USA Today: How to end your phone contract in time for iPhone

[Xisiqomelir]

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Cellphone users set their sights on Apple's iPhone

By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — — Priya Sanghvi wants an Apple iPhone from AT&T's Cingular Wireless when it comes out in June, and she is already strategizing how to get it.

Now a Verizon Wireless customer, she's exploring a range of options, including trying to wrestle with Verizon to let her out of her contract early, using one of the new online swap services to dump the remaining months of the contract, or even just paying the $175 early-termination fee.

"I just switched from a Dell to an Apple laptop and love the Mac lifestyle," says Sanghvi, 22, a recent graduate of New York University. "I never go anywhere without my iPod and cellphone. Now, I'll only have to bring one device with me."

Cingular will be the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone. The multifunction device is expected to ship in June and cost $499 or $599 with a two-year contract. Part-iPod, part-smartphone, it is already one of the most eagerly anticipated gizmos of 2007.

Like Sanghvi, Atlanta software customer service manager Nate Mansfield is ready to dump his Verizon service with a year remaining on his contract, even though he's perfectly satisfied with it.

He's got iPhone fever, though he's never seen the phone in person. He says that from what he's read about it, he expects it to be a more productive tool for his business.

Mansfield loves a feature that lets you see a list of voice mails and tap the list to access a particular message. "This way, I can just tap the ones I want to hear and be able to tell, at a glance, who has called me, without having to listen to every voice-mail message," he says.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the sleek iPhone in early January at the Macworld conference in San Francisco. Since then, it's been the talk of the Web.

Consumers are turning to blogs and websites to chat up the iPhone and trade tips on whether they can get out of an existing contract to sign with Cingular.

"People are desperately looking for ways to cancel their service so they can get the iPhone," says Meghann Marco, associate editor of The Consumerist website. "I've never seen anything like this."

Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research, thinks many consumers will switch to Cingular for the iPhone but says most will simply pay an early-termination fee or wait out their contracts.

"A small portion of people don't care about money, will have to have the iPhone, and buy — or haggle — their way out of the contracts," he says. "Most people will just wait for their contracts to expire."

Post an ad, swap out of your phone service

Online swap services can help you shed your cellphone contract without screaming, haggling or even bending a rule.

A little-known option in most cellphone contracts lets you opt out without paying an early-termination fee by assigning the remainder of the contract to a friend or relative, says Eric Wurtenberg, co-founder of the online service Celltrade USA.com.

Wurtenberg and his brother Craig started the business to help cellphone subscribers find "friends" to bail them out.

"We're a matchmaking service," Wurtenberg says. "We put people together."

Here's how it works: The seller of the contract pays $19.95 to Celltrade to post an ad seeking someone looking for short-term cellphone access, or a way to try a service without having to commit to a long period.

Once a match is made, the contract holder contacts the carrier with the name of the person who is taking it over to arrange for a credit check.

If the carrier approves, the subscriber is now off the hook.

Adam Korbl, co-founder of a rival site called CellSwapper, says the looming arrival of the iPhone "has already been huge for us, because of all the word of mouth."

"People are stuck, and looking for alternatives," he says.

CellSwapper works like Celltrade.

Fees range from $9.95 to $14.95 to post swap notices.

Reasons for wanting to dump a carrier are numerous, but why would consumers want to pick up the remainder of the contract?

"They can get cell service easily, with no activation fee, try it, and get out earlier than they would committing to two years," Korbl says.

Consumer website offers tips, guides on getting out of contract

You have another year to go on your wireless contract, and you want out, without paying a hefty early-termination fee. Is it really possible?

Meghann Marco, associate editor of The Consumerist website, says it is. The Consumerist offers tales from people who say they've succeeded in escaping contracts early, and offers tips for pulling it off:

•Swap. Trade the remainder of your contract with someone else. Several new websites offer matchmaking services for folks to dump and receive contracts. The sites include CellSwapper.com, Resellular.com and CelltradeUSA.com.

•Cite specific problems. Spotty coverage in a key place in your life? Put it in writing, then contact the provider and "say you want to cancel your contract due to poor service," Marco says. She tells of a college student who wrote to The Consumerist, saying his phone didn't get a signal on most parts of his campus. He wrote to T-Mobile identifying the exact locations of the drop-outs, and the carrier let him out of his contract, she says.

•Watch for changes in your contract. Verizon recently raised prices for text messaging. When a price change or other change in service happens, "they usually send you a legal notice, and now you have your out," Marco says. She suggests calling the carrier and using the price increase as justification for your exit. "They will probably argue with you, but they have to let you go."

The Consumerist offers "scripts" on its site to guide customers through negotiations with carriers.

Verizon spokesman Jeffrey Nelson wouldn't address The Consumerist's tips, or how the company feels about subscribers demanding an early release. "Any customer who has a concern, we're encouraging them to call in. We work with our customers if they have concerns about their contract." Cingular declined comment. T-Mobile did not return a call seeking comment.

[Tahlan]

Interesting read. But there's no way I'm changing services for a $500 iPhone. In a year, they'll probably cost half of that. I can wait.