How to Get out of a Cellular Service Contract

Steps

1. Find an alternative Having ammunition as to what contract you are going to switch to will give you confidence and strength to go through with the painful process of getting out of your contract.
2. Be a squeaky wheel. Say you want out because the service isn't up to par. (And really, is it?) Then back that up by filing official complaints online with the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau.
3. Get a lemon. Get a known problematic phone, complain 3 times, be let out of a contract due to your local lemon law.
4. Try a market-based fix. Some companies such as CellPlanDepot.com, SellCellPlans.com, Celltradeusa.com and Getoutofyourplan.com match unhappy mobile customers with people who'd like to sign up - at a discount, of course. You'll pay a $20 fee to sell your contract on the block. Also a company called TradeMyCellular.com offer the same services free of charge.
5. Look for your provider to bury changes to Terms of Service with your bill. Quite often providers modify their service plans, much of the time the modification is a benefit. It doesn't matter, this voids the previous contract. Read the small print on those inserts included with your bill, it will spell out that you have 30 days (may vary on where you live) to cancel your contract with no charge simply because they changed the contract. With SprintPCS, call customer service and ask them to use the "maintenance screen" to enable "direct mailing notification" which will notify you via text message whenever changes are made to your contract.
6. Do a radical move. While potentially extreme and ethically dubious, these solutions could free you of the contract:
   
   
   • Get off the grid. If you move and cannot get the same level of service as your previous location, tell your service provider. They're not legally required to cut you loose, but frustrated consumers have reported success. At&t (Cingular's) policy is to waive the Early Termination Fee in these circumstances (you may have to call repeatedly to show you are trying to get it fixed first). This doesn't work with SprintPCS.
   • Join the army. If you are a member of the US Armed Services and you receive orders to somewhere the company doesn't provide service they are obligated to cancel your contract free of charge. Keep in mind, you'll have to provide a copy of your official orders. Your base legal office should be able to provide you with free assistance in working with the company.
7. Overuse Free Roaming. Most phones come with free roaming now. But it's not actually free. The company pays it for you. So all you do is go to an area that is considered roaming (and when you have free nights or weekends) and place a long (5 hours?) phone call to "Moviefone" or something along those lines. You can also set your phone to only roam and instead of utilizing its own network it will search for others and utilize those. This will start adding up for them in the fees they have to pay to the service provider in that area and they will kick you out of the contract. Too bad.
8. Force them to produce the signed contract. Tell them you didn't get a copy of the contract (which actually is pretty likely) and ask them to produce a copy and mail it to you. In many cases, copies haven't been scanned into the database, especially with recent mergers, and if they can't produce a copy, the most they can legally hold you to is a year.
9. Shrink your plan. As a last resort, cut back to the bare minimum the provider allows and drop any frills, like picture-messaging. Depending on the number of months you have left, this could be cheaper than paying the typically prorated termination fee, which can often run up to $300. However, at some cellular companies changing your plan, even to reduce it, may extend it for at least another year, so do the math first to make certain it will actually save you money.
10. Contact the FCC. If you have a valid complaint(s), contact the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, USA only). Typically, your case will be reviewed and the FCC will contact the phone company. In most cases, the phone company will avoid any confrontations with this government body, and will choose to be agreeable and expedite the necessary steps to resolve the complaint. List your opinion for the only valid resolution to be that of contract cancellation without applying fees.
11. Dead?? If your cellphone happens to be in someone's name who recently deceased (spouse, Dad, Mom, the CEO/Owner of your workplace) - call and get the service cancelled.