was freekin 1999
I talked to Sprint about this today because we were hit very hard last month for text messaging. They were fabulously cooperative (and always have been) and agreed to cancel my contract with no cancelation fee. They offered the Blackberry Pearl to me for $129 with a new contract, free text messaging, and more. I asked about a TREO WX and they further agreed to make the same offer with the TREO at $129. Other than the subject change, my plan stays as is for the total package I have. When you call Sprint Customer Service, you get Customer Support Department, not the Legal Department. And their Managers are considerably empowered to offer a sweet deal on the phone to retain your service plan. I think they are great!