A service contract is often offered with a clock attached. The offer is good only until the end of the visit, or only if you sign today. A deadline like that is a sales tool, and you are allowed to ignore it long enough to read what you are being asked to sign.
Ask for the full text
Ask for the complete contract, not a brochure or a summary sheet. If the seller gives you a page of highlights, ask for the document those highlights are supposed to describe. A printed copy you can keep is better than a screen you can only scroll through once.
Compare the offer with the paper
Write down what the seller said about coverage, price, waiting periods, and cancellation. Then find each statement in the contract. Any promise that is not in the printed terms should be treated as unconfirmed until it is written into the contract or confirmed by the provider in writing.
Check the time limits
Find the waiting period, the money-back period, and the term length, and make sure you understand when each one starts. A deadline at the counter does not change those clocks. Read them on the paper, not on the sales sheet.
Ask for time to review
Say that you want to read the contract at home and come back with questions. A reasonable seller will accept that. If the offer disappears the moment you ask for time, that tells you something about the offer, and you have lost nothing by asking.
Watch for these signs
Be cautious if the seller refuses to give you the contract text, insists on a signature before you read anything, describes a benefit the paper does not mention, or says that a term will be fixed later. Each of those is a reason to slow down. Ask the seller to write any promise into the contract, or to leave it out of your decision.
Compare before you commit
Leaving the desk to compare contracts costs you nothing except a little time. Some providers publish a sample contract you can read before any sales visit, and our list of providers that publish a sample contract can help you find those. If a seller will not give you the text at all, you are free to walk away and choose a different provider.
This is a general reading guide
This article describes common ways to review a service contract before you sign. It is not legal advice. If you have a dispute about a signed contract, a licensed attorney in your state can read the document with you and explain your options.