Picking a Cell Phone Plan in Washington, DC
There is a cell phone plan to suit everyone these days, some are offered by companies you know and others by companies you’ve never heard of. There are family plans, individual plans, one-to-three year contracts, no contracts, free minutes after 7 pm, free minutes after 9 pm, prepaid cell phones, rebates on fancy phones, or simple phones that are free by signing a one or two-year service contract. With all the mind-numbing choices out there, the question becomes: what cell phone plan do you choose, and why do you choose it?
It’s advised that you conduct thorough and in-depth research on your own before you decide which cell phone plan is for you because the descriptions, set-ups and fine print are pretty tricky. You can go into the store of an independent dealer that carries a variety of cell phone plans from different companies, but the salesperson often oversimplifies things and you may be surprised later on by something they didn’t cover. So is it better to physically visit multiple stores, or do your comparisons on the Internet?
It’s recommended that you do both, but you may want to start by writing a short list of the features that are the most important to you. Don’t forget questions about penalties for early cancellation or late payment. If you fall even a couple of months behind on your cell phone bill, you run the risk of your service being cancelled and losing your phone number. And once you lose your phone number, there’s no getting it back.
The best ways to do research are to actually go to cell phone stores that are owned by major companies like Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, etc. (try the three largest in the Washington, DC. area), so you can talk with a salesperson face-to-face and have all your questions about a particular cell phone plan answered. Using the Internet to get feedback from other customers about the type of service they are receiving is also a good idea.
Also, bear in mind how trouble-free prepaid cell phones can be. They may be a bit more expensive than other cell phone plans, but there are almost no surprises. You pay what you can afford as you go along, and the good news is that they are currently available with almost all companies.
