BOA Inquiry

[Anonymous]

Last fall I went to BOA and inquired about their banking products.  The rep took my information and then started discussing it with me.  We determined they didn't have a checking account that fit my needs and that was that.  Well when he took my information, it created a hard pull.  I would have been okay with if I had signed something, said I WANTED an account, applied for an account, or something more innocuous than speaking with a rep to determine if they had a good match.  From my perspective, its no different than going to an electronics store and seeing if they have a stereo that fits my car. 

I tried going back to the branch but they didn't know how to do anything about the pull.  I called their customer service line and they were of the opinion that when you speak to a rep thats enough to constitute PP.  My verbal response to their opinion on the matter isn't printable in this forum.  I also tried writing both to the corporate address listed on the BOA website and to the address shown on my credit report but both came back undeliverable.

One inquiry isn't going to kill me and it only impacts me for another 5 months, but the principle of it bugs me more than anything else, and quite honestly their attitude doesn't help either.

I am open to suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Did you fill out any type of application while you were there? Sign anything? If not, trying writing a dispute letter to the Credit Bureaus. Some will not accept disputes for inquiries, others have had great success having them removed. It's worth a try though.

[Anonymous]

I went back to the branch and they found a usable corporate address to write to.  Both the rep at the branch and the person he spoke to on the phone were of the belief that BOA only did soft inquiries and that I was mistaken about my report.  Of course I know a little bit more about credit reports than they do and my opinion about bankers in general is that anyone with a grade school diploma should get work there. 

That notwithstanding, my biggest pet peeve here was the attitude of the phone reps who were of the opinion that my sitting down with a rep and giving personal information constituted an application for an account and that if I only wanted information I should have simply read the pamphlets.  I asked for that rep's manager and he responded that he "had the authority of a manager".  I told him that was impossible as he couldn't be a manager making minimum wage and I then hung up.

Of course the problem itself stems from the way they do business, which is collect information before its even determined that you want an account there.  It's like going to a car dealership and the dealer trying to qualify you for financing on their cars before you've even decided you want one.  It's ass backwards.