Registered: Jul 2001
Location:
Posts: 15

$20/mo. prevents ordering HS visorphone?

I tried to order HS visorphone .. except, look at this email

Thank you for shopping with Handspring!

Your VisorPhone service provider, VoiceStream Wireless, requires a credit
check to be completed before they can activate your calling plan.
Unfortunately, based on this credit check, they were unable to approve your
account for service without a deposit. Handspring is currently unable to
process any "deposit required" payment options on behalf of the service
provider. In the next few days, you will receive a letter from VoiceStream
Wireless detailing the results of your credit check. Please refer to this
letter for more information.
Because we were unable to activate your calling plan at this time, we have
cancelled your Handspring order so that you would not receive your
VisorPhone without a valid calling plan. We suggest placing a new order
for a VisorPhone without a service plan, then contacting the service
provider to process your order and set up your alternate payment method.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and hope you will consider
purchasing VisorPhone without a calling plan, or resubmitting your order
without a VisorPhone purchase.
To purchase a VisorPhone without service, go to
http://www.handspring.com/products/..._service.jhtml, or
call us at (888) 565-9393.
Our sales representatives will be happy to help you.


Consider this:

1 I only ordered the $20/mo. svc, how hard is it to pay that!
2 even if I could pay a deposit, they don't say how much, what's up w/that, a secret?
3 even if they thought I could go over my bill (almost no chance of that, literaly), they could just cap it at like $75 or something (like Sprint does).
What a joke

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 125

No offense, but the problem here isn't handsping or voicestream, its your credit. Voicestream doesn't know you or that you will be able to pay $20/month on time every month...all they have is your credit report to base their decison on and from the email, doesn't sound like your credit is in the best shape it could be in. Sorry...

Marty

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Posts: 790

Don't forget, whenever a potential creditor turns you down, you're entitled to a free copy of your credit report, and I think they have to explain to you why your were turned down.

__________________
Jeff

Registered: Jul 2001
Location:
Posts: 15

No offense taken. You're right a big %. But I don't owe a whole lot, less than $1,000. (I know lots of people owe > $20,000, etc.) But mine are 1-time charges. Most if not all are in dispute, why I've not paid. I always pay real fees, mo. to mo. etc. But they have the upper hand, we can't report them when they screw up our credit, even when they're in the wrong.

I disagree they don't know us. They should know all this. They know everything about us. That's their biz.
Also, I had a Sprint cell phone acct. for > 1 yr., and was all paid up all the time, and it was $35/mo.

BTW, off-topic a bit, but still wireless, Yada Yada billed me ($300 or something?) for a wireless modem a few mo. later that I had a) canceled the same day (when I realized I was too late for the discount) and b) never received, anyway.

Then they billed me their $30 or $40 or whatever fee for the next couple of mo., even though I never was one of their customers!

Maybe this is payback, maybe co's don't want you to dispute their charges, even when they're in the wrong!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

So what's handspring's stance if one has NO credit history?
I've never held a long term job, as I am in college, so I have never had a loan or credit card. Will Handspring turn me down?

Registered: May 2001
Location: NY metro area
Posts: 219

Don't blame HS for any of this, it is completely out of their hands. The carriers alone have the power to approve or disapprove of anyone for any reason. Their usual reason is that they did not like the looks of one's credit report. They do have to allow you to get a free copy of your report from one of the three reporting services but they do not have to give any reason for their decision.

HS didn't tell you how much the deposit would be because they don't know, it is strictly set by the carrier. Based on my experience with a lot of the people who work for me, the usual deposit request I've seen is $500 (at least here in the NYC area). They will usually hold you rdepoist for one year and then credit your account for the deposit plus interest that the deposit has earned.

I would think that having no credit history would probably lead to the same situation, but again it depends upon your carrier and their policies.

__________________
Jonathan

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

I, too, have bad credit. I ran into the same problem. What miffs me is that even if I were to lay down the deposit and get the Voicestream account, HS won't give me the discounted phone (or, at least, they said they wouldn't over email. Several follow up questions on my part led to the command "Call us." How annoying. Don't make me call you if it's clear that I prefer email, which is documentable by the consumer.). This amounts to discrimination against those with bad credit, not on the basis of possible loss for HS, but simply because it's a pain in the rear to sell.

ARG. I will probably call them soon and retract this rant, but it's been festering for a week or so and I had to let it out. I support HS still, but sometimes you just can't hold a rant back, even when it's wrong.

__________________
Don't like somebody? Click "Profile" on a post and then click "Ignore "so and so's" posts". Voila!

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 23

i couldn't get my credit approved through voicestream, either. and i never got any letter from them detailing why... it was a real mystery because, according to trans-union, my credit score is 861 out of a possible 950.
only by pestering voicestream with phone calls did i finally reach somebody who helped me figure it out: i have a "consumer disclosure" statement on my credit report as a protection against identity fraud/theft that basically states not to grant new credit without first contacting me by phone. and that's the problem. i don't fault voicestream, i fault handspring for using a web-based purchasing system which is not very intuitive and doesn't allow for much deviation; i suspect that one of the reasons handspring hasn't sold more visorphones is because the buying experience is so unattractive.

Registered: Jul 2001
Location:
Posts: 15

I concur w/a lot of the above, esp not being allowed to get the VisorPhone even if you put up a deposit.
I live in NYC, too, and my Sprint deposit was only $75, I'm pretty sure (maybe it was $150). I remember way back when deposits were like $500, but I hope that's not the case now.

But the real news from here is I got VoiceStream's stupid letter. (After about a full 7 days! I'll try to scan and upload the 1-pager a bit later.) They *still* do not state a deposit amount! They just say there will have to be one. Maybe they know that kills HS cutting the deal w/me, so they don't even bother writing a dollar figure. But hey, I'll bet you're sure they at least include a phone # or e-mail address I can contact this cell phone provider of wireless access in 2001.

Nope. Only a mailing address!

I'm miffed that out of the 4 *reasons* they give for turning down my credit, 3 are wrong!

1 - Too many bank or national revolving/open accounts
(I'm pretty sure I only have 1 card!!! Are they nuts?)
2 - Amount past due on accounts
(This is what I guess they could say is correct, if they ignore when you dispute charges and don't get satisfactory answers.)
3 - Lack of recently reported balances on revolving/open accounts
(I have a steady job, w/good income that I deposit weekly, so what does this mean?)
4 - Relationship of balance to high credit on bank/nat or other revolving/open accounts
(My 1 card is a *debit* card, so it's always taken right out of my acct! There's no high-credit-balance!)

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Aloha State, Honolulu, HI
Posts: 35

Sounds very odd, you should have received the VisorPhone

From your past history, it sounds like you would have gotten the VisorPhone. I have a credit history that makes yours looks superb and I got my VisorPhone.

I did get an email notifying me that Voicestream is requiring a credit check to process my order before completing the purchase of the VisorPhone(took 2-3 business days).

I think you should contact Voicestream's sales department and see what sort of criteria they are looking for.

A copy of your credit history that they used would be good to have, that way, you have a chance to clean up any problems on your credit history(usually done when you want to apply for a mortgage, you can hire an accountant to do the cleaning for you).

Kinda odd how this whole cellular service plans work, as you were approved by Sprint to get a contract with them, but not with Voicestream.

Stan

Registered: Jul 2001
Location:
Posts: 15

Yeah, this sure is wacky.
Speaking of Sprint, maybe the new competition from their upcoming CDMA module has suddenly allowed the previously preposterous VoiceStream credit criteria to become more liberal.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

quote:

---

Originally posted by ertonbel
Yeah, this sure is wacky.
Speaking of Sprint, maybe the new competition from their upcoming CDMA module has suddenly allowed the previously preposterous VoiceStream credit criteria to become more liberal.

---

__________________
Don't like somebody? Click "Profile" on a post and then click "Ignore "so and so's" posts". Voila!