Recently, I went to a dealer for a well known cell phone service. In “expressing myself”, I applied for service. The sales girl took down my information and then carefully related it to someone on the telephone. She took notes and then hung up the phone. The young lady politely informed me that there would be a $600 deposit. I said that I would not make this deposit and asked if everyone who asks for service is required to make this deposit. Of course, she said no. Many people get the service I was requesting with no deposit.
Here’s the rub. I asked why a deposit was being required. She said because the person on the phone said so. “Why did she say so?” “They won’t tell us.” “They have to tell me. Ask them to tell me.” “They said Experian said so.” “No, Experian is a reporting service. They don’t make decisions. They just report information. The cell phone company makes decisions.” And so on and on and on.
The bottom line is that I was denied credit and the credit grantor is refusing to say why. If I applied for a credit card, a mortgage, a car loan, or some other financing, the grantor has to provide a written reason why I was denied or treated differently than other customers.
The GQ: Does that standard apply to cell phone companies? Do they have to tell me why they are denying service or charging a deposit?
The funny thing is, my credit record is clean. I just bought a house a few weeks ago and the bank made sure that I paid off ALL bad debts, no matter how old. Everything should be cleared up.
Thanks for the help. I think I may need to “express myself” to someone in management.