Do I need to be approved to get cell phone service?

[Azndude51]

Right now I'm an authorized user with T-mobile on an account under my dad's name. However, I am paying the one bill each month. I want to sign up with a new contract (possibly with AT&T/Cingular or T-mobile) under my name and see if I can get a new free/cheap phone. I heard somewhere that I needed to be approved or something by showing a credit card or paycheck or something? is that true? I'm going to the T-mobile and Cingular stores tomorrow to ask about plans and stuff but I figured I'd get a quicker answer here from you guys who are already on cell plans.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Don't think there's any approval stuff involved

 

[Sphexi]

If you're looking for a post-paid account (contract) then yes, there's generally a credit check involved. Because they're giving you a phone, without a limit for the most part, they need to know that you pay your bills and whatnot. If you wanted you could rack up a few thousand dollars in a month, if you have bad credit then they wouldn't ever see that money. Also, you need to be 18 in order to sign the contract. If you're at least 19 or 20, and have a credit card or a student loan you're paying off, and no bad credit, you'll likely be approved. They're pretty easy to get through for a single phone.

Prepaid accounts don't require contracts or credit checks.

 

[Azndude51]

Originally posted by: Sphexi
If you're looking for a post-paid account (contract) then yes, there's generally a credit check involved. Because they're giving you a phone, without a limit for the most part, they need to know that you pay your bills and whatnot. If you wanted you could rack up a few thousand dollars in a month, if you have bad credit then they wouldn't ever see that money. Also, you need to be 18 in order to sign the contract. If you're at least 19 or 20, and have a credit card or a student loan you're paying off, and no bad credit, you'll likely be approved. They're pretty easy to get through for a single phone.

Prepaid accounts don't require contracts or credit checks.

Thanks for the info. I'm 19 but don't have a credit card (I only ever use my Visa check card to buy stuff) and never borrowed any money (such as a student loan) so I don't think I even have a credit history. However, I do have a job and would be able to and currently do pay the monthly bill. Do you think I would be able to get a contract on my own? Or do I actually have to have a credit history?

 

[KPACOTKA]

Right get pre-paid service. No approvals, no credit check, no address and name check. You can pay by cards which you can buy for cash.

 

[Azndude51]

Originally posted by: KPACOTKA
Right get pre-paid service. No approvals, no credit check, no address and name check. You can pay by cards which you can buy for cash.

If I only used my phone for emergencies, then I would. However, I'm a college student so I use my phone all the time, upwards of 500 min a month. Pre-paid would end up being a lot more expensive than what I'm paying now (~$45/month) even if I go with the cheapest per minute as possible which is $.1/min for T-mobile and Cingular for example. Plus I text over 200 messages a month so that would be another $20+ a month since it's usually $.1 per text for Prepaid.

If I can't get a plan myself, I guess I'll just stick to the one under my dad's name. It's not that big of a deal anyway. I might just talk to my parents and get them to add me to a credit card so I can start my credit history while I'm still in college.

 

[Double Trouble]

Originally posted by: Azndude51
If I only used my phone for emergencies, then I would. However, I'm a college student so I use my phone all the time, upwards of 500 min a month.

Quit yappin' so much on your phone and get back to studying!

Unless you have bad credit, I don't think you'll have trouble signing up for a plan. "No credit" is not the same as "bad credit" in all scenarios, this being one of them. They are usually more than happy to hook up students and younger folks because that's where the profit tends to be.

 

[Sphexi]

Originally posted by: tagej

Originally posted by: Azndude51
If I only used my phone for emergencies, then I would. However, I'm a college student so I use my phone all the time, upwards of 500 min a month.

Quit yappin' so much on your phone and get back to studying!

Unless you have bad credit, I don't think you'll have trouble signing up for a plan. "No credit" is not the same as "bad credit" in all scenarios, this being one of them. They are usually more than happy to hook up students and younger folks because that's where the profit tends to be.

That's not always the case, it usually depends on the carrier. Verizon is a little more picky, if you're young and have no credit history, the worst that they'd ask for is a deposit of like $125 or something. Paying bills doesn't really matter, if your name isn't the one that it's under. Even being an approved user doesn't mean anything, since it's not your credit that's being used for it.

Sprint USED to just let anybody sign up, no problem. They had a really complicated set of rules and deposits, and nobody really understood it, not even them. So pretty much anybody could sign up for Sprint and get it, not any more.

I don't really know about Cingular or T-Mobile, at least not yet really. I'd recommend going into a Verizon store, explain to them the situation, and maybe bring some of your current cell bills and maybe your credit card statement showing that you pay the bill. Talk to a rep and you'll probably be approved without a problem.

 

[akshatp]

If you fail the credit check, they will ask you for some kind of deposit.... They release this after you pay your bills on time for a few months...

 

[intogamer]

Originally posted by: Azndude51

Originally posted by: KPACOTKA
Right get pre-paid service. No approvals, no credit check, no address and name check. You can pay by cards which you can buy for cash.

If I only used my phone for emergencies, then I would. However, I'm a college student so I use my phone all the time, upwards of 500 min a month. Pre-paid would end up being a lot more expensive than what I'm paying now (~$45/month) even if I go with the cheapest per minute as possible which is $.1/min for T-mobile and Cingular for example. Plus I text over 200 messages a month so that would be another $20+ a month since it's usually $.1 per text for Prepaid.

If I can't get a plan myself, I guess I'll just stick to the one under my dad's name. It's not that big of a deal anyway. I might just talk to my parents and get them to add me to a credit card so I can start my credit history while I'm still in college.

See you wouldn't want them to add you as an authorized user again on a CC... because you wouldn't build up any credit then

 

[jupiter57]

Originally posted by: tagej

Originally posted by: Azndude51
If I only used my phone for emergencies, then I would. However, I'm a college student so I use my phone all the time, upwards of 500 min a month.

Quit yappin' so much on your phone and get back to studying!

Unless you have bad credit, I don't think you'll have trouble signing up for a plan. "No credit" is not the same as "bad credit" in all scenarios, this being one of them. They are usually more than happy to hook up students and younger folks because that's where the profit tends to be.

Sounds about right!

Many moons ago, my daughter, still a student in High School, got approved for a Cell phone, even though she had no job nor credit history.
A year or so goes by, I decide that I could use one also. Go to the provider, fill out all the paperwork, and when they ran a credit check, I was turned down for service!
I had been dealing strictly in cash for several years, Farm paid for, etc. but come on!
The guy taking my order told me that if I just had a credit card, even if it had no balance, I would have been approved!
I don't use Credit Cards, so I declined.
Went to another provider who signed me up, but they made me put down a deposit!

 

[Azndude51]

Originally posted by: intogamer

Originally posted by: Azndude51

Originally posted by: KPACOTKA
Right get pre-paid service. No approvals, no credit check, no address and name check. You can pay by cards which you can buy for cash.

If I only used my phone for emergencies, then I would. However, I'm a college student so I use my phone all the time, upwards of 500 min a month. Pre-paid would end up being a lot more expensive than what I'm paying now (~$45/month) even if I go with the cheapest per minute as possible which is $.1/min for T-mobile and Cingular for example. Plus I text over 200 messages a month so that would be another $20+ a month since it's usually $.1 per text for Prepaid.

If I can't get a plan myself, I guess I'll just stick to the one under my dad's name. It's not that big of a deal anyway. I might just talk to my parents and get them to add me to a credit card so I can start my credit history while I'm still in college.

See you wouldn't want them to add you as an authorized user again on a CC... because you wouldn't build up any credit then

According to this MSN article, adding my name to a parent's credit card does help build a good credit history especially since my parents already have excellent credit.


I wasn't able to go to the cell phone stores today since I had to work extra hours, but when I do I'll see if they I can get my own account with a deposit or something.

 

[xgsound]

That MSN article says it will count to your credit only if the CC company reports all authorized users and most only report married authorized users that way. It's the same with a loan. A loan with a co-signer might count to your credit with that lender, but even if it does, not all companies accept it as your credit reference.


/old guy advice Get your own and do it yourself whenever possible. If you get your own card or start a prepaid CC account, that will count with everyone all the time. That might be sufficent to get your own cell phone in your own name without a deposit. Check with the cell provider you want to use and see what they need. Just be sure to pay it off every month. Credit is an attractive trap that does sneak up on many people and hit them hard. /end old guy advice


Jim

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: akshatp
If you fail the credit check, they will ask you for some kind of deposit.... They release this after you pay your bills on time for a few months...

That's how I got my first cell phone way back in the day, almost 10 years ago. Whoa!

Who knows you might get approved with or without a deposit, there's only one way to find out.

 

[Azndude51]

Originally posted by: xgsound
That MSN article says it will count to your credit only if the CC company reports all authorized users and most only report married authorized users that way. It's the same with a loan. A loan with a co-signer might count to your credit with that lender, but even if it does, not all companies accept it as your credit reference.


/old guy advice Get your own and do it yourself whenever possible. If you get your own card or start a prepaid CC account, that will count with everyone all the time. That might be sufficent to get your own cell phone in your own name without a deposit. Check with the cell provider you want to use and see what they need. Just be sure to pay it off every month. Credit is an attractive trap that does sneak up on many people and hit them hard. /end old guy advice


Jim

Thanks for the advice. Whenever I get around to getting my own CC, what happens if I never spend any money on it? Is there a minimum or something that I have to spend on it a month?

 

[alimoalem]

my friend had no credit history and he got a cingular plan. they had him give a $500 deposit though. T-mobile didn't ask anything when he changed plans. same with metro, i think. he's had like 4 phone services in the last 6 months...don't ask.