cellclients.com: Get out of your cell phone contract or take over someone else’s contract

First published on September 22, 2007

I use my cell phone rather infrequently, so I actually use a pay as you go plan buuuuut, someone e-mailed me about this site and it’s too good of a concept to not mention.

One of the reasons why I don’t want to purchase a monthly plan is so that I don’t get stuck in a contract (with ridiculous termination fees). One of my co-workers was leaving the country and just paid $200 to get out of a Fido contract. Wireless providers allow customers to transfer plans to other people, but the problem is in finding those people!

cellclients.com could very well be the solution, as it connects people looking to get a cell phone plan with people looking to get out of a plan. After all, you aren’t always getting out of a plan because it sucks — it simply might not suit you anymore.

For sellers, the reason for listing your cell phone plan is obvious — no cancellation fees.

For buyers, I can think of a few reasons to use cellclients.com:

Taking over someone else’s contract means that it’s a shorter contract than you would get if you signed a new contract.
You’re saving money by forgoing activation fees (although there might be a transfer fee).
You’re being green by not purchasing a brand new phone, charger, box, accessories, etc.
You have the chance to get a custom plan that might not be available to new customers.
Often, sellers will offer a cash bonus for people who are willing to take over their plans.
You’ll get a good feeling from helping someone else out!

Positive things I’ve noticed about cellclients.com:

You can search by provider, type of phone, and plan details.
There’s a comprehensive FAQ that provides details about things like: the length of time it usually takes to transfer a plan (usually 15 minutes, but up to 2 weeks); transfer fees ($0 for Rogers and Fido, $25 for Bell and Telus); and, whether you can transfer plans across the country so that you change the plan’s number (yes).
There’s no charge for buyers; sellers get to post for free for now, and supposedly $15 in the future (which is much less than the cancellation fee).
There’s already quite a good selection of plans (118 as of September 22, 2007).

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As an alternative, if you’re stuck in a bad plan but want to try and stay with your current provider, try calling them about retention plans. So really, there are two options to get a good monthly plan:

If you already have a cell phone with a monthly plan, call your current service provider and negotiate.
Check out cellclients.com to transfer your plan to someone else or to take over someone else’s plan.

This entry is filed under Telephony, Vancouver / BC / Canada and written by Peter Keung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

8 Responses to “cellclients.com: Get out of your cell phone contract or take over someone else’s contract”

September 24th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Julia says:

I heard a news report about this issue the other day – the conclusion they drew was the only sure fire way to get out of your contract was to fake your death. Hahaha. This website sounds like a much better idea….
March 29th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Kristy888 says:

Although this is an easy and cheap escape route for some, don't forget this: when phone companies change their terms, customers usually get a limited time to exit a contract without incurring a termination fee. Make sure you read notices from companies so you are aware of these opportunities – if you want out, that is.
March 29th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Kristy888 says:

Just saw this site mentioned last Wednesday evening on CBS 2 News. They claim to be able to help you break your cell phone contract. Anybody have any feedback about it?

www.CellPlanDepot.com
January 16th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Jim says:

I moved out of Ottawa, and took my cell with me, and while out of Ottawa I paid a 17.50 ‘hold’ fee while the phone sat idle. Moved to Kenora Ontario where solo has service, but is unable to change me to a local number. They have been totally unable to help me with my scenario, and I want to ‘transfer’ to someone else, perhaps in Ottawa, or where solo service is available. I look forward to getting assistance/help in resolving my situation, and hope I will find it here.
August 31st, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Tegs says:

I need to get out of my Bell Plan as i’m moving to Winnipeg. Its got less than a year on it. Its not a bad plan: 200 minutes long distance, 200 day minutes unlimited texting and unlimited evenings and weekends (evenings start at 6:00pm) for about $50.00 a month. Anybody have any ideas?
January 7th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Julie says:

I tried Cell Clients and was disappointed. The website offers very little support beyond the initial email on how to improve your ad (which was not that great). In over 30 days, I found their online help was only online once, they do not respond to messages left on their online support site or voicemails left on their automated answering service. While they supposedly screen prospective plan buyers to make sure they are serious, I have had three interested buyers who suddenly disappeared. Not sure this website is all its cracked up to be, although I am sure with some attention to customer service, it could be.
March 5th, 2010 at 6:22 am
Shawn says:

I’ve replied to several people on this site and have not gotten one response back. Is it possible that these are super old adds?
May 17th, 2011 at 10:10 am
Allison says:

I went on cellclients.com. They say: "30 day success guaranteed!" right across the top and right there in their terms and conditions it says: "CellClients.com does not guarantee that Leave customer will successfully get out of his/her contract by placing an ad on CellClients.com."

And they charge a "one-time" $20 fee to place an ad to get out of a contract, that, after three months of unsuccess, the ad is taken down until a new payment of $20.

This jsut sounds like a bunch of horse crap to me.