Unilateral contracts that give the advantage to the corporation are fast becoming the norm in this country. Almost every contract you sign these days has a mandatory binding arbitration clause, meaning that you are signing away your right to sue when you put your signature on the line. Most contracts give the company the right to change everything without notice. . . including the expected terms that may have enticed you to sign in the first place.

I would say contact the Better Business Bureau in the area and complain to them. . . but they did me absolutely no good in a complaint against a major on-line video rental giant. I guess I signed up for unlimited monthly rentals that the company has the right to limit by taking as long as they wish to check them in and send them out! BBB felt that they had satisfied my questions . . . ignoring one of the major issues I had addressed in my complaint.

I would write to the founder/president/chairman of the company and ask why they can not provide a little more flexible customer service. . . especially for such long term and loyal prepaid customers. Ask them questions that can not be answered by a form letter . . . that will either force them to respond with a more personally tailored repsonse, or ignore you completely!

However, I bet if you checked your contract, you would find you have agreed that no substitutions will be made -- ever! Only if there is nothing stating or implying this in the contract would you have any legal recourse. If you look a little closer, I bet you find other provisions that could lead to disappointment too. I make service providers bid and compete for my business . . . why give them money before they give you service?