Why Is Getting A Phone So ****ing Obnoxious?

[Consequence_9]

So I've been trying to get a palm pre plus since the day it came out & I've run into roadblocks every step of the way. I'm a student & I've recently moved to go to school. Now this is a pretty common thing, is it not? So I figured this wouldn't be that big an issue, but apparently I was wrong.

Day 1: I went to a verizon store in NY with my Ohio state id & my social security number. After waiting around for 45 minutes I was told that I would need my physical social security card and I'd be SOL without it. It just so happened that my card was in the mail and I thought that I'd be safe as long as I had the number but evidently not.

Day 2: My social security card arrives. I go to another verizon store, card in hand, and this time end up waiting an hour and a half. 45 minutes thru the fire alarm goes off because some idiot working on the roof tripped it and no one knew how to shut the damn thing off. After all that I'm told that without proof of my new address (ie a bank statement or utility bill) I'm still SOL. I get home & request that my bank update my address.

Day 3: My bank finally ends up changing my address, but it's late at night so I couldn't make it to a store.

Day 4: I go to the DMV to get my NY permit. In order to do this you need 6 points of identity verification; Including birth certificate & Social security card. After being issued my permit I now have something with my name & new address on it that has been issued by a credible source... the state. So I go back to the verizon store where I wait for ANOTHER hour & and a half. Finally someone there gets the idea to have me call my bank & have them fax a statement over. I call them up & the girl on the line says that's fine & that she'd fax it over right away. At that point I had to go & the sales rep (who was actually very helpful) said he'd continue to work on it. He took down my house number to call me in the morning.

Day 5 (today): I get a call from the sales rep saying that the fax was never received. I call my bank up again, and this time they tell me they don't do statement faxes. Now I'm pretty pissed off at this point & I'm wondering why I was told the first time that it wouldn't be a problem. So my only option left was to request they send a bank statement - slated to arrive in 'up to ten business days'.

What. The. Fuck. Is it really that uncommon for a student to move & need to apply for a phone? It's getting ridiculous. Even the manager at the store was getting pissed because he'd never encountered the credit department needing so much verification. What's worse is that one can request a bank statement be sent to any address, so it's hardly a more credible source than my Ohio state id, Social security card, my school photo id and my NY state permit (which includes my new address).

So here I am, phoneless, pissed off & waiting on my bank to be able to get a phone that I've been saving for for months AFTER waiting almost 4 hours in store. Why is it such a big fucking deal just to get a phone? Why would they even need my social security number, let alone the card itself? I have a credit card, and like any fucking modern person I pay bills online, so why would I need a bank statement? What's worse is that I'd ordered an extra battery & a touchstone & paid extra to have them delivered on day 1, so they're now just sitting there.

*Sigh* sorry for the vent, but I figure maybe some of you can better prepare yourself if you need to get a phone.

Anyone else have some little-phone-shop-of-horror-stories?

 

[Chip]

You should have bought it online. All you need is a credit card.

 

[Consequence_9]

You should have bought it online. All you need is a credit card.

Forgot to mention, I tried that (twice actually) & I got an email saying 'our credit department has requested more info from you plz call 1-800-blah'. So I called & they told me the same thing - that I had to fax them a bank statement or utility bill =/

 

[iprice]

Why do you need ID to get a phone? Am I missing something here? Is this to prevent so-called "terrorists" from acquiring and using mobiles? If they have to go through this they can just go and mug someone and get a phone.

In the UK, you walk into a shop, pick one off a shelf (or get an assistant to get one from the back/locked cupboard/drawer) then pay and leave with your new phone.

Is this for a contract phone?

 

[quote]

I'm confused also. As iprice said, in the UK it's just find and pay. Even when you sign up for a contract phone they don't need much info.

 

[Consequence_9]

Yep, here you can't buy a phone without a contract (well, you can, but then you won't have service & the price will be unsubsidized ie. completely unreasonable/unaffordable). The situation in the states with carriers is really rather sad.

 

[(naw)mcx]

i went in. handed over 150 quid.

came out with an android.

hurrah.

 

[Nova]

I waltzed into the o2 store on 3GS release day, signed some paper and was then instantly tied in to a 2 year contract at the cost of a pretty phone. Maybe it shouldn't be that easy, I'd have reconsidered the whole 24 month thing. That's a whole 2 iPhone revisions.

 

[Squidge]

i went in. handed over 150 quid. came out with an android.

Same here, more or less (It was £137). They asked for the address I wanted it registered to. They didn't seem to care about my address, and they certainly didn't care about proof of address. The fun part is that if you go down the PAYG route, you can even walk into a store, give them some cash, and walk out with credit on your phone. You could be anyone, and the only way of tracing that phone to you is what you wrote on that piece of paper at POS.

 

[Orion4874]

Unfortunately, in the U.S. they check your credit rating if you want a contract phone. Is your credit score good, like at least in the high 600's?
Maybe this is contributing to the problems?
One other thing. Are you sure about the Palm Pre? An uncle of mine bought one but said it was the worst phone he ever bought, buggy as hell, and returned it for a Blackberry, which he loves.

 

[Consequence_9]

Unfortunately, in the U.S. they check your credit rating if you want a contract phone. Is your credit score good, like at least in the high 600's?
Maybe this is contributing to the problems?
One other thing. Are you sure about the Palm Pre? An uncle of mine bought one but said it was the worst phone he ever bought, buggy as hell, and returned it for a Blackberry, which he loves.

Well I essentially have no real credit history (I'm 19, had my bank account for about a year), so yah that could possibly be contributing to it, however I still don't think it should be this hard. And I'm positive about the pre, I've been researching it for months now (in fact I was literally counting the days until the plus came out since it was announced). It would seem those unsatisfied with it are in a minority. What about it didn't he like? I personally really dislike blackberries, so I guess it goes both ways. Also, I hear webOS has improved leaps & bounds since the earlier versions, and updates are pretty steady.

 

[Orion4874]

Unfortunately, in the U.S. they check your credit rating if you want a contract phone. Is your credit score good, like at least in the high 600's?
Maybe this is contributing to the problems?
One other thing. Are you sure about the Palm Pre? An uncle of mine bought one but said it was the worst phone he ever bought, buggy as hell, and returned it for a Blackberry, which he loves.

Well I essentially have no real credit history (I'm 19, had my bank account for about a year), so yah that could possibly be contributing to it, however I still don't think it should be this hard. And I'm positive about the pre, I've been researching it for months now (in fact I was literally counting the days until the plus came out since it was announced). It would seem those unsatisfied with it are in a minority. What about it didn't he like? I personally really dislike blackberries, so I guess it goes both ways. Also, I hear webOS has improved leaps & bounds since the earlier versions, and updates are pretty steady.

Yeah he got the Pre when it first came out, last summer I believe, so i'm sure it has improved alot since then. He mainly complained about the phone freezing up and having to turn it off and on. Calls being dropped, that kind of stuff. You could blame Sprint for the dropped calls but that rarely happened with other phones he's had through them.

 

[jmetal88]

Well, judging by your story, Verizon SUCKS.

I got a phone from T-Mobile here in Oklahoma without a credit rating or a bank statement, and they took my SSN without looking at the card. All they did was tack on an extra $5/month charge for my lack of credit history until I switched to automatic payments, at which point they took off that extra charge. Oh, and they actually credit the $5/month charge to your account so you can buy ring tones, games, apps, and minutes with it.

 

[WizardStan]

Walk into store
me: Hi, I want a phone
clerk: Sure, any idea which one?
me: This one
clerk: here's our plans
me: This one is good
clerk: great! It'll take me 5 minutes to activate it.
Needed my drivers license and credit card, but otherwise I was in and out in about a half an hour.

 

[Consequence_9]

to all y'alls that got a phone that easily... you suck ;P =]

I always seem to have the shittiest luck when it comes to phones =[ at least this one isn't made of glass >=[

 

[Consequence_9]

Soooooo I finally got it [and it's amazing]! I would be posting from it, however the forums don't display correctly on it =/

every
post
looks
like
this.
One
word
per
line
lol