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Message 1 of 6

Signed up to BT, lost 100+ points on credit score.

Hi.

I recently attempted to sign up to BT WiFi to take advantage of a 12-month deal. Due to an untold number of errors  and typos made by the agent I spoke with on the phone, almost every conceivable thing has gone wrong since then - including a drop of 125 points on my credit score overnight.

I was signed up to an incorrect version of the plan by the agent (24 months, not 12) with the wrong spelling of my name, email address and physical address - and this is after being asked to spell things numerous times during the call. I was also signed up to an EE sim which I never received a single email, letter or text message for, because there were apparently so many typos in the information recorded by the agent that nothing was ever able to reach me (this was later explained to me by an EE representative).

I had originally spotted this issue almost immediately after ending the call with the agent, as you are sent the final details of the plan to read through by text. I called BT back straight away, and was reassured that the entire order had been cancelled at zero cost - however I needed to redo the entire application online, as apparently the 12-month plan was an online-only deal which "the other agent should have been aware of". Frustrating, but I did as I was instructed.

I recently received an email from Clearscore/Equifax alerting me that my credit score had changed. I checked, and not only had my score plummeted 125 points but there were now three separate credit accounts which had been opened - two for BT, and one for EE. I was absolutely stunned by all this and requested my full statutory report, to find that BT had also run a total of EIGHT DIFFERENT HARD SEARCHES on my credit file, SIX of which happened on the same day - i.e. by the same agent who had recorded my information so poorly that none of the emails ever reached me.

To provide some perspective, declaring bankruptcy will tend to draw a negative hit of around 60-80 points. However through a single BT agent's actions, my credit score has plummeted to the point where I imagine I will now start to have difficulty opening new utility and credit lines. I am at a loss of what to do and have already spoken with Equifax, who directed me straight back to the utilities provider to resolve it (BT).

I cannot accept having so much damage done to my credit score by simply signing up with an internet provider. The most frustrating part is that apparently, the agent I spoke to should not have even attempted to sign me up over the phone anyway, despite their insistence. The 12-month deal is online-exclusive and this is what I should have been told. Instead, somebody who clearly had no idea what they were doing has absolutely destroyed my credit in less than 24 hours.

I am at a complete loss on what to do, and am writing this here because I don't even know who to turn to for advice (as Equifax have placed the blame solely on the utility company). I have read online that you can request for errors on credit reports to be removed, and since this entire thing has been caused by a long series of errors made by a BT agent, my hope is that at least some of the mistakes can be removed from my file (e.g. the accounts which were supposed to have been immediately cancelled).

Any further help or guidance from the community would also be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

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Message 2 of 6

Re: Signed up to BT, lost 100+ points on credit score.

You can get in contact with the credit reference agencies and get them to put a correction notice on your file, this will explain to anyone looking at your credit history why those accounts are there.

As for your point on this not allowing you to get credit in the future, I very much doubt it, as long as your accounts don't have a negative balance or you have any CCJs or defaults then you should have no issue.

I tend to do things online these days because I worry in case the person on the other end of the phone doesn't get the right information. As BT enables you to order it's services and products online, maybe in the future you look into that.

All that said, I hope you get it all resolved.

 

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Message 3 of 6

Re: Signed up to BT, lost 100+ points on credit score.

Hi,

Thanks very much for your reply, and that's good advice - going forward I will just do sign ups like these online.

I'm not sure - it's saying my credit is now in the "needs improvement" area, and that the score is likely to be of concern to lenders. So I'm not sure what adding a note will do, if the score iself is what the problem is. 😞 But, I will try to look into it.

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Message 4 of 6

Re: Signed up to BT, lost 100+ points on credit score.

You're very welcome.

When you apply for credit, the company that you are applying to does not see your credit score, as that's just for your information only, they apply their own scoring based upon how well you've kept up with payments, how long you've lived somewhere, how long you've had a job for and in general making sure you've not had any CCJs or defaults and often check to see if no late payments.

Places like clearscore often use things like "needs improvement" to encourage you to improve their score that they provide so it makes them look good and they can say they have helped you improve your credit score. 

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Message 5 of 6

Re: Signed up to BT, lost 100+ points on credit score.

Oh okay, that's really useful to know then. I will try not to worry so much about the score itself, although I still hope that someone from BT will be able to remove some/all of the information that was added in error. I can't see any late payments on the reports I downloaded either, so hopefully this will count for something to other utility/credit providers.

Really appreciate you taking the time to leave all this help and advice, so thanks very much again Checked2013. 🙂 Hopefully a few other people will be able to share their experiences with this too, as I haven't had much practice handling stuff like this so I'm learning as I go.

It's taken months just to stop EE charging me for the account which was supposed to have been cancelled and I had no access to (!!), so I just really hope everything can be resolved soon. Fingers crossed anyway. 🙂

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Message 6 of 6

Re: Signed up to BT, lost 100+ points on credit score.

Hi there, I know it's an old post of yours but I'm in the same shoes now.My husband 's credit score dropped after we were made to switch to EE. The BT agent ran a credit check on my husband without telling me.He was the account holder (he wasn't even in the call,I was). We keep complaining to them but all our complaints are promptly closed with a 'sorry about the issues you faced " and my requests to respond in full are ignored. I also asked them to rectify his score or to contact the referencing agency to add an explanatory note on his record but this request is conveniently ignored,too. Now that they're pushing everyone to switch to EE, I wonder how many people are out there with a credit score dragged through the mud due to their incompetence. When they don't even ask us if it's ok to run a credit check on us, they break the law but it doesn't matter to BT. 

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