Can this jewelry store actually do this!

No. Policy is policy.

Oh, I would so not be pleased with that. I’m not sure if you can undo the damage of looking up credit. I don’t think it’s considered a “hard” look, which I take to mean mortgage or something…this is only terms I’ve been hearing from my mother since her identity was stolen.
Other than filing a complaint against the lady, I don’t think there’s anything you can do. Do they have it on paper that this is their policy??

What you should do is monitor your credit report at the 3 bureaus, and when this pull on your credit report appears contact them and dispute it. Tell them it was not you who authorized this access and that it was done without your permission. They will remove it.

It sounds like Kay was the one that pulled your credit report. Didn’t know a jeweler can do that. In the future, you can always step in and ask them why they are asking you all these questions, and you can also tell them you won’t answer them. A lot of times it is just standard optional procedure, and if you make a tiny little protest they’ll completely back off.

@lilikoi The problem is that we asked several times why they were asking detailed questions about our monthly income and they said it’s standard procedure for updating an address. They reassured us many times that it was just for the computer system. Then bam, we were informed we had more available credit on his credit card and that they had run a credit check. It seems very shady and illegal to me…Either the lady straight out lied to us or she wasn’t aware they would pull a creit check, which I find hard to believe. This particular lady wasn’t new. She’s been there quite awhile.

Maybe it is automated such that that lady is just responsible for inputting the info, and the credit check is pulled by someone else before authorizing the increased limit. Maybe, that lady really didn’t know they’d pull the credit report and/or maybe she didn’t know that such an act can affect one’s credit score.

I’m not sure how their system works so I can’t say for sure. I would definitely file a complaint w/ Kay to let them know that you didn’t appreciate their clandestine credit op, and also follow up w/ the credit bureaus to have it taken off your report.

And also, you and I both know that income has nothing to do with updating an address. Don’t fall for BS answers like that! Next time keep pressuring them or simply tell them you don’t want to provide that info. Explain to them that the only thing they need from you to update an address is an address. How could they argue with that? They would at the very least be forced to elaborate.

@lilikoi You might be right. She actually might not have known why she had to provide that info for the computer. She informed us it wouldn’t let her update the address without filling in everything it asked. So I probably shouldn’t blame her. She seemed pretty confused. Thanks for the advice. We’ll definitely be more cautious in the future. Red flags went up, but we spoke up too late. Hopefully we can dispute it and get it taken off his credit report.

@ItalianPrincess1217 I would expressidly tell the management and write to corporate why I am boycotting kay jewelers. There are plenty of jewelry stores out there that will not hassle you like that.

@odali Very true. I will absolutely not be giving them my business anymore. We were loyal customers, made every payment on time, and purchased many items from them…and this is how they repay us!

current creditors pull credit scores with a different code. They can pull the report to update their records and it is not considered an inquiry. Some credit card companies pull it every month to monitor their customers buying habits and to be on the lookout for signs of trouble.
You shouldn’t worry about those inquiries showing up as negative on your credit report.

if he activates the account then he will take a hard hit at the very least he has taken a soft hit. the only way to be sure is to pull the credit yourself. if its ther then you can dispute it. you will need to dispute it with all credit reporting agencies. i don’t think kay jewlers would be malicous about it. im sure it was just a pre approved trade line of credit. he would need to activate the account for it to hurt or help his credit.

Is it possible that when he originally bought the item they ran the credit check on his Father? If so when you told them about the mix up they realized they had extended credit to your fiance based on his father’s credit. When you made them aware of this they had no choice but to “fix” that scenario.

I have a relative that had the same name as his father and this kind of mix up happened more than once. It became habit with him to make sure they were pulling his credit information right the first time to avoid this kind of thing.

@Merriment No. The checks were all done on my fiance. The only mix up was with the mail. They always ask for the social security number. Years ago when we first opened the account we were afraid they might make that mistake but he’s double checked his credit report and they have the correct person, thankfully.

@ItalianPrincess1217 – Even with having been given the right social security number they made the mix up on my relative. It was a simple human error.

Did the credit inquiry show on your fiance’s credit report before you updated with the jewelry store or after? I ask because other than pulling the wrong information I can’t imagine how else they could have come up with your father-in-laws mailing address.

There is a difference between a hard pull and a soft one, Kays already has his information so a credit line increase wouldn’t be a “hard” pull. Knowing credit terms is helpfull. Plus each hard pull only costs 2 points. The result is he got approved for more which is actually better for him, as long as he keeps his balance under 30%