If you were thinking about signing a new T-Mobile contract this week, I suggest you exercise patience and wait for Saturday. On that day, the nation’s No. 4 wireless carrier will commence the practice of prorating early termination fees. While the government is working on a universal solution, most major wireless carriers have taken matters into their own hands. That is, except Sprint, which is the only of the major four to not offer prorated early termination fees.
The deal with T-Mobile is not like that of Verizon, which discounts the ETF by $5 every month from the start of the contract. With T-Mobile, you’ll still be on the hook for the full $200 until you’re a year and a half into the contract. So while with Verizon you’d be paying a $115 fee after one year ($5 per month x 12 months), you’re still paying $200 with T-Mo.
Once you hit the one year six month mark, the fee is halved to $100. At the 18-month mark with Verizon, you’d be on the hook for just $85. Once you hit the 90-day mark, the fee drops to $50. Cancelling within the last 30 days of the contract (why would you do that?) would bring a fee of $50 or the cost of your monthly plan, whichever is less.
So while T-Mobile might not have the best ETF deal out there, it’s still an improvement over “$200 or bust.”
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