topic Re: store clerk tricked into opening card in Credit Cards

store clerk tricked into opening card

panda21 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 02:07:00 GMT

I need advice. I was recently shopping around for engagement rings, and went into a Zales. I was asked by a clerk there if they could run my credit to see what I was eligable for. I said sure but insisted that I did NOT want to open a card. Well, a few days later I get the new card in the mail. Can I have this voided due to the fact that the opening of the card was fraudulent? I do not want this to hurt my credit score, and it is very important that I can have credit available soon. It is just infuriating! Thanks for any help.

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

Repo-ed — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 02:15:22 GMT

um, you said "sure" to them asking you if they could run your credit, AND you provided them your SSN

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

daybreakgonesXe — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 02:16:21 GMT

panda21 wrote:
I need advice. I was recently shopping around for engagement rings, and went into a Zales. I was asked by a clerk there if they could run my credit to see what I was eligable for. I said sure but insisted that I did NOT want to open a card. Well, a few days later I get the new card in the mail. Can I have this voided due to the fact that the opening of the card was fraudulent? I do not want this to hurt my credit score, and it is very important that I can have credit available soon. It is just infuriating! Thanks for any help.

You can try to recon it, but unfortunately the fact that you gave them the authorization to run your credit through and gave them your information pretty much may make it a no-go. Many times when applying for a credit card application there's a little keypad that says "I accept the Terms & Conditions..." blah blah blah to an account. It is your responsibility to go through the terms and conditions before hitting the "accept" button, and/or ask any questions to the associate before doing so. If there was no accept button or check-off box, then you may have a chance at reconning!

Unfortunately I know this game well. Sometimes associates at my store don't always give the whole lowdown before getting people to apply for the JCP card (some people think it's simply a rewards card, but when they get to the point of entering their SSN they should realize it's not just a rewards card...but it happens anyways). But it is also the consumers responsibility before signing up for ANYTHING to read through terms & conditions.

Some cards also don't report right away. You may be able to close the account ASAP and never have it report. The hard pull (if any) you will likely not be able to recon due to the fact that you did authorize the salesperson to run a credit check. But the effects of that hard pull will likely fade away in a couple of months!

Best of luck! Sorry it had to happen to you, but I'm sure you can resolve it easier than you think :(

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

distantarray — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 02:52:25 GMT

giving someone your info and expecting them not to use it? You can't find out if your qualified for it there's so much thing I know of a guarentteed approval with a credit card etc.

Besides the common sense things of having a well aged account with nothing bad on your reports then of course you'll get approved for 98% + of things out there (minus things like Amex Black, and JP Morgan Palladium etc which requires super high incomes or spendings)

Even Pre-Qualified doesn't really mean you'll qualify. I wish I could ask each company if they would most likely approve me before I app :) that would be nice, but does not exist :\

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

panda21 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:03:20 GMT

Well, I noticed that a paper that came with the card says that they can't begin sharing my information until 30 days has passed. Does that mean that I can cancel the card within those 30 days without penalty to my credit score?

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

daybreakgonesXe — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:04:06 GMT

panda21 wrote:
Well, I noticed that a paper that came with the card says that they can't begin sharing my information until 30 days has passed. Does that mean that I can cancel the card within those 30 days without penalty to my credit score?

Yes indeed! Well, that means they won't report the account to the credit bureau, so it'll be like it never happened, sans the hard pull. You won't be able to get rid of that.

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

panda21 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:07:04 GMT

daybreakgonesXe wrote:
panda21 wrote:
Well, I noticed that a paper that came with the card says that they can't begin sharing my information until 30 days has passed. Does that mean that I can cancel the card within those 30 days without penalty to my credit score?
Yes indeed! Well, that means they won't report the account to the credit bureau, so it'll be like it never happened, sans the hard pull. You won't be able to get rid of that.

Well that's great then! I know the credit check will still be there (my dumb mistake), but at least the card wont be! Thank you! :-)

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

daybreakgonesXe — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:08:36 GMT

panda21 wrote:
daybreakgonesXe wrote:
panda21 wrote:
Well, I noticed that a paper that came with the card says that they can't begin sharing my information until 30 days has passed. Does that mean that I can cancel the card within those 30 days without penalty to my credit score?
Yes indeed! Well, that means they won't report the account to the credit bureau, so it'll be like it never happened, sans the hard pull. You won't be able to get rid of that.
Well that's great then! I know the credit check will still be there (my dumb mistake), but at least the card wont be! Thank you! :-)

No problem! That's the beauty of most creditors. They don't report until after the 1st statement cut :)

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

calihlove75 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:10:59 GMT

Why would you tell them to run your credit if you were not going to open an account? That just seems silly to just take a hard pull just because.

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

jake619 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:13:03 GMT

Funny how they knew where to mail the card...

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

martinkk — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:21:16 GMT

I'm curious. If OP closes and inquiry stays then won't it look like he was denied credit to creditors pulling his credit later? Since he already took the HP, why would it not be better to accept the account and just SD the card? I know AAofA might be less, but utilization would be lower, right? I' m still new here so just trying to get it all straight in my mind.

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

ccnewcc — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:22:56 GMT

panda21 wrote:
I need advice. I was recently shopping around for engagement rings, and went into a Zales. I was asked by a clerk there if they could run my credit to see what I was eligable for. I said sure but insisted that I did NOT want to open a card. Well, a few days later I get the new card in the mail. Can I have this voided due to the fact that the opening of the card was fraudulent? I do not want this to hurt my credit score, and it is very important that I can have credit available soon. It is just infuriating! Thanks for any help.

Wow that sucks. I don't know the answer to your question but it does look like it was already answered. I do want to say, however, that most retail people work on commission and/or get some sort of incentive if they can get people to app for store cards.

In any sales environment, the chance for less than honest sales ppl rises. If no means no, then just say no.

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

distantarray — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:23:58 GMT

martinkk wrote:
I'm curious. If OP closes and inquiry stays then won't it look like he was denied credit to creditors pulling his credit later? Since he already took the HP, why would it not be better to accept the account and just SD the card? I know AAofA might be less, but utilization would be lower, right? I' m still new here so just trying to get it all straight in my mind.

I would say possibly keep it since he's lookin to buy a ring soon from what I understand and depending on the credit limit :D

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

panda21 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:26:25 GMT

martinkk wrote:
I'm curious. If OP closes and inquiry stays then won't it look like he was denied credit to creditors pulling his credit later? Since he already took the HP, why would it not be better to accept the account and just SD the card? I know AAofA might be less, but utilization would be lower, right? I' m still new here so just trying to get it all straight in my mind.
I'm interested in this answer too. I'm a huge novice with this stuff.

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

calihlove75 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:27:04 GMT

daybreakgonesXe wrote:
panda21 wrote:
Well, I noticed that a paper that came with the card says that they can't begin sharing my information until 30 days has passed. Does that mean that I can cancel the card within those 30 days without penalty to my credit score?
Yes indeed! Well, that means they won't report the account to the credit bureau, so it'll be like it never happened, sans the hard pull. You won't be able to get rid of that.

That is not how I would read into that. I would think that means they won't share information to their partners for promotional offer purposes/ marketing. I cannot imagine the credit card will not report.

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

daybreakgonesXe — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:31:02 GMT

martinkk wrote:
I'm curious. If OP closes and inquiry stays then won't it look like he was denied credit to creditors pulling his credit later? Since he already took the HP, why would it not be better to accept the account and just SD the card? I know AAofA might be less, but utilization would be lower, right? I' m still new here so just trying to get it all straight in my mind.

Hmmm to be honest I'm not sure. I'm sure if it was manually reviewed sometime down the road it may seem that way since there's no appropriate tradeline available for it. Creditors don't seem to consider hard pulls to particular available credit lines (like there's no connect the dots). It's simply separate categories that get calculated. You have to consider that some hard pulls won't link to an account all the time (like shopping around for an auto loan or mortgage) so there's no real way to tell off the bat unless someone manually reviews and "assumes". But we all know what assuming does :P

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

panda21 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:31:51 GMT

ccnewcc wrote:
panda21 wrote:
I need advice. I was recently shopping around for engagement rings, and went into a Zales. I was asked by a clerk there if they could run my credit to see what I was eligable for. I said sure but insisted that I did NOT want to open a card. Well, a few days later I get the new card in the mail. Can I have this voided due to the fact that the opening of the card was fraudulent? I do not want this to hurt my credit score, and it is very important that I can have credit available soon. It is just infuriating! Thanks for any help.
Wow that sucks. I don't know the answer to your question but it does look like it was already answered. I do want to say, however, that most retail people work on commission and/or get some sort of incentive if they can get people to app for store cards.

In any sales environment, the chance for less than honest sales ppl rises. If no means no, then just say no.

Yeah, and it's backfired because not only will I not be shopping at Zales, I definitely would never buy it from that woman. It can be hard out there for people (like me and a lot of young adults) to navigate their credit when you don't know much about it, plus you have people everywhere trying to use your lack of experience to con you out of your credit score just so they can make a commission. Is it so much to ask that people just be kind?!

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

distantarray — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:44:03 GMT

panda21 wrote:
ccnewcc wrote:
panda21 wrote:
I need advice. I was recently shopping around for engagement rings, and went into a Zales. I was asked by a clerk there if they could run my credit to see what I was eligable for. I said sure but insisted that I did NOT want to open a card. Well, a few days later I get the new card in the mail. Can I have this voided due to the fact that the opening of the card was fraudulent? I do not want this to hurt my credit score, and it is very important that I can have credit available soon. It is just infuriating! Thanks for any help.
Wow that sucks. I don't know the answer to your question but it does look like it was already answered. I do want to say, however, that most retail people work on commission and/or get some sort of incentive if they can get people to app for store cards.

In any sales environment, the chance for less than honest sales ppl rises. If no means no, then just say no.
Yeah, and it's backfired because not only will I not be shopping at Zales, I definitely would never buy it from that woman. It can be hard out there for people (like me and a lot of young adults) to navigate their credit when you don't know much about it, plus you have people everywhere trying to use your lack of experience to con you out of your credit score just so they can make a commission. Is it so much to ask that people just be kind?!

to be fair what you were asking was completely unreasonable and a strange question to ask, what you were offered would probably be the most fitting response besides going HUH? which is what i was doing while scratching my head. Besides everyone wants to make a sale, regardless there's NO way she could find out if you would qualify without pulling your score, and companies will NEVER soft hit you for a card unless you do the shopping cart trick with WFNNB or Comenity.

In the end you allowed her to run your credit, and insisted you did not want to open a card. In which you've recieved the option of NOT having it report. She did exactly what you requested. The fault is yours imho.

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

navigatethis12 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:58:40 GMT

panda21 wrote:
Well, I noticed that a paper that came with the card says that they can't begin sharing my information until 30 days has passed. Does that mean that I can cancel the card within those 30 days without penalty to my credit score?

I am sure that means sharing your information with affiliates and possibly marketing companies, not the credit bureaus. You can of course try, if you want to.

martinkk wrote:
I'm curious. If OP closes and inquiry stays then won't it look like he was denied credit to creditors pulling his credit later?

Lenders do not care if you are approved or not when they look at inquiries; they can not see if you were approved or not when looking at it either.

Re: store clerk tricked into opening card

Ron1 — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 07:42:17 GMT

The creditor will report your account as closed and it might hurt your score. I would say to keep it open or you might find useful. You already took the HP and your score might drop. Keep it open and it doesn't cost you.

Ron.