Do I really have a 2 month T-Mobile contract?

[justadope]

What is the name of your state? AZ

Signed up to add a third line of service to my T-Mobile Family Plan at Sam's Club thru a T-Mobile authorized dealer. I watched as she carefully put 2 in the space for the length of the term of the contract and I signed the contract. I thought it was nice that she signed me up for a 2 month contract instead of a 24 month contract, must have been new on the job.

Now it is probably safe to assume that she entered 2 years into the T-Mobile computer system and T-Mobile will deny that I have a two month contract rather than a 2 year contract. My question is, am I on firm grounds believing that I have a two month contract or perhaps no contract at all if T-Mobile decides the contract is void on the basis of their rep having made a mistake?

 

[john123456]

What is the name of your state? AZ

Signed up to add a third line of service to my T-Mobile Family Plan at Sam's Club thru a T-Mobile authorized dealer. I watched as she carefully put 2 in the space for the length of the term of the contract and I signed the contract. I thought it was nice that she signed me up for a 2 month contract instead of a 24 month contract, must have been new on the job.

Now it is probably safe to assume that she entered 2 years into the T-Mobile computer system and T-Mobile will deny that I have a two month contract rather than a 2 year contract. My question is, am I on firm grounds believing that I have a two month contract or perhaps no contract at all if T-Mobile decides the contract is void on the basis of their rep having made a mistake?

You are bound by the terms stated in the contract. What does your copy of the contract state?

 

[justadope]

You are bound by the terms stated in the contract. What does your copy of the contract state?

T-Mobile Service Agreement

"INITIAL TERM 2 MONTHS EARLY CANCELLATION FREE OF $200 PER LINE OF SERVICE"

However, elsewhere in the Service Agreement it has the following boilerplate, as opposed to the written in and initialed 2, above:

"You have selected a plan with a fixed service term of at least 12 months. Our fixed term plans are subject to a $200 early cancellation fee".

So the contract is contradictory with the hand filled in space for the initial term (which the customer is required to initial) differing from the boilerplate, non-initialed, statement earlier in the Service Agreement.

So who is likely to win a dispute over this if it came to that?

 

[john123456]

T-Mobile Service Agreement

"INITIAL TERM 2 MONTHS EARLY CANCELLATION FREE OF $200 PER LINE OF SERVICE"

However, elsewhere in the Service Agreement it has the following boilerplate, as opposed to the written in and initialed 2, above:

"You have selected a plan with a fixed service term of at least 12 months. Our fixed term plans are subject to a $200 early cancellation fee".

So the contract is contradictory with the hand filled in space for the initial term (which the customer is required to initial) differing from the boilerplate, non-initialed, statement earlier in the Service Agreement.

So who is likely to win a dispute over this if it came to that?

Poster:

Without reviewing your contract, no one can advise you how to proceed, if at all. Perhaps you are acting a tad prematurely. If you are anticipating a conflict, why not just call up T-Mobile and discuss your concerns?

 

[justadope]

Poster:

Without reviewing your contract, no one can advise you how to proceed, if at all. Perhaps you are acting a tad prematurely. If you are anticipating a conflict, why not just call up T-Mobile and discuss your concerns?

Discuss my concerns? I had enough trouble getting them to agree that I really signed up for a $39.95/mo plan thru Amazon as opposed to a $49.95/mo plan on another line of service. Basically they will say "Our records show ...", well that's nice but here are all the printouts of the transaction, "Our records show ...", finally had Amazon talk to them and they fixed their records. No doubt this will be the same.

How about some simple, free advice on what contract law has to say when a contract is self-contradictory? Would a boilerplate section be considered to have been invalidated by a later hand filled in section? Or would the whole contract be invalidated?

Seems pretty simple to me. Four choices, the contract is void, the contract is for 2 months, the contract is for 12 months or the contract is for the 24 months that might have been intended but nothing in the contract says it is for 24 months.

 

[justadope]

Poster:

Without reviewing your contract, no one can advise you how to proceed, if at all. Perhaps you are acting a tad prematurely. If you are anticipating a conflict, why not just call up T-Mobile and discuss your concerns?

Discuss my concerns? I had enough trouble getting them to agree that I really signed up for a $39.95/mo plan thru Amazon as opposed to a $49.95/mo plan on another line of service. Basically they will say "Our records show ...", well that's nice but here are all the printouts of the transaction, "Our records show ...", finally had Amazon talk to them and they fixed their records. No doubt this will be the same.

How about some simple, free advice on what contract law has to say when a contract is self-contradictory? Would a boilerplate section be considered to have been invalidated by a later hand filled in section? Or would the whole contract be invalidated?

Seems pretty simple to me. Four choices, the contract is void, the contract is for 2 months, the contract is for 12 months or the contract is for the 24 months that might have been intended but nothing in the contract says it is for 24 months.

 

[divgradcurl]

The person made a mistake when they filled out the contract. You knew it was a mistake. Contract law does not generally allow you to take advantage of a mistake in a contract, expecially when you knew, or had reason to know, that it was a mistake at the time the contract was entered into. Chances are a court would NOT hold T-Mobile to the handwritten changes, but would instead modify the contract to more closely align with the agreement that both parties thought they were entering into before the mistake was made -- now, whether that would be a 12 month or 24 month contract, who knows -- but it is very unlikely to be a 2 month contract.

 

[justadope]

The person made a mistake when they filled out the contract. You knew it was a mistake. Contract law does not generally allow you to take advantage of a mistake in a contract, expecially when you knew, or had reason to know, that it was a mistake at the time the contract was entered into. Chances are a court would NOT hold T-Mobile to the handwritten changes, but would instead modify the contract to more closely align with the agreement that both parties thought they were entering into before the mistake was made -- now, whether that would be a 12 month or 24 month contract, who knows -- but it is very unlikely to be a 2 month contract.

To the contrary, nobody ever mentioned the contract term other than what was written in the contract and as an unsophisticated consumer I assumed when it said 2-months that is what it meant. After all I kept reading advice on freeadvice.com "what does the contract say". I've never had a 24-month contract with T-Mobile and my other lines of service all were on month-to-month contracts at the time.

T-Mobile even went to the effort to make certain that I was aware of that specific 2-month contractual obligation by putting it in larger print and requiring me to initial that I had read it and agreed to it.

BTW, it wasn't a "handwritten change" it was a hand filled in blank in the contract that they filled in.

I wish T-Mobile a lot of luck showing that I should have known that they really meant something other than what the contract clearly stated and asking a court to penalize me with a early termination fee for relying on a reasonable, written contract.

Somehow I believe they'll back down.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[divgradcurl]

To the contrary, nobody ever mentioned the contract term other than what was written in the contract and as an unsophisticated consumer I assumed when it said 2-months that is what it meant. After all I kept reading advice on freeadvice.com "what does the contract say". I've never had a 24-month contract with T-Mobile and my other lines of service all were on month-to-month contracts at the time.

But you wrote:

I watched as she carefully put 2 in the space for the length of the term of the contract and I signed the contract. I thought it was nice that she signed me up for a 2 month contract instead of a 24 month contract, must have been new on the job.

Which is it? Are you an "unsophisticated customer" or taking advantage of a mistake made by "someone new on the job?"

However, elsewhere in the Service Agreement it has the following boilerplate, as opposed to the written in and initialed 2, above:

"You have selected a plan with a fixed service term of at least 12 months. Our fixed term plans are subject to a $200 early cancellation fee".

Being that this was inthe contract that you presumably read before you signed, why do you think T-Mobile needs "good luck?"

Hopefully for you, they will back down. But it's not because they don't have a leg to stand on -- of they do, it's because they have some other motive, customer service, not wanting to spend the effort, etc. -- they certainly could make a good case that you should be bound for at least 12 months.