Cell early termination fees?

[suzziq03]

Hi guys I'm in a bit of a pickle here...I have been without a job for some time now (this is a "tourist" type of town and unless you are a teen willing to work for nothing or have a higher education or am bi-lingual you seldom stand a chance around here)..anyway I was with sprint and because I could not keep up with the over $100 / month bill for the measly amount of minutes that I got every month I let it go. the bill was $166. on the final bill. but being out of work and having the 3 kids to care for I could not even afford to send them .02 pennies every month let alone $10 or more... now they have put into claims and the bill is $341.31...I really dont understand it. why the almost 200 dollar jump in price? is it the early termination fee? if I cant afford $166. how am I going to afford almost $350? I thought it was Illigal for them to charge the early termination fee now...isnt it?????
someone please help me, im at my wits end with all of this. I sent them $20 the other day and when I called today to see if they got the payment the lady on the phone was very rude. Saying I can not make a payment plan on something when the balance is over due. I could send in the money and they can apply it to my account, but they can not make payment plans like that. I told her it was that or nothing...she said the balance is due my hands are tied. wth? if you are wanting the money so darn bad why complaine about what im sending you??. Help! anyone know what I can do to get them off my back? anyone got any advice for me to fire back at them? btw I live in Arizona if that makes any difference!
TIA
Sue

[bears984]

you are correct


http://www.caller.com/news/2008/jul/29/judge-early-termination-fee-cell-phone-contract-il/

[jackie227]

i had cell service with AT&t a cpl yrs ago, terminated it early, becuase of an issue with them, they sent it to collections, fought this for a few months, went to a second collections agency, who was willing to accept payments, that went on for a few months, then they offered me a half price settlement, so i took that.
They turned it in to the credit reporting places, so it did show up for awhile.

[lisarae]

my suggestion is to keep calling and asking questions until you find someone who will help you. Sprint is full of people who have no IDEA what they are telling you and be careful. Document everything, write down the persons name and ID number. My sister is in a heap of mess with them. I really dont know their policies about collections and stuff. I've been with them for about 8 years and have never had a bit of trouble with them, but my sister had them since April and she would call and change her plan/minutes and they never entered it into the computer and they went WAYYYY over their minutes at .40 a minute, thinking they had 1500 and only had 700.

Call them back, and make sure you can understand them. well...thats that only trouble I find with them. I call to ask and question or pay bill, and I CAN NOT understand a word they are saying.

[atprm]

you are correct


http://www.caller.com/news/2008/jul/29/judge-early-termination-fee-cell-phone-contract-il/

the article states that the case was only valid for California...

so she is not correct if she lives in AZ



wonder what the date is on the article / case...

[Crueheadchick]

I know this isnt much help for you now, but for others in situations like this: You can suspend your phone service. What that means is you can have them basically turn off your phones and not have to pay anything (other than your outstanding balance) and when you are ready you can just call and have them turned back on. Ive heard of people doing this for a year without a problem. That way you dont have to pay the early termination fee. However if you are in contract for say 6 months and suspend for a year when you get it turned back on you still have a year and half to go, not just 6 more months.