Alltel 15 day right to cancel scam

What has happened to the state of business these last 10 years. It seems that in the United States the concept of "Buyer Beware" has been stressed to the limits beyond comprehension. There is little or no protection for the consumer in today's market.

Alltel called me demanding money for a service I never had. In February of this year I decided to try the Alltel service for wireless internet access. While discussing the terms of the contract I was advised, and shown on the paper work I had 15 days to decide if I wanted the service, and had the right to cancel if I was not happy.

So they talked me into 2 Hue phones (one for me and one for my wife) that sadly in my location I kept getting disconnected, so I returned to the store. There they gave me a wireless phone card in exchange for one and a LX phone in exchange for the other and assure me they would work. They did not work. So I returned the wireless phone card for yet another card of the same type. I took it home and yet it did not work, this was all at 12 days. After hours on the phone with customer service, I decided I did not want the service and returned everything as within my 15 day trial service guarantee.

When I went to return the items to the store, I was told that I could not return the phone. Here is the kicker, they said is had 1661 hours of use time on it! I only had the phone 6 days, that is a physical impossibility. 6 days times 24 hours equals 144 hours. And no they did confirm to me on three occasions that is was 1661 hours of call time on the phone. Yet when I called the main office billing showed I only had 190 minutes of use, sadly 188 of those minutes was talking to Alltel customer service. Yet even when the math was shown to the salesperson at the store, they still refused saying I had used the phone for 1661 hours and they could not return it.

So I called the main office, this is where the story gets real good. I informed them I wanted to cancel my contract within the 15 day trial period as stated in the contract and on the web site. They told me I had to return the phone before they could cancel. I told them that I have tried to return the phone and the salesperson refuses. Alltel main office THEN informs me that the location I set up my phone service was ONLY an authorized representative. They then told me they could not tell this representative to take the phone back.

So the scam is on. I have to return the phone to cancel a contract within the agreed time of trial service, but the store just has to refuse to take the phone back. Can you see the scam? Now they have billed me two months of services for $140 and a $200 early cancellation fee. Where is the consumer protection?

The moral of the story is DO NOT CONTRACT WITH ALLTEL. If only two people refuse to do business with Alltel because of this letter than I have at least cost them what they are attempting to charge me. Any more than that would be icing on the cake.