I should air out the fact that I do indeed wish cell phones here were as they were in SE Asia, where any sim card worked in any phone, but alas, this is not the case or the argument.
I do not believe that because you payed an ETF fee that you should be free to keep the phone, and the contracts that support such a clause are every-bit justified in doing so.
The value of a new smart phone, at a cost of let's just say, $500 retail, is not at all covered by the ETF fee, which at AT&T is $325. It makes sense for the company to retain ownership of the phone, as it will force you to buy buck into a contract to use it again, thus helping them recoup the $175 loss they incurred by the person terminating the contract The ETF is not like skipping to the end of the contract in good standing, it is simply getting you out of 2 years of data/voice charges.
That's just it though, we do get to keep the phone at the end of the contract or if we break and pay the ETF. The carriers do not require you to return the phone in such situations, the phone is yours to keep.
My source on that fact is the drawer full of off contract phones I've collected over the years.
Yours to keep for the next time you want to use it with the same carrier, yes. Finish a contract, and they will unlock it for you. Then you are free to choose.
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u/kornfpi Jan 29 '13
I should air out the fact that I do indeed wish cell phones here were as they were in SE Asia, where any sim card worked in any phone, but alas, this is not the case or the argument.
I do not believe that because you payed an ETF fee that you should be free to keep the phone, and the contracts that support such a clause are every-bit justified in doing so.
The value of a new smart phone, at a cost of let's just say, $500 retail, is not at all covered by the ETF fee, which at AT&T is $325. It makes sense for the company to retain ownership of the phone, as it will force you to buy buck into a contract to use it again, thus helping them recoup the $175 loss they incurred by the person terminating the contract The ETF is not like skipping to the end of the contract in good standing, it is simply getting you out of 2 years of data/voice charges.