topic Re: When do I get my credit search refund??? in Contracts & Billing

When do I get my credit search refund???

Sharky23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 14:24:29 GMT

EE you took £20 for me for a credit check, even though I’ve been with you for mobile and broadband for about 10 years??? Never been late paying once.
Now you are saying that it can take up to 6 months until you refund this? How disgusting is that? Can I take up to 6 months to pay you for my next bill. It feels like theft.

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

XRaySpeX — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 14:35:16 GMT

EE don't charge for credit checks. They are normal part of the due diligence that EE takes when you apply for a new contract.

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

Sharky23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 15:37:35 GMT

Thank you @XRaySpeX for your quick response and also clarification on this matter. You are correct in what you have said there also. I am an existing customer for many many many years. With faultless payment history and credit rating also.

The £20 was taken by EE for the purpose that you state. EE still have this money, many weeks later. As per my original posting this is not acceptable in my opinion and should be refunded by EE asap.

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

bristolian — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:07:46 GMT

@Sharky23 wrote:
You are correct in what you have said there ....
The £20 was taken by EE for the purpose that you state.

This post appears to contradict itself. XRay was pointing out that EE do not charge for a credit check and the first paragraph of your post agrees with this.

You then claim that £20 was taken for a purpose which XRay stated, but no purpose was stated.

Was this £20 taken as a direct card payment, or was it added to your monthly bill?

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

Sharky23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:32:41 GMT

I appreciate your replies. I think I already mentioned that when I got a new contract with EE (broadband): the handler explained that even though my credit account was showing as perfect: she had to take a charge of £20 from my debit count for credit reference check purposes.

When I have googled this it seems to be fairly common practice. I was charged to my debit card this £20 for credit reference checking purposes on 19th June. Why do EE still have my money and when will it be returned.

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

Sharky23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:36:40 GMT

Also @bristolian I think the response was very limited and ambiguous by @XRaySpeX which might have led to your confusion.

I can not state more clearly than EE took £20 from my debit card for checking my credit purposes (even though the call handler had details of my soft check which showed percect credit history. Also my 10 year approx of account holding with EE shows the same perfection).

My query when do EE return the money they took from me

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

XRaySpeX — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:37:35 GMT

I stated no purpose for the £20. Indeed I stated there is no charge for this purpose!

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

Sharky23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:40:00 GMT

@XRaySpeX I am not sure if you work for EE or not but if you do please be advised that EE did charge my debit account for £20 for credit check purposes. I have it on my bank account and had the call with the handler on this. If you google ot you will also see it seems fairly common for EE to do this. If you do work for EE then please check this process before responding incorrect detail

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

XRaySpeX — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:43:16 GMT

Normally a nominal amount, like a 1p or £1, is pending against your card for short while for such a check. You sure it's not showing as pending & you haven't actually been charged?

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

Sharky23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:47:45 GMT

I will call EE back now. It was charged for the purpose I have mentioned several times and shows on no billing. but is showing on my bank account (again as already stated). The call handler mentioned it does not happen often and she could not really explain it, but it was needed to be done for the contract with EE to complete, for the purpose I have already mentioned also)

when I rang last week to complain on this I was told by another call handler at EE that this is practice and can take up to 6 months to be refunded to me.

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

bristolian — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:48:06 GMT

The closest you'll get to a credit check being charged for, is for the purposes of removing the age-restricted content lock - where a token £2 charge is made against a credit card and immediately refunded.

This is a different amount to that which you mention, and also against a credit card not a debit card - intentionally because credit cards are not available to under-18s.

Can you provide a link to a search result supporting your assertion that "When I have googled this it seems to be fairly common practice"?

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

XRaySpeX — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:48:30 GMT

No, I'm not an EE employee but just a user like you, just trying to help others.

I rarely believe much of Goggle searches 😉 !

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

Sharky23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 17:41:15 GMT

I have called EE and this was not explained properly to me at the time. They have said that it is a security deposit that EE have taken and it will be returned within 6 months. It looks to be the same issue as you previously were not sure on also @XRaySpeX as per thread

Refund of Security Deposit for Home Broadband Services

anyway I still think that it is disgusting that I was made to pay this after being with the company (old EE) for so long. But that is what it is

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

Peter_W — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 17:51:30 GMT

Good afternoon @Sharky23.

Thanks for reaching out to us here on the Community.

What you've been advised on your most recent call is very likely correct - sometimes when a customer takes out a new broadband plan, the credit check will advise a security deposit must be held on the account.

Whilst I appreciate you've been a customer for long time here, our new broadband products are held in a completely separate system and billed differently, so this is why a new credit check will have been required.

Provided you never fall behind on payments, this will be refunded automatically after six months.

Peter

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

Sharky23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 18:06:48 GMT

Thanks for the response @Peter_W .

my credit score shows as excellent and no interest is paid so it leaves me with a sour taste. But I will mark your response as as the solution resolved

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

XRaySpeX — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 20:26:17 GMT

No, I guessed it might be a security deposit against a less than perfect credit/repayment history but you insisted it was a charge for the credit check. Anyway I was coming to that.

Credit scores are meaningless, being just a marketing ploy by credit reference agencies. Credit checks go far deeper than credit scores.

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

Sharky23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 20:31:17 GMT

Haha ok

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

bristolian — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 22:03:31 GMT

@Sharky23 wrote:
my credit score shows as excellent and no interest is paid so it leaves me with a sour taste.

To expand - the only credit score you can possibly have visibility of, is one that's invented by the marketing department of certain credit reference agencies, and is meaningless beyond whatever glossy they've sent you.

You have a credit file which contains entries detailing your credit history. Every individual lender - EE included - scores the data in that file against their own confidential criteria to create a score specific to them. This is never disclosed, and is only relevant to that lender.

Thus any statement of "I have a good credit score" or similar, is based on a misunderstanding of how the credit industry works.

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

Sharky23 — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 06:04:52 GMT

Just to add Bristolian my credit score is based on 30 years of never missing a payment and never being in credit. Working for the bank where my account resides and being in a fortunate position to have 2 no loans outstanding, including mortgage. Your glossy file actually lets you click your full credit file showing you all outstanding payments against you.

The issue will be that my bills account that is used was below £30 balance as it was the day before payday. The account is only used for bills and no other bills were due for 10 more days. This will be the reason for the flag. Not due to my credit scoring.

The real reason here is that New EE does not have access to Old EE payments history. In fact the new EE system can not even see any of my decade plus worth of faultless payments.

Re: When do I get my credit search refund???

bristolian — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 07:01:21 GMT

You are indeed correct, that your credit file is free to obtain & view from all 3 leading credit reference agencies - the details are no secret. I stand by my comments about credit scores.