Cellphone companies are big on locking you into long term deals that are virtually impossible to get out of without paying a massive fee. A recent Washington Post article describes ways people have tried to get out of their contract without paying the early termination fee. One guy had a friend send Verizon a fake death certificate on his behalf - and that still didn’t work.

The best way to do it seems to be to monitor the random charges they add to your bill.

Sandy Loehman, 27, of Winchester, Va., said she managed to talk her way out of her Verizon Wireless contract, avoiding the $150 fee by reading the fine print on her bill. In April, she noticed the price for receiving a text message from an international carrier had increased 5 cents. Most wireless companies will cancel a contract for free if a billing change negatively affects a customer.

“I argued with five customer-service reps and used a lot of big words,” Loehman said. After she got hold of a supervisor, she threatened to complain to the FCC, the Better Business Bureau and the state’s attorney’s office.

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