False bad credit rating

Pedrovian

I have a credit rating problem which came to light last year when I tried to arrange interest free credit for a couple of new sofas from Furnitureland. It's caused by the odd way Vodafone operate discount on my SIM only contract. Two years ago I threatened to leave them as I could get a better deal elsewhere, but they agreed to match the tariff although the only way they could offer a cheaper tariff than their standard 4Gb was to miss 3 months payment at the beginning of the year. What they do is issue a bill but not collect it. I logged on to Noddle and saw that I was down as "defaulting" on a couple of payments so I raised a dispute which they said could not be cleared. I had a long online chat with Vodafone customer services who confirmed that I did not owe them anything and I was welcome to screenshot the chat and send it to Noddle along with a phone number which Noddle could call to discuss the issue direct. It cleared from my score, but now it's back again because a new contract has started - only this time I can't raise a dispute because it would duplicate the existing one. Experian shows no problem but Equifax have a poor rating for me too. I don't know the process for resolving this, as I suspect it's not Noddle/Equifax that collect the data but some other inaccessible party ... and it's going to re-occur every contract renewal.

[Deleted User]

Ignore the ratings and scores as they're not a real thing.

Raise another complaint with Vodafone and have them update the CRA's directly

Willing2Learn

You need to make a written complaint to Vodafone, stating that the data recorded on your credit file is not accurate.

Pedrovian

People say the scores are not a real thing - but it almost stopped me getting my sofas, only resolved by putting it in my wifes name!
I will write to Vodafone, makes the complaint more official, although during the chats and telephone calls I had with them they insisted that nothing was wrong and there was no issue with my account.

[Deleted User]

Pedrovian wrote: »

People say the scores are not a real thing - but it almost stopped me getting my sofas

One thing is absolutely certain - it didn't.

Only your credit history, income and personal circumstances can do that.

Carrot007

Pedrovian wrote: »

People say the scores are not a real thing - but it almost stopped me getting my sofas, only resolved by putting it in my wifes name!
I will write to Vodafone, makes the complaint more official, although during the chats and telephone calls I had with them they insisted that nothing was wrong and there was no issue with my account.

They are not real. Or important or what stopepd you getting a sofa. The data in the report did that. So in your case it is just semantics but people around here love to argue them. Yes get things sorted and check they are removed on all agencies.

Willing2Learn

Pedrovian wrote: »

People say the scores are not a real thing - but it almost stopped me getting my sofas, only resolved by putting it in my wifes name!

The score is not important because lenders neither see nor use your score. Your credit score is for your eyes only. Lenders use their own criteria and policies when scoring you for credit. They score you against the data held in your credit file, added to the data you submit in a credit application.

The reason you were declined credit for the sofa would have been because you either did not fit the lender's criteria, or you had negative data recorded on your credit file.

Pedrovian

Interesting. So as I have never defaulted on any payments in my life it is more likely due to the fact that I very rarely take out loans!?

[Deleted User]

Pedrovian wrote: »

Interesting. So as I have never defaulted on any payments in my life it is more likely due to the fact that I very rarely take out loans!?

Not loans, no.
You will likely just have a thin credit file.

Get a pay monthly phone, get a credit card and use it for normal expenditure and pay it back in full after the statement.

This will build your credit history

System

Pedrovian wrote: »

Interesting. So as I have never defaulted on any payments in my life it is more likely due to the fact that I very rarely take out loans!?

Yes. The irony is that the more you live your life paying for things in full instead of putting them on credit the harder you'll find it to get credit. That is primarily because lenders have no history to base a decision on. If you're the kind of person who rarely uses loans, has no credit cards then getting a credit card, doesn't matter who with or what the interest rate is but I'd try to go for a rewards/cashback one, doing some of your normal spending on it such as the weekly shop and paying off in full will give you a credit history they can take into account.

DCFC79

Maybe you don't want to OP but Id consider leaving Vodafone for another network.