OT: Cell phone dying vs contract

Can they do this?

Thanks,
Roger in Iowa

As for your contract, you don"t have one. That"s long expired. But, many times calling the 800 customer service number will get you better service than at a kiosk.

The plan I currently have doesn't exist with them anymore, and hasn't for the past 3 years. But I was told by there customer service people that as long as I renew it before it expires, I can keep it as long as I want, with no price increase, or change in service.

They will usually give you your old rate on the new system though.

Regards
Gary

Chas

I have Sprint, and the plan I have they don't even offer anymore. They haven't offered one like it for the same price in about 3 years. I can renew my contract when it expires (every 2 years) and keep my existing plan exactly as it was for the past 5 years, with the same price. The customer service people told me that I HAVE to renew it before it runs out however. If I wait until after, then I have to sign a new contract with a new plan, and new price of course. I've even replaced the phone once with out having to change plans. I can buy and change phones as often as I want, but they do charge a fee each time ($15 last time I looked). Last time I replaced my phone, my contract was almost up, so I renewed it, and got $150 rebate, which I used to purchase a new phone, and they waived the $15 activation fee on the phone. Still have my original plan also.

--Teej

There is an FCC mandate requiring that cell phone carriers provide accurate geographic location of the cell phone for anyone calling 911.

This can be done via triangulation from multiple cell towers, or by using a GPS capable telephone. Triangulation is not practical/reliable enough in hilly areas, so most cellphone carriers have adopted the GPS approach.

If your old telephone did not have GPS capability, then you cannot replace the old phone with a like model. The carriers point to the FCC mandate and don't feel any guilt over the expense this causes you.

Ironically, the telephones have had the GPS chip for a couple of years now, but the rest of the infrastructure is not yet finished in many places, so for these places the GPS location feature remains a useless additional cost.