Leaving T-Mobile Contract

I'm a frequent reader of the Consumerist, a consumer rights blog. I've learned a lot about what rights I have when I'm shopping and paying utilities, etc. I'm proud to say that with a good knowledge of the system, I've managed to get a great deal with my cell phone service.

One thing I've read about are Early Termination Fees (ETFs). These are fees assessed by your cell phone carrier for leaving before the contract expires. They are usually about $200, which prevents you from getting a free cell phone and then leaving your service one month later.

In early July, I read that T-Mobile was changing the price per text message. It was going from $0.15 to $0.20 a message, which constitutes a "material adverse affect." Basically, they've changed the contract I signed, which allows me to leave the contract without paying an ETF.

My contract wasn't scheduled to end until August of 2009, still a long time away. So getting out of my contract sounded nice. But I like T-Mobile. So I didn't really want to stop my cell phone service, just get out of my contract.

I called up T-Mobile and asked about my options. I wanted to switch from being under contract to paying month to month. They wouldn't let me out of the contract unless I ended my service. I've liked T-Mobile. Good service, good customer service. No real complaints. But here they were making me decide whether to leave or stay under contract. Sneaky.

So I started looking at my cell phone usage. I was paying $60.00 a month (including taxes) for Unlimited nights and weekends, unlimited calling from my home (using my wireless internet), and unlimited calling to five numbers of my choice. I also had 300 minutes to use any other time I wanted. Despite all this time to talk, I was usually only using about 150 minutes a month. Back when I talked to Alicia every night, I needed a lot of talking time. Now, not so much...

That's when it occurred to me: Why don't I use a prepaid cell phone? It just so happened that T-Mobile offered prepaid services. For $100, I can get 1000 minutes, which have a full year before they expire. If I use 150 minutes a month, $100 will last me over six months! That would have cost me $360 under contract.

So I called up T-Mobile to ask about prepaid services. They inform me that I can use my same phone number, use my same phone, and it would only take a few hours to change services. The only problem was that I was currently under a cell phone contract.

At this point, I smiled. I started uttering the magic words, "You've recently changed my contract, which had a material adverse affect..."

As of last week, I've got the same number, the same phone, and I'm still with T-Mobile. I can change services and get a new phone anytime I'd like because I'm not under contract, and I'm saving a ton of money.

I'd say I'm pretty happy.

P.S.: I've also started using Skype internet phone services. For $2 dollars a month, I can make unlimited calling over the internet using my computer. I can't receive calls, so I'll still use my cell phone for that. But I'm saving even more minutes a month using Skype. Yay!