I am looking at verizon and att wireless services and was wondering if they want a deposit form all new customers, or just credit risks. Does anyone know what they require as a deposit and how one might be able to not have to put one down.
Deposit's are only required if a customer doesn't pass the carriers credit standards. Deposits I believe vary by your level of credit and there really isn't a way to get out of paying one if you don't have much credit unless you can get somebody to sign you up for wireless service and then pay them for your bill. From what I understand Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless have higher standards of credit checks while Sprint PCS has the lowest.
Here's how paying for a phone works: You're required to pay the "cost" of the phone at time of purchase. This is reduced by the contract you sign (1 or 2 year, usually). Now, if you have BAD or NO credit, the company will require a deposit, that will be returned (with interest, depending on the company and local laws) after the contract has been fulfilled. This is because the customer has a bad or no reputation for paying bills on time, or at all, for that matter, and the deposit is the company's safety net if you don't make your payments. Now, here's how to deal with deposits. If two inquiries are made by cellular companies in 60 days, heavy inquiring is noted on your credit. Sprint is the most merciful to not making you make a deposit even if you have bad credit. Cingular will change their requirements depending on how many new activations the company wants in a given month. Chances are though, if you're required to deposit for Verizon, same thing with Cingular, same with most companies. I don't know how T-mo is about it. But remember, if you go from company to company checking, it's gonna start hitting your credit negatively. I've heard of deposits ranging as low as $100-no higher than $1000. As a sales rep though, if a deposit's required, 95% chance the sale is just blown out. I think that about covers it. Look around for recent threads on picking up copies of your credit report, what it costs, and such. If you're required to make a deposit, you've essentially been turned down for credit and now have the right within 60 days (I believe) to, at absolutely no cost, receive a copy of your credit report from the major agencies (Equifax, Trans Union, Experian). If you want any of this info verified, or want to know where you can do things like get a copy of your credit report, etc., just ask, if I can't answer, someone on the board should be able to. P EDIT: added the following Other option is to ask the carrier if they have a "NO CONTRACT" option. Cingular offers one, but it requires you to pay full price for the phone (or provide the phone yourself). The full price of the phone is rather exhorbitant compared to what you pay with a contract. From what I've been told, we're the only company that offers "no commitment", but that's also training from people who are trying to make it easier for us to sell Cingular, so you may wish to at least check with other companies.
Am Just coming back from the verizon store after getting a new Samsung SCH T300 with a one yaer contract. Since I also got along a couple of my friends to sign up for this deal we got the $ 99.99 worth of SCH T 300 free and they aso waived off the activation fee ofr us for a One year contract. My friends were clear but due to my credit history not showing up (God only know why ?) I paid a 400 $ deposit which i will get back after a year with 3 % interest. I guess it aint a bad deal especially if I do a balance transfer at 2.99 % APR from my credit card companies.
