This is just a reminder that as of 1/1/10, Sprint is changing their contracts to add a “Regulatory Charge” of 20 cents per month. Despite the name, this is nothing but an increase in your monthly plan cost, as it is not a consumer tax nor is it required by law. Because of this voluntary fee hike, you can now cancel your Sprint contract without an early termination fee (ETF). You must do this within 30 days of notification (check your billing statement).

After some early pushback, it appears that most Sprint reps are now aware of this legitimate out. Commenter Stephan also shared a handy script that has been used successfully by several readers:

“Hello. I’m calling about my current contract with Sprint and the new 40 cents per line regulatory charge that Sprint will be introducing this January. The latest Terms & Conditions contract I signed with Sprint was in [year], and under that contract, it specifically states that as a Sprint customer, I have the right to terminate my contract without paying an early termination fee in the event that Sprint makes a material change to its agreement with me, and so long as I notify Sprint of my desire to do so within 30 days of such a change. This new 40 cent per line regulatory charge constitutes a material change to the Terms & Conditions agreement I signed, and therefore, I would like to exercise my right under the agreement to terminate my contract without any early termination fee.”

A few testimonials:

I called today read the script that Stephan wrote and it was like magic.. she didn’t argue just said.. ok sir.. but you will need to wait to cancel till Jan 1st 2010 and forward me to her managers voicemail to state thats what I want to do.

The beauty of information on the Internet! I ordered two Iphones with At&t last week and placed my call today with Sprint. The call took maybe 35 seconds. All I mentioned was “I want to terminate my contract and port both of my numbers to another carrier because of the 2010 regulatory charge”. The sprint rep said “you’re certainly entitled to do that sir”. Then, he gave me a confirmation number which waived the EFTS on both lines. The end. I already ported one Iphone today, working great.

I gave the spiel that Stephan scripted out above, and it worked like a charm:) I was put on hold for about 10 minutes and when the rep came back on the line she told me that I was set up to terminate on January 26th. (This is because my billing cycle starts and ends on the 26th. They cannot prorate, they set the termination at the end of your current billing cycle so keep this in mind.)

If pressed, you should always focus on the fact that they made a material change to your contract and by law you are allowed to cancel without a ETF. Don’t get sidetracked by your satisfaction with your phone, coverage, etc. If you don’t get satisfaction immediately, either ask for a supervisor or simply hang up and talk to another customer service representative. Good luck!

Update: Instead of *2, you may find it faster to call Sprint’s Cancellation (formally called “Retentions”) department directly if you run into long hold times. Try 888-567-5528, 800-235-1185, or 888-211-4727.

Reader Bill offered a helpful comment about the promotional site FeedItForward.restaurant.com where you can give and receive free $10 certificates from Restaurant.com until Christmas.

However, I wanted to point out this offer is tricky in that you have to weigh the benefit of getting a $10 certificate for free or simply buying a $25 certificate for $2, since most restaurants have a minimum purchase requirement and you can only use one certificate per visit.

The way the math works out, if the restaurant requires the same minimum purchase of anything over $12, you’re better off buying the $25 certificate for $2. Let’s say you want to spend just $15. With the $10 certificate, the final net cost is $5. With the $25 certificate for $2, the final net cost is only $2.

A common scenario is a $20 minimum purchase for the $10 certificate, and a $35 minimum purchase for the $25 certificate. As long as you plan on spending at least $35, then you’re much better off buying the $25 certificate for $2. Getting $20 worth of food would end up with a net cost of $10. But getting $35 worth of food would only end up with a net cost of $12 ($2 for the $25 certificate + $10).

Run a search at Restaurant.com first to find a place you like and carefully note their specific restrictions.

Visit any page inside the Amazon.com Video on Demand store (such as Transformers 2) and click on the link below the preview that says “Have a promotion code? Redeem a gift card or promotion code” and enter AVODGIFT.

While intended to be towards a VoD rental purchase, when I tried basically just increased my gift certificate balance by $4 and you can use it for anything. Credit expires 1/3/10. Enjoy!

Promotional offer valid for a limited time only and subject to change. Promotional offer is valid from 12/23/2009 through 01/03/2010. Your code must be used by 01/03/2010 11:59 PM PST and may be redeemed only for purchase (on ownership or rental basis) of digitally-formatted movies or TV shows then available at Amazon Video On Demand.

For those that missed out, I just got an e-mail that the CollegeAdvantage 529 $25/$50 referral offer deadline has been extended to December 18th, 2009.

Deadline for Refer a Friend program is extended to December 18, 2009! Earn $50 for you and $25 for your friends and family!
You now have a few more days to earn a $50 referral bonus for your CollegeAdvantage account. You can earn a referral bonus when your friends and family open a CollegeAdvantage direct account by December 18, 2009. And they’ll earn $25 just for opening the account! All they need is your CollegeAdvantage referral number (which is your account number) and they can easily enroll online at www.collegeadvantage.com to receive the bonus. New accounts must be opened by December 18, 2009 in order to receive the referral bonus.

Under this promotion, college savers can get $25 for signing up (w/ my review), $50 for referring others, and $25 for starting up automatic deposits. Altogether, a couple could earn $150 free for their kid’s education this way. If you need it, my CollegeAdvantage referral code is 2439350.

Been thinking about that perfect website idea? GoDaddy.com is offering a 1-year domain name registration for only 99 cents with coupon code BUYCOM99. This is valid for new domain registrations and transfers from other registars only, and not renewals of domains already at GoDaddy.

Register or transfer any available .COM, .US, .MOBI, .BIZ, .NET, .ORG, .CA, .CO.UK and .IN domain for just $0.99!*
Applies to the first year only of new or transfer registrations. This offer may not be used for renewals, bulk registrations, premium domains or Sunrise/Landrush domain registrations. Limited to one order per customer, expiring after 7,500 redemptions or on December 29, 2009 (whichever comes first).

With the holiday flying season underway and me flying out today as well, and wanted to see if I could try out some internet at 30,000 feet. Gogo Inflight Internet is now offering WiFi internet on select Air Canada, Airtran, American, Delta, United, and Virgin America flights. See here for participating aircraft.

Here are some promotional codes that will provide you with one free session of GoGo. They are good once per account. However, supposedly you can sign up with any name and any e-mail address with no confirmation system (no credit card needed either with the code), it seems like they are pretty much offering unlimited free internet until these expire. I hope I can get it to work! Via FlyerTalk.

Expire 12/31/2009
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Expire 1/7/2010
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If you are under a Sprint cell phone contract and want to get out, check your statements with a billing date in December. PhoneNews.com is reporting the the following verbage from Sprint:

Regulatory Charge/Ts&Cs Changes
Effective 1/1/10, the Regulatory Charge will increase to $0.40/line. Visit Sprint Ts&Cs or sprint.com/taxesandfees for details; also effective 1/1/10, the Sprint Terms & Conditions (Ts&Cs) are changing. Please review them carefully at sprint.com or on request.

It would appear that the regulatory charge that Sprint is choosing to pass onto you is connected to the change in T&Cs. This is important because the law states that if a company makes a material change to the contract, then the consumer has the ability to exit the contract without an early termination fee (ETF) if they notify Sprint within 30 days of the notice.

You may terminate each line of Service materially affected without incurring an Early Termination Fee only if you: (a) call us within 30 days after the effective date of the change; and (b) specifically advise us that you wish to cancel Services because of a material change to the Agreement that we have made. If you do not cancel Service within 30 days of the change, an Early Termination Fee will apply if you terminate Services before the end of any applicable Term Commitment.

Since Sprint themselves state that this is a change in the Terms & Conditions, it should be possible to exit your contract without an ETF. They’ll probably make it difficult, and you might need to speak to a supervisor. I did this a few years ago with Verizon, and they canceled my number on the spot and I had to get a new one. But with the ease of number porting nowadays, you might be able to coordinate things so that you can keep your number after making sure you won’t be charged any penalties for canceling.

Added: As to whether this is a “material” change. The .20 increase is NOT some government fee that is passed straight to you. It is NOT required by law. Sprint could choose absorb it into their other costs, or only include it for new customers on new contracts, but they chose to increase it in this way. Think of it this way – 50 million customers times 20 cents per month = $10 million per month in additional revenue.