Quote:
Originally Posted by wifi
There is absolutely no reason people need your physical address unless they are going to send someone around. I have the same thing with no mail at the house. If they demand a physical, I make 'em happy with the address of the post office and change the "PO Box" to "Apt", it works 90% of the time and passes credit card screening.
They can feel satisfied they can send some goons over, and I can feel satisfied they will find a nice brick bulding... 
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Sorry, but this is just a tad too skeptical for reality.
The main reason the carriers are worried about your physical address is because of roaming fees. You'll notice that most common accounts allow for "free roaming" these days. Well, this isn't really "free", the carriers cross-bill each other for roaming service provided. For the most part, it comes out to a wash and it was easier for them to just jack up everyones rates to include a sort of flat monthly roaming surcharge, and not have to worry about cross-managing all the billing info.
However, if you end up with a LOT of roaming charges, you're costing the carrier real money every month. It's reasonable for them to assume that people will tend to use their phones at home (where most people also spend a fair amount of time). So, if your house is in an area where they don't have coverage and it goes into roaming mode, that makes your account negative value to them.
Nobody sends "goons" out to someones house to collect on a cellphone or cable bill. We have an automated way to ruin your credit and shove the account over to collections in society today. It's far more efficient.
Speaking of the roaming thing, one way to get out of a cellphone contract early with no fees (presuming you have a contract that allows for free roaming) is to find a spot where your phone has no coverage with your primary carrier. Go to that spot (bring a charger) and call up moviefone or some other toll-free number, and let the call run for several hours. Do this as frequently as possible. You'll end up costing the carrier a ton of money, and you'll normally get a nice contract cancellation letter from them.