Consumer complaint received 2022-06-06
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Getting a loan — Problem with the interest rate
Company: Social Finance, Inc. (MD)

On XX/XX/2022, I applied for a XXXX XXXX XXXX ( # XXXX ) with Sofi for {$90000.00}, which initiated a hard inquiry. The stated rate at this point was 3.695 %. At that point, I was prompted for additional information, which I was not immediately able to provide. 

Prior to the 30-day window ending, I called Sofi in XX/XX/2022 to inquire about my application 's deadline. At that point, a service representative told me not to worry ; she stated that I had until XX/XX/2022 to submit the requested information, which would keep my offer valid. 

Fast forward to the week of XX/XX/2022, and I submitted all of the requested information to complete my loan. This included my submission of paystubs, an income statement, and information pertaining to the loans I wished to refinance. Upon submission, I was prompted for a second hard inquiry, which caught me by surprise. As a result, I called Sofi 's customer service once more. 
During this phone call, another Sofi representative told me that my original credit inquiry needed to be updated, since 30 days had lapsed. I informed him about the previous phone call I had, but he insisted that a second credit pull was unavoidable. He did, however, assure me that Sofi would honor the original rate of 3.695 %, despite a second hard inquiry credit pull. As a result, I pulled credit.

Shortly thereafter, I noticed that my offer changed on my Sofi portal. The new offer was for {$66000.00} at 5.465 %. This irked me, since I had recently checked my credit score from all three credit bureaus and saw that my scores had not changed from my previous credit score in XX/XX/2022. The new rate was also nearly two percentage points higher, which was not in line with with the previous representatives statement that " Sofi would honor the original offer. '' This prompted yet another phone call to Sofi on XX/XX/2022. After communicating the above events, waiting for nearly an hour, and speaking with a manager, I was told that even though Sofi acknowledged that I had received " miscommunication '' from its representatives, there was nothing Sofi could do to honor the original offer that I received. Frankly, I was told that I have to go forward with the new offer or take nothing. Additionally, Sofi could offer me no assurances that the hard credit inquiries I was hit with could be retracted. It truly felt like a bait and switch scheme.

I want to express that I am very concerned with the above events. Altogether, I acted on information and assurances provided to me by Sofi representatives, and- in the end - I was penalized for it. Not only was I misinformed by the offer that was populating on my Sofi portal, but I was also misinformed by two unique Sofi service representatives at different points in time ; both led me to believe that I had ample time to finish providing additional information and that my original offer was still valid. In the end, I ended up with nothing but two hard inquiries that will ding my credit score, student loan debt at my existing rate, and a terrible consumer experience. What Sofi has done should not be legal. It it very unethical, and such practices negatively impact the financial well-being of consumers everywhere.