Do any of the cell phone companies allow you to try out thier service without signing a contract?

[coolred]

My current contract with verizon is up in feruary. I am also going out of town this weekend to visit family. I would love a chance to try out some other carriers to see if they offer good coverage all the way to where i am going. But I don't want to have to sign a contract just to cancel it a few days later if I didn't like it.

I don't even care if they allow incoming calls, as long as I can see how good the coverage is and make a few calls myself, that would be great, and I have no problems with a deposit for the phone. Any idea if any of them do this?

 

[wedi42]

not that i know of, but you can cancel the contract within 7-30 days

edit. my old boss did manage to demo some nextel phones from a dealer/friend of his.
but he knew the guy for years.

 

[JohnAn2112]

Most companies have a return policy. Usually about 15 days or so. The only thing that they usually charge you are the minutes used.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

you have a grace period to return a phone, i know for sprint its 14 days, and they'll just charge you for 'usage' (dunno how much that is.) If you're looking at a GSM carrier, you could always try a pre-paid phone.

 

[mrchan]

i think cingular has a 30 day trial thing.

you can also try the pay as you go stuff, i assume the reception/service is identical.

 

[coolred]

Do you have to buy the phones for the pay as you go, or just pay for the minutes?


I know you can return the phones within a certain period of time. But I assume I will have to go through all the paperwork and whatnot of signing the contract with them, only to have to go through more paperwork to cancel it later if I don't like it. And if I want to try all 5+ carriers ro however many there are, thats a lot of work just to test some phones.