Ordered a phone online and they want a utility bill to "prove my address"... legit?

chuck990

chuck990

chuck990

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UK
So a couple of weeks ago i order a replacement phone over the Internet, i pay by debit card and presume all is right. Couple of days later i get an email asking to provide proof of address in the form of a utility bill. I respond saying i cant (i'm a student and dont pay bills) and dont want to... it takes them until today to respond saying:

"Please be advised that we may require our customers to confirm paid orders. This process is a normal procedure for many online retailers, as we need to ensure that the transactions are authorised by the actual credit card owners...
...If you do not have any utility bills under your name, you may provide us one even under a different name showing the registered billing address of the card used to purchase. Just confirm your relationship with the person named on the bill in return."

Do i ask my parents for a bill to send on or does this sound weird?

Cheers
 
if it going to the bill payers address why do they care?

"Please be advised that we may require our customers to confirm paid orders. This process is a normal procedure for many online retailers, as we need to ensure that the transactions are authorised by the actual credit card owners...
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its far from normal procedure...

normal procedure is to only ship to the credit/debit card holders address
 
arknor said:
if it going to the bill payers address why do they care?


its far from normal procedure...

normal procedure is to only ship to the credit/debit card holders address
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confused me too.... i did ask to have it delivered to where i currently live if that's likely to have upset them?

TaKeN said:
Is your phone on a contract?
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Yes but i've lost the old one, claimed on insurance and then used money from that to order a new sim-free one
 
They are likely trying to prevent fraud, of which mobile phone orders are I believe the main item that identity fraudsters go for... it happened to me last year.

I've even seen people be made to verify their address in store before where they presented the card to the retailer. They aren't doing anything wrong.
 
bookies have to verify your identity because of gambling laws and money laundering the same as banks do.


ive never had a etailer request ID ever
 
Yup. Had this years ago. Plenty of places do it. Last time it happened to me was a lot high value audio equipment.
 
I remember when I ordered an iPhone 3GS from O2. They would only ship to my cardholder address and it was a pain in the backside because everyone in my house was out working or studying at university at the time.
 
arknor said:
bookies have to verify your identity because of gambling laws and money laundering the same as banks do.


ive never had a etailer request ID ever
Click to expand...

I've been asked it for buying DVD's.

It's all about the risks associated with the items on order, and the delivery/payment type.
 
Most online retailers do this if you are shipping to a different address to your billing address. I had to sent documents to OcUk last month so I could get a deliver to my uni address. It's just them making sure that you’re not being robbed.
 
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