Canceling an iPhone and Avoiding Fees

A friend of mine bought an iPhone 3Gs last fall, but after few months, he realized that he really didn’t need it. Figuring he could just cancel the plan, he asked AT&T about the cost and they said it’d be $325 minus $10 for each month he had the service. With six months under his belt, he’d still owe AT&T $265!

He was stuck. The data plan alone was costing $15 a month ($180 a year), so it’d take about a year and a half before the early cancellation fee was recovered.

Or so he thought…

It turns out that if you keep AT&T as a service provider and simply downgrade to a regular phone, you don’t have to pay the $325 cancellation fee. Not only was he able to sell his iPhone for a cool $275 ($175 more than he paid for it), he’s saving $15 a month because he doesn’t have a data plan now.

At the end of the day, he walked away with a little bit of a profit – much better than his original thought of owing $265!

It pays to ask about all the options available to you when you’re discussing your phone plan.  You might be surprised with the outcome!