I recently moved service from Steub OH to Columbus OH and was told by SBC the local phone carrier that they would handle my Long distance switch. I advised SBC that I just wanted to keep the LD carrier I had which was Verizon LD. I received a letter from Verizon this past week at my new address thanking me for my new order, and that they pulled a credit report(who gave the permission I don't know) as part of the inital application process( funny I thought I had their service already) therfeore placing a toll restriction on my line until a payment history had been established with them, basing it off my relative new credit history--oldest account 6 years old and no mortgage account on file, remember I have had Verizon LD since last year Nov 2002, what happened to that history even if it is short it still was perfect payment history. I spoke with a supervisor there in Texas, Ms Susan Janese, and she agreed they shouldn't have pulled the hard inquiry, but needed the information and proof, including the letter I received from Verizon along with inquiry pages--I also included the one from Novemeber which was pulled from Equifax, but has since been "bumped" off my report(hehehe). I keep a paper trail on every company regardless of who they are, and I using the resources from letters on Creditnet and I constructed this letter to Verizon as my explanation of non permissible purpose. Should I add anything to the mix here, they also got 8 pages of additional documentation which includes the inquiry from Nov(Equifax) the Inquiry report from April (Experian) their stupid insulting letter denouncing me as a second rate subscriber, a letter of Agency which is what I signed to sign up for long distance last November with them, and also my Welcome letter from Verizon dated November 19 2002 stating welcome to Verizon--no toll restriction, credit report pulled(funny thing was this was the first time I have ever signed up for Long Distance service) I understand this is long but I guess I am still venting I believe I owe everyone here, a great dela of thanks for providing the resources to aid me in my dispute with Verizon. I believe the letter's body was either Butch's or someone else that I can't think of off the top of my head right now, so thank you everyone here is the letter unabreviated form: April 11, 2003 Ms. Susan Janese Customer Service Supervisor Verizon Long Distance PO BOX 1001 San Angelo, TX 76902-1001 SENT VIA FAX TO (716) 286-0675 During a standard review of my credit files from the three major credit reporting agencies I was dismayed to find an inquiry posted by Verizon Long Distance in April 2003 on my Experian Credit Bureau Report. As pursuant to our prior conversation on Friday April 11, 2003, the credit reporting agencies regard inquiries as a statement of fact and will not allow a consumer to dispute them. They maintain that if the inquiry is on file then the company listed did in fact view the consumerâ??s record. Since it is unlawful under the Fair Credit Reporting Act for a person to view a consumer report without a â??permissible purposeâ?? I am writing this letter. I don't recall applying for initial credit in April 2003 with Verizon Long Distance. I have recently moved to a new address in which I was told by a representative from your company the latter part of March 2003, that services would be transferred, in which no mention was made of a hard inquiry pull on any credit bureau report (an actual inquiry on a consumer report also lowers ones credit score each time an inquiry is made). I called Verizon Long Distance customer service line today April 11, 2003, and I was informed any time a change of address is made new services are established (conversation with Ms. Williams). The problem with this is I was not informed that services were to be started over and in fact I made no change of service, as my local telephone company, SBC, handled my change of address with your company. The unfortunate outcome of the most recent credit bureau inquiry also left Verizon Long Distance to place a toll restriction on my account until an established payment history with Verizon Long Distance has occurred. There is also an incongruity with this, as when I applied in November 2002 I had not had service with Verizon Long Distance, up until the date of my application and no such toll restriction was placed on my account at that time. Secondly, my Verizon Long Distance bill and all current credit related bills of any nature that are in my name (including all utilities) are paid in full each month prior to the respective due dates. Therefore, I have already established a positive payment history with your company by way of the following: The enclosed letter dated April 8, 2003 does not state a payment history has to be established with the new account to have the toll restriction removed, the letter does state that a payment history with Verizon Long Distance (the company) has to be established, in which from November 2002 to present date April 2003, a positive payment history has been established as my checks are cashed by your company prior to the due date on each of my invoices and promptly credited to my account prior to the said due date. Immediately, I demand that the toll restriction be removed from my new account. My initial application for long distance occurred in November 2002 and it was initiated by myself online through your companies online ordering system at: www.verizonlongdistance.com. At that time, I may inherently have given permissible purpose for a credit bureau review in November 2002 as not stated clearly in the enclosed letter of Agency dated November 19, 2002. I do not agree with a credit bureau report inquiry in any circumstance, as I am not applying for credit with your company. I did successfully have that inquiry removed from my report on that basis. Nevertheless, I did not in any way give anyone from Verizon Long Distance a permissible purpose to pull my credit bureau report for a second review in April of 2003. This was not stated and misrepresented by Verizon Long Distance Company and its representatives. No permissible purpose is a major problem facing the banking industry today as well as any consumer related business. I would like to share the facts obtained from the Fair Credit Reporting Act as a basis of this letter and also as a basis of my right to pursue legal matters against Verizon Long Distance if the problem is not rectified through the outcome of this correspondence. From the FCRA § 616. Civil liability for willful noncompliance [15 U.S.C. § 1681n] "(b) Civil liability for knowing noncompliance. Any person who obtains a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses or knowingly without a permissible purpose shall be liable to the consumer reporting agency for actual damages sustained by the consumer reporting agency or $1,000, whichever is greater." From the 1998 FTC opinion letter Greenblatt at http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra/greenblt.htm: "Any person who procures a consumer report under false pretenses, or knowingly without a permissible purpose, is liable for $1000 or actual damages (whichever is greater) to both the consumer and to the consumer reporting agency from which the report is procured." Please explain your permissible purpose for your obtaining my credit file and the nature by which it was obtained. Should you not have a permissible purpose, please arrange for payment of $1,000 by April 30, 2003 to the name at the address listed at the top of this page. Please respond via phone number to (614) XXX-XXXX. I anticipate your response and a positive outcome from this. Sincerely, Jeremy B Miller Enclosures:
I am on number 2 so they really upset me. I can't get too mad becaause if I cancel service altogether then I would probably endure another hard inquiry from another provider. I will see that they remove the 2nd inquiry and see where we go from there. Hopefully they will soon respond to my fax(letter). I will keep the post updated.
