Consumer complaint received 2026-05-29 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Getting a loan or lease — Confusing or misleading advertising or marketing
Company: FORD MOTOR CREDIT CO.
State: AZ

Complaint narrative:
Issue : Misrepresentation Regarding Credit Inquiry and Dealership Financing Practices On XX/XX/year>, I visited XXXX XXXX in XXXX, Arizona after receiving a promotional mailer stating that I had won three items. Before arriving, I informed salesperso n XXXX that I was not in a position to purchase a vehicle and was primarily responding to the promotional mailer. During my visit, we looked at a XXXX vehicle. XXXX collected my information verbally, entered the information into his computer, printed documents, asked me to verify that my employment and personal information were correct, and requested my signature. XXXX represented to me that a soft credit pull would be performed to determine whether the dealership could potentially work with me regarding the XXXX. He specifically represented that they would perform a soft pull and would not be sending my information around. I relied upon those representations. After the dealership accessed my credit information, I discovered that hard credit inquiries had been initiated instead. Immediately upon learning of the inquiry activity, I returned to the dealership from my car and objected. XXXX acted oblivious to what a soft pull was and as if it just meant he wasnt going to send it a million different lenders. But thats not the same representation. Camera footage should confirm my return to the dealership after discovering the inquiry activity. I then contacted dealership management while leaving the dealership to report the issue. Which the phones call log records show. My concern was not simply that my credit was reviewed. My concern was that the information provided to me regarding the credit process did not match what actually occurred. And the proceeded to occur after me leaving. On XX/XX/year>, I became aware of credit inquiry activity associated with XXXX XXXX. At approximately XXXX XXXX, I immediately contacted the dealership and discussed the credit inquiry issue after leaving the dealership. The call lasted approximately 3 minutes and 38 seconds. On XX/XX/year>, after observing additional inquiry-related activity, including an inquiry identified as a mortgage inquiry, I again contacted the dealership at approximately XXXX XXXX. That call lasted approximately 6 minutes and 59 seconds. During my XX/XX/XXXX conversation, management advised me that they would seek removal of two inquiries based on the circumstances I reported. However, I later received a written response from the dealership stating that it was not aware of any basis to request removal of the inquiries and would not be seeking such action. This written position was inconsistent with what I had been told by management. The dealership 's written response relies upon the existence of a signed credit application but does not address my complaint that I was told a soft credit pull would be performed and that my information would not be broadly submitted through the financing process. As a result, I am requesting all records, notes, communications, call logs, emails, and internal correspondence relating to my complaint, including any discussions concerning requests to remove inquiries, whether such requests were considered, and why the dealership ultimately declined to pursue them. I respectfully request an investigation into the representations made regarding the credit inquiry process, the handling of my complaint, and the timeline of lender submissions and inquiry activity associated with my application.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation