Ripoff Report Needs Your Help!
X  |  CLOSE
Report: #106429

Complaint Review: Cell One - Duluth Minnesota

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: chicago Illinois
  • Author Not Confirmed What's this?
  • Why?
  • Cell One 215 North Central Ave Duluth, Minnesota U.S.A.

Cell One ripoff deceptive practices Duluth Minnesota

*UPDATE Employee: Sorry for the trouble

Show customers why they should trust your business over your competitors...

Is this
Report about YOU
listed on other sites?
Those sites steal
Ripoff Report's
content.
We can get those
removed for you!
Find out more here.
How to fix
Ripoff Report
If your business is
willing to make a
commitment to
customer satisfaction
Click here now..

In the month of May 2002 I decided to trade my land phone for a cell phone. Being at the time it was a cheaper way to go. I lived in a small town in Minnesota and the choices for services.

Were not that great. I was told Cell One was one of the best companies around, so, in May of that year I went to Cell One of Virginia Mn. I told them what I needed to meet my needs which was fine and dandy while I lived in the area. I had no problems till I moved to Illinois.

My contract with Cell One was for a year which ended in May 2003. I called Cell One in around January to cancel my contract and was talked into cutting my minutes at the same price I was paying for up there and they would not charge me roaming charges. So I said okay being the end of the contract was coming to a close.

Well, the contract ended. I kept my phone on for a few months after. I let them disconnect it thinking that I would get a final bill in the mail for the unpaid usage. Now I am faced with going into collections and ruining my credit that I am in the process of rebuilding. Because they did not recieve a letter of cancellation from me. I am forced to pay three months of usage I did not use.

On August 31 my daughter recieved a call from Cell One which I never gave them her number. I asked how that got that number and was told they were calling around from my phone usage to people whom I called to find me. I gave them my current phone number when I moved into the Chicagoland area. They had a 715 area code as my phone number which is in Wisconsin. I never lived there as I told the rep at Cell One.

I was told that it was in my contact that had expired in May that even though my phone was disconneted I am still liable for charges until they get a written notice from me which I sent in August and was confirmed by Cell One but I am still responsable for charge for 30 days after the notice. So, I went from a 45 dollar bill now to pay 200 dollars.

When I activated my phone with Cell One I wasn't told by the sales person of the letter fact. But was told it was to be only charged 20 dollars. A month if I did not complete my agreement with them for the months remaining in the contract. It would of been cheaper just to pay them the sixty dollars to end my contract in January like I intended.I did not read my contract fully as I learned a lesson there.

How can a company charge a customer for a product if its not in use? Its unfair that Cell One contract or not should be able to still bill a customer for a product that is not in use. They should be more clear on the contents of their contract.

I would not reccomend Cell One to anyone I find their business practice a rip off if you don't read their contract completely, and don't go on the word of their sales people. They are not well informed to their own contract. My only question is, if you continue not to pay the bill and send a written notice does that mean ten years from now you will own them over five thousand dollars, what then?

Lori
chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 08/31/2004 08:31 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/cell-one/duluth-minnesota-55816/cell-one-ripoff-deceptive-practices-duluth-minnesota-106429. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

Search for additional reports

If you would like to see more Rip-off Reports on this company/individual, search here:

Report & Rebuttal
Respond to this report!
What's this?
Also a victim?
What's this?
Repair Your Reputation!
What's this?

Updates & Rebuttals

REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
1Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#1 UPDATE Employee

Sorry for the trouble

AUTHOR: Bil - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, February 19, 2005

Lori, I am a representative with Cellular One. I have heard many cases such as yours and wish I had better news for you....

The contract you signed not only stated the requirement of the 30 day notice on the back (you know, hidden like the lawyers prefer) but also on the front, less than a centimeter from where you signed.

Also, 99% of the time, the stores also would have you sign a checklist stating everything pertinent to the contract, including what the early termination charges are and what is required to deactivate your account. The 30 day written notice policy should be there as well.

When you "let them disconnect it" in essence it was more than likely hotlined, or shut off for non-use. At this point it still continues to bill, as you have found out.

Calling around to try to find you is a practice known as "skip-tracing" and is very common in the collections world. It is often the only way to locate someone who is still indebted to a company.

I will be the first to admit that I do not like some of the practices of our company (nor any corporation I have ever worked for), but I have to defend the fact that they are all legal and well-defined in our contracts. We do make every effort to make information like the deactivation policy clear by placing it at least two highly visable locations.

Again I am sorry you had this bad experience, but we all have to take some responsibility at knowing the terms of agreements we sign into.

Respond to this report!
What's this?
Featured Reports

Advertisers above have met our
strict standards for business conduct.

X
What do hackers,
questionable attorneys and
fake court orders have in common?
...Dishonest Reputation Management Investigates Reputation Repair
Free speech rights compromised

WATCH News
Segment Now