Nostalgia aside, this bump in prices constitutes a materially adverse change to your contract which means that extra dime they're charging you for that text means you don't have to pay the $175 early termination fee if you want to bail and head to the next, less-evil carrier.
A couple things to note:
1. You can't have a text messaging package/bundle. If you have one, cancel it.
2. When you call to cancel your account, cite the text messaging hike as the reason.
3. Like my experience with Verizon, I'm sure they're going to try to make you feel cheap and stupid for canceling over a lousy dime per message. Remain firm. They have to let you out. And if it's not a big deal, why are they bother with the rate hike?
4. This may be a good way to negotiate a better deal on your plan. See what they can give you as far as retentions go.
5. There are a few more significant steps/details you should check out over at Consumerist.
Good luck. And if anyone decides to jump ship, please shoot me an e-mail/leave a comment and let me know how it went.
(I also covered this as a tip on my other site, LivSimpl.)
Death Star/AT&T logo courtesy of Gizmodo.
