Verizon Verizon Contracts - Can we get out without penalty?

[datterboy]

Got my DINC, 2 of em from a Diamond partner booth in the mall. So many problems, and there was so much we are still discovering.

Because it seemed to be lack of full disclosure, can we get out of the contract legally?

The issues have been:
- Didn't notify us about cancellation fee of previous line (we knew but he mad eit sound like he found a way around it - nope)
- Didn't cancel a line so we incurred a month and a half of charges on it
- Employee discount we were counting on was ineligible on unlimited plans and only applies to the primary account on a family plan (just found out today, 3 months later after wondering why the discount was so low)

Do you think we have recourse to cancel our contract?

 

[Vaseline Smith]

They'll credit you like, 10 bucks.

 

[mobil3gen]

As far as cancelling a line is concerned with Verizon, the only likely way you can ever get out of paying a penalty will be due to coverage. Even though it may or may not have been explained to you about cancellation fees, you as a customer are responsible for reading all fine print prior to signing any contracts.

Also, Diamond is a premium retailer that can and most likely DOES place penalties on you, the customer, if you cancel your line before 6 months. This fee is usually set around $350 bucks (if you don't return your equipment to the location you purchased from) - check your secondary agreement you signed to confirm or deny this (I used to work for a premium retailer similar to Diamond and this is how they made most of their money)

Good luck!

 

[datterboy]

So you're saying even if they don't properly explain, we are still accountable for the contract? That's pretty crappy if we were either mislead or the agent was ill informed or not as knowledgeable as we would have hoped.

 

[FramCire]

Got my DINC, 2 of em from a Diamond partner booth in the mall. So many problems, and there was so much we are still discovering.

Because it seemed to be lack of full disclosure, can we get out of the contract legally?

The issues have been:
- Didn't notify us about cancellation fee of previous line (we knew but he mad eit sound like he found a way around it - nope)
- Didn't cancel a line so we incurred a month and a half of charges on it
- Employee discount we were counting on was ineligible on unlimited plans and only applies to the primary account on a family plan (just found out today, 3 months later after wondering why the discount was so low)

Do you think we have recourse to cancel our contract?

1. you knew about cancellation fee and you signed the agreement which has it in there when you got the phones.

2. If he was supposed to cancel the line and you didnt use it, Verizon will likely credit you for it.

3. You are an employee and trying to claim ignorance on cancellation fee and/or discount is a very weak argument. Waiting 3 months to inquire also looks weak.

I dont think you have any shot of getting them to waive the fee.

Just my opinion.

 

[Terabethia]

So you're saying even if they don't properly explain, we are still accountable for the contract? That's pretty crappy if we were either mislead or the agent was ill informed or not as knowledgeable as we would have hoped.

Yes, that is correct.

They give you a contract to sign. It is up to YOU to read that contract throughly before you sign it. This is true with any contract. Verizon is not responsible for reading it to you.

Honestly, the contract with Verizon is no different than a contract you would get with any other cell phone company. They are all very similar. And unlike a mortgage contract or even a medical disclosure one, they are very strait forward and don't require a legal degree to understand. All of the terms and conditions (and fee's) and laid out right there in plain english.

They are required by law to let you out of your contract if their service is not available in your area. But don't attempt to lie and say you don't get signal if you do, they know where their towers are and where their zero coverage area's are. (Not saying you would try to do this, just letting you know because I have seen people try to do it).


If you have disputes with your bill, you can take those to Verizon. They most likely will credit you back what you shouldn't have been charged. Last year when my husband had the Dare he accidentally signed up for Mobile Email which was like $6.99 a month. I didn't notice it for about 3 months. I called Verizon and explained the situation, they pulled up the data and confirmed that he in fact never did use it, and they canceled it and gave us a credit for the fee's.

In other words, they will work with you on billing error's. But they will not let you out of your contact for buyers remorse, which is seems like you have. And as someone else mentioned, you might also incur cancellation fee's from the retailer you bought the phone from...

 

[datterboy]

As much as I agree with you regarding responsibility, really, if you go to a kiosk and are hoping to be advised, you really hope you are getting it. Similar to the plans or not, I wasn't versed in the world of phone plans going in.

My problem was assuming he knew what he was talking about.

Also, Verizon will not give you your money back unless you went through them to set it up. For disputes like these, they tell us to get our money back from Diamond and not Verizon.

 

[NoNoBadDog]

So you're saying even if they don't properly explain, we are still accountable for the contract? That's pretty crappy if we were either mislead or the agent was ill informed or not as knowledgeable as we would have hoped.

Yes, *YOU* are still responsible. *YOU* agreed to the contract, and *YOU* should have known what you were agreeing to. The salesperson has nothing to do with this at all. *YOU* are the party making the contract, and if *YOU* didn't read it, then it is strictly *YOUR* fault and no one else's. Buyer beware. Sorry to be so blunt, but the responsibility falls upon each of us to understand what we are getting into. You are no exception.

 

[howarmat]

so there is nothing actually wrong with the phones and service? just the 3rrd party vendor which you should have bypassed and gone to a VZW store to begin with?

 

[AndroidRider]

It's not Verizon or the vendors fault that you didn't read the contract before signing it..

 

[drdoom]

You guys are saying they legally have to let someone out of contract if they don't get service? I love my phone and I'd really hate to not have it, but I really don't get service. I recently moved to a dorm on my college's campus and there is no signal like 95% of the time, even outside. Every so often, I'll get a full 1X connection, but it is always on an extended network. I chose Verizon because I figured they would have the best coverage out in the middle of nowhere, but sadly, AT&T has a tower right on campus. If what you guys are saying is true, I don't think I will stop my contract because this phone is so great, but it is nice to know that I can.

 

[imtoomuch]

So you're saying even if they don't properly explain, we are still accountable for the contract? That's pretty crappy if we were either mislead or the agent was ill informed or not as knowledgeable as we would have hoped.

Umm...was it your first day on the planet when you bought this phone? I mean common sense should tell you that if you sign a contract you should be accountable for everything in there that doesn't violate laws!!!!

Wow...

But with that being said, a contract is only as good as the lawyer behind it. Verizon's lawyers are much better than yours. You will lose this battle in any court on any day. You are not owed anything and probably will be held responsible unless Verizon feels like being nice to you.

 

[Terabethia]

You guys are saying they legally have to let someone out of contract if they don't get service? I love my phone and I'd really hate to not have it, but I really don't get service. I recently moved to a dorm on my college's campus and there is no signal like 95% of the time, even outside. Every so often, I'll get a full 1X connection, but it is always on an extended network. I chose Verizon because I figured they would have the best coverage out in the middle of nowhere, but sadly, AT&T has a tower right on campus. If what you guys are saying is true, I don't think I will stop my contract because this phone is so great, but it is nice to know that I can.

What was said was, you can get out of the contract IF the area of your residence does not have ANY coverage.

Which means that you are not going to get out of your contract that way. First off, they don't care that you moved and now you don't get coverage. It only matters if you get coverage at the address which you lived at when you signed the contract (which also has to be the address that you gave them). And if you are on your parents plan (I am assuming this since you are a college student and made references to different lines in your OP) then the address on file is probably your parents, and if they get coverage there it doesn't matter that you don't in your dorm.

And technically... you are not supposed to even be on a family plan if you are not living together. This isn't something they tend to enforce, but I bet they will if you bring it up in your request for a refund.

Second, the law doesn't count for "crappy" service. It ONLY counts for zero service. No service, 100% of the time.

This law was put into place for one reason and one reason only... to prevent cell phone companies from keeping you locked into a 2 year agreement when there is no possible way you can use the phone where you live. What used to happen is people would go with the company that had the best deal, then get home only to find that they had zero service in their area. Then the company would say "oh well, should have looked at our map". The new laws prevent them from doing that, so now they have to let you out if you can't get service. But it has to be 100% zero coverage, you can't get anything, anywhere.

 

[Terabethia]

But with that being said, a contract is only as good as the lawyer behind it. Verizon's lawyers are much better than yours. You will lose this battle in any court on any day. You are not owed anything and probably will be held responsible unless Verizon feels like being nice to you.

Well in all fairness, I DO think he is owed at least a credit for the month they paid on a line that was supposed to be cancelled. That is there fault.

Verizon may credit you for it themselves if you raise enough stink about it. But if you used that line for even one minute when it was supposed to be cancelled you are screwed. And they will check. And you won't get more than a month because it's sort of expected that you would notice this on your first bill.

Frankly, I am confused about how you paid a cancellation fee and yet the line wasn't cancelled, thus incuring more fee's Are we talking about 2 different lines, both of which should have been cancelled?

As for the employee discount, this is really up to your employer to tell you, as it varies depending on the company. For instance, my husbands company has a strait 18% discount that applies to the total bill. My old employer had a discount that was 25% but for the primary line only. Unless you ask Verizon specifically what you get, they are going to just assume that you already know your companies benefits (which you should).

 

[seVer]

I was agreeing with everything you were saying, Terabethia, until this...

What was said was, you can get out of the contract IF the area of your residence does not have ANY coverage.

not necessarily. there are known trouble areas, and marginal coverage areas. while there is never a guarantee of service, not having decent signal in some areas is a possible reason to waive the ETF. if the customer service coverage map (what the reps see, not the customer) shows no service, or a trouble tickets results in confirmed no/low service, this may be an exception to waiving the ETF.

they don't care that you moved and now you don't get coverage. It only matters if you get coverage at the address which you lived at when you signed the contract (which also has to be the address that you gave them). And if you are on your parents plan (I am assuming this since you are a college student and made references to different lines in your OP) then the address on file is probably your parents, and if they get coverage there it doesn't matter that you don't in your dorm.

again, incorrect. sorta. if you move to a non coverage area, then that's not a fault by VZW and not a reason to waive the ETF. so, you are right there. HOWEVER, the address on file has nearly nothing to do with it. It's the end user, not the billed user, where the address comes in to play. which takes me to...

And technically... you are not supposed to even be on a family plan if you are not living together. This isn't something they tend to enforce, but I bet they will if you bring it up in your request for a refund.

you can be on a family plan if you don't live with the billed party. there is nothing on the books saying you have to live together. do you think that all families live together? family doesn't equal roommates.

Second, the law doesn't count for "crappy" service. It ONLY counts for zero service. No service, 100% of the time....

... so now they have to let you out if you can't get service. But it has to be 100% zero coverage, you can't get anything, anywhere.

see my first response

 

[seVer]

As for the employee discount, this is really up to your employer to tell you, as it varies depending on the company. For instance, my husbands company has a strait 18% discount that applies to the total bill. My old employer had a discount that was 25% but for the primary line only. Unless you ask Verizon specifically what you get, they are going to just assume that you already know your companies benefits (which you should).

agree that you should know what you're getting, yet employers aren't responsible for telling you. You should ask, definitely. You can also go to vzw.com/getdiscounts and check for yourself. You'll need a valid work email for fastest results.

However, as far as I've ever seen, ANY employee discount only applies to lines that have a $34.99+ monthly charge for the base plan. In other words, no "overall" discount to the account. You might get discounts on data packages (such as for smartphones), but that would be it unless the account was classified as a business account. And then you're talking about more than just a family share account with <5 lines.

 

[Terabethia]

agree that you should know what you're getting, yet employers aren't responsible for telling you. You should ask, definitely. You can also go to vzw.com/getdiscounts and check for yourself. You'll need a valid work email for fastest results.

However, as far as I've ever seen, ANY employee discount only applies to lines that have a $34.99+ monthly charge for the base plan. In other words, no "overall" discount to the account. You might get discounts on data packages (such as for smartphones), but that would be it unless the account was classified as a business account. And then you're talking about more than just a family share account with <5 lines.

What I meant was... it is up to the employer to explain your benefits to you, not Verizon. Just like they are the ones that go over your 401K options, health insurance options, and other benefits. I don't mean that they are somehow required by law to tell you, and of course it is on you to ask. But that IS on their end, not Verizon's.

And yes, Verizon will also confirm if you are eligible for a discount and what it entails... again, if you ask.

As for the discount, I can assure that you the "overall" discount does exist, my husband has it. Granted he works for the gov't so maybe they get added perks. But it was 18% when it was just him on the line and that 18% got added to my line when he added me to his account. I have no idea if there are caps for it, there probably is and it's just a matter of us meeting those caps.

 

[Terabethia]

I was agreeing with everything you were saying, Terabethia, until this...

not necessarily. there are known trouble areas, and marginal coverage areas. while there is never a guarantee of service, not having decent signal in some areas is a possible reason to waive the ETF. if the customer service coverage map (what the reps see, not the customer) shows no service, or a trouble tickets results in confirmed no/low service, this may be an exception to waiving the ETF.

The key there is "a possible reason". Yes, you might get lucky and they let you out. Or they might not. And the point is, they do NOT have to let you out of it for that reason.


again, incorrect. sorta. if you move to a non coverage area, then that's not a fault by VZW and not a reason to waive the ETF. so, you are right there. HOWEVER, the address on file has nearly nothing to do with it. It's the end user, not the billed user, where the address comes in to play. which takes me to...

Actually, it is the billed user, or more specifically the primary account holders, address that matters. Believe me, I have seen with this several times in the past. One of those instances was exactly like the OP's and just happened 3 months ago. My aunt put my neice on her family plan specifically so she'd have a phone at college. When she arrived at school, she found that the only place she got signal was outside and by a building at the edge of campus. When they called to cancel the line they were told that her situation didn't apply. They tried to fight this for 2 weeks. They ended up just giving the phone to my younger niece and then getting a new phone with a different carrier for my older niece.

you can be on a family plan if you don't live with the billed party. there is nothing on the books saying you have to live together. do you think that all families live together? family doesn't equal roommates.

Like I said, I rarely ever see this enforced. At the end of the day, Verizon only cares that they are making money. I have seen family, friends and even roommates who barely know each other on the same "family" plan. That doesn't mean that its technically allowed. And I am not saying that it is illegal or that they'll cancel your service if they find out. But it IS possible that they will use that as an excuse if the OP tries to claim that as a reason to get out of the contract (as my aunt was told when she tried).

see my first response

Responded in blue

 

[drdoom]

What was said was, you can get out of the contract IF the area of your residence does not have ANY coverage.

Which means that you are not going to get out of your contract that way. First off, they don't care that you moved and now you don't get coverage. It only matters if you get coverage at the address which you lived at when you signed the contract (which also has to be the address that you gave them). And if you are on your parents plan (I am assuming this since you are a college student and made references to different lines in your OP) then the address on file is probably your parents, and if they get coverage there it doesn't matter that you don't in your dorm.

And technically... you are not supposed to even be on a family plan if you are not living together. This isn't something they tend to enforce, but I bet they will if you bring it up in your request for a refund.

Second, the law doesn't count for &quot;crappy&quot; service. It ONLY counts for zero service. No service, 100% of the time.

This law was put into place for one reason and one reason only... to prevent cell phone companies from keeping you locked into a 2 year agreement when there is no possible way you can use the phone where you live. What used to happen is people would go with the company that had the best deal, then get home only to find that they had zero service in their area. Then the company would say &quot;oh well, should have looked at our map&quot;. The new laws prevent them from doing that, so now they have to let you out if you can't get service. But it has to be 100% zero coverage, you can't get anything, anywhere.

All right, thanks for clearing that up. I had a similar experience with T-mobile and couldn't figure out why they let me off the contract so easily(map showed excellent coverage, I ordered the Nexus One and had no signal at all.)

 

[civicsisedan]

If you were in the military they would let you cancel if you came on deployment orders...

 

[euph_22]

If you were in the military they would let you cancel if you came on deployment orders...

Do they let you cancel, or just put it on hold?

 

[civicsisedan]

Do they let you cancel, or just put it on hold?

they will always let u suspend a phone line, anyone can do that.


they will let u cancel with deployment orders

 

[REYES]

So there is nothing actually wrong with the phones? If there isn't, why would you not want to keep the phones? There is so much you could do with the Dinc.