cancel a phone number, move committment to a different number in my account

i fell for the buy one get one free scheme from AT&T. They used my old number to attach a commitment for two years, (the number i made very clear that i was going to cancel in the future) so when i wanted to cancel that number I found out i cannot till i pay off the commitment. I just wanted to switch the loan to another phone line and from India to Pakistan to south america to canada to lord knows where, no one had the authority to do this for me. SOOOO i am stuck with *.* years of a service fee on a phone i no longer use.... unless i pay AT&T $***. So much for the buy one get one free. A customer over ** years, and this is how I am treated. One particular ATT representative lied to us about our code number. I would change in a heart beat but I am not sure it would be any better with another carrier. Word to anyone out there considering ATT, buyer beware use anyone else but ATT.