Consumer complaint received 2015-07-09
Company: STERLING JEWELERS, INC.
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Unsolicited issuance of credit card

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, 2015 my then girlfriend and I went to a Kay 's outlet store in XXXX to look at potential engagement rings. At that time an employee named XXXX began showing us rings and at first was very helpful, however when we told him we were unsure about how much I could afford to purchase a ring he started telling us he could check and see how much I could be approved for. He started having me fill out forms and had another employee show my girlfriend other rings. He eventually filled out XXXX for my girlfriend and had her sign the same form. We had made it very clear that we did not want to move forward with anything and the whole time he kept reassuring us that this would just be to authorize him to run our credit scores and that nothing would be opened and there would be no commitments or obligations. He knew this was the first store we had gone to and being that he was very open and friendly we trusted him. We left without buying a ring and said we would come back once we figured out finances. XXXX ended up opening XXXX accounts for us. XXXX joint account with my girlfriend XXXX XXXX, and I and XXXX for just myself. We discovered this when the cards came in the mail. I am very displeased with his behavior and conduct. He was VERY deceptive and obviously had every intention of opening these XXXX accounts. He took advantage of us being first time buyers, he fast talked me about him being in the military and distracted my girlfriend with his other associate, showing her other rings. These open accounts have now dropped my credit score, which I have worked extremely hard to improve over the last few years, and have put a hard hit and an open account on my girlfriends. We called customer service today and the rep on the phone said they could close it but there was nothing they could do to delete it from our credit reports. We both received letters notifying us of the same from their customer service department. Per the customer service rep, she stated that us signing the forms, which I now realize were not credit score authorization forms they were credit cards, meant that we authorized him to open credit accounts for us, and they could not be removed from our credit reports. I understand it was my mistake for not reading the fine print, but like I said we trusted him and were caught up in the excitement of looking for engagement rings. It 's very disappointing to see that this guy preyed on first time buyers and the fact that I am a service member which he talked about extensively, and now the customer service is unwilling to help us, standing by the fact that what their employee did was ethical. If I need to file a police report to get this removed from all XXXX credit report with our local police I will, but I 'm hoping you can help get this resolved without having to file one and submit a formal complaint on Kay 's employee conduct. The joint account number is XXXX and the single account for me is XXXX.

Company public response: Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief