Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Determination for Termination

In July 2010, it is estimated that the number of cell phone subscriptions passed 5 billion. With a planet comprised of only 6.9 billion, that is certainly an impressive number. But apparently not all 5 billion are happy with their contract. In fact, it is positively shocking the lengths people will go to try to terminate their cell phone contract. A quick drop in on a chat room dedicated to this subject is abruptly revealing.

Standard termination options (for reasons other than breach) are listed below. After each are quotes from cell phone owners with their claims as to why they think they should be able to terminate their contract. Not to be taken too seriously, these were chosen by me for their outlandish and sometimes offensive content. I placed them in the category where I felt they best fit. Do you agree?

Warning: After spending a few minutes on a website dedicated to the subject you may quickly lose all faith in humanity.

Cause of Default:
"Their coverage blows. Plain and simple."

"My cell phone's no Ferrari."

"Usually our bill is around 200 but this month it is like 330 and when you total everything up, it doesn't add up. Can I mention this to get out of my contract?"

"I notice on my current bill that the 'Federal Universal Service Access Non-LD' charge has gone up 11 cents - does this give me the ability to get out of my contract early? "

For convenience:
"If I were to make and send a fake document for military orders to get out of my contract early will they try and verify it through the Department of Defense?"

"Are you kidding me? With these present economic times I can't afford to give away my hard earned money like that."

"I did not have the money needed to terminated early. So I told them I was moving to Dominican Republic to be with my husband. I had made my reservations (to visit my husband) prior to loosing my income; so I gave them my schedule for flight, just not the return one, and got out of it."

Frustration of purpose:
"My wife called home to Japan last month for a total of 2 hours, and it cost us $300. That's insane!"

"idk what is better low steady price and crappy phone and service, or nice phone and service and crappy bill??"

"The only problem...the phones don't work and the cellular service is horrible. I should have trusted my gut when I saw multiple people cancelling their contracts in the store while I was signing up. "

Inexcusable delay:
"Even the employees admitted to me that their customer service is horrible and they have poor cell service even though their coverage maps show differently."

Sample Test Question Task 1-A-5
Complete this sentence: Upon termination, all obligations are discharged,
A) but rights or obligations based on prior performance or breach survive.
B)
and rights or obligations based on prior performance or breach do not survive.
C) but it does not excuse the causing party from damages resulting in its failure to perform.
D)
but it does not excuse the causing party from damages resulting from Force Majeure.

1 comment:

Deborah Gamble, CPSM said...

The correct answer is: A) but rights or obligations based on prior performance or breach survive.

Cancellation differs from termination as outlined in answer C - a main difference between the two is the ability to claim damages resulting in a failure of a party to perform.

Answer D is a classic case of nonsense confusion. When taking the exam do not let possible answer like this trip you up. 'Force Majeure' makes no sense to be called out in this context. Don't over think the answer or let it confuse you. Quickly throw it out and concentrate on narrowing done the remaining possible answers.