Amex CLI question

[Cstl05]

Hey all I was wondering if some one could give me a straight answer, as I haven't been able to get one from the CSR.

I've been told on two occasions that Amex only does soft pulls for CLI's, however they pulled ex for me, so even if the soft pull was a hard pull I wouldn't know is this correct?  Because you cant  pull Ex?

I just called again and was told that Amex does hard pulls and soft pulls, but there is NO way for the CSR to know what it pulls, is this correct?

So, how would one find out whether the pull was a soft or hard if one cannot pull an Experian Credit Report?

Thank you so much in advance! 

[haulingthescoreup]

You can get your Experian credit report. You just can't get your EX FICO score. Very different critters.

You can get the full report from Experian, which lists both hard and soft inqs, from their website for a fee or from annualcreditreport.com if it's been 12 months since you've gotten a freebie.

You can get third-party monitoring service reports, which don't list softs or give contact info for many accounts, from a number of sources. They can be very helpful to check for changes in your credit reports, but ignore the scores, which are always FAKO's.

At any rate, if there was a hard inq made, it would show up on either the full report or a credit-monitoring service report, assuming that the monitoring service genuinely refreshes when you pull a report.


edt: cna't splel

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 02-16-2010 04:58 PM

[DI]

AMEX can pull any of credit reports for an account review without your permission.  But if you request a CLI you give them the options to make a hard or soft pull.  Since you're already doing business with AMEX, they will simply do a soft pull in most cases.  If you wanting a big CLI, they may want to make a hard inquiry. 

AMEX would inform you if they need to make a hard pull to determine if you're eligible for a CLI.  When speaking with the CSR, you can ask if the pull for a CLI would result in a soft or hard inquiry.

For me, my CLI's resulted in a soft inquiry.   

[Jazzzy]

Hi...my CLI from AmEx did not require a hard pull. This was in the fall.

And...you can pull an Experian credit report. You just can't get an Experian FICO score. You can get the report, though. That should tell you if they pulled.

[Cstl05]

Thank you all. 

What would be a good credit monitoring system to check up on my experian reports?

Does the CSR know if it will be a hard or soft pull?  The one I talked to just now said they don't know, and can't tell, but the one who did a CLI for me a month ago told me it was soft, and it usually always is a soft pull, unless you request over 3 times your limit.

Can anyone verify this? thank you! 

[DI]

Many of the credit monitoring sites doesn't show soft inquiries. 

[Jazzzy]

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@gl4662 wrote:

Thank you all. 

What would be a good credit monitoring system to check up on my experian reports?

Does the CSR know if it will be a hard or soft pull?  The one I talked to just now said they don't know, and can't tell, but the one who did a CLI for me a month ago told me it was soft, and it usually always is a soft pull, unless you request over 3 times your limit.

Can anyone verify this? thank you! 

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I can only verify what happened with my CLI. The card went from $2k to $6k...exactly 3 times. That CLI was a soft pull. Don't know what would have happened if I had asked for more. And, with this CLI they verified income. My husband is self-employed, so we get that a lot.

[haulingthescoreup]

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DI wrote:
Many of the credit monitoring sites doesn't show soft inquiries. 

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The only one I know that does is Equifax Credit Watch Gold, because it allows you to pull a full report. Even then, only the EQ report is full. The other two are the short versions, and after the three free that you get when you sign up, you have to pay to look at a TU or EX report.

[Cstl05]

Since they pulled Ex for me and since they will probably do a soft pull when i request an increase, is it safe to say that my Ex score has gone up since my Eq score has gone up? when I applied for the card my Credit score was at 745, now it is at 780.

[smallfry]

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@gl4662 wrote:
Since they pulled Ex for me and since they will probably do a soft pull when i request an increase, is it safe to say that my Ex score has gone up since my Eq score has gone up? when I applied for the card my Credit score was at 745, now it is at 780.

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If the reports are the same most probably yes.