Until a law passes that any cell phone user can get out of carrier contracts, without paying early termination fees (and without a big fight with the carrier), it may seem that people who are unhappy with their current carrier are stuck. However, that may not have to be the case for the moment.
Have you heard of Cellswapper.com? It’s an online site where you can ‘swap’ your current cell phone contract that you don’t want…with one that you do want – and possibly upgrade your phone at the same time (maybe get that Curve you’ve been wanting?) Basically, you post your current carrier, plan, contract information and see if anyone bites. To make your listing more attractive you can offer your phone in the deal as well as a cash bonus for incentive. You can also search for available carrier/plan contracts that you are interested in. There are fees involved for the service but they can still beat the cost of having to pay an early termination fee that can run anywhere from $175. – $250.
I haven’t used this service myself so I can’t give an actual review. Also there are several other services similar to this one out there…but this one seems to be pretty popular and straightforward. You can check out their website listed at the end of this article for more information as well as a link to their FAQ here: http://www.cellswapper.com/Faq_Swapout.aspx#12
More information from their website: CellSwapper.com has developed a system to keep both cellular consumers and carriers happy. Through its patent pending system, CellSwapper allows millions of unhappy cellular users to transfer their contract to another consumer for the remainder of the contract period. The consumer is fully absolved of all responsibility and is free to initiate a new plan with a different carrier. This system also provides an exclusive deal for those looking to start a wireless service plan a short-term contract with no activation fees that may run as high as $45.
The carrier, on the other hand, is still guaranteed the monthly payments are made the remainder of the contract term. Furthermore, using the CellSwapper system the carrier is able to replace its unhappy customers with satisfied ones. This is financially significant because only happy customers will be driven to maintain their service relationship with the carrier after their contract has expired.
For more info visit: Cellswapper.com
Vicky Not Registered
Posted: May 31, 2008 at 8:58 AM EST
Hi, I checked their FAQ page which is listed in the article above and this is what it says:
‘When swapping out of a contract, you can usually Avoid losing your number by “Porting” your number Before the Actual Transfer. However, the porting process is entirely under the jurisdiction of the carrier and is beyond our control. Porting policies seem to change very often with each carrier. Therefore, we suggest that to get a definitive answer to your question please contact your specific carrier. ”
But of course, if you were really interested, I would suggest calling cellswapper.com’s number (I think they even have live chat) and asking them directly how it would work in the case where the number couldn’t be ported.
Randy R. Not Registered
Posted: May 31, 2008 at 5:41 PM EST
Thanks a lot for the information :-).
DavidB Not Registered
Posted: June 2, 2008 at 8:47 AM EST from my BlackBerry 8830
If you want to avoid ETF’s, its simple: don’t take the carrier up on their special deal for a phone. I find it funny when all over the net (not pointing in particular at author of this article) we see whining about ETF’s, but nobody whining about the cheap prices we pay for the phones as a result. You can easily pay a non-subsidized price and avoid a long term contract and ETF.
Vicky Not Registered
Posted: June 2, 2008 at 10:37 AM EST
I understand what you are saying but some non-subsidized phone costs are ridiculous and in many cases, double what the phone is worth. After all, this how carriers can get customers to buy into a contract, which is basically what they want. However, more contracts probably means they can offer relatively cheaper plans so I suspect it all works out in the end…providing you are happy with your phone service. If you’re not, then that’s where Cellswapper.com is a good place to go.