Poll: What kind of phone service do you have?

I think we were discussing this in another thread, about having only cell phones and no land lines.

For those of you who only have cells, or at one time only had cells, did it ever affect your ability to do something, not having a land line? I always heard the "pizza people wont deliver to you" rumor, but what i experienced yesterday was kind of scary.

i applied for a credit card and was rejected. the lady looked puzzled, called in, and she said "oh, they said it's because you gave a cell phone. do you have another line?" i said no, i dont have a home phone. they said they couldnt give it to me. she gave them my work # and they let me through and i got approved.

credit is a pretty hefty thing to be screwing around with - since the cell phone was not connected to an address, i was rejected for credit! I thought it was pretty common nowadays to only have a cell, but maybe not.

Any thoughts?

That's just bizarre..... I've been using my cell as my only phone number for over 3 years now... it's on all my credit cards... etc. and I've never had a problem...

I think it's more likely that it was a newbie rep at the credit card place screwing up.... I mean, unless you have something weird where the billing address for the cell phone is not your address..... or if the cell isn't under your name....

nah, it was one of those dangerously tempting "express applications" at a department store - it was all done through the register, which i'm imagining just Phones Home and nabs the approval or rejection.

i'd applied for another credit card last year and got rejected, i'd never been rejected for anything credit-wise�before (except buying a house, but that was more of a blessing in disguise ;) . it made me kind of weary and i�didnt apply for anything else for ages. luckily, this lady was curious and called, and it went through, for much more credit line than i even thought i'd get.

�i have my credit score and i know i dont have terrible credit. i wonder if the whole stupid cell phone thing is what was keeping me from getting the other card i wanted as well.

Huh. Go figure.

But... re: "i wonder if the whole stupid cell phone thing is what was keeping me from getting the other card" thing.... I really doubt it.

As I said, I have several credit cards, and all of them only know my cell phone number. (Since it's my only number.)

oh, and the pizza thing I've never had a problem with either. :)

(or any other delivery places, for that matter..)

Nothing really terrible, but I did have trouble with crazy landlady anytime she called and had to leave a message. She was convinced I was turning off my phone to avoid her, I think. She kept telling me rather harshly that if she had my "other phone number" then she'd always be able to reach me.

Not sure how that would have worked. I only turned off my phone when I went in to work and was in class, but somehow in her mind if she could call my imaginary landline I'd always be there to pick it up. what a nutjob.

well duh. because that's at your *home*. you're always *home*, right?

her logic is so backwards - she's more likely to get ahold of you on a cell. if you're, say, waiting for the subway or something, you can answer a cell. :D *shakehead*

Though Nate would have you shot, apparently. :)

No no... not if it was on vibrate. O:-)

Ah, I thought you also objected to people answering them in public.

naw, not as long as it's not at, like, a concert... or a library... or something.

actually, i can understand that.� when i 1st started working for Verizon, we would hold our credit applications for further verification�if you didn't have a landline.� we stopped doing that about 2 years ago as more & more people went wireless only.� it has to do with the credit model the store is using to approve/deny their applications.� i just get around it now by giving out my mom's number if it's really important.�

the pizza delivery thing?� complete shite!� there are 3 delivery places around me that only�know my cell number.�

actually, wireless only isn't as common as you think.� i would gather that about 75-80% of my customers still have landlines.� that's total customers.� also remember that the average wireless customer is still baby-boomer age.� however, if you break it down demographically, i would say that the majority of wireless only customers are in our age group & don't have kids�(mid 20s to early 30s).� they are also techno-savvy people (the marketing people call them "early adopters").� truth is: out of my cow-orkers, i could probably name the people who don't have landlines & come up w/ around 20-25 out of an 800 person call center.

anyone else care to elaborate on this?

At Motorola most people have both, usually either for security sake or to give out to all those applications that will end up netting solicitor phone calls after they sell the information. We have a land line but never use it, it's a bare bones line.

I did that for the longest time... especially as I had some rather unsavoury boyfriends/roommates.� After my last boyfriend left, all I kept getting were collections calls for him.� Now that he's gone, I finally saved myself $30/mo & cancelled the landline.

I said both, but that's just what my roomies have at this apartment. if you'd asked me a little over a year ago, it'd have been cell only. I use my cell for pretty much everything, though on the occasion that I'm calling somewhere local (presumably a business), I'll try the landline to avoid using minutes.

But yeah, my cell is on my resume, and registered with my credit card and such.

-- Pauley

my roommates have a landline. and i'm trying to decide...

do i buy a phone and hook up to the phone line here OR do i get a cell phone. last time i lived here i had a cell phone, that worked. but it'd be cheaper not to have one.

however, as it is i have no number of my own, and i'm rarely home for people to call me.

*thinking* ow.

*brainmassage* ow = bad. *nod* :-P

-- Pauley

when they can make a wireless phone that fits the shape of my face and that I can hold comfortably in my hand because it's actually a decent size, maybe I'll do it. but until then, I'm keeping my landline and my incredibly old phone, because it seems that even the newer wired phones aren't designed with comfort in mind.

How about a good headset? That'll do you on either type of phone!

eh, I don't like talking on a headset. it's still not particularly comfortable. I haven't had many opportunities to do it myself, but every time I'm talking to someone who is on a headset, I find that I constantly have to repeat myself.

Really?
I find the opposite to be true.... I can always hear people better when I have on my headset than when I'm trying to use a handset.

I think the real key is me saying "good headset" because there are some really shitty ones out there where you can't hear well and people can't hear you well. But�a good one with a snug ear and well positioned mic can be very comfy and good.

Ahhh.. yeah, very good point.
*nods*

Exactly... I couldn't imagine talking on a handset.

Right, because you've never, ever, in your entire life, talked on a handset.

*Rolls eyes.

Fine fine.... but I meant "couldn't imagine" as a figure of speech.
I mean, of course I can imagine it... I just wouldn't want to do it if it can be avoided.

:)

...but I "accidentally" didn't pay my landline bill for about three months, at which point they threatened to cut it off. I said, "Hey, that sounds good to me." And then they pointed out I'd lose my DSL as well...

...so I've still got a landline. Rarely gets used, though.

Now that I'm in college I use my cell phone to call home and such like that. I'll use the land line to call around campus since it doesn't cost anything.