LetsTalk - Free Cell Phones? Whats the Catch?
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LetsTalk.com is an online commercial entity that offers cell phones and wireless contracts via the most popular wireless cell phone services. They give substantial discounts on cellular phone purchases to first time wireless customers. A phone that might cost you a couple of hundred dollars through your local wireless dealer (after rebates and discounts) might be FREE through LetsTalk.com. In some cases, they claim to pay you for buying a phone along with a new service contract.
LetsTalk - Free Cellular Phones? Whats the Catch?
So what's the catch? Can you really get a smart phone that retails for hundreds of dollars through LetsTalk for free? The short answer is Yes. However, before you jump to conclusions and head off to purchase that new cell phone, please read on because there is a catch.
How LetsTalk Works:
LetsTalk deals directly with the Wireless Phone companies and receives a commission on each sale of a service contract to first time Wireless customers. In order for LetsTalk to receive payment for the service contract sales they have made, the customer must be established (locked in) for a given duration of time. After all, a customer can cancel service and the wireless phone company would be paying LetsTalk for a service contract sale that is no longer valid. So in essence, in order for LetsTalk to make it's money from the wireless companies, the wireless customer must be subscribed for a given amount of time.
The Catch:
This is where the catch comes in. Many of the high end smart phones offered at LetsTalk would cost a customer hundreds of dollars even after the mail in rebates offered by the wireless company. Yet in many cases, these phones are offered for free or in some cases LetsTalk will even give you money back for purchasing through them. The catch is that this is that you have to pay up front and then get refunded via a LetsTalk mail in rebate in addition to the current rebates offered by the wireless carrier. In many cases, the rebate cannot be mailed in (or postmarked) for four months after you have purchased the phone and wireless service contract. Then it can take up to another two months to have your rebate reviewed and processed. So if you purchased a phone and wireless service contract today, you can not expect to get your LetsTalk rebate back for up to six months.
Conclusion:
Although you can expect to get a better deal on a new cell phone from LetsTalk than any of your local wireless providers, you should note that you'll have to sit out the long waiting period before getting refunded. LetsTalk has a solid reputation and those who follow their strict rules regarding the rebates are always rewarded with the refund. If your a penny pincher like me, LetsTalk can be well worth the wait to be refunded. After all, they offer some of the best deals on those fancy smart phones.
