This seems to be an all-too-common problem, and it has plagued me as it has many others. My wife and I took advantage of the 2 for 1 MyTouch 4G sale that was going on in early 2011. We purchased the phones with a complete understanding that our contract would be renewed for two years and would end at the beginning of 2013. I was told this by the representative who sold me the phones, and he was kind enough to point it out multiple times.
Fast forward to March of 2012. We wanted to try and save some money on our monthly bill. My wife works, but I am a full-time student and don't have an income. I logged in to my account online to look around at the different plans they have. I attempted to lower the amount of data for each line, because we weren't using enough to justify what we were paying. When I clicked the data plan I wanted, the screen would just refresh. I figured there was a problem with the website and called to speak with a representative.
I started our conversation by explaining that we wanted to save some money, and he was kind enough to make some suggestions on how we could accomplish that. I was informed that we would have to have the 1000 minute plan because T-mobile had updated their plans, and I would have to update to the more recent plan in order to change the amount of data I receive. He explained the overall bill would be lower than what we had been paying per month.
(At the time I was trying to make these changes, my wife and I had been discussing whether or not we would want to switch to the new iPhones when they were released. We hadn't made a decision at that time, but it was definitely a possibility. I point that out only to demonstrate exactly how I remember the next part of the conversation.)
Knowing that there was a very real possibility that we would want to change carriers in the not-too-distant future, I specifically asked the representative whether the change in our plan to save some money would extend or renew our current contract. The answer? "No." I asked again, because I wanted to make sure the contract would still end at the beginning of 2013. He said that he understood the need to save money in this economy and that "we" (I assume meaning T-mobile) wanted to help. He again assured me there would be no renewal or extension of any contract.
Earlier today I entered the online chat room to figure out the exact day in early 2013 that our contract would come to an end. To my surprise, I was told our contract would not end until March of 2014. I immediately knew what happened and asked the representative if changing our plan would have renewed our contract. He said that it would. I told him that was absurd, and he basically said he was sorry but that's just the way it is. I asked him how much it would cost to cancel, and he gave me the number to call and cancel.
The ridiculousness of these practices and policies cannot be overstated. Why did it not say anywhere on the website that you use to change plans that a change in plans will renew your contract? Why was I specifically told by the representative that my contract would not be renewed? Why did the representative today not give me the e-mail address of the contract review team, which I have since learned about through my own efforts on Google?
I am 100% confident that the ending to my story will be my wife and me paying the full amount of the early termination fees. We will pay it, and then we will never be customers of T-mobile again. I refuse to be a customer of a business that engages in such deceptive practices. I have already filed a complaint with the BBB. Whenever I am in earshot of a conversation regarding mobile carriers, I will be sure to share this story.
I hope it was worth the $400.