My contract is up this month. I'd like to switch from Verizon to Cingular and take my number with me.

According to the verizonwireless.com FAQ, "your number must remain active" which means I can't let my contract expire and then switch. However, if I switch early, I'm sure Verizon will hit me with the $175.00 termination penalty. I doubt if I'll get a straight answer from either carrier since one wants to keep me and the other wants my business.

Has anyone sucessfully made the switch without paying a termination penalty. I'd appreciate your thoughts/suggestions.

I don't think the law differs from state to state but keep in mind, I'm in Massachusetts.

thirsty

I just went through this within the past couple of weeks.  I moved from AT&T(because the assholes dropped their roaming agreements with Verizon and Cingular since they are moving towards an all GSM system).  My agreement expired earlier this year so I didn't have to worry about that.  All you need to do is let your agreement expire and then move your service.  Just because your contract terminates doesnt mean your service stops.

I have a friend at Verizon corporate. Lemme call that person and get an answer for you.

Gotta run for  bit. been stuck at this computer doing admin stuff all day.

xoxo
b

I am going to assume you are staying in your local coverage area which is what you have to do in order to keep your number.

Call the company you want to change over to and tell them you wan to switch. Tell them the last date of your contract and they will switch it over on the last day and you will avoid any early termination charges.

The information I was given was to do as I have stated earlier but the company you want to change over to will know what to do.

Hope this helps.

xoxo
B

Thanks dawg...that's the key piece of information.

thirsty

thirsty,
I will help you since Cell phone is Chicago's home. Chicago was the first city to go on line & was tested here. I got a good deal which was $2500.00!
Go with celluar for they are based in Atlanta & the have the most cell site's. People I know have had all the other's such as Sprint & changed for they hated them. I had a cell since 1982 & have keep them since the day they went live. I also insured over 30,000 of them when they where at that high cost. It help me to retire at 40. If you have any question please let me know. no, there is no butt kissing here, this is what TER is all about, helping each other.

NO, but do not let them renew it on you!

Hopefully this information will be useful to others as well.

It seems the consensus opinion in the Boston and Atlanta TER communities is that I should wait until the contract ends and then I can do what I like. I might even stay with Verizon, I just want to keep the number (5-10 digits repeat). I lost my phone over the weekend so I guess I'll just be hard to reach for the next 3 weeks!

Thanks again!

thirsty

...and forward all calls from Verizon (for those that do not get your new number from you) to your new Cingular phone. I heard from a local news station that soon you can start using your home phone number to be the same as your cellular phone number. From what I can recall, this is supposed to be fairly soon to begin. You may want to investigate further. Look for sites that has reviews on cellular services offered. I have two phones with AT&T and one with Cingular (for further coverage outside of Atlanta is good). I want to cancel one of my phones soon and discovered the best way to do it is the way I just mentioned above. To forward calls it is $0.35 per minute with AT&T for the plan that I have with them. If you give out your new number in your outgoing voice mail to individuals for a few weeks, perhaps they will hang up and dial the new Cingular number. And, then you will not be charged even the forwarding call time. I do not feel it is possible to switch services and keep same phone number. It is maybe possible, but not likely to be procedure for the cellular service providers. Competition can be a bad thing sometimes.

Hope all of that helps. You may even have to switch your actual cell phone too (most likely). I like those that have both GSM and GPRS on them. Internet is great for checking my AOL mail (and a few others if I needed to such as Yahoo and so forth), getting driving directions, getting weather report, and so much more. I think Bluetooth technology is about the best way to transfer information in between phones and computers. An infrared port is a must for me. Furthermore, get one with a sims card in it. You can take that card with you when you ever wish to upgrade your phone. This way you do not have to redo your entire phone diretory.

Again hope that helps you out.

Jolie