Sprint discontinues Voice Command--Can this be used to get out ofa contract?

My brother got a letter from Sprint informing him that they are
discontinuing the Voice Command service, which was one of the reasons he
went with Sprint in the first place. They also told him that he couldn't
get out of his contract as a result of this discontinuation.

Isn't discontinuing the availability of a service that was included at
the time the contract was signed considered a change in the contract terms?

SMS wrote:
> My brother got a letter from Sprint informing him that they are
> discontinuing the Voice Command service, which was one of the reasons he
> went with Sprint in the first place. They also told him that he couldn't
> get out of his contract as a result of this discontinuation.
>
> Isn't discontinuing the availability of a service that was included at
> the time the contract was signed considered a change in the contract
> terms?

Hi,
Maybe. From
http://nextelonline.nextel.com/en/le...cy_popup.shtml...
Our Right To Change The Agreement & Your Related Rights
We may change any part of the Agreement at any time, including, but not
limited to, rates, charges, how we calculate charges, or your terms of
Service. We will provide you notice of material changes, and may provide you
notice of non-material changes, in a manner consistent with this Agreement
(see "Providing Notice To Each Other Under The Agreement" section). If a
change we make to the Agreement is material and has a material adverse
effect on Services under your Term Commitment, you may terminate each line
of Service materially affected without incurring an Early Termination Fee
only if you: (a) call us within 30 days after the effective date of the
change; and (b) specifically advise us that you wish to cancel Services
because of a material change to the Agreement that we have made. If you do
not cancel Service within 30 days of the change, an Early Termination Fee
will apply if you terminate Services before the end of any applicable Term
Commitment.
Dean

Dean-MN wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> My brother got a letter from Sprint informing him that they are
>> discontinuing the Voice Command service, which was one of the reasons he
>> went with Sprint in the first place. They also told him that he couldn't
>> get out of his contract as a result of this discontinuation.
>>
>> Isn't discontinuing the availability of a service that was included at
>> the time the contract was signed considered a change in the contract
>> terms?
>
> Hi,
> Maybe. From
> http://nextelonline.nextel.com/en/le...cy_popup.shtml...
> Our Right To Change The Agreement & Your Related Rights
> We may change any part of the Agreement at any time, including, but not
> limited to, rates, charges, how we calculate charges, or your terms of
> Service. We will provide you notice of material changes, and may provide
> you notice of non-material changes, in a manner consistent with this
> Agreement (see "Providing Notice To Each Other Under The Agreement"
> section). If a change we make to the Agreement is material and has a
> material adverse effect on Services under your Term Commitment, you may
> terminate each line of Service materially affected without incurring an
> Early Termination Fee only if you: (a) call us within 30 days after the
> effective date of the change; and (b) specifically advise us that you
> wish to cancel Services because of a material change to the Agreement
> that we have made. If you do not cancel Service within 30 days of the
> change, an Early Termination Fee will apply if you terminate Services
> before the end of any applicable Term Commitment.
> Dean

Sprint will claim that they just have to stop charging him for the Voice
Command service, but in reality they never charged him for it, they
included it as part of the deal when he re-contracted, even though there
is normally a charge for it. I can't see anyone paying for such a
service since your phone does most of this, even though the Voice
Command service does it a little better, and you can manage it all on-line.

He'd like to get out of his contract and switch to a different carrier,
both for coverage and equipment reasons.

[snip]

the various State Attorneys General eat this stuff for breakfast

--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

So, has anyone tried canceling their service this way? Did it work?

Aaron

"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:sYS0k.7179$nW2.2086@nlpi064.nbdc.sbc.com...
> My brother got a letter from Sprint informing him that they are
> discontinuing the Voice Command service, which was one of the reasons he
> went with Sprint in the first place. They also told him that he couldn't
> get out of his contract as a result of this discontinuation.
>
> Isn't discontinuing the availability of a service that was included at the
> time the contract was signed considered a change in the contract terms?

I do not see an advantage in canceling unless Voice Command was
used/useful extensively and there is an other service provider that has
a similar feature.

Jerome Zelinske wrote:
> I do not see an advantage in canceling unless Voice Command was
> used/useful extensively and there is an other service provider that has
> a similar feature.

He wants to leave Sprint for other reasons, and is looking for a way out
of his contract. His coverage in Florida is okay, but he often visits
one of his kids in Southern California where Sprint coverage is poor, as
well as visiting me in Northern California where Sprint coverage is
poor. He wants to move to AT&T when the 3G iPhone comes out.

On Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:00:56 -0500, Jerome Zelinske
<zelinskej@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> I do not see an advantage in canceling unless Voice Command was
>used/useful extensively and there is an other service provider that has
>a similar feature.

That is completely irrelevant.

He can cancel his contract and keep the service month to month since
they have made a material change to his service.

It doesn't matter whether he ever paid for that Voice Command service,
ever used it, or even ever planned to use it. He has cancellation
rights for 30 days no matter what.

Only a total fool would not cancel your Sprint contract within the
next 30 days. It's totally in your best interest to cancel *any*
cellular contract for free whenever you can.

Why is being under contract better than not being under contract?
It's not, at all. Just call them and cancel, document the date and
time and whom you talked to. Follow it up with a letter.

At 08 Jun 2008 18:05:05 -0700 Steevo@my-deja.com wrote:

> That is completely irrelevant.
>
> He can cancel his contract and keep the service month to month since
> they have made a material change to his service.


Generally, no- cancelling the "contract" using an opt-out requires
cancelling the service as well. The theory is that the change now makes
thats service unsuitable/undesirable for your needs.


> It doesn't matter whether he ever paid for that Voice Command service,
> ever used it, or even ever planned to use it. He has cancellation
> rights for 30 days no matter what.

Yes- cancellation- not continuance without a contract.


> Only a total fool would not cancel your Sprint contract within the
> next 30 days. It's totally in your best interest to cancel *any*
> cellular contract for free whenever you can.
>
> Why is being under contract better than not being under contract?
> It's not, at all. Just call them and cancel, document the date and
> time and whom you talked to. Follow it up with a letter.

And you lose service that you were possiby happy with, and are now free to
sign a new contract with another carrier. Where's the advantage to that?