To Buy or Rent

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The only catch is that customers lose the lifetime free repair warranties that come with rented Bell System phones. Thus, when a customer-owned telephone breaks after the expiration of the warranty, which can last anywhere from 30 to 90 days on units already installed, the hapless subscriber has little choice but to unplug the device and take it to his local telephone company office for servicing. If the telephone is one of the Bell System's early models that does not disconnect from the wall with a modular plug, the customer may have to pay an additional steep charge to have a repairman come out to his house, a good reason to make sure that the phone one buys can actually be unplugged.