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Apple Store online: multiple reservation tries, multiple credit checks

G

grnamin

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 26, 2010
28
0
Just an FYI:
If you've tried to reserve an iPhone 5 for pickup at an Apple Store several times like I have, you may find multiple hard inquiries in your credit report which could affect your credit score. I found that AT&T ran hard inquiries for the 3 times that I tried to order an iPhone 5 for pickup at a store the next day. This can't be circumvented because you go through the credit check before the screen can proceed to the page where you choose which store to pickup from.

Apologies, should have clarified first... This is for a reservation as a new customer since I can't add a line because my company pays for my AT&T plan.
 
Last edited:
grnamin said:
Just an FYI:
If you've tried to reserve an iPhone 5 for pickup at an Apple Store several times like I have, you may find multiple hard inquiries in your credit report which could affect your credit score. I found that AT&T ran hard inquiries for the 3 times that I tried to order an iPhone 5 for pickup at a store the next day. This can't be circumvented because you go through the credit check before the screen can proceed to the page where you choose which store to pickup from.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you are a new customer? Typically anytime the same company runs your credit within a month in counts as 1 hit.
 
credit check?

I don't remember seeing that anywhere. I just put in my credit card and away I go.
 
If you're a new customer for a company like AT&T or something like that, then you automatically get a credit check. Now I'm not sure if you get one if you're trying to upgrade your phone...
 
this is interesting...

for three consecutive nights I tried the reservation system and each time I set up for a new line. Maybe I have to check my credit report now...

Anyone can elaborate on what negative effect this have on your credit?
 
gapperonduty said:
Anyone can elaborate on what negative effect this have on your credit?
Click to expand...

As far as I know, none. The only checks that have an affect on your score are where you apply for new credit (like applying for a few credit cards within a short period will lower your score). Credit checks by cell phone carriers shouldn't affect anything.
 
thats good to know...thanks for the clarification...

this post should be useful for many other curious and clueless forum ppl like me too...thanx
 
joeshmo2010 said:
yeah i am pretty sure that these hard inquiries don't affect scores like hard inquiries from new credit apps do.
Click to expand...

This statement is absolutely not true. There are only 2 types of credit inquiries - soft and hard. The ones from the Apple website are HARD inquiries and they DO affect your credit score. At most, probably 5 points. Not a big deal, but still not a good thing during a refi or new mortgage application. You might need to write a letter of explanation for this.
 
stuckinthemiddl said:
This statement is absolutely not true. There are only 2 types of credit inquiries - soft and hard. The ones from the Apple website are HARD inquiries and they DO affect your credit score. At most, probably 5 points. Not a big deal, but still not a good thing during a refi or new mortgage application. You might need to write a letter of explanation for this.
Click to expand...

Actually it is true. Lenders look at your report and see how many hard inquiries you have. They look at to see who made the inquiry and what for. They'll look at a hard inquiry more negatively than a hard inquiry from a cell phone application. Being late on a cell phone bill would never impact your credit, which is why these hard inquiries hardly affect your scores if at all. (Now, if you just flat out don't pay and it gets sent to collections, obviously that'll have a drastic affect).
 
Going through the mortgage application process right now I can tell you that any hard inquiry affects your credit score.

Your rate is determined by your score.

Your application is approved after you send off all your bank statements, credit card statements, investment statements, explanations, etc.

There are certain situations where multiple hard inquiries on your report will only affect your report as if only one inquiry was made. This happens when people are shopping for a car (with a lease or loan) and for a house with a mortgage. I believe it's that any similar type of inquiry made within a 14 day period will only count as one when calculating your overall credit score. I'm not sure if this holds true with cell phone company inquiries. I would Google that.

Also, whoever the company who ran your credit (Apple or your carrier) may actually be willing to work with you here in getting them removed. Honestly I would think they should keep your credit on file for 30, 60 or 90 days after they run it once. It's kind of useless to keep hitting it over and over again.

Though maybe they don't want to keep it on file for liability reasons, though given the companies we're talking about here, a list of socials with scores is probably the least amount of information they have about you...

FWIW, when I saw Apple and the VZW sites wanted to run my credit I stopped and went to the VZW store. The guy there (who proceeded to add 4 more lines to my account) said he would review the account history and maybe do a soft inquiry if needed. He didn't need to and we were off to the races. So it might be worth a stop to your carrier's store, maybe add a dummy/old phone in a new line to be placeholder for an iPhone upgrade (that's exactly what I did).
 
joeshmo2010 said:
Actually it is true. Lenders look at your report and see how many hard inquiries you have. They look at to see who made the inquiry and what for. They'll look at a hard inquiry more negatively than a hard inquiry from a cell phone application. Being late on a cell phone bill would never impact your credit, which is why these hard inquiries hardly affect your scores if at all. (Now, if you just flat out don't pay and it gets sent to collections, obviously that'll have a drastic affect).
Click to expand...

Lenders might require a letter of explanation. The credit bureaus will lower your score when a hard inquiry hits it. Lenders use your credit score to determine your rate and lender credit in addition to other factors. Remember that your credit score is a HARD number. If you have 760 vs. 759, this can be the difference between 1/8th point rate or credit. Every lender has different standards. The bottom line is that it CAN affect you. Why risk it?

I own multiple properties and have done 5 new purchase loans/refinances in the past 2 years. I have subscribed to a daily credit monitoring for 4 years now and I check religiously every few days so I do have some bit of insight.
 
stuckinthemiddl said:
Lenders might require a letter of explanation. The credit bureaus will lower your score when a hard inquiry hits it. Lenders use your credit score to determine your rate and lender credit in addition to other factors. Remember that your credit score is a HARD number. If you have 760 vs. 759, this can be the difference between 1/8th point rate or credit. Every lender has different standards. The bottom line is that it CAN affect you. Why risk it?

I own multiple properties and have done 5 new purchase loans/refinances in the past 2 years. I have subscribed to a daily credit monitoring for 4 years now and I check religiously every few days so I do have some bit of insight.
Click to expand...

You're not the only one.
 
This topic is interesting. I added a phone to my cart I think 3 times (rather than just saving the cart, I'm stupid) before I actually got one to reserve. New line of service with AT&T. When I picked it up at the Apple Store they did the credit check there over the phone. I had to say "yes" to the AT&T rep to authorize a credit check. So would they have run now 4 inquiries?? My score last I checked was 790....can't wait to see if this lowered it, that's just great AT&T, thanks!

I did previously have AT&T service within 2 years and switched to VZW, now trying AT&T again so that could be the reason for the phone authorization?
 
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