Everyone knows that cell phone contracts can get out of hand. There are contract fees, internet fees, upgrade fees, and even fees to end a contract. One Chicago man took his efforts to get out of his contract to an extreme level. After learning that he would have to pay $175 to get out of his Verizon Wireless contract, Corey Taylor faked his own death. He created a fake death certificate and had a close friend fax it. Unfortunately for him, Verizon eventually caught on, but he still feels that his extreme efforts sent a message to phone companies about how much customers hate the hidden fees in contracts.
Another Verizon customer took on another tactic: finding a loophole. After being told she would have to pay $150 to end her contract, Sandy Loehman read all of the fine print of her bill, looking for a way out. She found what she was searching for when she read that the price for receiving text messages from an international source had gone up by five cents. Generally, phone companies will cancel phone contracts if a change in charges has a negative impact on the customer, so Loehman argued with five different Verizon representatives until they agreed to waive the cancellation fee.