Questions about deposit/activation for iPhone (1k deposit?)

So I plan on purchasing an iphone with my mother who has very, very terrible credit that went down because of some mistakes her accountant did for her previous business. With that said, though, money is NOT an issue because we recently just got a huge amount of money for selling some property, but her credit is still hurting.

I heard some people were saying that you'd have to make up to a $1k deposit. Is there any truth to this, or can anyone confirm?

I've never heard of one that high, but I've heard of $500. If money isn't an issue, then what does it matter?

Joe

Because no matter how deep the pockets are, there is a difference between paying $500 and paying $1,000 as a deposit.

Sure, but it's not like you lose the money, you can get it back after a year. One other thing, do you have enough credit to get the phones? If you do, make yourself the primary and then you might avoid the high deposit amount.

Joe

What do you mean have enough credit to get the phones? If you didn't I thought that's what the deposit was for?

If your credit is bad you may have to do the deposit and they will only allow you to open one line, then after so many months 6-12 of consistent payments they'll allow you to open another line

oh, yeah, i expect that, its ok though because we only planned on opening one line anyways. so you think the deposit would only be for $500?

and on a small unrelated note, if i get my phone in a place like dallas texas and i move to houston, how would i go about getting a different area code? do i visit an at&t store in houston and will they change it for free?

I've never heard of a deposit over $500. Regardless of where you open the account you can tell them what area code you want. But yea you can always call AT&T to change the number but you have the option to initially open the line with the Houston area code.

Sweet! So I can go to the store, get my phone, and request that I get a Houston area code for the phone even if I am in Dallas at the time and they'd do that?

Well I have purchased a phone in Atlanta even though I live an hour away (in a different area code) that was with T-Mobile. But I have also purchased an Internet connect card from AT&T in San Antonio and they gave me my local Georgia area code too

I worked as an ATT agent for 5 years in FL, and the largest that I saw was $850. One other worker received a $1000 when they were running credit but that was based off of previous ATT service and that was rare though.

Here are the COMMON deposits

$150
$300
$500 (Either bad or no credit)
$750 (Terrible credit)

Note that deposits are considered PER LINE. So if you were doing 2 lines, it would be $500 each.

Rare Deposits are usually given by Credit Agencies other than Equifax, Experian, & TransUnion. Such as Market Max. These deposits are as follows

$100 (Equifax)
$200 (Equifax , MarketMax)

Then there is an $800 deposit. Its given when there is an old account left with a balance and was sent as a WareHouse account. $800 deposits remain on file with AT&T for 2 years. If you pay the old account off, the deposit still remains

Then you have collection accounts that AT&T doesn't own. You cant apply for service until it is paid. Once it's paid then AT&T will approve service based on current credit.