Preapproval Hard Inquiry ~ FURIOUS

[Anonymous]

Thank you. No, nothing about hard pull in the doc received in mail.

[Anonymous]

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wrote:

I guess go down the BBB route for starters and see what that does for you.  You were approved for the card though, right?  If you were, I honestly wouldn't make a fuss about it, because as you stated previously you're well aware that credit apps result in HPs.  It sounds like you were sort of preying on ignorance here, which really isn't something to get worked up about if it doesn't work out.  It's like if on Pay Day you saw that your direct deposit for some reason went into your bank account twice.  You know that's not right, so you call your employer and he looks into it and says "nope, everything looks fine on our end..."  Then a few days later he contacts you and says that he does realize there's an error and will need to take back the double-payment.  You can't get mad over that, as you knew from the very start what was right and what was wrong.  Again, assuming you were approved for the product here, stirring the pot may end up getting your account flagged in some way shape or form, which could end up biting you in the rear at some point down the line.  Just something to consider, as inquiries are the least impactful part of one's credit score.

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I agree 1000%. He knew darn well that credit card applications give a hard pull 99% of the time. It feels like trying to play the system. You applied for a product, take the **bleep** hard pull. This wouldn’t be the first time a rep on the phone had no clue what was going on. Human error. Enjoy the card and the hard pull means nothing.

[bourgogne]

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wrote:
Thank you. No, nothing about hard pull in the doc received in mail.

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that is interesting, there is zero mention about checking your credit?  I dont check all my offers but they seem to mention that credit will be pulled.  you are in a bit of a pickle.  maybe wait to see what they give you and see how you feel it all then.  based on them being antiquated I am not sure but I would see if they record all the calls and maybe use that as your leverage if they do.  getting hps removed is hard, maybe they will turn it into a soft.  amex records every call and it then tagged them to ones account.  apparently they keep these calls forever I found out first hand.  see what they give you.  this is why some CUs can be so nice to deal with, banks are just sometimes awful to deal with but the banks have the better sign ups. 

[Anonymous]

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wrote:

No, I wasn’t preying on ignorance. I did not know if a preapproval would assess a hard pull, which is why I asked more than once to insure the information provided was accurate and to clarify the terms of the application. They’re the bank, why am I as the consumer responsible for their screw up? The fact is I did not authorize a hard inquiry. The BBB idea is a good one, though, thank you. 

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Because you know darn well if you are in here that a credit application produces a hard pull. Don’t insult the intelligence of people in here. You are trying to game the system. Try the BBB and if you get lucky and get it removed congrats. But don’t expect it. One other thing to do is dispute it and give reason and agent you talked to if you wrote it down during the application. It is possible to get it removed that way. 

[trusty]

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wrote:

Received preapproval for Bank of West World MasterCard in mail. Called and asked if application would yield hard inquiry; rep stated no. She read disclosures and asked if I wanted to go forward with application, and I again asked if hard inquiry would be processed. Again she said no, that my credit had already been checked and because it was a preapproval, there would be no hard inquiry. After the call, I received an email from Experian alerting me to a recent credit inquiry. Called back and was ultimately connected with a supervisor who stated the call would be reviewed, offering me no more than an apology for what had occurred. I stated that I wanted the inquiry removed, and she then connected me with her supervisor, who informed me (with a rather obnoxious tone) that they can’t change credit report data. I responded that I entered into an agreement that I would have otherwise opted out of because of the hard inquiry, and therefore they needed to take responsibility for the error of their agent and remove the inquiry. I have a call in to her supervisor, but am wondering how to proceed if this person is as uncooperative as the last.

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This is why you sign up for Credit Lock. It's free with both Equifax and Transunion. It's $4.99 a month with Experian.

If a credit issuer tells you that your credit has already been reviewed for approval... than you simply call their bluff and proceed to lock your credit reports.

This way, you are always in control, instead of relying on largely misinformed front line reps - to actually know the innerworkings of what's going on.

So, even if the call center agent should have known better... so should've the consumer.

Further, by actually receiving an approval, there is really no damage here. It's all just water under the bridge; and, a lesson learned.

[Physh1]

Your subject for this thread is deceptive. You didn't receive a hard inquiry for a preapproval. You received a hard inquiry for an application based on a preapproval notice (based purely on marketing and/or soft pull info). Sounds like you're fairly informed about applying for credit so while the frontline csr, who usually aren't as accurate as they should be, told you no hard pull would be done I would have absolutely expected the hard pull. I do from any credit application. As mentioned above, locks & freezes help protect you should this happen. I understand where you're coming from but 1 inquiry shouldn't fire you up this much...the approval will cause a bigger score dip in the short term than the inquiry.

[Anonymous]

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No, if you re-read my posts, I never stated that I knew new apps result in hard inquiry.

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I think it's pretty clear from Post 4 that you did, as you clearly state that it's "rare" for one to not.

We can agree to disagree on this one.  No doubt you learned something from this experience regardless.  Hopefully you end up with the product and let us know if they agree to remove the inquiry to boot.

[Physh1]

You said this... 'I understand that it is rare to only have soft pull when applying for credit'

That rightfully implies, IMHO, that you understand that it is common to have hard pulls when applying for credit. I research anything I'm applying for and after a simple search it will show you that a hard pull should have been expected. Either way...good luck with your complaint. I understand you're going for the principle of the matter but all that work for 1 inquiry that ultimately is legit even if the csr was poorly informed.

Also, to be clear, I've never seen a preapproval or anything state that they would hard pull your credit. They always say something like 'you authorize us to obtain a current copy of your credit reports'. Does any language like this this sound familiar either over the phone or in the preapproval? While I don't have a BOTW cc or account, I've heard/seen this language, in some similar form, on every single application I've filled out.

[DaveInAZ]

"Pre-approved" offers usually aren't even a soft pull, they usually come from pre-screens: A company sends a request to a credit bureau: "Give us a list of potential customers with a minimum of xxx credit score + other criteria".  If you apply from the offer 99.99% of the time it will be a hard pull on your credit.

[Anonymous]

I am guessing that our OP may have left the thread because we may have come down on him a little hard.  (Not referring to any one person, and certainly not to BBS, who was the first to very gently ask the OP whether in fact he might have known better than did the mistaken CSR.) 

Because our OP has likely checked out at this point what I am about to say may be pointless, but I'll throw it out there for whatever value it might have in guiding other newcomers.

The concern I have from our OP is his view that he would never have applied for the card if he had known there would be a hard pull.  That's the "money" question here.  It's possible of course for a person's score to be so borderline, combined with an upcoming need in for credit (buying a home in the next six months), that one inquiry at one bureau could damage his chances for this future need.  If so, then almost certainly the person should not be opening a new account at all, since there will certainly be a drop to Average Age of Accounts and Age of Youngest Account, and an increase to percentage of New Accounts.

It also suggests the possibility that he might not realize that this one inquiry might have zero scoring impact even in the short term, and that certainly it will stop having any impact whatsoever after 12 months.

Making sure our OP understands this might soften his worry/outrage to "yeah, wish I hadn't run across a misinformed CSR, but I can see I am basically ok."