Why bother being debt free?
December 10th, 2008 by GregI am really pissed at the moment.
A few years ago my credit record was not great but early last year I decided to change all that while I could. I paid off a couple of old CCJ’s that I had, and cleared all of my debts apart from the mortgage.
Today, looking at my credit report online it looks good, and it states :
Factors that are having a positive effect on your score
You make all your repayments on time and in full – no accounts have been paid late in the past six months
You are on the electoral roll (registered to vote) at your current address
You have made two or fewer applications for credit in the last six months
The outstanding balance on your credit accounts (excluding your mortgage) is low
You don’t have any county court judgments and you have not been declared bankrupt in the last six years
Factors that are having a negative effect on your score
There are no negative factors currently affecting your score.
So why is it that when I try to get a Blackberry Storm from VodaFone they knock me back based on my credit report. I asked the woman on the phone what was the reason as my report is good and she said, it is marked as to be referred, or something, and I would need to phone back with a Credit report reference so that can look into it. I did that and called back and this time a different woman said she would need to create a new account and then when the system comes back ‘to be referred’ she will then refer me to another department. So I gave her all my details again, double checking as we are going through it and was then told the card details I was giving was not in my name (which it was) and that the system has this time rejected my application and I can’t reapply for 3 months.
I was not happy and the girl transferred me to customer services, who then in turn transferred me to another department and I had to explain again the situation. The woman now on the phone confirmed I had been rejected and could not reapply, I asked why then the first time it was marked as ‘refer’ NOT rejected. She asked me again for my name and address and was then able to see records of my first phone call. She has claimed that she will look into it and call me back today, that was at 9:30 this morning and she has said it could be any time until 6pm, for some reason I am not holding my breath.
If after more than 18 months virtually debt free with all my payments being made on time every month why can’t I make a simple purchase? Why did I bother clearing all my bad debts? was it worth it?
Posted in General | 11 Comments »
That’s so strange. In the US some cell phone companies make you place a large downpayment if their system shows questionable credit–for example Verizon used to have a $1000 deposit for people with poor credit and $400 for people with questionable credit ($0 for people with good credit). But…no one could pay the $1000 so they did away with that and the max now is $400.
But where you are they flat out denied you? Wow.
Sounds perfectly normal to me. I am disabled and haven’t worked in almost 10 years.
Until this past year my credit report was terrible due to student loans.
Yet I have all kind of offers for credit everyday. anything from cars to cell phones.
Something is really messed up with the entire situation.
And geez don;t I hate it too when you spend half the day on the phone telling the same story over and over again!
Oh that felt good to get that out.
Thank you!
Credit is incredibly complicated. Dave Ramsey tells a story about how, since he has not borrowed money in years – he has no credit history. So, while he is a multi-millionaire, he would not qualify to rent an apartment in an apartment complex he could afford to buy!
Stay debt-free. It will pay off long term.
Thanks for the responses.
Megan, land line companies used to do that, if you had a poor credit history they would ask for a deposit, but it doesn’t happen with cell/mobile phone companies.
Shinade, I used to get all those offers but they seemed to dry up as soon as I got things sorted funny enough.
Anyway its 17:50 and still no call back from VodaFone, now isn’t that a surprise.
The problem I have now is if I go to another company for a different phone, they can see that Vodafone have checked my report today and assume they have denied me for a reason which I assume could again effect their decision.
I do wish I had stayed in debt, then at least I wouldn’t have even considered this AND some of the bad debts would have been removed next year due to the age of them.
Write a registered letter to them complaining about the situation. I have a feeling that would get their attention and you would end up with an apology and the ability to purchase your phone.
I had to do this sort of thing for a number of years because I had a black mark on my credit report that wasn’t legitimate but couldn’t get rid of it. I never had any problem getting the credit I wanted after explaining the situation though. That black mark has since finally been cleared off.
being debt free is always worth it. when you don’t have that debt hanging over your head you are able to build wealth a lot faster. why would you need debt, to keep a nice credit score. unfortunately the world we live in relies on borrowing and not saving or budgeting and look where it has gotten us. imagine if the USA was debt free how much better the economy would be. we would not need bail out. it’s worth it. trust me.
Thanks for the responses, I may well write a letter of complaint and send it registered post.
Funny enough though I walked into an O2 shop today, and walked out with a Blackberry Bold, on a similar package to what the BB Storm was on Vodafone and had no problems what so ever when they did a credit check.
OK, its not the exact phone I wanted but it was hasle free and after this experience I am not sure I would want to deal with VF customer service as a paying customer.
Greg
Hi! Well, being debt free means being at peace. That is what I would like to achieve. I am not yet as free as you are right now.
If you are here in the Philippines, you could get all the phones you want. I do not know what went wrong there at Vodafone. That is really something to pissed about. I hope everything would turn right soon.
By the way, thanks for putting drophaloics.com. That is really a great idea!
Take care!
Yeah, it really make you wonder sometimes doesn’t it?
The more that people try to do the right things, the more they seem to get kicked for it.
Still, at the end of the day you exercised your right as a consumer and took your money elsewhere to a business that didn’t make you jump through hoops to give them money.
Being debt free and having a good credit score may not make a difference on your new cell phone (those companies have a ridiculous set of rules all their own), but I bet it will help you in the future to get financing on a larger purchase (like a car, home equity loan or a vacation home). I can’t believe the number of times I’ve paid a higher interest rates for stupid credit mistakes I’ve made in the past… sadly, it feels like rather than fighting someone who’s trying to rip me off for a couple hundred bucks (like my Comcastic cable company), I should just suck it up and pay them, letting them steal from me to prevent their bad credit report on me from meaning a lot more financially in the future for what it does to my credit score.
Glad to hear you’re enjoying your new Blackberry. My husband has had one for years and it makes a lot more sense than my pretty little iPhone.
Happy weekend to you!
Roxy
Thank you for your post. It is advantage for me.