Do cell carriers forget with time?

Anonymous · ‎04-03-2019

I am curious about this because I ended up having a really rough time that involved me having to move around rapidly and unfortunately involved having to switch cell carriers basically every time so I have burned every single one of them with amounts $400+ since this was back when we had ETFs.

All of these took place between 2010 and 2012. I do know that when I checked with Sprint for their $0 iPhone plan a few years ago, I was denied without a credit check for the previous amount which was discharged in my BK in 2010.

I currently have Xfinity Mobile because it’s essentially free for me (Comcast internet customer and I turn off mobile data - comes out to like $2.50 in taxes and with insurance and my XS Max payment it’s $60 a month) but if XM goes under or the cost goes up significantly, I might want to go back to T-Mobile but I don’t want to throw away a HP.

Anyone have experience with this one? I know I can do no credit check service but it’s not the same tier of service on the network as true postpaid is.

MakingProgress · ‎04-03-2019

@Anonymous wrote:
I am curious about this because I ended up having a really rough time that involved me having to move around rapidly and unfortunately involved having to switch cell carriers basically every time so I have burned every single one of them with amounts $400+ since this was back when we had ETFs.

All of these took place between 2010 and 2012. I do know that when I checked with Sprint for their $0 iPhone plan a few years ago, I was denied without a credit check for the previous amount which was discharged in my BK in 2010.

I currently have Xfinity Mobile because it’s essentially free for me (Comcast internet customer and I turn off mobile data - comes out to like $2.50 in taxes and with insurance and my XS Max payment it’s $60 a month) but if XM goes under or the cost goes up significantly, I might want to go back to T-Mobile but I don’t want to throw away a HP.

Anyone have experience with this one? I know I can do no credit check service but it’s not the same tier of service on the network as true postpaid is.

Xfinity Mobile isn't going anywhere, price might go up but Mobile is the next big thing for the big cable companies. Comcast and Charter are too big to be allowed to merge with other cable companies so they now have two ways to expand Mobile and Content.

FICO 8 Starting Score

Current Scores

Garden Goal is All Reports Clean – Achieved 11/26/20

DaveInAZ · ‎04-03-2019

@Anonymous wrote:
I know I can do no credit check service but it’s not the same tier of service on the network as true postpaid is.

MakingProgress makes a good point about Xfinity Mobile not going anywhere, but I wouldn't be so dismissive of pre-paid service and other smaller cellular companies They buy bandwidth from the major networks -Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile - so the call & data quality is just as good as the big guys. I've been with Tracfone pre-paid for years and love it. The price is right, $20 for 3 months service and enough talk time & data for me, supplemented by Google Voice free incoming & outgoing calls. And in my rural area Tracfone uses the Verizon network which by far has the best coverage. And there's other re-sellers of the big networks like Consumer Cellular, Mint Mobile & Republic Wireless. Avoid smaller cell companies owed by the big guys you might have burned: AT&T runs Cricket Wireless, Sprint has Boost and Virgin Mobile, and T-Mobile owns Metro.

MakingProgress · ‎04-03-2019

@DaveInAZ wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I know I can do no credit check service but it’s not the same tier of service on the network as true postpaid is.
MakingProgress makes a good point about Xfinity Mobile not going anywhere, but I wouldn't be so dismissive of pre-paid service and other smaller cellular companies They buy bandwidth from the major networks -Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile - so the call & data quality is just as good as the big guys. I've been with Tracfone pre-paid for years and love it. The price is right, $20 for 3 months service and enough talk time & data for me, supplemented by Google Voice free incoming & outgoing calls. And in my rural area Tracfone uses the Verizon network which by far has the best coverage. And there's other re-sellers of the big networks like Consumer Cellular, Mint Mobile & Republic Wireless. Avoid smaller cell companies owed by the big guys you might have burned: AT&T runs Cricket Wireless, Sprint has Boost and Virgin Mobile, and T-Mobile owns Metro.

Xfinity and Spectrum both use the Verizion network Personally I think Tracfone is the best service out there for anyone who just wants a cell phone for emergencies. Having a phone with the big boys is mostly about status, and the ability to finance a phone.

FICO 8 Starting Score

Current Scores

Garden Goal is All Reports Clean – Achieved 11/26/20

Anonymous · ‎04-03-2019

@DaveInAZ wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I know I can do no credit check service but it’s not the same tier of service on the network as true postpaid is.
MakingProgress makes a good point about Xfinity Mobile not going anywhere, but I wouldn't be so dismissive of pre-paid service and other smaller cellular companies They buy bandwidth from the major networks -Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile - so the call & data quality is just as good as the big guys. I've been with Tracfone pre-paid for years and love it. The price is right, $20 for 3 months service and enough talk time & data for me, supplemented by Google Voice free incoming & outgoing calls. And in my rural area Tracfone uses the Verizon network which by far has the best coverage. And there's other re-sellers of the big networks like Consumer Cellular, Mint Mobile & Republic Wireless. Avoid smaller cell companies owed by the big guys you might have burned: AT&T runs Cricket Wireless, Sprint has Boost and Virgin Mobile, and T-Mobile owns Metro.

MVNOs do not have the same priority on the network as postpaid direct subscribers. For example, Xfinity Mobile’s agreement with Verizon puts them above all of the other MVNOs that Verizon does business with but lower priority compared to all of Verizon’s customers.

I had Mint back when they had a year for like $14 a month for 2GB and it was okay but as someone who uses Google Voice for calls and voicemail, the lack of conditional call forwarding was a big hassle. This is another advantage that XM has over any of the other MVNOs — even Cricket doesn’t have it since AT&T bought them and shut down the CDMA network.

Xfinity Mobile is working great for me right now but things change so I was just curious if these companies ever forget. I am guessing the answer is no and since I’m not willing to pay when I legitimately couldn’t use the service when I moved (Colorado used to be a total nightmare for wireless service reliability), I guess I better hope that Xfinity Mobile doesn’t change anything too much.

nax · ‎04-04-2019

OP I can confirm that AT&T does not forget, and that includes all products.. Digital Life, DirecTV m, uVerse and wireless. Anything outstanding 60+ will prevent you from obtaining any other services.

Want to throw out if you are not using the 0% financing on equipment, bringing your own phone or paying cash for your device the credit requirements are much lower.

Not to get myself in trouble but I am a 10+ year AT&T employee and even with my employee discount I have Cricket service, 5 lines unlimited everything $125.00. Pay cash for my devices (or get them free, as they say “I know a guy)

Anonymous · ‎04-04-2019

I burned Cingular several years ago. Burned AT&T cable in 2009. They both go deeper, but I'll keep it brief. Disputed and had both removed from my CR in different years. Signed up for AT&T Wireless back in 2013 and cell service 2018. No problem.

KingPredator · ‎04-07-2019

To answer one of your questions . I work for Verizon and I can tell you with 100% confidence that with us there is no difference in the service between prepaid and postpaid . They both run on the same towers , only difference is that on prepaid you can’t finance devices and have to pay your bill by end of day on the due date otherwise your service gets shut off.

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2019

@KingPredator wrote:
To answer one of your questions . I work for Verizon and I can tell you with 100% confidence that with us there is no difference in the service between prepaid and postpaid . They both run on the same towers , only difference is that on prepaid you can’t finance devices and have to pay your bill by end of day on the due date otherwise your service gets shut off.

You may work for Verizon but you’re wrong that there is no difference.

One major difference is that prepaid has the lowest data priority on the network and when there is heavy traffic will have speeds pulled back for all of the other traffic which makes it unusable at events and other times everyone is using the network. Another big difference is that conditional call forwarding is not available on prepaid and most MVNO accounts (Xfinity Mobile seems to be the exception here).

If I am going to pay Verizon prices, I don’t want deprioritized data and conditional call forwarding is mandatory for me since I use my Google Voice as my primary number and as my voicemail service. When people DO call my actual cell, if I don’t answer it gets sent to Google Voice voicemail instead of Verizon’s.

Verizon also annoyingly throttles all video streams to 480p on mobile data for prepaid customers which breaks a number of sites I use and forces me to have to use my VPN. Went through that with T-Mobile when they first put in their video optimization garbage. Xfinity Mobile has 480p video on network but you can call and they’ll remove the restriction for the day for free.

The final nail in the coffin is prepaid doesn’t roam in those areas where Verizon has roaming agreements. It’s not a big deal for me living where I do but it’s a big deal for people who live in more rural areas and can be a very big issue since Verizon tends to inflate their coverage maps much more than the other carriers do. Since Verizon has seamless roaming agreements where the phone doesn’t indicate it is roaming, you can have situations where one person with Verizon postpaid has a signal and one person with prepaid does not. They may be able to make a call depending on the roaming partner and whether the phone is on a fringe where Verizon comes in and out but data is gone.

If prepaid had the same level of service with any carrier as postpaid there would be no point to paying the premium for postpaid so differences are expected but are rarely disclosed.

Anonymous · ‎04-11-2019

@MakingProgress wrote:
Personally I think Tracfone is the best service out there for anyone who just wants a cell phone for emergencies. Having a phone with the big boys is mostly about status, and the ability to finance a phone.

For me it isn't about status, but being simple and knowing you'll have coverage wherever/whenever. I like that it's automatic, instead of having to add minutes/data monthly. I don't do the finance option, I prefer to pay cash for my phones. And will wait till the current model is much cheaper, I'm not one who needs the newest phone for $1K. They're simply not worth it IMO.

I think it's rather funy that some people who otherwise can barely put food on the table and cloth their kids, are bale to sport the latest phones.

@DaveInAZ wrote:
I've been with Tracfone pre-paid for years and love it. The price is right, $20 for 3 months service and enough talk time & data for me.

OMG, that's cheap! I finally just got my cell bill down to $92 after years of it being around $130. Of course I had 3 lines and payments on my sister's phone. But now they're both paid, and got rid of those useless fees Ins/etc.

As for OP's question, I had AT&T back in 02 but fell on hard times. And was declined for service with them sometime in 2010/11. I didn't burn them in a BK, but I just recently opened an acct with them in 2016. For me it may have just been a score issue.