The Fine Print

As with any contract, when you sign up for cellular service, there is plenty of fine print. Being aware of some of the more common clauses found in cellular contracts puts you in a better position to negotiate or choose a better deal.

Activation Fees:

A common "gotcha" is activation fees, charges you incur by signing up for a service and having them turn on your phone. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? That's because it's the equivalent of charging someone to flip a switch. I can't think of too many other businesses that penalize customers for bringing them business.

Most carriers waive activation fees if you sign a contract. What many people don't know is that they will also waive the activation fees if you insist upon it. They want a new customer, and because you have so many other service providers to choose from, most waive the fee because they know the competition will.

Roaming

This is a quick way to run up a big cell bill if you aren't careful. You can get plans that offer no-roaming charges, but be careful; this usually refers to roaming within your carrier's own network and doesn't cover roaming on another provider's network or analog cell sites.

Choose a carrier that doesn't charge for roaming within their own network; most of the big cell companies don't. You should also double check the roaming feature of your cell phone because you may have choices that you can set to prevent inadvertent roaming charges. Often you can choose among the following:

- Only use the (insert provider name here) network

- Analog roaming where available

- Automatic setting

The problem with an automatic setting is that your phone may connect to an analog tower and go into roaming mode even when your provider's network is available. This can happen if the signal from an analog tower is slightly stronger than one from your own carrier's network. Choosing analog roaming may cause the same problem if you wander into an area where there is a strong analog signal. The safest setting is to leave your phone locked to your carrier's network.

Note:To provide greater connectivity, many phones come with default settings that allow automatic choice of roaming. Double-check your setting.

Overtime Charges:

Boo, hiss, everyone hates being charged an arm and a leg for going over your allotted time. Sometimes the per-minute charge is more than double the cost of the per-minute charge on your land phone, so read your contract carefully and get a plan that gives you enough minutes to prevent overcharges without wasting money on minutes that you don't use.

This can take some fine-tuning, but some cell companies allow you to increase or decrease the minutes on your plan as you go. Just be aware that doing so may extend your contract. You also can consider pre-paid service to avoid overtime charges.
Some companies have started to allow consumers to rollover their unused minutes from one month to the next. You can't keep them indefinitely, and there's a limit to how many you can rollover each month, so review your plan. Still, this is a great way to save money and avoid overtime charges.

Early Termination Fees:

Every contract has these clauses. I repeat every contract. This is how cellular companies subsidize all those free phones that they give away. If you don't fulfill the contract you can pay anywhere from $150 to $500 in penalties. There are usually no exceptions to the early termination penalties, even if you terminate because of poor service. This is why the mobile phone industry is such a buyer-beware marketplace.

Most contracts make no exception for poor service, the company's inability to live up to its part of the contract, or even death of the cell phone user. That's right: If you die, your family may have to pay over a hundred dollars to cancel your cell phone service.

Read your contract carefully, and insist on having the details of the plan explained to you. You are responsible for any agreements you sign, no matter how unfair or unethical they are. If you need to cancel a cell contract because the service if poor, discuss it with your cell provider, and if they won't do the right thing, call the Better Business Bureau (BBB), your local newspaper or news program's consumer advocate, or if your state has one, the consumer affairs department.