Where do you go to take over someone's cell contract

July 15, 2006 6:03 PM

I'm looking to take over someone's Verizon Family Plan cell contract (preferably one that has less than 6 months to go). Is there a popular/effective website where folks who want to get out of their cell contracts can meet folks who are interested in taking them over? This seems like a nobrainer to those who don't want to pay a cancellation fee due to circumstances in their life. And if anyone knows anyone who is trying to get out of a verizon family plan, send them my way! Thanks!
posted by america4 to Shopping (6 answers total)

I see these kinds of ads on Craigslist all the time. But I don't know of a dedicated website.
posted by kimdog at 6:22 PM on July 15, 2006

By "taking them over" I assume you mean that you will simply start paying for the plan? Because plans generally aren't transferable.

For anyone that has a plan, it would be a bad, bad idea to let someone else take it over in this way. If the person who takes it over doesn't pay, it's still the original contractee who will be on the hook for the termination fee and whose credit report will take a hit.

I imagine you'll have trouble finding anyone to let you take over their contract for just this reason.
posted by kindall at 6:23 PM on July 15, 2006

Here's a way around it:

Call Verizon, tell Verizon that your [Brother/Sister]-in-Law would like to take over the plan, that you recently got a verizon phone from your company, and since [s]he already has one of the phones, you'd like to transfer the entire account over to [him/her]. They should run a credit check, then all things OK, transfer the account.

Here's the gotcha: ANY changes to your calling plan will reset the contract to a year from that date (or 2 years if they originally signed up for a 2 year contract). So you can't get a 6 month contract :-(.
posted by hatsix at 8:54 PM on July 15, 2006

I don't have any experience with Verizon but I know that with my Cingular plan I've had friends who were originally on my family plan and "broke off" their line into their own plan, saving me the expense of the extra line as well as getting me out of the contract entirely. Their new account just picked up where the old contract left off; it didn't reset the contract time.

I like the idea of a website dedicated to people looking for someone to take over a cell plan but unfortunately I've never heard of one. Craig's list would probably be your best bet, as kimdog suggested.
posted by mezzanayne at 9:36 PM on July 15, 2006

Here's the gotcha: ANY changes to your calling plan will reset the contract to a year from that date

I'm not sure that's true. I'm with Verizon, and I recently changed my calling plan from a solo plan to a family plan mid-term (about 9 mos into my two-year contract) and my contract stayed the same length - the missus' phone got a two-year contract slapped onto it, but the original phone number (mine) kept its original contract end date.
posted by pdb at 9:49 PM on July 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

You could try CellTradeUSA. I can't vouch for it myself, but it seems to be exactly what you are looking for. It brings people together who are looking to get out of/get into a phone contract.
posted by qwip at 11:58 PM on July 15, 2006