How to Get Out of Your Cell Phone Contract Without an Early Termination Fee

Are you feeling trapped by your wireless cell phone contract? Do you have nightmares about the hefty early termination fees (which can reach $200!) that you will be charged if you cancel your contract before it ends? Have you considered joining the armed forces (and requesting to be stationed overseas), moving to the middle-of-nowhere (so that you don’t get a wireless signal), or dying so that you can get out of your contract without an early termination fee? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be suffering from TWCPC Syndrome (commonly referred to as Trapped by Wireless Cell Phone Contract Syndrome). Common symptoms of TWCPC Syndrome include nervous tremors, nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, and uncontrollable rage. Fortunately, there is a cure.

Many people don’t realize that they can avoid early termination charges by finding someone to take over their account. All the major carriers (e.g., Sprint/Nextel, Verizon, and AT&T;/Cingular) allow you to do this. The transfer is done through your carrier, so it is a legitimate process and you won’t have to worry about suffering any negative consequences if the person who took over your contract doesn’t pay subsequent bills.

A number of companies have sprung up to help you get out of your wireless contract (for example, cellswapper.com and Celltradeusa.com), but these companies charge a registration fee, and they don’t do the actual transfer for you. Instead, they provide a forum for you to find someone interested in taking over your contract, sort of like a matchmaking service. Typically, sellers offer to pay the person that takes over their contract. I have seen offers ranging from $15 to $100.

Rather than registering with one of these companies, I recommend posting your own ad on craigslist. I have previously written about my love affair with craigslist. Craigslist is the mother of all classifieds – you can find everything on it, and it’s extremely user friendly. More importantly, it’s free. When composing your ad, make sure to:

* Use an effective title. Effective titles are clear, descriptive, and most importantly, correctly spelled. For example, a good title for someone trying to get out of his/her AT&T; contract would be “Getting an iPhone? I’ll Pay You $75 To Take Over My AT&T; Contract”.

* Leave the price box blank. Since you are paying someone to take over your contract, it is not necessary to list a price.

* For the location, I recommend typing your city/neighborhood and zip code (e.g., “La Jolla – 92037”). You will likely have to meet the buyer in person to pay them, so it’s a good idea to let them know the part of town you live.

* Give a detailed explanation of your proposal. The following is a template you can use:

I’ll pay you to take over my cell phone contract. My contract ends in about (). I’ll be able to avoid an early termination fee and you’ll get plus be able to avoid activation fees. Upon taking over my contract, you can upgrade the calling plan for free to whatever suits your needs.

In addition, I’ll give you my phone ( model), which is in .

Plan Details:

This transaction would be approved of by . In fact, we would complete the transfer over the phone with an representative. After they have verified your credit, the contract will be transferred to your name …and I’ll give you cash.

Note that you WILL have to take over my number, but if that doesn’t bother you, this is a win-win situation for both of us.

Please contact me at the anonymous address provided above.

For more tips on how to create an effective and professional looking craigslist ad, click here.

When an interested buyer contacts you, make sure that they understand that (a) the provider will run a credit check on them and (b) they will have to take over your cell phone number. If this doesn’t deter the buyer, arrange to meet somewhere to perform the transfer. When you meet, do not pay them until the transfer is completed. To perform the transfer, call your provider and explain to them that you wish to avoid early termination fees by transferring your contract to another party. Tell them that you have the other party with you and confirm that, provided the other party passes the credit check, you will no longer be responsible for the account. The customer service representative should be able to take things from there and in a matter of minutes, your case of TWCPC will disappear.