The other good news is that desposit can go away very fast. June of last year, Cingular wanted a $150 deposit for lack of a credit history. By August I had had a credit card for two months, and Cingular wanted *no* deposit. Thus, I'm with Cingular now: they're the only cell phone company that didn't want to charge me to be a customer.

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If your credit is bad enough to have to put down a $750 deposit maybe you shouldn't be buying a $600 cellphone. I have bad credit and Cingular doesn't make me deposit a dime.

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That's going pretty far out on a limb. I mean if you have bad credit should you be buying a $599 phone. Lets not feel sorryt for people that have bad credit...its self inflicted

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Don't forget all those who want to switch from another company and will have to pay an early termination fee (anywhere from $150 on up) and an activation fee for activating a new account on Cingular.

iPhone...$599
ETF from T-mobile...$200
Activation fee from Cingular...~$35
My cost = ~$835

That's getting pricey!

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I am nervous that the price will be very similar for Cingular customers like myself who are going to want to get the iPhone unlocked. I'm very nervous...

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Sorry, I should have specified that the early termination fee only applies for those still stuck in contracts.

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It should also be noted that if anyone should want to purchase the iPhone w/out contract to use on pay as you go Go Phone service, add anywhere from $200-$300 for the unsubsidized price of the iPhone

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Krinkle -- it's been noted in several places that the iPhone won't be available without a contract (i.e. no pay as you go).

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LET'S FACE IT - THE IPHONE IS NOT FOR THE CONSUMER LINE.

People thought that $400 for an iPod was ridiculous when it first came out. Now we've accepted this price range.

Wait until celebrities sport this baby around LA!

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Everything costs more if you have bad credit. Kind of like smoking or being obese. Doesn't make much sense.

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The biggest problem is that deposits might be repaid in monthly installments (Sprint does this, not sure about Cingular), spread over 12-24 months. So getting $750 back could take longer than the life time of the plan you sign up for (currently 2 years). Clever or rip-off?

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"7. It should also be noted that if anyone should want to purchase the iPhone w/out contract to use on pay as you go Go Phone service, add anywhere from $200-$300 for the unsubsidized price of the iPhone"

Where'd you get that information? URL?

If true, which goes against all information I've gathered, then that would technically be an unlocked iPhone.

SJ mentioned yesterday that Apple had an exclusive relationship with Cingular.

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I have great credit and probably would recieve a nice discount, maybe getting my iPhone for half price. What's your point?

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Simple way not to get charged for "bad credit": Don't have what you cannot afford.

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Gawd. I'm giving up on TUAW. I've kept it in my RSS feed to keep up on things, but as a value proposition it's just not worth the eye strain that results from rolling my eyes so much.

I can only conclude that TUAW contributors are paid by the post. How else to explain a non-story like this? One could just as easily write this headline: "Crappy 'free' Samsung phone could cost as much as $750." Scrolling through the last week of posts reveals at least 18 that I'd categorize similarly; without MacWorld, I'm sure the signal-to-noise ratio would be much worse.

Click. Done.

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most people with bad credit have it as a result from credit card/student loan debts when people face the reality that after 4 years in school the job market sucks, so they make late or small payments til they get themselves established.

it's sad that now that some of these people are now established, have jobs, money to spend, etc are being demonized for up to 10 years for mistakes they made in the past... the whole credit check thing blows... I know I'm not who I was 5 years ago even if my report says otherwise...

but then again, I got financed for a brand new car, i doubt I'll have trouble getting an iPhone

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The phone is pretty expensive for a personal device for non-business use unless you are the type who either love expensive gadgets or is super rich and this is chump change. That being said, My wife and I both run our own company. We are not rich (yet) by any means but we both plan on getting the iPhone (for what it does it needs a better name). Part of our business is web development and other means of communication for small businesses and organizations. We know our customers may have potential clients who will be using the iPhone and I want to make it easy as possible for those potential clients to communicate with my customers.

That being said and staying closer to the topic I think the people who would incur these kind of charges because of bad credit do so because they are the kind to buy something like an iPhone when they really shouldn't be going into debt any further. We plan on purchasing this device out of our budget and it's a good incentive to make that much extra for those tools and I do see the iPhone as a serious tool.

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I agree with Splashman. A majority of TUAW's posts seem like they were written for a forum rather than a blog. Come on.

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What a ridiculous article. I have NEVER read any article about a new phone that was factoring in the deposit one must pay for a new mobile phone if their credit sucks. Geez guys, you need to edit these articles a bit better to see if they are worthy of TUAW or of lining a bird cage.

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That's kind of a ridiculous point. By that same logic, a Motorola RAZR will cost you over $800... so what?

Why not a post about how low FICO scores will result in higher mortgage rates... or how a history of late payments can prevent you from getting a new car. Sheesh.

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