Is it normal for cell phone purchases online/via phone to be very difficult?
I am hitting a wall helping my father purchase a cell phone. Together we cannot convince any company to provide service to us. Credit is tip top, and we'd be charging a credit card. Is it normal for this process to be exceedingly difficult with many dead-ends?
My father is stuck in an assisted living facility without viable transportation except for medical needs. We are very cautious about trying random cell phone companies because most don't work inside the steel building. We're sure of Sprint. T-Mobile also has good prospects. *Every other one is off the table because reception is either proven bad, or not worth a big gamble. The gamble is that father would take too long figuring out the service stinks, and miss the free return period.
But we had this same problem with Verizon, before we crossed them off the list because of poor reception.
I've tried four times now to purchase a cell phone for my father, online and by phone. I'm better at running the computer, so I do all the data entry.
Every time, we hit a stone wall. The online is not enough; they want additional documents and say these can be scanned and sent as JPEG. Then they decline. The have asked to speak to my father directly; I arranged that. Then they want my father to come into a store; not gonna happen, and they refuse any ADA accommodation.
They always decline, claiming it is a credit decline. That's not possible.
I've also tried running it as "no-credit-check"; i.e. buying a device for cash outright. They refuse to provide service. My father is now banned from Sprint; the agents hate this term but cannot find any service their system will allow.
So, a couple questions.
Is this sort of thing the normal state of affairs with signing up new cell phone customers online? Is it common to punt you over to phone contact, then demand you come into a store with a stack of identity docs? Is the "sign up online" thing just a lure to get you to call or appear? (in other words, under what circumstances does online actually work)?
When I pursued the no-credit-check option, the agent asked permission to run a No-credit check. The phrasing made it sound like a "no-credit check" was a thing, specifically a type of credit check. What on earth is that?
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Is it common to punt you over to phone
contact, then demand you come into a store with a stack of identity
docs? Is the "sign up online" thing just a lure to get you to call or
appear? (in other words, under what circumstances does online actually
work)?
I don't recall ever having to bring in a stack of documents, my first smartphone purchase was through Amazon and I just had to call Verizon to deal with account issues. When switching networks I went to the store to get sim cards but could have done it over the phone. In fact, cancelling a line could not be done in the store and required calling in instead. What is typical might vary by state, but your experience sounds atypical to me.
Pre-paid plans are low-hassle. They are popular among people who cannot provide documentation. All the major networks have pre-paid options (sometimes under a separate brand).
I found it most economical to just add my grandparents to my phone plan, it didn't require any of their information to add a line to my plan, I did swing by the store to buy a sim card for them, but they can be ordered online as well.
Also, as far as reception goes, if he has wifi a provider like T-Mobile that supports wifi calling can get around reception issues.
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