Telstra Credit Check

Lcwakening on 13/10/2020 - 23:19
Last edited 13/10/2020 - 23:19

Signed up for the JB Hi-fi $500 gift card Telstra post-paid sim-only plan that was on here a few weeks back.

Found out I was rejected because I failed the credit check, which surprised me a lot. I do use credit cards, but always pay the balance, no missed payments, no issues with landlords/bonds and my credit rating on Credit Savvy is in the low 800 range. I also had a previous (more expensive) Telstra mobile plan which included device rental that was paid out in full with no worries, and that ended only a few months ago. Employed permanent full-time in the public service with good salary.

I asked the bloke on the phone if he had any ideas or if I could get some information regarding which rating agency they are using to perform the checks but he was really condescending and suggested I make sure to pay my bills on time and consider using pre-paid. Left me quite underwhelmed. I will ensure I keep well away from Telstra in future.

Just wondering what I can do to figure out why this failed - I'm not really fussed about Telstra but in future I may be applying for a mortgage or something like that. I am worried that potentially having something very serious on my credit record that I am unaware of will be an issue.

Anyone had a similar problem, or know where to look to figure out what is happening?

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Comments

  • AustriaBargain on 13/10/2020 - 23:33
    +3

    Even when proper unemployed I've never had problems getting anything from Telstra, even the most expensive device they offer at the time. My freelance work means that my bank accounts appear to have spare money in it I guess, there's no way for a computer to know that minus my forecasted costs my accounts are actually empty. I just assumed Telstra never denied anyone's application for anything as long as they had a valid drivers license. I'd have thought they'd give whatever expensive device to even a 19 year old delivering pizzas, but maybe my credit situation is unique.

    • Willco88 on 13/10/2020 - 23:38

      Try a different company.. I got rejected from everyone but Vodafone was fine some companies are much stricter than others…

    • cwakening on 13/10/2020 - 23:45

      Yeah I thought it was pretty much a formality (especially for sim-only plans). I've had phone/sim plans with Telstra for ages - even back when I was a student working part time I didn't have an issue getting an iPhone on plan…

  • WoodYouLikeSomeCash on 13/10/2020 - 23:36
    +2

    Have you tried getting your credit report from Equifax/Experian/illion?

    • cwakening on 13/10/2020 - 23:41

      I think this might be it. I used getcreditscore.com.au which sources data from Equifax, and it is unable to find my Equifax credit record.

  • swimmingtoad on 13/10/2020 - 23:37

    I would be requesting the credit file from Equifax, which is who Telstra uses.
    When you say that you use credit cards, do you have high limits? or have you churned for points over the last few years?

    • cwakening on 13/10/2020 - 23:40

      Yeah this was the information I was hoping to get in the call, but the person was not forthcoming at all. Not sure if they can give out the information?

      • swimmingtoad on 13/10/2020 - 23:41

        The call was with Telstra or Equifax?
        Equifax must provide the information on request. There is a form on their website.

        • cwakening on 13/10/2020 - 23:42

          So that was with Telstra. As I found out just then, when I used getcreditscore (which uses Equifax), it isn't able to find my credit record.

          • swimmingtoad on 13/10/2020 - 23:44

            @cwakening: Apply manually through their site.
            Do you open and close credit cards for promos? That is generally the red flag that gets picked up.

            • cwakening on 13/10/2020 - 23:46

              @swimmingtoad: I've applied on their own site and am waiting for it to come through. I have applied for a few credit cards for points etc., but I don't think it is an excessive amount. 5 applications in the last 3-4 years.

              • swimmingtoad on 13/10/2020 - 23:52

                @cwakening: Credit files are always hard to pick because everyone is different but more than one credit card application a year over a period can lead to red flags.
                If the file comes back pretty standard, that's likely the culprit.

                • cwakening on 13/10/2020 - 23:59

                  @swimmingtoad: The Equifax file has come back, and the score is in the high 600s range, which should still be fine, although it does seem quite out of date (have changed jobs, moved addresses etc.).

                  Thanks for the point about the credit card applications. I'm surprised that would be enough tank an application for a fairly inexpensive sim-only plan. I will see how other carriers go, given I haven't had issues with other credit checks (for leases and other cards etc.), so I'm hoping I don't really need to make much of a change to meet this specific criteria.

                  • miwahni on 14/10/2020 - 21:50

                    @cwakening: Your data should have updated with the data submitted by JB HiFi when they did the credit check. Can you see their credit enquiry on your report? You didn't mention it further down when you listed the four enquiries in the last year.

                    Just note that changing jobs and addresses can also pull your score down, it's one of the metrics that feeds into the score calculation.

  • Flowerbomb on 14/10/2020 - 00:08

    Hmmm since you did the credit check online, maybe it might affect your application. I read on ozbargain that bankwest was notorious for approving online credit card applications, so it’s better to apply in person at the bank.

    I reckon that guy just being a bitch.

    • cwakening on 14/10/2020 - 00:10

      I actually applied in-store at JB Hi-fi, but their systems were down so it was written down on paper.

      I received a sim card, but it never got activated, so after about 10 days rang up Telstra and was told that my credit check had failed. Wasn't sure if all my details were correct - the bloke on the phone was more interested in advising me to sign up for pre-paid and not miss my bill payments than trying to diagnose if there was more to it unfortunately…

  • Unorthodox on 14/10/2020 - 00:25
    +1

    Interesting that it failed given you're an existing customer and meet the general criteria.

    I'd maybe guess that it was an admin failure from the person who processed it given that it was manual and from the paper form.

    You mentioned you have a previous plan with Telstra, perhaps the person tried to create a whole new customer account and it failed because it pulled up a duplicate account with the same ID details.

    • cwakening on 14/10/2020 - 09:44

      Yeah I wondered if it could've been a mistake in details - wrong license number, or like you've said, some kind of business logic problem. The person on the phone just said my credit rating was too low and the application couldn't be amended or escalated, so didn't get to investigate that.

      • Unorthodox on 14/10/2020 - 10:19

        Full disclosure I worked in Ops at the telco and others

        Staff don't get to see the reason for decline, it is either approved, declined or requires more info to be decided in house by the credit team (generally if it's existing customers and they need proof of income or a business owner's BAS or bank statements). In fact, staff don't even get to see your credit file or "score".

        The only "score" ever used was an internal metric, generally used to determine the number of devices and/or their value in the pool.
        This method was later removed because you'd have customers hitting the cap so easily due to the device prices. The telco companies revised this because they wanted customers to buy accessories (on plan this contributed to the cap), tablets, smart devices, smart home devices etc.

        I still think it was an input error on the staff - you should check this on your report because it does flag as an enquiry.

        • cwakening on 14/10/2020 - 11:10

          Thanks for the tips.

          I'm not sure what I can do if it was an input error or something like that. As you've said they don't provide any information, and so I don't really have a way to check what was submitted. I filed a complaint about the process, but I'm not super keen to spend much more time on it - it already took more than an hour spent on hold etc., for something that I feel like could easily be an email.

          When you say I should check on my report, do you mean the Equifax report?

          • Unorthodox on 14/10/2020 - 12:23

            @cwakening: I thought you could lodge a complaint online via a form or just send the FB page a message.

            Yep, check the Equifax report and ensure that there weren't multiple pings and that there aren't any future ones.
            - telco enquiries on your report alone don't really matter because they're low

            I'd just be conscious of the paperwork floating around if it's got your details + any scanned ID… IF the person is incompetent. Telcos have pretty stringent controls on paper forms after a heap were found unshredded but not sure if JB have the same controls.

  • Willco88 on 14/10/2020 - 00:37

    Yeah maybe the JB person was useless try going to an actual Telstra store next time maybe

  • Xcwizit on 14/10/2020 - 00:40

    I'd pay close attention to the amount of enquiries on your Equifax credit report and the timing of them.
    How many enquiries have you had in the past 6 months? And 12 months?

    • cwakening on 14/10/2020 - 09:48

      Have had 4 inquiries in the past 12 months. Two are utility providers (one gas, one electricity), one is Circles.Life which I am using at the moment, and one is a credit card. Doesn't seem excessive to me - I can't see why a cheap sim-only plan would have such a high credit requirement, if that is the case.

  • avoidfullprice on 14/10/2020 - 07:30

    Telstra uses Equifax. Get credit report from

    https://www.mycreditfile.com.au/

    • avoidfullprice on 14/10/2020 - 17:14

      Not sure why got downvoted? This is direct link from the Equifax website??

  • kipps on 14/10/2020 - 12:31

    Get your credit report. Telstra isn’t in the business of turning people away without a valid reason.

    • cwakening on 14/10/2020 - 12:34

      Yep, I have. Credit rating looks ok, high 600s for equifax, 800s for one of the other providers, have never missed a payment and no issues etc. That seems high enough for a cheap sim-only plan.

      • kipps on 14/10/2020 - 20:32

        Points don’t matter. It’s negative events on credit files, too many enquiries in a short period of time, or you’ve been linked to a customer number in Telstra’s systems for bad/sold debt in my experience. Unless Telstra has clamped down on its credit policies more recently.

  • justdigi on 14/10/2020 - 13:39

    It's most likely their internal 'credit report' and not an external agency that declined you.

    That happened to me at JB HiFi in December last year. Originally JB tried to create a new Telstra account, which had a credit check. Then the system made them put it on my existing account, which put through another credit check. This was then declined as two applications in a short period. Nothing ever went to Equifax, and it's almost a year later at this point.

  • FirstTimer on 26/07/2021 - 18:37

    Stay away from Telstra!!!

    I was about to sign up a new plan. Definitely I would get approve but it will make a enquiry report on my credit file. Thats is bizarre that they do check credit for bloody NBN connection. If I don't pay the bill, cancel my plan next months! What so issue!

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