My credit rating was damaged when I signed up far more than it should have been & I can't get credit

[RoseWoolman]

Hi, 

I signed up back in November - Vodafone did a hard credit check on my account which has knocked my credit rating from almost 'Excellent' on Experian, to 'Fair', and I'm unable to get good rates for credit. It's now 4-5 months later, my credit rating has not changed (despite having good credit with other companies), and I have queried a few times over the phone, raised a complaint, not had responses, and opened a webchat with them, but with no luck.

They have claimed they do not have 'Credit File Specialists' to help me with my query as to why such a hard check was done just to open an account, and why it's remained on my account. I'm a good payer, and they had no reason to affect it so much.

I tried contacting Experian to remove/fix it with no luck, and I don't want to set up a subscrption with Experian just to find out why Vodafone have made this mistake. They have made me jump through hoops and wasted hours of my time trying to find the answer, to no avail. Can anyone shed some light on this please for me? 

Thanks! 

[BandOfBrothers]

After an application for Credit is made it usually takes around 90 days for a persons Credit Score to recover @RoseWoolman so by that reckoning it should have by now going by the timeline you state. 

I see you've contacted Experian who are the experts in this matter.

When you say " with no luck" what does that mean ?

What have the representatives said at Experian as its them imo who need to look at this and support you. 

The Vodafone Social Media Teams here have a Credit File Specialist Team but as far as I understand it they are in place to deal with default / markers on a Credit File that a person is questioning.

Not the actual recovery of a persons Credit Score.

That said it wouldn't harm in the interim to let the Team here catch up with your thread and respond. 

[RoseWoolman]

Thanks for responding ! 

When I called Experian I only managed to get through to an automated line as I don't pay £15 per month for a subscription. I emailed them about a month ago and received no response, so last night I tried again. 

I understand that a hard check shouldn't have an effect for this long, but never have I seen a hard credit check have such a huge impact, it's as though I've been reported as a non-payer, it's bizarre. Hopefully the online team can shed some light on it, because something's not quite right imo. 

[Mark]

I'm sorry there's been a problem with your credit rating since joining us @RoseWoolman. Our Credit File specialists will be able to look into this for you. As they'll need access to your account to do this, please follow the instructions in the private message I've sent and we'll be in touch.

[RoseWoolman]

Thanks, I will do. Going to have to also speak with someone about the text I received this morning about my bill being almost 2x as high as it should be (for broadband only, no phone) - I can't view my bill, and because of a last minute delay in service when I moved house I'm supposed to have had 2 months free as goodwill. What an awful start.... I really wish I'd not switched 

[Emexrulsier]

I came across this post after looking into why Vodafone do hard checks on accounts, the sort of check that is reserved for lenders and creditors such as car loads and mortgages and not communication suppliers.  For me like others it knocked down my credit score, I'm already high so didn't make a different really but its deffo something that people should be aware of.

ps. it doesnt take 90 days, it takes upto 180 days/

[vanuan]

I think the issue is that a mobile contract is basically a loan since you're paying each month after you used data/calls as opposed to pay as you go where you can't go into debt.

Hard credit check is a standard procedure to open any credit account tied to a person as opposed to billing accounts tied to an address.

Hard checks age off period is from 6 months to 2 years. You can dispute hard check if it was an error, but Vodafone keeps logs of your consent to do a credit check, so credit reporting agencies are unlikely to remove this hard check.

[Ripshod]

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@vanuan wrote:

I think the issue is that a mobile contract is basically a loan since you're paying each month after you used data/calls as opposed to pay as you go where you can't go into debt.

Hard credit check is a standard procedure to open any credit account tied to a person as opposed to billing accounts tied to an address.

Hard checks age off period is from 6 months to 2 years. You can dispute hard check if it was an error, but Vodafone keeps logs of your consent to do a credit check, so credit reporting agencies are unlikely to remove this hard check.

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@vanuan this is the broadband Forum. You've also just resurrected a thread that's been dead over two years. 

[Jayach]

Now that the forum no longer takes you to your first unread post, when people reopen old threads it's very annoying, as I don't always notice the date on the post. and when I do, I have to scroll (possibly through multiple pages) to get to the new posts.

Vodafone really should have got the forum sorted out by now.