There are a lot of reasons why someone might want to cancel a mobile phone contract. Usually all you have to do is be sure you are listed as the account holder and call your provider's customer service department. They will more than likely then refer you to a loyalty or retention department to try and keep your business with special promotions.

Whether you want to accept these offers and stay on with you cell phone company or not, of course, is going to depend on your situation. However, the focus of this article is for those who need to cancel a mobile phone contract, no matter the perks offered to stay on, and what you should know before you even call the phone company to do so.

Are you still in your buyer's remorse period? Many companies offer between two weeks and a month for you to try out your cell phone service on a trial basis. This buyer's remorse period allows you to cancel a mobile phone contract with out penalty if you find the service doesn't work for you in any way. Check with your carrier to see how they require you to return any discounted equipment you received when you signed up. Otherwise, they may send a bill for the full retail value and it winds up being too late to then return the equipment for a refund.

Do you want to transfer your cell phone number to another company? The FCC made it so you are allowed to, but each company works differently. First, keep your current service active (it will cancel automatically once your number transfers to the new company) and the bill current, and call the new company you want to transfer your number to. Have your billing account number and password/pin available as the new company will need it to transfer your number. They will check to be sure your number can be "ported" in to their system. Most companies don't charge you to port your number in to their service, seperate from any activation fee they would charge you for setting up service anyway, but be sure whether they do or not. If they do charge a fee on top of an activation fee to port your number in, see if they will waive it.

Be sure of how long it takes the new company to port the number in. They will first have to activate service for you on a temporary phone number so they can have something to port your existing phone number to. Some companies can take a day or two to fully transfer your number in and during that time, people may only be able to reach you at the temporary number, or not at all!

Are you presently under any contract? It seems these days most cell phone companies will put you under contract for just about any kind of change you can make. Cell phone termination fees can be expensive and if you have more than one phone line you need to cancel, they can add up quick! If you are in a situation where you need to cancel a mobile phone contract, you may be able to get out of it without paying any fees if you transfer your cell phone contract to someone else.