I have used Alltel for about 5 yrs now. They co check your credit, but they are not hard to get, and they treat you good. breeze
sprint will take a $25 fee instead of your credit and cap your service at $200 /month. They have some kick ass plans.
I am in the cellphone biz, so I can help you with this. Right now, Sprint is the easiest, unless you burnt them before, you will be approved with no deposit. The max they would ask for is $125 down, but they have loosened the credit requirements even more. Nextel requires up to $500 per line. Cingular has a plan for no credit/bad credit with just $125 deposit for one line. Phone may cost up to $150 for base model. Verizon is still tough with credit, up to $1000 may be required for bad credit. AT&T may require $400 for bad credit deals. Prepaid is an alternative and Verizon and AT&T offering attractive nationwide prepaid deals. Prepaid only makes sense if you are a casual phone user. Hope this helps.
Word of warning about Sprint - they are putting overdue accounts in collections with Gulf States. They are going after people who have never done business with them! They are putting derog entries on their credit reports without making sure it is the right person, and refusing to take it off. Do a quick search and you will see some of the posts. breeze
I got a Nextel last December. My credit wasn't all that great overall, but the last two years have been good. Oh yeah, they checked Trans Union. I required no deposit either. Verizon IS tough though. They wanted $800 down 3 years ago when I tried to get a new phone. I told them to kiss my butt.
I think that Sprint is the easiest. They have restructured everything to make it easier for people to get a cell phone. I guess they've realized that not everyone has good credit (finally!). You can walk in and walk out w/ a phone for $200 out the door. Forget about Verizon. They are still pretty strick on credit. That's probably why they have no customers! AT&T might be an option. My friend got a phone through them (1 collection and 3 or 4 positives) and she required no deposit but had a cap of $200. Forget about MCI Worldcom. I currently have them and wish I never did business with them. Reason being is because they are a reseller of service for Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T. They suck BIGTIME! Also (and this was the best) this co-worker of mine went to try and get a cell phone through them and they required that she put up a $2500 deposit! YES...TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED! She filed for BK a few years ago. Only reason why I stick with them is due to my easy phone number that I've had for over 2 years now. I have no information on Voicestream or Cingular. Also Voicestream has that new Motorola Personal Communicator that is a cell phone as well: http://commerce.motorola.com/cgi-bi...=229881&prmenbr=126&pager_cgrfnbr=13&zipcode= I'm personally waiting on this motorola product to come out: http://commerce.motorola.com/consumer/QWhtml/a009.html Whoever will be carrying this product is who I will switch to from MCI Worldcom.
RadioShack has the best/easiest in my opinion....no credit check whatsoever on the prepaid.I paid $108 counting taxes for the phone which included the set-up fees and the 1st 22 minutes talk time then I later paid $20 for a card that keeps the phone active for 180 days.Yes this is good for the casual cell phone user(got mine for emergencies only basically.)I think the prepaid phones are a VERY good idea for certain people in the fact that at the end of the month you will not be surprised by a outrageous bill!
I used to sell cellular. Sprint PCS was the most lenient at that time for standard credit. However, Verizon had instant credit. Just need $250 open to buy on a credit card and you're in. Just make sure the rep knows you want instant credit, cuz if they do standard credit and you're denied, you can't do instant credit for 6 months.
>Cingular has a plan for no credit/bad credit with just >$125 deposit for one line. Phone may cost up to $150 for base model. I called Cingular yesterday and the rep I spoke with knew nothing about this plan. Does it have a name?
The name of the plan is called "balance checker" $125 deposit. $125 monthly limit. Pay your bill and you will establish a good record with cingular.
I have sprint: I get 300 anytime minutes local and or long distance for 30 bucks a month. I don't think you can beat ten cents a minute for a cell phone! ==============
break downs: $10.00 = 50 cents per min expires in 30 days $20.00 = 45 cents per min expires in 180 days $50.00 = 40 cents per min expires in 180 days $100.00 = 30 cents per min expires in 180 days as long as you renew within 2 weeks of expiration the minutes will carry over.I realize this is high(per minute usage) but only used sparingly this is by far the most economical cell phone in our family...NO MONTHLY PAYMENTS!!
Qwest will give you 200 weekday and 1000 weekend minutes and free long distance for $30 a month. As long as you have payed your home phone bill on time for a few months they don't bother with a credit check. The bill is consolidated with your home phone.
