Equifax Hard Pull on iPhone upgrade program

[Anonymous]

I recently purchased new iPhones for myself and my wife. I opted to utilize Apple's own iPhone upgrade program and finance the devices through them. I did this two years ago as well and paid off both phones in full. Upon purchasing new phones, the Apple rep stated that Citizens Bank would only do a soft pull of my credit, since I had already had loans with them in the past. So I said no problem.

Well it turned out to be a hard pull instead. My credit score is still north of 825, so in the end, really no big deal. But is the hard pull something I can contest since I was specifically told it would only be soft? Or since I obviously consented to the credit inquiry myself, nothing I can really complain about?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I recently purchased new iPhones for myself and my wife. I opted to utilize Apple's own iPhone upgrade program and finance the devices through them. I did this two years ago as well and paid off both phones in full. Upon purchasing new phones, the Apple rep stated that Citizens Bank would only do a soft pull of my credit, since I had already had loans with them in the past. So I said no problem.

Well it turned out to be a hard pull instead. My credit score is still north of 825, so in the end, really no big deal. But is the hard pull something I can contest since I was specifically told it would only be soft? Or since I obviously consented to the credit inquiry myself, nothing I can really complain about?

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The second part.

[Anonymous]

From a purely practical perspective, the smartest move is to leave it alone.  That's because:

     * It's a lot of work on your end to get them to recode it as a soft pull, work that will likely still result in them leaving it as a hard pull.

     * Leaving it alone means you have a 5 point penalty at one bureau only which will vanish after 12 months. 

     * Your scores are above 825.

From a theoretical perspective, the creditor can do a recoding of that inquiry.  Disputing it with the bureau (very different strategy) stands a 100% chance of it coming back as validated (and possibly you being marked by that bureau as someone who files frivolous disputes).