Cell Phone Company Problem

Factual Questions
1

My sister thought she canceled her service with AT&T on May 13th when she asked an AT&T representative when her contract ended. They told her May 13th, and my sister replied “OK, so after May 13th, I won’t have to deal with you people again, right?” He replied,“Right.” “Good.” The AT&T people, though, continued her service despite her contract having ended, my sister thinking that the ended contract meant her ended service.

So she gets a bill from AT&T today for services for the rest of May, June, and July. She calls them up asking what this was about, and they explained that they never ended her service. So she’s mad she has to pay, even though she never used the phone since May 13th, and even bought a new phone and service plan with a different company.

My question: does she have to pay? Is there a way to get around this? It was both AT&T and my sister’s fault, AT&T’s for not having fully explained their meaning of “contract” in the context of cell phone services, and my sister’s for incorrectly thinking her service had ended. Any help and suggestions would be appreciated.

2

I think if you read the terms of the service agreement, it’s pretty clear that the service does not terminate at the end of the minimum contract length. The only significance to the agreement term is that if you cancel prior to that date you have to pay a hefty cancellation fee.

That being said, she should call AT&T customer service and see if she can talk to a supervisor. If she explains her misunderstanding they may offer a partial credit, but they are not obligated to.

3

FBG is correct. The contract terminates (usually after 1 or 2 years, depending), which means you are no longer obligated to continue the service after that time with no risk of an early termination fee. But in order to cancel the service, you must specifically ask the carrier to discotinue it.