Amelia
Rookie
- Banned
- #1
Last year when Obamaphone-mania was all over the interwebs, I went to a wireless company website and filled out an application to see how easy it would be to get one. Actually what prompted me look for the link was an uber-liberal friend who told me it wasn't really free and conservatives were just making stuff up. So I checked it out. And yep, sure enough. At least this is what the website said: free phone with 250 free minutes per month and no activation fees. So I started typing in my info.
Then it said I needed proof of my identity and some sort of evidence that I qualified for the free service, so that's where the application ended. I never submitted any extra info. So no phone, right? The system works, eh? There are actually standards. They're not handing them out like candy.
Well, every month or so since then I've gotten a recorded call telling me I need to submit that extra information so they can send me my phone. I just hung up (and laughed at the poor quality of the phone connection they use to call me with -- not very good advertisement for a wireless company trying to get people to sign on).
But now they've given up on trying to get me to respond and they just sent me the phone with instructions that I call a certain number to activate the free service. No proof of who I am. No proof of need.
Turns out it's an old scratched up phone which I'm guessing someone else traded in for an upgrade.
I didn't call to activate. But last night I got an email from them telling me I'm running out of minutes and should call to add more at their super low prepaid rates. I haven't made a single call or a single commitment so I can guffaw at them, but how many people do they trick with that "you're running out of minutes" warning?
What a scam. They start with a stack of old rejected phones, tell the gov't they've signed up X people (whether or not those people are qualified or even want the phone), rake in the gov't dough, and count on the people to whom they're sending the phones to be gullible enough to sign up for more minutes even if they haven't come close to maxing out their free allotment. And as shady as this company has been so far, how can their clients even have confidence that they've been signed up for the promised number of free minutes and aren't going to end up with one more bill collector calling them even though they conscientiously made minimal use of the phone?
Then it said I needed proof of my identity and some sort of evidence that I qualified for the free service, so that's where the application ended. I never submitted any extra info. So no phone, right? The system works, eh? There are actually standards. They're not handing them out like candy.
Well, every month or so since then I've gotten a recorded call telling me I need to submit that extra information so they can send me my phone. I just hung up (and laughed at the poor quality of the phone connection they use to call me with -- not very good advertisement for a wireless company trying to get people to sign on).
But now they've given up on trying to get me to respond and they just sent me the phone with instructions that I call a certain number to activate the free service. No proof of who I am. No proof of need.
Turns out it's an old scratched up phone which I'm guessing someone else traded in for an upgrade.
I didn't call to activate. But last night I got an email from them telling me I'm running out of minutes and should call to add more at their super low prepaid rates. I haven't made a single call or a single commitment so I can guffaw at them, but how many people do they trick with that "you're running out of minutes" warning?
What a scam. They start with a stack of old rejected phones, tell the gov't they've signed up X people (whether or not those people are qualified or even want the phone), rake in the gov't dough, and count on the people to whom they're sending the phones to be gullible enough to sign up for more minutes even if they haven't come close to maxing out their free allotment. And as shady as this company has been so far, how can their clients even have confidence that they've been signed up for the promised number of free minutes and aren't going to end up with one more bill collector calling them even though they conscientiously made minimal use of the phone?
Last edited:
Maybe I should get him one of these!! Lol!
