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Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?

I rented a car while on vacation a few months ago, using a Capitol One credit card.  Later, I was alerted that Avis (the rental company in question) made an inquiry to Equifax for that transaction.  I was under the impression this only happened with debit cards.  Am I incorrect?  If this was done in error or against standard procedures, what can I do?

 

Thanks.

Message 1 of 10
9 REPLIES 9
p-
Valued Contributor

Re: Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?


@Anonymous wrote:

I rented a car while on vacation a few months ago, using a Capitol One credit card.  Later, I was alerted that Avis (the rental company in question) made an inquiry to Equifax for that transaction.  I was under the impression this only happened with debit cards.  Am I incorrect?  If this was done in error or against standard procedures, what can I do?

 

Thanks.


Was it a soft pull or a hard pull?  In order to do a hard pull you would have had to authorize it, check the small print.  If it was a soft pull, who cares?  They were probably making sure you were you.  Did a hard pull show up on your report?

Message 2 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?

How can I tell the difference between hard and soft?  It's listed on my Equifax report as a recent inquiry.  Thanks.

Message 3 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?

I haven't heard of an inquiry showing up with a credit card. They typically only run credit on debit. Are you under 25? Maybe that's why. I recently used my Cap1 and haven't noticed an inquiry. Of course, my Equifax report is owned by CSC and it's a pain to try to get a new copy, so I haven't seen my softs since before I rented. Anyway, this would HAVE to be soft. With their system, it only runs a hard if you use a debit card AND they ask for your SSN. If you're not asked for your SSN, it should be a soft. But either way, I dunno why it would happen with a CC, unless you were under 25. Then I can see it.

 

"Soft inquiries" show up on my report (again, may be different because it goes through CSC) under "Inquiries that do not impact your credit rating" and don't have any info, other than the company name and date. "Hard inquiries" show up with all the creditor information.

Message 4 of 10
Scuba
Frequent Contributor

Re: Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?

Avis pulled a hard on me when I rented with a Debit card a couple of years back when I didn't have a CC. 

 

I will not rent from Avis again thinking they pull a CR even if you use a CC.

Message 5 of 10
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?


@Anonymous wrote:

How can I tell the difference between hard and soft?  It's listed on my Equifax report as a recent inquiry.  Thanks.


On a full Equifax report, the hards are listed first. Then there's the big clump of inquires from myfico, etc. Those are the softs.

 

I've never heard of a car rental agency doing a hard when you use a CC. Smiley Mad  If they did, I'd get on the phone with them and ever-so-politely escalate until you get someone who can/ will help you. Frontline CSR's probably can't help, and they rarely know how this works, anyway.

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 6 of 10
Cotton_Britches
Frequent Contributor

Re: Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?

I just rented with Avis using my Capital One credit card. They did not access my credit report at all.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Message 7 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?

I tried to rent a car from avis last September, not only did they do a hard pull on my credit report, they would not rent me a car because they lady said my credit "stank" in front of a bunch of people.  After that embarrassment, I  found a ride to my mom's house and pulled my reports.  I found  that my credit didn't "stink," I just didn't have a credit report at all, so the woman couldn't actually pull it.  Needless to say, I will NEVER rent from avis again.  What was really funny is--I had enough money on my debit card to actually by the car that they were offering me outright.  Oh well, their loss....

Message 8 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?

I would have complained about the rep. That is definitely not the way to handle the situation. First of all, an Avis rep would have no idea whether you had bad credit or no credit. The system either allows your rental or says (paraphrasing) "do not rent. refer to equifax.". That's BS.


But back to the OP for a second. Did you ever figure out if it's a hard or soft? Are you under 25? There's gotta be a reason. What kind of card is it? Unsecured or secured? Are you 100% positive you used your Capital One and didn't accidentally use your debit card?

Message 9 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Avis Rent-a-car Credit Inquiry?

It's for reasons like this that my wife and I both have all our reports frozen.  It's gotten to the point where everyone wants to pull your credit -- test drive a car, & they'll do it without asking, change your TV service, etc.  The reality is many of the places that want to do it are fine with not doing it if they're blocked.  We've had them frozen since the day we legally were able to, and it's never caused an issue for us or led to a denial of some service.  I had to unfreeze Experian for a Costco AMEX, but it was no hassle, just stretched out the approval process to a couple of weeks.

 

As far as Avis, I was thinking the same thing another poster said: are you under 25?  That's their magic age.

 

 

Message 10 of 10
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