O2 asked for a £300 Deposit :(

[Kardashian]

As some of you may know, I was an idiot when I was younger and took out 2 mobile phones, under the age of 18, and lied.

Anyway, I've turned things around, don't owe any money, have a Student overdraft and everything in place, have a clear credit history (nothing outstanding), I've been told my Barclays I can get a Student Credit Card etc. So yeah. Oh, and I'm currently with T-Mobile on pay monthly, but no longer contracted.

So, I went to take out an iPhone, the £45 a month tariff, 8GB (Free phone).

And, I got rejected. Well, not so much, they wanted a £300 security deposit for 6 months. I'm guessing its either because:

1. I'm young. Apparently, thats bad where credit is concerned
2. My past, eventhough according to the bank, my credit history isn't that bad (They've seen the file I paid £12 for)
3. Apparently, the scoring for the iPhone is higher

Either way, they want £300 before carrying on. Which is over the cost of the half the years contract, up front. So really, I shouldn't even have to pay the contract. They should just take the £300 and knock it off the year/18 months.

Anyway, I've tried taking the contract out under my Dads name, but using my account for the Direct Debit.

He *had* bad credit a few years ago after a messy divorce, but he said he's OK now. CPW said O2 are quite difficult, but I've heard mixed reports.

Anyway, we'll see. Hopefully by Thursday I'll have a new 3G iPhone

 

[bluelondon]

good luck mate

 

[TEG]

You should just pay the 300 Quid and wait to get it back in 6 months. at&t does that here, but it is $200 just in case you disappear or don't pay your bill. It is to cover the phone if you've never had a contract, or haven't been with them before. I had an AT&T PrePaid phone for a year, then went to a contracted phone (switching from TDMA/AT&T Wireless to GSM/Cingular) and Cingular didn't bat an eye since I had a good history with them (or actually the company they bought).

They didn't do this with the iPhone EDGE since it was unsubsidized, but the new one is, so it is just to cover their bases if you decide to skip out, and it usually will be applied into the ETF.

TEG

 

[Kardashian]

I have an iPhone coming tomorrow.

Honestly, I am so excited. 3G, Visual Voicemail - I feel as though I've never had an iPhone before, since mine was hacked to work on T-Mobile, so as far as I'm concerned, my iPhone 3G is my first proper iPhone.

Bad news though. I had to get the 8GB.

It's in my Dads name, with my name as the account payee. Since they took 1p off my Dads card to run the credit check, they'd have to take an additional £59 to get the 16GB one - and he wasn't around to ask.

When it comes I'm not gonna open it, go straight to Carphone and ask "Hey, If I pay you guys the extra £59 - can I switch this for a 16GB? If they say yes, I might just climax with happiness. If they say No, well, I've got a contract with more minutes than what I currently have, a new 3G iPhone, and £250 in my pocket for just selling my 2G iPhone.

So basically, I've got a FREE 3G iPhone, and £250 in my pocket.

Doesn't suck right now.