After being in many, many various industries, I have to say that the cell phone industry is the strangest. People get $250 discounts on phones, then complain about having to pay a $175-$200 termination fee. People sign 2-year agreements to get phones with only a 1-year warranty. Then complain about it a year and a half later. Well past their 1-year warranty.
Some people sign 2-year agreements on $50 phones, just to get them for free. Doesn't make much sense, does it?
Why would anyone pay $200 for an MP3 player, and then complain about having to pay $50 for a cell phone, which plays MP3s AND makes phone calls?
I would never go to Comcast (to whom I've been a customer for over 10 years) and tell them, "I've been with you guys for 10 years, can you give me a free high definition TV?" Yet, things like this happen everyday in wireless.
I don't know where the wireless industry is heading. Thankfully, we get choices in wireless. If coverage at my house sucks, I can try at least 3 other carriers to see if they offer better coverage, customer service and cell phones. And it's far from being a monopoly. With that said, it's a brutal industry that makes margins razor thin, and customers are suing about this and that... how phones are causing people to lose their hearing, how termination fees are unlawful, and so on.
If we do away with contracts in wireless (which is what it's looking like), then people will be paying $200 to $600 for phones without contracts, and will be complaining about how much they have to spend on the phones.
It's a lose-lose for cell phone companies.
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