Consumer complaint received 2023-02-02
Company: TRANSUNION INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS, INC.
State: NY
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report
Sub-issue: Reporting company used your report improperly

Complaint:
I applied for a credit card with XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and received a hard inquiry for this on that exact date, which I knew would obviously happen. From this date until XX/XX/XXXX I was in communication with them as they sent me letters saying my application was still in process as they needed to verify my identity. Because of another credit card company creating a fraud alert issue on my report, Im now having to get used to credit card companies needing to take extra steps to verify my identity before approving any applications. This means they will typically send me a letter after I apply asking me to send them 1 proof of identity and 1 proof of address. I have no problem doing this if Im obviously the one applying and am usually approved the very next day. 

For this case, when I applied on XXXX XXXX I immediately received an automated message saying credit card application can not be finalized at this time as additional information is required to complete the application process. Because of the above fraud alert issue, I expected this to happen. To help speed up the process, I went ahead and called into their application line [ XXXX at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX for 7 minutes ] and spoke to their customer service team to ask them what documentation they need to verify my identity. They said I had to submit proof of address, such as a utility bill. I told them I could send them a copy of my gas bill and ask for an email or fax number to send it to them at that moment. They provided me with the email XXXX. I emailed them the proof at XXXX and received an automated confirmation that it was received a moment after. 

About a week after this, I received a letter dated XXXX in the mail requesting proof of identity. I figured this was an automated letter that was sent out the day after I had applied. The letter stated to send proof of my identity and address. It gave me the following options for identity : social security card, paystub with social security card or W2 form. It gave me the following options for address : drivers license, utility bill, paystub with address or rental/lease agreement/house deed. As I had already provided my social security in the application, confirmed my identity over the phone with the customer service rep on XXXX  and the rep I spoke to on XXXX  said I only needed proof of address, which I had emailed on XXXX I thought I had nothing more to submit. I therefore just continued to wait for my application approval. Id also like to note here that my application was done through XXXX XXXX XXXX, which is a pre-approval credit card software system. 

On XXXX XXXX XXXX as I have yet to hear from anyone about my application and am concerned as I had provided their required proof the day I applied, I decided to call their customer service line [ XXXX at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX for 9 minutes ] and spoke to their team. I explained all of the above and was told that the identity proof is in fact required after all. I therefore send another email with my identity proof of choice, which is a W2 form. The customer rep I spoke to on the phone this day confirmed this was an acceptable form of proof, just as the XX/XX/XXXX letter had stated. I asked her when Id hear back about my application and she said they have a lot of applications for this card so there is a delay. As the letter had also stated I had until XXXX  to send the requested documentation I figured Id hear from them before then since they had my proof early. However, after sending this last proof to their customer service email and receiving another automatic confirmation email for it, I did not hear from them at all after that. 

Fast forward to XXXX XXXX XXXX, as I have yet to hear from them, I give them a call and ask to speak to a supervisor. I called their customer service line again [ XXXX at XXXX on XXXX  for 31 minutes ]. After repeating all of the above to a customer service rep and a supervisor, I was transferred to an account manager as no one was able to assist me or understand why I was upset. Once transferred to the manager, I was told that the W2 I provided on XX/XX/XXXX WAS NOT acceptable and my application has been on hold. He then proceeded to tell me that only a social security card was acceptable. I explained that was not at all the case and that no one ever reached out to me to explain such a thing to me. At this point Im starting to feel this company is fraudulent and that they need to be reported to the CFB. I expressed this to the manager as well. He explained the only way to continue with the application was to submit the social security card because the W2 wasnt accepted. I told him I was not comfortable sending a social security card via email and would need a fax number to send it to as the letter sent to me on XX/XX/XXXX only had a mailing address to mail proof to and I required confirmation receipt for obvious reasons. He provided me with the fax number XXXX and told me that Id have to wait 7-10 days once the proof is received for my application to finalize review and for my card to be sent out. 

I sent the fax with the social security card proof on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX and included a fax cover sheet with a message asking for an account manager to call me to confirm receipt of the fax. I received a call the following day, XX/XX/XXXX, from a different account manager named XXXX [ from XXXX at XXXX for 5 minutes ]. He called me to tell me that the proof was received, the application was re-started and that itd take 7-10 days for me to have my application completed and for me to receive my card in the mail. When he said re-started, I became concerned that they were starting a new application, which I obviously didnt ask for, give consent for or expect. I asked him about this and he assured me that it is the same application [ Application Code : XXXX ] and that there would not be another hard inquiry. He said the application was simply pending and was on hold while waiting for the identity proof, which is what he meant by re-starting. I thanked him for calling and told him Id look forward to receiving my card soon and putting this long, exhausting process to rest finally. Not even an hour after that phone call, I check my phone and see Ive received about 10 credit bureau-related emails about a new inquiry from XXXX XXXX XXXX I proceed to check my credit reports and see that I do in fact have two hard inquiries for XXXX XXXX XXXX  , one dated XX/XX/XXXX and one dated XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately called them back, beyond upset, and asked to speak to an account manager again [ XXXX at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX for 42 minutes ]. I had to go through the runaround again, explaining all of the above to a customer service rep, only to be transferred to a customer service supervisor named XXXX, who could not transfer me to an account manager. Her reasoning for not removing the inquiry changed quite a few times. Here are the different excuses I received and wrote down as I received them : 1. She said that they have no control over the hard inquiries and can not contact the credit bureaus to remove them. I explained that the consumers do not have that power, as we are instructed by the credit card companies to contact the credit bureaus and are then instructed by the credit bureaus to go right back to the companies to fix the issue, as they are the ones that need to fix it 2. She said she was unable to escalate this further as the inquiry was just made and not showing in her system. 
3. She said I had to wait to receive the card and then maybe Ill receive a letter in the mail about the second hard inquiry 4. She said she I waited too long to submit my proof, despite me telling her all of the above and explaining that I did submit everything, way before the submission deadline, yet that it was the companys infamous delay that caused the problem with my application, not anything I did 5. She said maybe its a mistake on my report and itll go away after 7-10 days once the application is completed and my card is on the way As you can see, there are serious issues going on with this company. I recommend that consumers stay clear of this company. I used to have a card with them in XXXX and closed my account with them because of their service and annual fee. The only reason I tried opening a new account was because of 2 new reasons : They partnered with XXXX and had a pre-approval software system in place that was supposed to help avoid all this and they partnered with XXXX XXXX, so consumers are able to enjoy XXXX benefits with the XXXX costs. Not sure its worth this though. 

The best way to resolve this issue is to obviously remove the hard inquires from my account.

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 explanation