Cancelling Cell Contracts

November 10, 2004 6:31 AM

I'd like to get out of my cell phone contract without paying a $175 fee. After seeing this on craigslist, I'm wondering a) are these contracts even transferable? and b) if so, is there a place on the web where people buy/sell these contracts?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders to Law & Government (3 answers total)

I doubt this is sanctioned by the telco, or legal, really. But it's done alot. I have a foreign friend who helps out a couple of his friends by doing something similar. Since he's got an SSN, he's got a contract with a cellphone company. His friends come to him and he goes into a shop, buys a new phone, subscribes for a new line, and gives it to his friend. His friend pays him and he pays the (BIG!) bill at the end of the month.

I don't know how you'd find somebody to take over your contract, but I'm sure that the telco providers would not allow you (officially) to give the phone to someone else but keep the bill in your name, which is what would be required. So a website like cellphonetrader.com or whatnot would be out. Unless it was in russia.
posted by zpousman at 6:41 AM on November 10, 2004

I used to work for a cell phone company and we did give the option to transfer contracts. The billing was transferred to the new customers name. This was five years ago, though, so things may have changed. It still probably wouldn't hurt to ask your cell company about it.
posted by Cyrano at 7:01 AM on November 10, 2004

The Buy/Sell/Trade group at Howard Forums is what you're looking for.
posted by danwalker at 7:14 PM on November 10, 2004