When do I get my credit search refund???

[Sharky23]

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.

[bristolian]

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"?

[XRaySpeX]

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 😉 !

[Sharky23]

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 

[Peter_W · Accepted solution]

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

[Sharky23]

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 

[XRaySpeX]

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.

[Sharky23]

Haha ok 

[bristolian]

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@Sharky23 wrote:

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

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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.

[Sharky23]

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. 

[bristolian]

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.