Declined for £8/month phone contract

fenwick458

about a month ago I tried to take out a sim only deal with o2 for £8/month, but got declined. I thought it would be a mistake, the message said to find out why they reached that decision I had to email them, and this is the reply

"When declining an application we need to let you know the credit agency used to make the assessment and the main reason your application was rejected.

The credit agency used was Equifax and the main reason your application was declined is due to our business policies.

Our business policies are used, along with credit scoring to assess each application. These are a unique check list of criteria a customer must meet - in addition to having a good credit score - in order to be approved.

On this occasion you didn’t meet our lending criteria so we can’t accept your application"

before that replay came I actually found out that I'm tied in with EE for another year so I'm not actually in need of another phone contract, but a few weeks later I was curious about being declined for credit so I decided to do an Equifax credit report thingy, and that came back as 1000.
I also gave in to an American Express cold caller who signed me up to a business gold card with no fees for the first year and rewards and I got approved for that no problem so something doesn't add up?

stuartp2000

Does seem strange how some of these companies work, each have different criteria in accepting and to the outside there seems no logic.

I have a high credit score with equifax but a while back I was declined by EE for a mobile for my son.

I half wanted to pay cash for the phone to show how stupid the decision was but decided to walk directly opposite to Vodafone where I got a better phone albeit slightly worse deal, hence I wanted to go to EE.

I now think differently when looking at renewals and have a negative view of EE so have purposely not used them on occasions since.

Grumpy_chap

Mobile phone providers do seem to be the most peculiar.  

It is quite common to see threads where this is a rejection and the only ever rejection before or after for the individual.

It also often seems to be for very small monthly amounts on SIM only, where there is not really any credit in any case.

I had the same experience with Vodafone a few years back.  It is nothing other than perplexing.

FindMyWayBack

Equifax are not as reliable as Experian, lots of things don't show. You can look at Experian free on here.

DCFC79

stuartp2000 said:

Does seem strange how some of these companies work, each have different criteria in accepting and to the outside there seems no logic.

I have a high credit score with equifax but a while back I was declined by EE for a mobile for my son.

I half wanted to pay cash for the phone to show how stupid the decision was but decided to walk directly opposite to Vodafone where I got a better phone albeit slightly worse deal, hence I wanted to go to EE.

I now think differently when looking at renewals and have a negative view of EE so have purposely not used them on occasions since.

do remember that your score is only seen by you, whats important is your history.

fenwick458

FindMyWayBack said:

Equifax are not as reliable as Experian, lots of things don't show. You can look at Experian free on here.

How can I do this?DCFC79 said:

stuartp2000 said:

Does seem strange how some of these companies work, each have different criteria in accepting and to the outside there seems no logic.

I have a high credit score with equifax but a while back I was declined by EE for a mobile for my son.

I half wanted to pay cash for the phone to show how stupid the decision was but decided to walk directly opposite to Vodafone where I got a better phone albeit slightly worse deal, hence I wanted to go to EE.

I now think differently when looking at renewals and have a negative view of EE so have purposely not used them on occasions since.

do remember that your score is only seen by you, whats important is your history.

It must have some meaning though? 

surreysaver

fenwick458 said:

FindMyWayBack said:

Equifax are not as reliable as Experian, lots of things don't show. You can look at Experian free on here.

How can I do this?DCFC79 said:

stuartp2000 said:

Does seem strange how some of these companies work, each have different criteria in accepting and to the outside there seems no logic.

I have a high credit score with equifax but a while back I was declined by EE for a mobile for my son.

I half wanted to pay cash for the phone to show how stupid the decision was but decided to walk directly opposite to Vodafone where I got a better phone albeit slightly worse deal, hence I wanted to go to EE.

I now think differently when looking at renewals and have a negative view of EE so have purposely not used them on occasions since.

do remember that your score is only seen by you, whats important is your history.

It must have some meaning though? 

https://clubs.moneysavingexpert.com/creditclub/register?_ga=2.78428308.1252341381.1671732550-1363564389.1663701623&_gl=1*zha7qf*_ga*MTM2MzU2NDM4OS4xNjYzNzAxNjIz*_ga_X74CWQS9F0*MTY3MjA5Mjk2MC4xMDQuMS4xNjcyMTM3MjcyLjYwLjAuMA..

And no, your score is meaningless. Only you can see it. It goes up and down in reaction to your credit history.
Organisations score you in their own way

FindMyWayBack

fenwick458 said:

FindMyWayBack said:

Equifax are not as reliable as Experian, lots of things don't show. You can look at Experian free on here.

How can I do this?DCFC79 said:

stuartp2000 said:

Does seem strange how some of these companies work, each have different criteria in accepting and to the outside there seems no logic.

I have a high credit score with equifax but a while back I was declined by EE for a mobile for my son.

I half wanted to pay cash for the phone to show how stupid the decision was but decided to walk directly opposite to Vodafone where I got a better phone albeit slightly worse deal, hence I wanted to go to EE.

I now think differently when looking at renewals and have a negative view of EE so have purposely not used them on occasions since.

do remember that your score is only seen by you, whats important is your history.

It must have some meaning though? 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/creditclub/

MovingForwards

FindMyWayBack said:

Equifax are not as reliable as Experian, lots of things don't show. You can look at Experian free on here.

Not really as not all financial institutions report to all the credit reference agencies.

My mortgage lender only reports to one of them.

FindMyWayBack

MovingForwards said:

FindMyWayBack said:

Equifax are not as reliable as Experian, lots of things don't show. You can look at Experian free on here.

Not really as not all financial institutions report to all the credit reference agencies.

My mortgage lender only reports to one of them.

OK, let me put it another way, MOST report to Experian, not all report to Equifax.... for example my Equifax shows no hard searches and Experian shows all of them, is that clearer ? :-)

fenwick458

turns out I already signed up to the MSE credit club 4 years ago so I just logged in, the score was 970 but 2 of the things had low ratings, in general It's a lot more detailed than the Equifax one. And I agree the score must be worthless, otherwise I wouldn't get a 97% score when loan affordability and credit card affordability are weak and fair?
It's a good job I don't need any credit right now, what I plan to do about the phone situation is get one of the many cold callers who phone me up claiming to be from o2, to see if they can sort it out, I've got a year!