Consumer complaint received 2023-09-06
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: AZ
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card
Sub-issue: Application denied

Complaint:
On XXXX my air conditioner died. We were experiencing a heat wave, so it was an emergency. I called the new AC company I had just started using.

They came out to troubleshoot my AC unit and found that it was leaking coolant and because it was 16-18 years old, the parts for repair would cost at least half of what it would cost me to replace the unit with a new AC. 

The AC company offered interest free financing through Wells Fargo. I am careful about my credit and have high fico scores, no debt other than a car lease and a low amount left on my mortgage. I rarely apply for new credit but because this new AC cost approximately XXXX, I decided to go ahead and apply. 

A few days prior to applying for the Wells Fargo financing, my identity had been stolen and the identity thief had attempted to open an XXXX XXXX credit card with XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. I spoke with XXXX XXXX  XXXX and they let me know they blocked that application. 

I use XXXX credit monitoring and they were able to help me put an alert on my credit reporting with all 3 credit bureaus, which stated I had recently experienced identity theft and credit was not to be extended without first contacting me and my phone number was listed in the alert. 

I told the AC company that I was afraid my application for financing would be affected by the recent identity theft I had reported. They instructed me to call Wells Fargo before applying for the financing. 

While the AC technition was in my home, I called Wells Fargo and told them I was concerned the credit alert I had added would impact my ability to apply for financing. They told me it would not affect my ability to get approved for financing. 

I proceeded to fill out the instant credit application. A few minutes later, a representative from Wells Fargo called my cell phone and asked me if they had my permission to verify my identity by texting my cell phone and I agreed. They stayed on the line until I received the code and verified my identity. They then hung up and processsed my application. 

Within 15 minutes of this interaction, I was informed by the AC technition, that Wells Fargo had denied my application and no other information was provided. As a result of the denial, I got a hard inquiry on my credit report which caused my score to decline. I was given no explanation for the denial and no option to correct any issues. 

Finally, on XXXX I received a letter from Wells Fargo that they had dated XXXX. The letter stated that Wells Fargo had been unable to authenticate the identity of the applicant ( me ). 

Wells Fargo lied to me about my identity theft alert not affecting my ability apply for financing with them. Wells Fargo denied me credit claiming they " could not authenticate identity of applicant, '' even though they successfully called me to authenticate my identity over the phone, at the time my appllication was submitted. 

Wells Fargo caused a hard inquiry to hit my credit report which resulted in my credit score declining.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief