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Laid off, moved across the country, no service available. Then hit with Early Termination Fee.

Long story short- got suddenly laid off. To save money, my wife lowered our package (got rid of everything but basic cable, kept internet and phone because I needed those to look for work). We moved across the country, and found that we can't get Verizon service.

And now we're being hit with a $200 Early Termination Fee. That's two hundred bucks we don't have, because, you know, layoff.

Yeah, I know- contract. But again, we can't get service. We might eventually be able to get Verizon service again, but if we have to pay this ETF, I don't see us doing that.

We're looking for a new cell phone provider, and the choices here are Verizon and AT&T- again, I can't see us going with a company that punishes me for being laid off.

We loved FiOs. But even if it's available to us later, we're never going to use Verizon again.

Comments

SinCara

@WasabiBomb wrote:
Long story short- got suddenly laid off. To save money, my wife lowered our package (got rid of everything but basic cable, kept internet and phone because I needed those to look for work). We moved across the country, and found that we can't get Verizon service.
And now we're being hit with a $200 Early Termination Fee. That's two hundred bucks we don't have, because, you know, layoff.
Yeah, I know- contract. But again, we can't get service. We might eventually be able to get Verizon service again, but if we have to pay this ETF, I don't see us doing that.
We're looking for a new cell phone provider, and the choices here are Verizon and AT&T- again, I can't see us going with a company that punishes me for being laid off.
We loved FiOs. But even if it's available to us later, we're never going to use Verizon again.

So what you are saying is because you didn't read the contract at the beginning which covered the ETF even when you move and can't get service you're not going to use Verizon in the future. So whose fault is it that you didn't read the terms?

I got laid off last year as many are/were and had to cancel service. I didn't move, but couldn't afford to pay them so I cancelled. I had to pay the ETF. I upheld my end of the contract so anyone else should. Sorry, but just because you were laid off doesn't make you anymore special from the next person who signed the same contract. Don't be angry with Verizon for putting it in their contract that was made easily available to you. If you read the contract at the beginning and knew about the possibilities of an ETF then you would have had the chance to not sign up for service then. Verizon isn't punishing you. You simply don't want to uphold your end of the contract. Next time you get services anywhere look over the terms/contract so you aren't surprised when you are hit with fees under certain circumstances.

WasabiBomb

It seems to me that there's a difference between what a company can do and what a company should do. While they can charge the ETF, by doing so they've ensured that I won't ever use them again. They might be able to force me to pay the ETF, but they can't force me to ever use them again, and they can't keep me from advising my friends to never use them.

SDJackson5

So....If I don't want to sign a contract anymore I have to take my money elsewhere? I no longer want early termination fees dangling over my head. When I called to make a simple change to my account it was done incorrectly by the agent I spoke with. When I called to get it corrected, I was told that I would have to extend my contract whether I wanted to or not. I pay my bill on time every month. I havn't complained too much, I thought it was ridiculous to have to BUY an upgraded router when I increased my download time for the internet. I think it's pretty shoddy business verizon is running when you manipulate channels to make a person sign up for additional years under contract. I was not told in the beginning that there is an expensive battery that I must replace for the phone systems to run when there is a power outage. I have a cell phone, I really don't need the home phone. There are issues that Verizon has as a company that will hurt the company in the long run, and they are too many to list.

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