Getting elderly mom out of cell phone contract?
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Anonymous
| Has anyone had any success in getting their parents out of a cell phone contract? My mom got a new phone months ago that has never worked. She's taken it in for repair twice but they can't get it going. In the meantime, she's paying nearly $300 a month for a phone that has never made or received a call. She has gone in to the store repeatedly to try to get out of it, but they just tell her she signed a contract and she is stuck. I'm going to go in with her next week to try to get it resolved. Has anyone had success with this kind of thing? Thanks very much. |
Anonymous
| $300 a month???? They need to give her a new phone and a huge credit to her next statement. |
Anonymous
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File a consumer complaint with the attorney general of your state.
Or call the cell phone company and tell them you are going to do this if they don't rectify the situation. |
Anonymous
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How in the world is the plan $300/month?
Our family plan covers 6 phone lines (2 parents and 4 kids) with unlimited everything...and is less than $250/month total. |
Anonymous
| OP here, Yeah, I don't get it either. She's going to get everything together so I can go over it before we get in there. They're in a very rural area - no wifi - so maybe cellular charges are different? I assume there are late fees, etc in there too. We are on the edge of taking over her billpay generally - this may be the tipping point. |
Anonymous
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A lot of companies will buy you out of an old contract if you switch providers
Maybe you could strip it down to the bare minimum plan possible, then move to another carrier? |
Anonymous
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Just stop paying.
Honestly, how old is your mother? The worst that can happen is they take it to collections and ding her credit report? And so what? I'd try to work something out first and go ahead and file the complaint, but they aren't providing the service promised. It's ok to write a letter and then tell them to pound sand. Go to a new provider. Get a new number. |
Anonymous
| Call and say she died. They won’t ask for records, they’ll just stop the contract. |
Anonymous
They asked for a death certificate when we cancelled my Mom’s phone. |
Anonymous
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It took a LOT of calls for us to do it. Finally got a reasonable agent who transferred her number over to my family plan.
Verizon is so awful about this. |
Anonymous
| I would think a letter to the state attorney general reporting elder abuse (almost all have a division focused on this issue) cc'ing the address the cellphone company uses for serving arbitration complaints would end the contract fast |
Anonymous
| The $300 a month probably includes a payment plan for the phone. Still ridiculous |
Anonymous
| OP here. We got lucky and got a helpful person on the phone. I explained the situation and I guess they could see that she never made or received a single call at that number. They cancelled the account and agreed to waive the remaining fees if we returned the phone. It took about 1.75 hours and was very emotionally draining, but I am happy with the result. Thank you! |
Anonymous
| Good job, op! |
Anonymous
| Way to go, OP! |