The early termination fees that cell phone companies charge are outrageous! Most companies charge anywhere from $150-200 if you cancel your contract before you fulfill the terms. I just signed up for the Sprint SERO offer even though I hadn’t fulfilled my other phone contract with Verizon. I don’t want to pay the $175 early termination fee, so thankfully, there are several ways to get out of a cell phone without paying a penny.
1. The cell provider changes the terms of the contract
If your cell carrier changes the terms of the contract you signed, you can cancel your contract without paying any early termination fees. Many states require cell phone companies to give customers advance notice of contract changes which could increase the cost or extend the length of the contract. These cell phone companies must get consent from their customers before increasing the cost or extending the length of contract. This is only fair; why should you have to uphold the new terms of a contract you did not originally agree to?
On Jan 1, 2008, Sprint changed their terms of service and you can cancel your Sprint contract without any fees. Note: Cell providers are required to notify you of these changes to their contract terms, but they are often buried in small print within your bill.
2. Transfer your contract to someone else
There are 2 ways you can do this. The first is if you transfer your cell phone contract to someone you know. I called Verizon the other day to determine how to do this. The process is free, easy to accomplish, and can be done over the phone in 20 minutes if both people are there together.
Here is what to do: Ask to do an Assumption of Liability; this legally transfers the remaining terms on the contract to another person. The cell provider’s customer service representative (CSR) will send a copy of the contract terms and the other person has to read over these and verify they have read them. From there the CSR asks the person assuming the contract a few questions, verifies their SSN and some other information, and completes the deal. The minutes and bill are prorated between the two individuals. Keep in mind your bill has to be current and the other person must be at least 18 years of age or older. A credit check for the person assuming the contract will also be done.
The second way to transfer your service is to use a third party to find someone willing to assume the contract for you. This is essentially the same process as above, but you are using someone else to help you find a match. Trade My Cellular provides this service free of charge. Cell Swapper and Cell Trade USA charge $20 to the person giving up their contract. In all cases, it is free for the person assuming the contract. These services can also be a great place to find a deal on a contract because many people are willing to give their phone and accessories as well as pay for the first month’s service to whoever takes over the contract. However, at $20 + paying for a month of service (which many people do), it can run $60 or more to transfer your contract. This is still much cheaper than paying the early termination fee of $150-200!
3. Complain often, but do it the right way
What do you do if you have spotty service, dropped calls, or your calls repeatedly go straight to voice mail? Complain to the company – but do it the right way. When you call the customer service representatives be polite and professional, thoroughly explain the situation to them, and be patient. If this is the first time this has happened you could ask for a discount to recompense you for your troubles. If this is a recurring problem, you should ask to get out of your contract. This works best if you call often and keep records.
The first level of customer service reps don’t always have the authority to do too much, so you may have to elevate your complaint. Again, being polite is the best way to deal with this. If you don’t get anywhere, you may have to lodge a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or the Federal Trade Commission. Sometimes just mentioning the BBB or FTC may be enough to get you what you want – out of your contract.
4. Sweet talk your way out
This is probably the most difficult way to get your contract canceled without paying the early termination fees. Cell phone companies don’t like to lose customers, so they will do everything they can to keep your contract with them. You may not be able to get out of your contract, but calling and asking to cancel may be a good way to convince your cell provider to lower your bill a few dollars. Again, this is difficult to do.
5. Overuse free roaming
Most cell providers offer free roaming nowadays. The service isn’t really free for them, but they often cover the charges for the customer. It is easier for them not to deal with the customer complaints and the flood of calls to the CSRs. The cell providers don’t like it though, when the majority of the minutes you use each month are roaming minutes because it means less profits for them. Generally you need to place at least 51% of your calls from outside your carrier’s area. Read more about how to do this at Roaming Hack.
6. Move out of the cell provider’s area (go off the grid)
Cell providers have limited coverage. There will always be some location where they do not have service. You can always move to one of those locations, or if you are in the military, you can usually cancel your service if you deploy for a long period (sometimes they just place your contract on vacation mode). Some people have also had luck calling in the CSR and telling them they have moved to some small desert town without coverage (whether or not they actually moved there). In this case, do what your conscious allows you to do.
What next?
The good news is that many cell providers are offering, or plan to offer, prorated early termination fees. Unfortunately, my current provider, Verizon didn’t offer this feature until several months after I signed my contract. They only prorate the termination fee by $5 per month, so it would save me money, but it would still be cheaper to use a third party service to transfer my plan to someone else.
What do I plan on doing? I have a friend who is looking for a Verizon contract so he can use mobile to mobile minutes to talk to his girlfriend without using up all his minutes (they have different providers). If he wants it, I will transfer it to him at no cost. If he doesn’t want it, I will use Cell Swapper or Cell Trade USA to transfer my phone to someone who wants it. I will also gladly ship him or her my Motorola Razr along with my contract. It’s much cheaper than spending $175!!!
Update: I was able to transfer my cell phone contract at no cost. My friend was happy for the new phone, and I was happy to transfer my contract – it was a win-win situation!
Here are some more was you can cancel a cell phone contract without paying fees. Alright, I’m off to go play with my new phone. 
Check out these great cell phone deals! T-Mobile is currently offering some great deals on their individual and family cell phone plans, and here are special AT&T Wireless offers. Want to avoid contracts? TracFone offers great pay as you go plans.
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Just an update, Sprint is adding a 24-cent surcharge on Jan. 1st, 2009, so this will open a 30 day window for anyone who wants to cancel their contract without the early termination fee.
Julie Thanks for the info, however, I couldn’t verify this online. I saw some information regarding a federally mandated 24 cent surcharge, but since that is a federal surcharge, that wouldn’t qualify as a change to the contract and people wouldn’t be able to cancel free of charge. This is only based on my understanding of the limited info I found online. If you have another resource, I would love to hear it.
there is an elderly person in my family who signed a contract with ATT last march of 2008 now his health has failed and vision is really poor no use for the cell phone so he passed it to my daughter for her to use but she is going to get a new cell phone same carrier but better deal on price of phone than just transferring. talked to 1 cs agent but she said he would have to pay is medical reason a valid reason to cancel without early termination fees?
Renee: It seems to me like a medical condition should be a reason to be able to end a cell phone contract, but that is the human in me speaking, not the lawyers for the cell phone company. My best advice would be to speak with a manager at the customer service department and ask how you can get the cell phone contract canceled. Maybe the family doctor could write a letter? If all courses of action fail, I recommend looking into a consumer advocacy organization in your area. Perhaps they can assist.
Sorry to hear about the health of your loved one, and best of luck to you.
Do these suggestions actually work? I really want to get my daughter the cellphone that she wants but i don’t want to extend my contract another year because then that would mean I’d have to wait a whole ‘nother year from the date that i purchase the phone, to even update my own phone. I really just want to get her the phone and be done with it and when it comes September still be able to upgrade my own cellphone. Any loop-holes to use? PLEASE email me at beautifulgirl228228 AT hotmail.com with ideas. THANK YOU soo so much. –Kelllisha
Kelllisha: Not every one of these tips will work every time. The best advice I can give you is to try them and hope for the best. Good luck!
only way not to have a contract is to get a prepaid phone! $15 month gets u 150 minutes and free phone! see em at wall mart. they work good. u lose it- go get another for $30 and they give u additional 300 minutes! best of all no contract!
I have Tmobile for about a 1 1/2 years but upgraded my phone about a year ago and that extended my contract another 2 years. I get spotty service in most places that I am now due to school, but I have a family plan that I share with my mother and her service is good where she goes. I want out of my service with Tmobile because I’m sick of just getting okay service when I pay them every month. Is this possible to just drop one line on a family plan and take my number and switch it to another carrier?
Melissa: I’m not sure if you can do that or not. You would need to contact T-Mobile. best of luck to you.
We have four lines on one plan and one on a separate plan for my wife’s Instinct phone. She wants to get out of her contract (leaving the over plan intact) so she can move her # to get an iPhone. Her main issues are that the Instinct won’t sync with her schedule software on the computer and her scheduler or calendar on the Instinct has an upper limit of 50 entries per month. Not very many and she quickly hits this limit. Sprint’s suggestion was to get a Blackberry. I don’t know if either or both of these issues together is enough, but I intend to try. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I’m good with being professional and patient on the phone and know I need to go to a supervisor. I figure it’s worth a try. Either this or wait for another change to the contract to take advantage of the materially adverse effects clause. Thanks.
My Sprint UpStage just broke, and I have been dissatisfied with it for pretty much the entire time that I have had it. My contract with Sprint does not expire for another six months. Are you 100% certain that, if I call them and ask them if it is true that I can now cancel my contract without a fee, they will say yes and allow me to cancel?
No, I am not 100% certain. This was written over a year ago. But it never hurts to try.
#6 would apply to me. I’ve tried with Alltel and no luck. They say, they don’t guarantee coverage therefore I can’t cancel with waiver of early term. fee. It so sucks. My hubby’s job is transferring him and that is not a good enough excuse I guess. I sent a letter to corporate with a letter from his job. Any other suggestions?
Diana: If you are transferring, you may find that you get better reception where you are going. So you may wish to wait and see.
Other than what you have tried so far, the only other thing I can recommend is trying to have someone else take over your contract. You may have to give them your phone, but it would probably be worth it to avoid early termination fees.
I have Tmobile now with my daugther. I have had Tmobile about 5 year. I would like to get out of my contract. I resigned with them in Oct 2008 for another 2 years. We have the Family Allowances and have nothing but problems. Blocks numbers are able to be called, She is able to go over her minutes and I get charged. I did get credit for these items but now there is a phone number that is not blocked but as soon as it hits 8pm she is not able to call or text that number. Tmobile is working on the issues but its been 3 weeks and they still havent figured it out. The time I have spent on the phone with Tmobile with these issues is ridiculous and I tired of messing with them.
I am looking to change to Verizon can anyone out there tell me how their service is and how their allownace work? Is Verizon any better or I will just be getting into the same mess?
Thanks for any help
Me, my brother, and my mother all share a family plan with tmobile. A couple of months ago my mother got fed up with tmobile because she couldn’t get service anywhere in town. So she went out and bought a iphone with AT&T. Now she gets service all over the town. I want to do the same thing but instead of keeping my phone and service with tmobile (like my mother did), I was hoping to cancel the contract. The contract end in February of this year…but I would rather not wait that long. I also don’t know how much it costs to cancel the contract. Help please! Thanks,
~Melissa
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I cannot help people with individual questions regarding their specific plan or which action they should take. Steps to cancel or trade your cell phone contract are outlined in this article.
You can also try I would try using Trade My Cellular, Cell Swapper, or Cell Trade USA to transfer your cell phone line to someone else. Good luck.
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