diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/Cell.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/Cell.java
index 0a3f668cf4..528fa2730c 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/Cell.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/Cell.java
@@ -110,8 +110,13 @@ public interface Cell {
 
     /**
      * Set the cells type (numeric, formula or string).
-     * If the cell currently contains a value, the value will
-     *  be converted to match the new type, if possible.
+     * <p>If the cell currently contains a value, the value will
+     *  be converted to match the new type, if possible. Formatting
+     *  is generally lost in the process however.</p>
+     * <p>If what you want to do is get a String value for your
+     *  numeric cell, <i>stop!</i>. This is not the way to do it.
+     *  Instead, for fetching the string value of a numeric or boolean
+     *  or date cell, use {@link DataFormatter} instead.</p> 
      *
      * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the specified cell type is invalid
      * @throws IllegalStateException if the current value cannot be converted to the new type