Have you ever been so frustrated with your cell phone that
you wanted to simply chuck it off a bridge?  Nina Roberts,
a student attending Rutgers College in NJ, said she came
pretty close after learning Sprint wouldn't let her out of a
two year contract. I am a Bio major, there are two very
important halls that I am in all day.  Both of which, I get
no service at all. I need out of this contract.

All major carriers such as Nextel, Sprint PCS, Cingular
Wireless, Verizon Wireless, & T-mobile all require a one to
two year cell phone commitment when signing up for their
service. Consumers rarely think about the down side to a
cell phone contract--especially while cell phone merchants
mesmerize you with the latest gadgetry. Although we cannot
dismiss the role of individual responsibility, nor can we
forget our caveat emptor pledge of consumerism. Nina
explained, It really bothered me one day when my mother
called me on my cell and couldn't reach me.  She needed me
to pick up my little brother from school.  He stranded at
school for an hour because my mother was in horrible
traffic.

Nina suggests that is one example and that she had more
instances where her cell service failed to meet her needs on
and off campus.  After calling Sprint, she was told flat out
that she had to fulfill her contract obligation or pay the
hefty early termination fee. Nina said, I wouldn't pay that
fee out of principle, and plus 200 bucks is practically rent
money for me

Recently, Nina learned about a website from a friend on
campus called Celltradeusa.com.   Celltradeusa.com claims
that it has cracked the code of cell phone contracts.  It
almost acts like a dating website. Instead of hooking you up
with the hottest babe or hunk, its match-making service
connects people that want out of cell phone contracts with
people that are willing to take them over.  Very much like
the commercial website, swapalease.com where you can trade
your car lease into someone else's name, Celltradeusa.com
helped Nina get out of her contract through a provision in
the contract called assumption of liability. Essentially,
someone with good credit literally assumes the
responsibility of the remaining months of the contract.

I was a little skeptical because everything seems bogus
these days, but I created an ad on Celltradeusa for my plan
and phone and within hours, people were contacting me to
take over my plan

Celltradeusa.com has encouraged an incentive system to make
these exchanges a win-win for everyone according to Craig
Wurtenberg, co-founder of Celltradeusa.com.

Some people get horrible service and they need out of their
contract. The person taking it over can get a contract with
half the obligation, a cool free phone, and save 35 bucks on
the activation fee. The provider gets the new satisfied
customer. It's definitely a win-win for everyone.

Celltradeusa.com says that its users can post a free
profile, but when they want to unlock their inquiries there
is a one-time non-recurring fee of 19.99.
 
For this Rutgers Bio major, Nina Roberts, Yes, I felt like
throwing my phone in the river, I was going to, I am just
happy now I have a phone that works.