[Infowarrior] - Google double-dipping on Nexus One cancel fees?

[Richard Forno]

Google double-dipping on Nexus One cancel fees?
updated 08:15 am EST, Tue January 12, 2010
Carrier subsidized Nexus One has two ETFs

http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/01/12/carrier.subsidized.nexus.one.has.two.etfs/
Google is making buyers of the subsidized Nexus One pay twice if they  
cancel early, according to the company's own Terms of Sale. The search  
company charges an "Equipment Recovery Fee" of $350 for the smartphone  
if they cancel their service before 120 days have passed. It  
explicitly warns that the fee is above and beyond whatever T-Mobile  
might charge and could result in customers effectively buying the  
Nexus One twice if they leave.

The terms justify the secondary charges as compensating for  
"liquidated damages" to Google when the phone hasn't been in use long  
enough to recover costs. However, T-Mobile's own Early Termination Fee  
is intended to cover those losses and again clouds the issue.

Google hasn't responded to the concerns as of this writing. Unlocked  
Nexus Ones aren't affected by the pricing system.

The secondary fee is a blow to Google's attempts to position the Nexus  
One as a new business model, where the company branding the phone, not  
the carrier, is responsible for sales and support. Others also sell  
phones directly but either leave all cancellation fees to the carrier,  
such as with Apple's iPhone, or else are like Nokia and limit the  
majority of their own sales to full-price, unlocked devices. [via  
Phandroid]