@GoHogs4Credit wrote:tl;dr - HP without my consent; company says it can't be removed? Recourse?
I recently contacted Culligan to set up water delivery to my office. I was told they were offering a two-week free trial and scheduled a driver to stop by a couple of days later.
When the driver dropped off the cooler and two bottles of water, he asked me to sign a "Free Trial Agreement". On the agreement, it asks for either a SSN or EIN. The driver said that they required in that in case I "ran off with the equipment". I didn't want to take the time to call my corporate office and get the EIN, and because it didn't say anything on the agreement about checking credit, I provided my SSN.
The next day I received an alert from Amex Credit Secure that I had a new hard credit inquiry. Sure enough, Culligan pulled my TransUnion report. I immediately called the local Culligan office and said that I hadn't authorized a credit check, and that I'd like it removed. The receptionist said I would need to speak with the office manager but she was out sick. In the meantime, I called Culligan's corporate office and was bounced around from person to person before ending up speaking with the Consumer Relations department. The person I spoke with there said that it had to be handled by the local office, that there was nothing they could do at a corporate level.
A couple of days later, I received a call from the local sales manager. He said that he didn't understand the problem because my credit was fine (current TU score is 718). I explained that we're in the process of building a house and I would be shoppping mortages in the next 6-9 months, and that every inquiry has an impact on my score. He said that the driver should have told me that they would check my credit, and when I told him I could assure him that driver didn't, he said he didn't know what he could do but would be back in touch with me.
My two-week trial should have ended on 5/15 but I had not heard from Culligan again until today. The driver showed up to deliver more water and asked me to sign the full customer agreement. I told him what was going on with the credit check and that I wasn't ready to sign anything else and he began apologizing profusely. He said the full agreement says I'm authorizing a credit check and they shouldn't have done anything until that was signed, but he also said they don't typically check credit for a business even when an SSN is provided.
He called his office while he was standing in mine. The office manager told him that there was nothing they could do, that a credit inquiry can't be removed. I know this isn't right, so what steps do I need to take to have it removed?
Thanks
In this case I would file a BBB complaint and if that gets nowhere I would file a CFPB complaint.
@GoHogs4Credit wrote:An update: I called TU directly on 5/29 and explained the situation. They gave me instructions for disputing the inquiry, including getting a letter from Culligan authorizing the removal. I spoke with Culligan again and learned they had also contacted TU and were given similar instructions. I ended up sending a letter to Culligan authorizing the removal, they added their authorization letter, and it was all mailed to TU on 5/30.
I've been checking my score every today and finally saw the inquiry disappear today. My score increased from 718 to 727 with the only change being the removal of the inquiry. I never would have guessed that an inquiry would cost me 9 points!
Which score did you see that on? From Amex Credit Secure? Those aren't FICO scores, though out of curiosity how many other inquiries do you have on the report both within the last year and the last two years?
