If you have bad credit, you know how frustrating it can be to get something as simple as a cell phone. You may have been left wondering who is the best and easiest bad credit cell phone provider.
Did you know that if you want a real cell phone account and not a pre-paid account that iPhones are apparently the best and easiest cell phones for people with bad credit?
Shocking?
How can that be?
This post is less about credit restoration and more about living with bad credit while you are restoring it and feeling like a normal human being. With bad credit, many cell phone providers want credit checks and extensive security deposits IF they will even let you have service and sell you a phone. This can be a very humiliating and painful experience. What brought this to my attention was a guest post on my iPhone website. It caused me to dig a little deeper into the experiences people with bad credit had getting Apple’s latest piece of electronic nirvana.
I have had an iPhone for years and love it but hadn’t really thought through the challenges some people may face in getting a cell phone. So, I queried some of our subscribers and what I found out was that if you have bad credit, an iPhone is apparently the easiest phone to get if you want a normal, non-pre-paid account. Additionally, AT&T appears to be the best service provider for bad credit cell phones.
Here’s why:
Our research resulted in the findings that people with bad credit who went through the conventional process of applying with the cell phone carrier, whether it was AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile, all experienced similar issues with substantial deposit requirements IF they could even get approved for service. That being said, those who went through Apple’s website to order their new iPhone and setup an appointment to pick it up at an Apple Store were able to purchase the phone AND get service with AT&T without a deposit of any kind.
How to get a cell phone with bad credit?
Well, apparently, and this makes a ton of sense, Apple isn’t in the cellular service business, per se (though they do generate revenue from subsidies and cell service). They are in the selling iPhones business and their main goal is to, you guessed it, sell iPhones. When you want to sell iPhones, you cannot let a pesky thing like a deposit to AT&T get in the way. So, subscribers who were denied or required to post large deposits when going directly through AT&T had no problem going directly to Apple’s website, ordering their iPhone, scheduling a pickup time at their local Apple Store and receiving Ritz-Carlton level service without being charged an additional deposit or experiencing any hassles based on their credit. Wow! Knowledge truly is power.
Upon further inquiry, we also discovered that customer satisfaction upon our survey participants was higher with AT&T than Verizon or any other carrier. When we asked why, an interesting phenomenon was uncovered. Apparently, AT&T treated people with exceptional customer service……even when they were late on a bill. Many survey participants went so far as to say that when they knew they were going to run late on paying the bill, they were able to simply call AT&T customer service and ask for an extension of time to pay the bill (everywhere from a few days to a month) during which period the service would not be disconnected. That is powerful, helpful and what I consider concern for an ongoing customer relationship. Most companies want to kick you while you are down, disconnect you and then have their collection department harass you to within an inch of your sanity.
So, if you want a real cell phone account and the best smartphone on the planet (the iPhone), you may want to follow this procedure as well. From personal experience, I can tell you that you won’t be disappointed with an iPhone and personally, I have always received excellent customer service from AT&T going back as far as 20 years ago. Somehow, they get it and seem to appreciate their customers.
Who is your provider and what has your experience been?
Leave me a comment in the comment box below.
By the way, if you haven’t already, now is a great time to enroll in Credit Repair College. We are updating the curriculum as we speak! We will be covering everything from dealing with student loan default to how to get poor credit auto loans! And, of course, we will walk you step through how to create a comprehensive credit restoration plan. Dealing with debt collections and don’t know where to turn? We can help! I will even show you the exact strategies I have used to clean up my credit! Enroll Today!
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In the last post, we covered how to quickly clear credit card debt while maximizing your credit score throughout the process. Before I continue, I want to cover how to quickly clear debt that isn’t revolving debt like credit cards, in other words, mortgages, installment loans, student loans, etc.
Speaking strictly from a credit restoration perspective AND NOT A FINANCIAL PLANNING OR BUDGETING PERSPECTIVE, you do not want to pay off mortgages, installment loans or student loans earlier. The reason for this is from a credit restoration perspective, you want the loans to season as long as possible, which means, to report on time payments for the longest period possible. Paying them off early, is NOT good for your credit score regardless of what you may think. Credit cards yes, mortgages, installment loans and student loans, no. Having said that, we will address numerous techniques to eliminate these types of debt early while still maximizing your credit score.
For now, most of you want to know how to clear debt that is either positively reporting credit card debt or negatively reporting debt of any kind. So, let’s discuss how to quickly erase and clear debts that are negatively reporting. There are different strategies for each type of debt and different systems that must be followed depending on the type of bad debt you are dealing with.
So, let’s start with the easiest and most common forms of bad debt first and I will give you some clear debt solutions.
Collections & Charge-offs
If you have a collection or charge-off, the initial response most people take to erase debt of this kind is absolutely the worst and most expensive method, and that is, they mistakenly pay them off. To quote Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, “Big Mistake! HUGE!”.
Why is that?
Because paying them off only accomplishes paying them off. The same goes for consumer debt settlement unless it is properly negotiated. It doesn’t do anything positive for your credit report or score. And, paying them off refreshes the date of last activity so you get the added insult to injury of having a paid collection or charge-off on your credit report for an additional 7 years. Doesn’t sound like what you want, does it?
What you want is to erase and clear debt of this kind and have it completely removed from your credit report, ideally, in the least expensive way possible. So, how do you do that?
Simple.
Collections and charge-offs can be completely eliminated using the following methods:
- Debt Validation- for collection accounts with a collector
- 6-2-3 Method- for charge-offs with the original lender
- Pay For Delete- used as a last resort with either a collector or lender.
- Perhaps my favorite method is the Debt Validation method because it truly puts the power of the law and legal system in YOUR hands to help you clear debt quickly and end the harassment from collectors. Using this method, we recently got a legitimate $16,000 collection account removed from a family member’s credit report. Doing this enabled her to immediately qualify for a mortgage and she closed June 1st. Know what we had to do to accomplish this? Send one simple letter. That’s it. Pretty powerful stuff, huh? If you want to watch the video and get the actual letter we used to do this, simply click on the following link: How To Clear Debt With The Debt Validation Method.The 6-2-3 Method is similar but must be used with the original lender. I like this method because with all of the recent takeovers, acquisitions and bad systems that most of these lenders have in place, most of the time they do not stay in compliance with the law. Understanding this and utilizing the 6-2-3 Method, you can force their hand and legally require them to remove the charge-off from your credit report AND cease all collection efforts for the balance owed (since they cannot legally prove that you owe the money). This is a very effective method and all it takes is knowing the law and one simple letter. In the Members Only side of Credit Repair College, you can access the law in the Law Library, access the letter in the Other Training Materials section and understand exactly what you need to do by watching the video in our Video Training section. To see what you get access to on the Members Only side, simply click here: Clear Debt FastThe Pay For Delete Method is the last resort if the aforementioned methods don’t work. Using this method, essentially you will negotiate with the collector or lender to pay off the collection or charge-off in exchange for complete deletion of the account from your credit report. This has to be done in a very systematic way and you MUST get the correct documentation BEFORE you pay off anything otherwise they will simply collect your money, not do anything, not remove the account from your credit report and you will have no recourse. This is a highly effective method to clear debt and remove derogatory credit but it requires a very specific method to accomplish successfully. We teach this method on how to clear debt fast on the Members Only side as well with actual recorded conversations with collection agencies so you can hear what you will deal with and know how to handle the situation properly.Next up in our series on how to quickly erase debt and clear debt fast: How To Make Quick Cash so you can avoid collection accounts and charge-offs and get out of revolving debt faster. Stay tuned for more strategies on how to clear your debt!
No matter what your credit situation we can help you! Remember, knowledge is power and on the inside of CreditRepairCollege, we will teach you everything you need to know about credit restoration! Our curriculum includes: dealing with student loan default, insider secrets on getting poor credit auto loans, how to decide if Christian debt counseling is right for you, how to navigate consumer debt settlement and more! Enroll now!
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