[IP] more on Locked In a Cell: How Cell Phone Early Terminati on Fees Hurt Consumers
Begin forwarded message:
From: John Shoch <shoch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 11, 2005 9:09:09 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: John Shoch <shoch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: [IP] more on Locked In a Cell: How Cell Phone Early
Terminati on Fees Hurt Consumers
Dave,
It is hard to deciper the approach to pricing used by the large
cellular carriers, and we all have stories of insane behavior. Some
of this is a hold-over from the time when your carrier could hold
your phone number hostage, and not give very good discounts on a
renewal. My recent experience:
1. Had an old AT&T TDMA phone, which got lost. Tried to replace it
at Cingular, but they no longer sell TDMA phones [you can buy a used
one on eBay]. I could buy a new GSM phone, but that requires a new
plan.
2. So, since I was interested in a new phone, I went on-line and
found some great specials. BUT, I was then ineligible for them
because I was trying to go from a Cingular account to Cingualar, and
the bargain deals don't apply. The deals are only provided to the re-
sellers from bringing in a new customer.
3. Cingular just says, "no free phone." When you point out you can
go to another carrier and now take your number with (!), they just
shrug.
4. But in this process I did discover some great deals on-line: you
can actually get a free phone plus a REFUND/REBATE of $100-150
dollars if you sign up for a new phone and plan on a different carrier.
http://www.intelenetwireless.com/
http://www.cellularchoices.net/carrier/cingular/phones/
http://www4.letstalk.com/landing/vsearch2.htm?landId=1&mulService=1
5. Given this insane behavior, the only thing that makes sense is to
shift to a new carrier every 2 years, get a new phone, throw out the
old one, bring your number over, and pocket $100-150 cash each time.....
How did we ever end up here?
John Shoch
Alloy Ventures
-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 4:02 PM
To: Ip Ip
Subject: [IP] more on Locked In a Cell: How Cell Phone Early Terminati
on Fees Hurt Consumers
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