Buying new phone before ETF?

[Fadelight]

I currently have a 5 line plan that I am considering getting rid of. I have one line that is still under contract and am looking at a $250 ETF. I am a bit hazy on the ETF fees... are they per line, or for the entire plan? The reason for my question is that I am considering buying one more phone subsidized prior to terminating the contract. If it is per line, it wouldn't be worth it because I would end up paying $600 ETF, but if it is for the plan, the phone would end up costing me $100.

 

[Rukbat]

You have one line so there's a $250 ETF for that line. They can't charge you an ETF for a line terminated after the contract ended. But be very careful - are all the lines on the same contract? If, during one of your renewals, you combined the lines into one contract, it'll cost you $250/line, and it's cheaper to buy the phone outright. (You can buy any phone for under $1,250 - 5 lines at $250 each isn't $600.)

And something tells me that if you terminate the contract during the first month or so (buying a subsidized phone renews the contract for another 2 years) you'll have to return the phone.

 

[Fadelight]

My plan started about 8-9 years ago with just one line, then I added the other 4 over a period of about 5 years. They were never individual plans that were merged or anything like that.

One of the lines has a new phone as of last August ($350 ETF -$10 per month = $250), but the other 4 are _month-to-month" at this point. 3 of the lines are unlimited data, so buying subsidized phones hasn't been an option for a while, aside from using the other 2 lines and then moving the phone to the unlimited line.

My question was whether the EFT would be $350 (single ETF) or in addition to ($350 + $250) if I bought another phone before I cancelled. I'm pretty sure I would end up with a $600 ETF, But I thought it would be worth asking anyway.

 

[DragonSlayer95]

If you upgraded one of the lines and canceled your account directly after. You would then have 2 ETF's to pay as you then would have 2 of your 5 lines under contract.

However I think with all carriers, if you cancel the account before 14 days (sometimes 30, just depends on the carrier), they'll want you to return the device or that could mean more fee's against you if you refuse.

 

[timelord65]

ETF's apply to individual lines (numbers). but don't apply to month to month lines. Only ones still under contract. If you have 5 lines, you have 5 different numbers. Cancelling a individual line (number) doesn't cancel any of the others.