Same thing happened to me after applying for Slate today. I let it go through to a rep and explained I was only calling to check my status - he responded that the system shows it is still in process and that it typically take at least 72 hours but could take 7-10 days.
I said "oh okay, that makes sense, I was just curious if I needed to verify anything because that's what happened with my CSP and Freedom."
He informed me that he did not have access to that information but he could transfer me to lending and they'd be able to tell me what needs to be done after reviewing. Having had luck with speaking with lending on the other two apps...I said that'd be fine and thanked him for his time.
Spoke with lending and she verified some info, looked at the app and said verification indeed needed to take it from there...she connected us and verification checked some info and told me she had to put me on hold for up to 3 minutes to review my application. The woman then came back and said I was approved.
TL : DR - go ahead and talk to the person and glean what you can. After that first line of contact it could be a crapshoot.
As for the combining pulls...not to get your hopes up too high...but Freedom pulled TU and EX...subsequently the CSP only pulled EX...I'll see what pops up over the next few days to see if Slate pulled something
