Cancelling Nexus One triggers TWO "early termination fees"?

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: January 12, 2010 2:53:52 PM EST
> To: Henrik B <blondino () gmail com>
> Cc: dave () farber net
> Subject: Re: [IP] Cancelling Nexus One triggers TWO "early  
> termination fees"?

> The point is that -- apparently -- if you cancel within a few months
> after the trial period and have a subsidized Nexus One, you're  
> required
> to pay:
>
> a) to T-M: initial amount to t-mobile for subsidized phone
> b) to Google: difference between full cost of phone and amount you  
> paid
>   to T-M in (a)
> c) the T-M ETF
>
> This would appear to add up to significantly more than the cost
> of the unsubsidized phone.  (a) + (c) are standard operating
> procedure.  (a) + (b) + (c) seem to be something new that
> needs to be better explained.
>
> --Lauren--
>
>
> On 01/12 11:23, Henrik B wrote:
> > If I understood it correctly the fact was that the subsidised Nexus  
> > One plus
> > the ETF was less than the price for a non-subsidised phone. Hence T- 
> > Mobile
> > made it clear that if you did that the cost would be the same as  
> > buying the
> > non-subsidised phone. However, that might not be how the final  
> > contracts
> > ended up being written.
> >
> > Henrik Brameus
> >
> > On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 10:03 AM, Dave Farber <dave () farber net>  
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Begin forwarded message:
> > >
> > > *From:* Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> > > *Date:* January 12, 2010 12:48:20 PM EST
> > > *To:* <nnsquad () nnsquad org>nnsquad () nnsquad org
> > > *Subject:* *[ NNSquad ] Cancelling Nexus One triggers TWO "early
> > > termination fees"?*
> > >
> > >
> > > With all the controversies about cell carrier early termination fees
> > > (ETF), Verizon's recent doubling of their ETF in some cases, and
> > > general confusion regarding the topic, it appears that Google's  
> > > Nexus
> > > One and T-Mobile *may* have further muddied the waters.
> > >
> > > I say *may* because my hope is that the issue being reported by
> > > observers below is a misinterpretation of a situation, not an  
> > > accurate
> > > analysis.
> > >
> > > The problem *appears* to be this.  Contractual terms for buying a
> > > subsidized Nexus One through T-Mobile seem to indicate that if you
> > > want to cancel service and return the phone within a few months  
> > > (after
> > > the brief trial period), you must pay Google the associated  
> > > difference
> > > between what you paid T-Mobile for the subsidized phone and the cost
> > > of an unlocked (unsubsidized) phone.
> > >
> > > This makes basic sense so far.
> > >
> > > The problem is that this is seemingly not exclusive of T-Mobile's  
> > > own
> > > significant ETF.
> > >
> > > Normally, when you buy a subsidized phone, the carrier ETF is  
> > > designed
> > > to recover the additional cost of the phone (beyond what you paid  
> > > the
> > > carrier directly for the phone at the start of the contract) when
> > > you cancel early.
> > >
> > > But it *appears* that in the Nexus One case, if you cancel early on,
> > > you end up having paid:
> > >
> > > 1) The subsidized cost of the phone (paid to T-Mobile)
> > > 2) The cost of the Nexus One minus the amount you paid to T-Mobile
> > >  for the phone (paid to Google)
> > > AND
> > > 3) The T-Mobile early termination fee
> > >
> > > In this sort of cancellation sequence, (2) would not normally exist.
> > > It appears that you end up paying handsomely more than the actual  
> > > cost
> > > of the phone if you buy a subsidized phone through T-M and cancel
> > > within a few months.
> > >
> > > It could perhaps be argued that this "premium" extra payment can
> > > somehow be justified, but at first glance it's a particularly  
> > > unusual
> > > arrangement.
> > >
> > > I hope that we see additional clarification about this soon.
> > >
> > > http://bit.ly/79kJci  (Android Phone Fans)
> > >
> > > --Lauren--
> > > NNSquad Moderator
> > >
> > >  Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now>
> > > <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/> <http://www.listbox.com 
> > > >



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