Consumer complaint received 2015-11-25
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: CA
Product: Consumer Loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Taking out the loan or lease

Complaint:
I recently applied for XXXX iPhone Upgrade Program '' which XXXX only comes to find out during the application process ( a process that can only be done in an XXXX XXXX ) that it is really a LOAN application through XXXX loan partner, Citizens One ( for a $ XXXX loan ) to purchase an iPhone. Naive, as I 'm sure most people are who are enticed by this program marketed by XXXX, I made a reservation and appointment to pick up my new iPhone 6S at my local XXXX Store in XXXX XXXX. At no time during the application process, which is all handled electronically, by some kid clerk with an iPhone, was I made aware that there would be a hard inquiry on my credit report ( such a check can have a negative impact on one 's credit score, and lasts on one 's credit report for 2-years ). After divulging all of my sensitive personal information to this kid clerk at the XXXX Store, he entered it into his device, and then snidely informed me that I was not approved! Of course I was shocked -- I have very good credit ( much better than the national average -- it 's in the " Very Good '' range ), with a score of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Surely with such a good credit score, and history of paying my revolving loans on time, I should be approved for a {$900.00} 2-year loan, with a payment of only {$40.00} per month, billed directly to my credit card -- but no, I was denied! 6 months ago, I was easily approved to purchase a {$65000.00} luxury vehicle, but now I ca n't even qualify to by a {$900.00} phone? Again, my credit report is flawless -- not a single negative item on there, with over 25 years of credit reporting history. 

Shocked, I asked the kid clerk if I could speak to someone at XXXX that deals with the approvals ( or in this case, denials ) of credit. IT WAS ONLY THEN, that I learned that the credit decisions and loans were not being made by XXXX, but by Citizens One Bank, an organization I had never heard of until this day. So I asked if I could speak with someone there, and he said, no, I would have to call them the next day. 

Upon arriving home the same evening, I found an email from Citizens One in my inbox. This email explained that I had been denied credit because my " Application Information Does Not Match Credit Report '', and the information used to make this determination was provided XXXX. Well, super, because I 'm actually a registered client with XXXX credit monitoring program, so I thought I 'd be able to call them and clear this right up. Not so fast! I did call XXXX and they informed me that everything was looking just fine on my credit report -- and the inquiry they received from Citizens One actually DID MATCH EXACTLY the information I supplied at the XXXX Store when making the loan request ( which again, I did n't even know I was making a hard inquiry on my credit report ). So what 's the deal?? 

I proceeded to call XXXX XXXX, but was informed that their system was down, and I 'd have to call back the next day. I did call back the next day, and I was informed that my credit was denied based on negative information received from XXXX! And how in the heck could that be? Logging online to my XXXX account, I printed out a copy of my full credit report, and it 's pristine, with a XXXX score ( " Very Good '' - in the top 12 % of Americans ), and no negative reports. 

Doing a little more research, I came to find out that I 'm not the only person with perfect credit that this has happened to ... many websites are reporting that thousands of users, just like me with perfect credit histories, have been denied their loans through Citizens One, via the XXXX iPhone Upgrade Program. Here is a link to XXXX such website ( scroll down to the reader 's remarks and read them ) XXXX XXXX 's another site XXXX/Is this a scam?!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation