[be-baw]

A couple of weeks ago I was all set to get an iphone, courtesy of my employer. Went to the local ATT store and was told in order to get an account I needed to either give them my Social Security number or a $500 deposit refundable in a year. For years I've had an ATT LAN account, cell phone account for my wife, and had ATT DSL as my ISP. The bills were always paid on time and I was miffed that that wasn't sufficient credit history to. Soooo, I decided against getting the electronic leash and am now in the process of getting ATT out of my life completely.

Good riddance ATT. I hope you're not too big to fail.

[Spktyr]

All the major cell providers ask for a SSN these days.

[TheBattman]

You have a wireless account in in YOUR name with ATT and they wanted a deposit plus SS number, something is fishy.

The SS number is standard procedure for new accounts with every carrier I have ever dealt with. A security deposit is the norm when either a customer has credit issues, or when they won’t give their SS number. Anything beyond that would indicate that something very strange was going on - either in the type/form of account you were trying to open, or someone screwed up.

And I am by no means an ATT fanboy - in fact, if it were not for the fact that ATT has vastly superior service here where I live, then I would drop them. I have ATT DSL and home phone service - and if Comcast were reliable (and not a bunch of crooks - worse than ATT), then I would jump that ship too.

I know teen students who have no established credit, but do have a job after school that have opened ATT accounts to get an iPhone - and didn’t have to pay a deposit.