You Can Try a Cell Phone with No Risk

This bit of interesting news from Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine's July edition (page 26):

"Cell phone carriers subscribe to a consumer code, and a key provision is that they give you a trial period -- a minimum of 14 days -- to try out the service (you pay for the calls and there's no cancellation fee if you opt out).  Take advantage of the trial, and be sure you know when the 14 (or 15 or 30) days start and end."

I never knew this.  I thought once you went with a cell phone company, you were stuck.  Good information to know!

Comments

[FMF]

Testing my comments. Had a report that they didn't work.

[Nathan Whitehead]

One thing to watch out for: they don't refund your activation fee, which can be large. When I tried out a pair of phones, the activation fee was $40 per phone ($80 total). Different networks might have different fees. It was also a hassle, since they charged me the cancellation fee and only with prodding and several phone calls mentioning their contract conditions would they take it off. I don't recommend this route; find a friend and try out their phone instead.