Is it safe for me to apply for Tmobile financing?

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

I have spent the past 3 years slowly rebuilding my credit. I have raised all 3 bureaus from the mid 450s to the low-mid 600s. But in the process I have opened at least 5 new accounts and 10 HPs. I have also taken on a new auto loan around $22,000 (thanks to my hard work I got this at 3.5% apr!)

I really want to switch to T-Mobile and finance a nice phone/ smart watch but I'm afraid that I'm too green (new accounts) to be approved. When I try to prequalify on T-Mobile's site it tells me to come into a store. I have never had an account with them before.

EQ -619

TU -641

EX- 628

Thanks for reading!

[jamie123]

I wouldn't finance the purchase of a phone and smart watch if I were you. These are items that you should be paying for in cash or at least charge them to a credit card and pay the card off in full when you get the statement.

Save your money for a few months and pay cash for the phone and smart watch. Then you can take your phone and watch to T-Mobile and sign up for one of their pre-paid programs. The pre-paid programs that are offered by T-Mobile will give you some of the best service in the industry for the lowest cost. I have 4 people on my unlimited family plan and it only costs $137 per month.

[Anonymous]

Wow, thanks for the reality check! I guess I've gotten a little carried away with credit purchases. 😂

That is just what I'll do

[lhcole77]

@Anonymous  I agree with @jamie123 

I'm a happy T-Mobile customer. Whenever I get a new phone, I pay for the entire purchase using a credit card that extends warranty an addtional 1-2+ years (either Amex or Citi from my lineup). Then I PIF when the bill comes.

Add AppleCare to it, and you can get a phone with up to 4 years of coverage 

[DaveInAZ]

Do you know which credit bureau they pull? I'm also thinking of switching to T-mobile but I keep my credit reports locked. I asked via chat which CRA they pull and the rep didn't know what I was talking about. I want their new LG Velvet phone, nice phone, great price!

[Anonymous]

@DaveInAZ I believe they pull TU now... at least that's what I found online

[AzCreditGuy]

Being in the cellular industry in the past, Cellphones are the biggest waste of money in todays society. My iPhone 11(2019) is now 2 months away from being replaced from the newest iPhone 11.5 or 12.

I use to buy the latest cellphone every time they came out a couple of years ago until I realized that was a waste of money. I won’t even dare get an apple card, what a waste of a CC and how Apple positioned that to make huge money off its base of consumers who will eat up the latest and greatest new color.

I was on ATT and waited when T-Mobile did a promo where if you brought a line over to a family plan you got an iPhone 11 on them. T-Mobile is paying for my iPhone 11, the only small downside is I am locked into T-Mobile for 24 months.

The other option that I learned with my Wells Fargo CC, is if I pay my cellular bill, I get automatic phone protection. I used this recently when I accidently dropped my iPhone and shattered the back (full phone has to be replaced) of the phone. I got reimbursed $399 for the replacement of the phone and ended up costing me $63.07…$25 deductible Apple shipping $5 and taxes. The Wells Fargo protection works for any phone on your line, which makes second hand phones a good deal. 

[lhcole77]

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@Anonymous wrote:

@DaveInAZ I believe they pull TU now... at least that's what I found online

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That's what they pulled for me in CA back in 2014

[lhcole77]

@AzCreditGuy I like you're thinking. I'm still using my 7 plus and it works great! 

[M_Smart007]

I try to keep my phone until either it stops security updates or something like the fingerprint reader stops working.

I had Verizon for years, switched when I had moved up in the mountains, and was having problems connecting to WiFi to make phone calls. Verizon could not resolve the connectivity issues. After six months, I switched to a MVNO,

that runs on T-Mobile's network. Honestly very happy with their service.

But depending on where you live, some carrier's will always be better than others.

I take a back up cell phone when going on vacation, as I had run into some coverage issues.

I used to finance my phones through VZ      ..Now I just pay in full outright for a unlocked phone..