Dear Joan,
Mobile phone bills are too high. Hidden
fees are everywhere. Service quality is mediocre at best. And yet,
carriers still force us to pay outrageous penalties -- up to $350 -- if
we cancel our phone service or switch carriers.
There's one question on everyone's mind: WTF?
The FCC has been asking that question
(in so many words) too. Earlier this week, the agency sent letters to
every major wireless carrier in the country, asking them to justify
trapping consumers in contracts with such high penalties.
The carriers aren't willing to tell the
FCC what these penalties -- known as early termination fees (ETFs) -- are
for. But we can't simply let the wireless industry hold us hostage with
massive fees.
Tell Washington: Protect Consumers from Outrageous Fees
The carriers will tell you that they
can play fair without the FCC's and Congress' oversight. But that's
just not true. After Washington threatened to investigate its activity,
Verizon began pro-rating its ETF (so you would owe less for every month
of your contract).
Google and T-Mobile also lowered the
combined ETF on the Google phone from a whopping $550 to $350 -- still
obscene -- after a FCC letter of inquiry about their behavior.
The FCC can help consumers. But letters aren't enough. It's up to us to free our phones.
Urge the FCC to End Unreasonable Penalties
This is all about choice. We need to be able to choose our devices, our apps and our services.
Please contact the FCC, and tell them to put an end to these outrageous fees.
Thanks,à ‚¬ ¨
Josh Levyà ‚¬ ¨
Online Campaign Managerà ‚¬ ¨
Free Press Action Fund
P.S. Anyone with a cell phone knows
that the wireless industry has been gouging consumers for too long.
Please forward this e-mail to your friends and family and share it on Facebook and Twitter. Tell everyone you know to say WTF to outrageous ETFs.
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