CBS 19 - The Eye of East Texas News - How to Get Out of your Cell Phone Contract

How to Get Out of your Cell Phone Contract

By Michele Reese

It was the honeymoon Jessica Cortez always imagined. A trip through Italy for two weeks. To help navigate, she brought along her trusty iPhone after she says she signed up for a worldwide calling plan.

"I was using my phone basically to map out where we were going because we had never been there before," she said.

But when she returned home and went online to pay her bill, she found out her honeymoon cost a lot more than she was expecting.

"It was right at $3,000," she said.

Yeah, that's right, $3,000 in roaming charges.

"The whole time I was calling hotels to get directions and find out where we were supposed to be going I was getting charged," she said.

Upset that her carrier didn't apply the service she requested, Cortez decided to drop her plan.

"I just feel like they should have let me out of my contract," she said.

But it wouldn't be that easy. She was told she'd have to pay an early termination fee of $175. They told us the same thing.

"If you have an existing contract the only way to get out of the contract its to pay an early termination fee," AT&T representative Jeremy McQueen said.

But you may be able to get out of that contract much cheaper, by trading or swapping. There are two websites that specialize in that. They are CellTradeUsa.com and CellSwapper.com.

Both sites use clauses contained in cell phone contracts, that allow users to terminate early, by simply transferring their account to someone else.

So, you can get into, get out of, or swap a cell phone contract for $20. The only downside we found is that you might lose your phone number.

Cortez considered swapping out, until her provider agreed to lower her bill.

"It's right at 363 which compared to $3,000 is a lot better," she said.

So for now she's keeping her plan, but she'll think twice before she goes "roaming" through Europe next time.

If you want to avoid contracts altogether a prepaid plan might be right for you.