Is Suddenlink charging you a bogus Early Termination Fee? FairShake can help.
An early termination fee is a way for companies like Suddenlink to cover the profit lost when you are no longer their customer. When you sign up for service with Suddenlink, you enter into an agreement where you agree to use their services and pay for them and they agree to provide services. The fine print under the terms and conditions will explain when Suddenlink is allowed to terminate your contract, usually when you don’t pay, and when you are allowed to terminate your contract, usually whenever you want. This is also where you will find information about what your early termination fee is should you exercise that freedom.
Early termination fees from companies like Suddenlink are divided into two categories:
In most cases, an early termination fee is legal so long as it was included in your contract and you were made aware of it. The problem is, sales staff are not required to tell you about it when they tell you about services or when someone over the phone signs you up for a new service. You might not know that you have an early termination fee as part of your contract until it hits you in the face.
You have to read your Suddenlink contract very carefully. In the fine print you will find information on early termination fees.
Suddenlink might not explain clearly that you owe an early termination fee, but their service agreement shows a $200 fee plus charges for any outstanding services and any unreturned equipment. Part of your Residential Services agreement says that you agree that any outstanding fees will be automatically charged to your account as soon as you cancel. This can happen with promotions and offers too, where the disclaimers about higher early termination fees aren’t made clear.
One of the things people complain about the most is that Suddenlink gives you the option of changing your service instead of canceling, and their customer service agents are actually trained to talk you into simply reducing the cost of your monthly bill instead of leaving the company but in so doing they might sneak in a hidden charge like a reactivation fee instead of the early termination fee.
In future, before you sign a contract make sure you know whether or not you have early termination fees, and what they are. Ask your company if you can simplify your contract cancellation fees or maybe ask about prorated cancellation fees instead of flat cancellation fees.
Be advised that you cannot rely on any sales staff to highlight what these fees are. Early termination fees are usually listed in the fine print of your contract and it is up to you to make sure you understand what that contract is and what you will have to pay should you cancel, before you sign up for any service. Knowing what to expect before you cancel a service can save you a great deal of hassle.
Still, there are plenty of times when you cancel within that 14 day window or you were given a lot of misleading information about promotional deals that expire midway through your 2 year contract. For whatever reason, you might still be charged an early termination fee when you shouldn’t be.
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