Why Does My Power Company Need My SOCIAL Security Number For a Routine Customer Service Call?

reply to post by galacticos


I personally do think that those 3 items should be enough to open an account. But I still see the problem from the banks point of view. They want to be able to promote their accounts as being safe. They don't want to get a reputation of being the bank where a lot of fraud accounts are opened up.

Like I said...I don't know the solution...I don't know where to draw the line. I don't think it is an issue of living in a free world...it is an issue of living in a dis-honest world. If we lived in a true honest world...then we wouldn't ever have to worry about false identities. Unfortunately...that is not the case.

an id card that is a valid ID card is all you need to open a bank account all other info is just bogus if they ask you for anything,they have no right to ask and you have all the rights to refuse,

besides there are laws that clearly states that private companies (not govermental/state owned) may not collect personal info like ss numbers and birth certificates for private databases no matter what, not even a fine small print can make that legal.

as regarding the OP 2 thumbs up for staying firm , they clearly did not know/cared about what is lawfull and what is not ,

Dear , you should of just pulled out your 22' Rifle and shot them all ! We All know they were the " Bad Guys " , Right ? .............

wasn't a law passed in recent years that made it illegal for non-govt companies to use your SSN as a unique identifier in their records? From what I remember, this was done to help protect people in cases where personally-identifying information was used to associate business accounts with persons.

as a rule of thumb - when asked for your SSN, I just make up a number (but remember the number you gave them in case it's used for account-verification reasons)

Last four digits of SS is acceptable.

First thing to do on a call like that... Ask for a supervisor/manager.

Politely, of course.

Most companies employ these phone operators to front for those that have the power to modify your account and actually DO Something.

Also, If you want a real heads up on phone etiquette...

Listen for that almighty apology! That is the operators newest weapon.

They are all trained from the start to apologize.

People that have skills don't need to resort to that, you'll know that you have the real deal when you don't hear an apology for every little comment or question you make.

First thing: Ask for a supervisor or manager... Or ask if the initial contact has the power to dispatch or modify your account. If not move on up.

Don't take NO for an answer.