Early Termination Fees (ETF) Under Scrutiny - up to $550 for "advanced devices"

inssane · April 13th, 2010, 11:14 PM

E-Commerce News: Wireless: FCC Puts Early Termination Fees Under Microscope

Verizon is being examined by the FCC.
They are trying to figure out the rationale for these excessive fees.

It's about time!

QrafTee · April 13th, 2010, 11:27 PM

The FCC can't even keep Comcast in check... I don't know anymore.

s1ckGhost · April 13th, 2010, 11:38 PM

'frrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrppp' ...gentle men.. that, was a fart. - Peter Griffin.

The prices are outrages, but even if they are able to change the tide, how long till that happens?

potatolover1102 · April 13th, 2010, 11:42 PM

Verizon does not charge 550 for advanced devices. They charge 350 and 175 for the other devices. The 550 is only for the nexus one on t-mobile through google. Although I believe 350 is still outrageous. THey do this though to keep people form buying $600 droids for $375 ( two year price plus early termination). I mean if the ETF was still the same I might start adding a line and just buying new phones to sell them.

mp3ster · April 14th, 2010, 07:15 AM

^ yep, its a necessary evil. It keeps retailers from hemmoraging money everytime someone wants to switch devices cause they didnt buy the insurance.

mazz0310 · April 14th, 2010, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by potatolover1102

Verizon does not charge 550 for advanced devices. They charge 350 and 175 for the other devices. The 550 is only for the nexus one on t-mobile through google. Although I believe 350 is still outrageous. THey do this though to keep people form buying $600 droids for $375 ( two year price plus early termination). I mean if the ETF was still the same I might start adding a line and just buying new phones to sell them.

While that sounds like a good idea, if there were no ETF's then anyone could buy the phone, therefore you wouldn't be able to sell it for much

But while I would love no ETF, I agree with the fact that they are necessary for the company.

boogaloo · April 14th, 2010, 07:12 PM

Yes, I too think they are necessary but $350 is too much especially for those that bought the device for $200+.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

barry99705 · April 14th, 2010, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mazz0310

While that sounds like a good idea, if there were no ETF's then anyone could buy the phone, therefore you wouldn't be able to sell it for much

But while I would love no ETF, I agree with the fact that they are necessary for the company.

If there were no ETFs then the carriers wouldn't subsidize the price of the phones, then all the phones would be in the $500 range. The reason I didn't get the Nokia N900 was because I wasn't going to pay $500 for a phone. So I settled for the Droid, still haven't decided if it was a good choice or not.

milrtime83 · April 14th, 2010, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boogaloo

Yes, I too think they are necessary but $350 is too much especially for those that bought the device for $200+.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

How is it too much? If you buy the phone without a contract it costs $550. With the ETF being $350 the only way you pay full price is if you end your contract early. If the ETF were lower and the initial price were still $200 then it would be cheaper to just end your contract early than to pay full price for the phone. This was especially a problem with some of the B1G1 blackberry deals before the ETF was raised. People would essentially pay $175 for a phone they could sell for $400 or more.

boogaloo · April 14th, 2010, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milrtime83

How is it too much? If you buy the phone without a contract it costs $550. With the ETF being $350 the only way you pay full price is if you end your contract early. If the ETF were lower and the initial price were still $200 then it would be cheaper to just end your contract early than to pay full price for the phone. This was especially a problem with some of the B1G1 blackberry deals before the ETF was raised. People would essentially pay $175 for a phone they could sell for $400 or more.

I see your point about those that took advantage of BOGO offers only to cancel and sell the phones. In my case, I paid $200 for my phone plus a $200 ETF equals $400. $400 is more than enough to compensate the carrier for the cost of the phone. Yes, Verizon put $550 on their site, but where did the price come from? It is not a market price since I can get a new Droid on eBay for a lot less (somewhere around $300-$350). I'm pretty sure Verizon gets their phones alot cheaper than those eBay Powersellers.

inssane · April 15th, 2010, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boogaloo

Yes, I too think they are necessary but $350 is too much especially for those that bought the device for $200+.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

Yep. - Right there you are at $550, LOL