Expert: DebiN - 3/28/2010

Question
Originally an Alltel customer, I was suckered into staying with Verizon after the take over, by believing that Version would continue to honor Alltels contract with me. After3 years of paying 96.00 for my services and extras like clock work with Allele, I get my 1st Version bill, 587.00. My plan is unlimited everything, at a set rate. I battled with Verizon for 3 months, getting further behind, ending with my service disconnected, 3,893.26 balance due, plus 200.00 for breaking the contract by not paying on time, and a phone that I just dearly loved, now useless. I have heard that my Moto Q9c can be "unlocked" (Released from Verizons clutches) so that it can be used with a different carrier. My phone doesn't require a sims card, or anything very complicated, just its freedom. Is this true? Can you tell me how to rescue my phone?

Answer
A couple of things that concern me: I'm assuming that the reason that your bill changed is because after a certain amount of time, you needed a new phone and you had to now contract with Verizon to get the new phone at the lower cost and start a new 2 year agreement. If during the 3 year period with Verizon, you never changed your previous Alltel plan or got a new phone through Verizon, then your bill should have stayed the exact same price each month and you would not have an early termination fee at all. The $200.00 fee is an Alltel termination fee and once you contracted with Verizon, you should have been under contract with them and if you terminated early from that contract, the cancellation penalty would have been $175.00 minus $5.00 for every month under service. I'm curious to know what your situation was. The unlimited plan was $99.99 (is now $69.99 sadly $30.00 less) and the unlimited data is $30.00 and unlimited text is $20.00. So if you had unlimited everything, the total cost each month should have been $150.00 pre-tax and likely an $18.00 upgrade fee. If you were also charged for the phone on that first bill, then that would have been added. They also can't charge you for not paying on time (the $200.00 fee is early termination from Alltel). So, from Alltel to Verizon, once you moved to a Verizon contract with a new phone, your bill should have gone from $96.00 to $150.00 and that was it.

Anyway, in answer to your question. You can pay someone to unlock your phone and flash it to another CDMA carrier. The other CDMA carriers are Sprint, MetroPCS, Cricket, for example. It won't work no matter what with AT&T or T-Mobile or the Nextel side of Sprint. If the phone is more than 2 years old, don't bother doing this, but if it's relatively new, then you may want to consider it. Be aware of several factors though - since you like the unlimited everything, in order to use all the features of this phone with another carrier, that carrier has to have sold the same model of phone previously. If they haven't and someone flashes it for you, it won't have the full image and things like accessing the internet or MMS messaging won't work. I know you love the phone, but if you don't want any problems, I strongly recommend that you just go to another carrier (like Sprint for example, who now has a $69.99 plan that gives you 450 minutes plus unlimited mobile to mobile with any carrier and unlimited data and text) and they will give you (or charge you a smaller charge) for a brand new Sprint phone that will fully function with Sprint. There are also much better phones that the Q9c that you have. You might want to consider a Droid or some other device like that. If you just want a phone, that's easy and they all mostly all free with a new 2 year agreement.

Let me know if you need more info. Thanks. DebiN