Consumers Union recently tested wireless service providers’ policies on Early Termination Fees (ETF) by calling all the national providers to see if their reps knew what they offered their customers. 

Dow Jones reported that reps from three of the providers – including Verizon Wireless – correctly answered questions about his or her company’s ETF policies.   Reps at AT&T, which announced last fall that it would implement a pro-rated ETF, but has yet to provide more details, apparently gave several different responses to Consumers Union – none of which were right.

While it was only a small sample, I’m not surprised our reps knew the answers.  Verizon Wireless was the first national provider to put a declining ETF policy back in November 2006 (after first announcing the change in June 2006).  Handset prices can be kept low because service providers use ETFs to subsidize those devices over the length of a contract, and if they choose to leave their contract before it expires, customers are asked to pay that fee.

For more than a year, customers who sign a new contract with us are eligible for the declining ETF; if a customer chooses to leave before the contract expires, we’ll take $5 off the ETF for every month of the contract that’s completed.   

This move on ETFs was just one in a series of consumer friendly policies Verizon Wireless has introduced over the past few years.  Our most recent was expanding our Worry Free Guarantee to ensure customers who changed their calling or texting plans in the middle of a contract wouldn’t have their contracts extended. 

Here’s a link to the whole story: