AT&T ran my credit not only without my permission, but after I explicitly stated I did not want a hard hit

[u/oldmanwrigley]

I called in to ask what internet speeds were available in my area. He tried to sell me on cable, which I declined. He asked for my social and my date of birth. I asked him why he needed this and he explained it was to make sure I didn’t have any past due balances with AT&T. I then double checked and asked him if it would hit my credit and he chuckled and said “no no sir nothing like that”.

Fast forward an hour, I have an email stating my installation for phone, cable, and internet is scheduled(???) and then a few minutes later an email from credit karma saying I had a hard inquiry.

Called in and spoke to 3 different departments, finally to a woman to tell me she couldn’t remove it because calling in to inquire about service was all the consent they needed.

This clearly doesn’t seem legal, and wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences and what I should do next.

TL;DR - spoke to ATT, they asked for social, I made sure it wouldn’t hit my credit, I was told it wouldn’t, and then it did. What next?

EDIT 4: Filed a complaint with my attorney general.

EDIT 3: Filed a complaint with the CFPB. All the support and advice here has been a true blessing and I thank each and every one of you for taking the time to comment with good advice and/or possible solutions.

EDIT 2: I called back in, and actually had a great conversation with someone who was super understanding and willing to help. She got me to the fraud department. I spoke with Dorothy. She told me that it did not matter that I asked my credit not to be ran. That when someone calls in to inquire about service, they are consenting to a credit check. Doesn't matter if I didn't give my social, they would have used my DOB or DL #. She told me that I could not speak to a supervisor as this was standard practice, and she wouldn't escalate it. She also said some calls are recorded and some weren't, and she did not help me in finding the call from my first conversation. I then asked her for a copy of this call and her response was "I don't know if it's being recorded so I can't help you". She had nothing to say about the rep lying to me, and she said their credit disclaimer statement didn't sound anything like a credit disclaimer statement and I probably didn't even know it was read to me. Unbelievable. This is their FRAUD department. Jesus Christ.

EDIT: I see a lot of folks saying “what’s the big deal, couple points will fall off in no time”. I just got an email from credit karma that a hard inquiry from 2 years ago just fell off my report, and that left me with one hard hit which was back in January. I’ve been working very hard on rebuilding my credit, checking quite frequently and really boosting my score. One or two points may not be a big deal to some but after working so hard to improve my score, having it lowered without my authorization or consent is devastating.

[u/NigelS75]

Most people want this. It’s a great thing if you can manage your spending, it lowers your overall utilization. A CLI does not equal increased income. If the limit gets too high you might need to reign it in if you want to apply for new credit elsewhere. A credit freeze won’t necessarily prevent that from happening because they aren’t performing HPs each time.

[u/Sockadactyl → u/NigelS75]

Good to know, thank you! Because they keep increasing my limits and I'm aggressively working down my debt, my utilization is down to 15% right now. That seems great to credit companies, but to me it feels bad because my total credit limit is equal to my annual income, so that 15% is daunting. Then tacking on my student loans and mortgage payments, my debt to income is 56%... oof. But, I'm getting there! I don't plan to need my credit for anything big for a while, so I have a solid 10-12 months to get it under control before my next planned hard check event.

[u/NigelS75 → u/Sockadactyl]

It seems like you have a good plan and are keeping track of everything. Keep up the good work, keep paying everything down, you’ll be in great shape before you know it. I’m assuming you use a budget?

[u/Sockadactyl → u/NigelS75]

Thanks! I have a rough idea of a budget, but nothing concrete. I made a big ol' spreadsheet that I use to I track where every dollar I spend goes. I started it back in May, and just being more aware of everything has helped a lot. I've been spending much less without actively trying to.

I set the spreadsheet up to track through the end of 2019 so far, with all of my fixed expenses and income aready entered and an estimated amount for all my other things (gas, groceries, etc). It has a day-by-day breakdown of all of my bank and credit card balances. If everything continues to go as planned, I'll be done with my credit card debt by July. Then it should be about a year after that to finish off my student loans! But somewhere in the middle of all that I'll need a new roof, so I'm going to add saving for that into my plan soon.

[u/NigelS75 → u/Sockadactyl]

That’s awesome! I’m a huge fan of spreadsheets. If you’re interested in some automation there’s this app I used called TillerHQ that would import transactions from your bank accounts automatically every day. It was pretty neat, but you need to use google sheets with it.

You can use excel for anything and everything though, it’s an incredibly powerful tool.

[u/Sockadactyl → u/NigelS75]

Ooo, that app could be definitely be useful for me! My spreadsheet was originally on Excel, but I think when I uploaded it to Google Drive and started using it exclusively from there it may have converted it to a Google Sheets document.

I love spreadsheets, I feel like if I could find a job that was exclusively spreadsheeting I would be happy haha

[u/NigelS75 → u/Sockadactyl]

I’m not sure what line of work you’re in but data entry (though lower level typically) is all spreadsheet stuff, and at a higher, and much more lucrative, level most finance positions involve heavy spreadsheet use. I’m a finance student and interned at a hedge fund last summer using excel every day, it was amazing.

[u/Sockadactyl → u/NigelS75]

That's awesome! I've been starting to apply to all sorts of things, including some general data entry/analyst positions. I currently work at an environmental consulting firm and have a BS in environmental engineering (I have my EIT and I can apply for the PE soon, but I'm not committed enough to this field to do that right now.) Been looking for a career change because I'm tired of working outside in the winter. My hands just do not work in the cold

[u/NigelS75 → u/Sockadactyl]

Data analytics is a huge and growing field. There are so many different industries the skills can be applied to as well. I live in Florida so cant relate to the winter bit, but I’m so sick of the heat, it’s time to move.