Bell iPhone 3G/3GS Cancellation Fees

With the recent release of the iPhone on Bell, customers should be made aware of the cancellation policies for their carrier. In this case, we will take a closer look at Bell.

Below are five sections:

1.) Bell Cancellation Policy

2.) If you are cancelling a Voice Plan before contract maturity

3.) If you are cancelling a Data add-on before contract maturity

4.) If you are cancelling a Voice and Data Combo Plan before contract maturity

5.) Value Packs and Feature add-ons

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1.) Bell Cancellation Policy

When you sign-up for a contract with Bell, that contract allows you a promotional price on a device and a promotional plan that is better than a plan without a contract (in terms of minutes). These contracts usually come in 2 or 3 year terms and if they are broken, you pay a fee because you broke a legally binding contract before its maturity.

There are two different cancellation fees when breaking a contract. There is a cancellation fee for the Service Agreement (Service Agreement Price Adjustment; SAPA) and a cancellation fee for Data add-ons (Data Service Agreement Price Adjustment; DSAPA) only if you break the data contract within the first 12 months of the contract.

For example, a $25 Plan that gives you 150 Minutes, Unlimited Evenings and Weekends would be a Voice (or service) Plan (SAPA). A plan that gives you 500MB of web browsing a data plan or data add-on (DSAPA).

Note:

If you have a Voice plan on your account, the Voice plan of a contract is considered the primary plan of your account. If you cancel the Voice plan, your entire account is cancelled, regardless if you have a Data plan or any other plans/features.

Example 1:

• Having a Voice and Data Combo plan and cancelling the voice portion will cancel the entire account. You will be billed the SAPA and DSAPA.

Example 2:

• Having a just a single Voice plan and cancelling it will cancel the entire account. You will be billed the SAPA.

Example 3:

• Having a Voice plan with a Data plan add-on and cancelling the voice portion will cancel the entire account and you will be billed the SAPA and DSAPA. However in this example, you can cancel just the Data plan and still keep the account active as long as you do not cancel the Voice plan portion. You will be billed only the DSAPA.

Below I will list the cancellation fees for Bell:

2.) If you are cancelling a Voice Plan before contract maturity

A.) Current Voice Plans Subscribed on or after November 4, 2009

• The Service Agreement Price Adjustment (SAPA) is the greater of $100 or $20 per month remaining in your contracted term with a maximum of $400 (plus taxes) and applies to each phone number that you cancel before maturity.

Examples

Voice Plans cancellations

If you have a 3 year voice plan contract that has 31 months left in the contract term and you cancel, your SAPA will be as follows:

• $20 x 31 months = $620
• The maximum charge is $400
• Total Voice Plan Cancellation Fee: $400 plus taxes

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If you have a 3 year voice plan contract that has 3 months left in the contract term and you cancel, your SAPA will be as follows:

• $20 x 3 months = $60
• The minimum charge is $100
• Total Voice Plan Cancellation Fee: $100 plus taxes

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If you have a 3 year voice plan contract that has 11 months left in the contract term and you cancel, your ECF will be as follows:

• $20 x 11 months = $220
• The minimum charge is $100 and the maximum is $400
• Total Voice Plan Cancellation Fee: $220 plus taxes

The same formula applies for 1 or 2 year contract terms as well.

3.) If you are cancelling a Data add-on before contract maturity

A.) Current Data Plans

• The Data Service Agreement Price Adjustment (DSAPA) is a $200 (plus taxes) charge if the data plan is cancelled before contract maturity.

Examples

Current Data Plan cancellations

If you have a 3 year data plan contract that has 25 months left in the contract term and you cancel, your DSAPA will be as follows:

• $200 cancellation fee if cancelled before contract maturity
• The maximum charge is $200
• Total Data Plan Cancellation Fee: $200 plus taxes

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If you have a 3 year data plan contract that has 3 months left in the contract term and you cancel, your DECF will be as follows:

• $200 cancellation fee if cancelled before contract maturity
• The maximum charge is $200
• Total Data Plan Cancellation Fee: $200 plus taxes

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If you have a 3 year data plan contract that has 11 months left in the contract term and you cancel, your DECF will be as follows:

• $200 cancellation fee if cancelled before contract maturity
• The maximum charge is $200
• Total Data Plan Cancellation Fee: $200 plus taxes

The same formula applies for 1 or 2 year contract terms as well.

4.) If you are cancelling a Voice and Data Combo Plan before contract maturity

The SAPA and DSAPA will be applied if the contract is cancelled before contract maturity.

Voice Plans Policy

Current Voice Plans

• The Service Agreement Price Adjustment (SAPA) is the greater of $100 or $20 per month remaining in your contracted term to a maximum of $400 (plus taxes) and applies to each phone number that you cancel before maturity.

Data Plans Policy

Current Data Plans

• The Data Service Agreement Price Adjustment (DSAPA) is $200 (plus taxes) if the contracted data service is cancelled before contract maturity.

Examples

Current Voice Plans/Data Plans cancellations

If you have a 3 year voice and data combo plan contract that has 31 months left in the contract term and you cancel, your SAPA/DSAPA will be as follows:

• Voice Plan portion: $20 x 31 months = $620
• The maximum charge is $400 for the voice plan portion, so you pay $400 plus taxes
• Data Plan portion: $200
• The charge is $200 for the data plan portion because it was cancelled before contract maturity.
• Total Cancellation Fee: $600 plus taxes
  

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If you have a 3 year voice and data combo plan contract that has 3 months left in the contract term and you cancel, your SAPA/DSAPA will be as follows:

• Voice Plan portion: $20 x 3 months = $60
• The minimum charge is $100 for the voice plan portion, so you pay $100 plus taxes.
• Data Plan portion: $200
• The charge is $200 for the data plan portion because it was cancelled before contract maturity.
• Total Cancellation Fee: $300 plus taxes

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If you have a 3 year voice and data combo plan contract that has 11 months left in the contract term and you cancel, your SAPA/DSAPA will be as follows:

• Voice Plan portion: $20 x 11 months = $220
• The minimum charge is $100 and the maximum is $400 for the voice plan portion, so you pay $220 plus taxes.
• Data Plan portion: $200
• The charge is $200 for the data plan portion because it was cancelled before contract maturity.
• Total Cancellation Fee: $420 plus taxes
  

The same formula applies for 1 or 2 year contract terms as well.

5.) Value Packs and Feature add-ons

There are no cancellation fees for any value packs or feature add-ons that are not bound by a contract.

However, any value packs or add-ons that are bound by a contract will have cancellation fees. The only value packs or feature add-ons that come with cancellation fees are value packs or add-ons that include Data plans.

For example:

• $25 500MB Data Plan (1, 2, 3 year terms)

The listed package (among others) will fall under the DECF cancellation policy listed above.