Meteor Bill Pay

eire27

Hi,

I recently went to a meteor store to purchase a bill pay i phone 4. I was refused by the store as their credit control department had turned me down. I have to say, it was such a humiliating experience. This is the first time anything has happened to me such as this. I asked why and was informed that I would have to contact he credit control dept directly which I did. I have not heard back from them and it is now over a week. I am in secure job and working over 15 years. I contaced the Irish Credit Bureau to be told that my credit rating was perfect and I am totally at a loss to know what the problem is. Has anybody had any experience like this and if so what was the outcome?

Thanks.

Confused and frustrated

Shield

Moved from Newbies & FAQ to Consumer Issues with redirect expiring in 7 days.

AngryLips

Only financial institutions use the ICB (if even).

Meteor most likely use their own credit scoring technique based on factors such as:
- your age
- length of time with employer
- length of time at current accommodation
- length of time with bank
- willingness to sign up to direct debit.

Of course, you are entitled to know the reason you were rejected but, unless you request the information by exercising your rights under data protection, you're unlikely to get a reason from Meteor.

It might be worthwhile to appeal to Meteor directly by using their complaints procedure, sending in proof of credit worthiness with your appeal and requesting reason for initial rejection under DPA legislation. Their reluctance to share their credit scoring methods, accompanied by your appeal/complaint and proof of credit worthiness might prove too much of a pain in the ass for them to persist with their refusal of service.

shocksy

As the poster has said above, unless you really persue this, you are unlikely to get anywhere, and even at that you may still not get the outcome you want. Similar topics have come up in other threads, for example 3 Mobile, other users were refused a bill pay phone who also said they had good credit, and some users who were unemployed were accepted for a bill pay phone...

Mobile companies dont use the ICB, (a friend of a friend works for one of the networks and confirmed this) they use their own credit scoring tactics too which they wont reveal.... It could be hit an miss whether your selected or not, you could have 100% excellent credit rating and it would mean nothing when applying for a bill pay phone.

Other users have gone down the road of contacting meteor and it seems their ''credit control'' department is pretty much non existent when it comes to replying to people, so personally i wouldn't hold my breath waiting on a reply because its highly unlikely you will get one, and as a company they could come up with any reason to refuse you this service, you tendered an offer for their service, they rejected it, you could try fight them on it, but do you really want to waste all that time and effort when in hindsight they will probably still refuse you?

I understand how you must feel, if you read the mobile forums on here you will see many other people in your situation and none of them got it solved.

Here's another example of how crazy the system works, a friend of mine, hasn't worked in over a year, and recently was accepted on a bill pay plan for a new Samsung Galaxy S phone, in and out of the shop in 10 minutes, free phone, no deposit, and that person is on the dole, So once again that shows credit rating means F*** all in these cases.

Just thought i would fill you in on this and give you my pennys worth on the situation.

foggy_lad

eire27 wrote: »

Hi,

I recently went to a meteor store to purchase a bill pay i phone 4. I was refused by the store as their credit control department had turned me down. I have to say, it was such a humiliating experience. This is the first time anything has happened to me such as this. I asked why and was informed that I would have to contact he credit control dept directly which I did. I have not heard back from them and it is now over a week. I am in secure job and working over 15 years. I contaced the Irish Credit Bureau to be told that my credit rating was perfect and I am totally at a loss to know what the problem is. Has anybody had any experience like this and if so what was the outcome?

Thanks.

Confused and frustrated

Did they refuse you as a customer outright or did they ask for a security deposit?

eire27

Outright! Morto! And I am in a government job for the last 15 years, living at the same address for the last 15 years, same bank etc etc I have absolutely no idea what the story is.

muboop1

eire27 wrote: »

Outright! Morto! And I am in a government job for the last 15 years, living at the same address for the last 15 years, same bank etc etc I have absolutely no idea what the story is.

MY understanding is that its like insurance quotes.

They have a credit system which they self devised. They do not know your income, your usage, your loans, debts, anything. Instead they base their decision on solely the info you give them and on past experience.

If they have a lot of "professionals" not paying bills, they will be less inclined to take on one later etc. Same with house owners, senior job positions and age tend to be seen as positives.

Noting to be ashamed at no more then getting a higher insurance quote then a friend. Just take your service elsewhere

dudara

It's no personal insult - they have their own methods of scoring applicants. My partner and I both purchased an iPhone with 3 on the same day. Because I went first, I was accepted with no issues. He went second, and because a second high-value iPhone was going to the same address on the same day, they applied a €200 deposit to his application (Thanks to the sales assistant who contacted Credit Control and got an explanation for us).

minlan

Just had the same issue today - ordered online last week, signed contracts and switch documents from 3 bill pay account (including returning most recent bill with application). Then received an email today from Meteor saying the application was cancelled & I should contact their credit control dept for information as to why I was refused a bill pay contract.

Thing is, I work in a bank and I know my credit score is A1 as I got a car loan 2 months ago and got to see my credit report (I know some people are saying karma's a bitch right now after seeing I work for a bank) & I've lived at the same address on which I'm paying a mortgage and worked at the same job for over 5 years. So I'm fairly sure that it's some arbitrary in-house scoring method as discussed above.

The thing is, if a bank refuses a customer credit because of their poor credit history, we are obliged under the consumer credit directive to say without the customer even having to ask what exactly the reason for the refusal was.

I doubt I'll get much back from Meteor's credit dept. I'm really disappointed as I was waiting on a Galaxy S2 which is out of my budget with the other operators.

drunkmonkey

minlan wrote: »

I doubt I'll get much back from Meteor's credit dept. I'm really disappointed as I was waiting on a Galaxy S2 which is out of my budget with the other operators.

If your out of contract with 3 you must be due an upgrade, you can get it for free with the upgrade.

eire27

Hi There,

Your right, you most likely will not hear anything back. I contacted them a few times now but to no avail. I also told them that I was taking my business elsewhere if they didn't get back to me by a certain date. They obviously did not mind as I didn't hear anything back.

So, I walked into a 3 mobile store, gave the same particulars that I had given to Meteor and got the i phone 4 that I wanted on bill pay without any problem and got a really good deal that suits my needs.

I have to say, I am glad that I put this post up as I was really taken aback by the whole incident It is just ridiculous. Anyhow, Meteor's loss was 3 mobiles gain and I have also got a few new recruits to join 3 Mobile also.

With Meteor it doesn't seem to matter what you do, what you owe/don't own, where you live or how long your with the bank or whether or not you have a good credit history. I'm not wasting anymore time trying to figure them out. I have made several requests through different channels. If they get back, I'll let you guys know the outcome.

My only advise is - take your business to another company who will appreciate it.

Eire

minlan

You'd think so, but 3 wanted €369 for me to upgrade to an S2 where meteor were offering it for €250 (since cut to €139), so me in my naivety gave my 30 days notice and once that was up applied to meteor. Oops.

Meteor debited my account on the 3rd (the day I applied) for €139 as well. It had better be back in my account quick. Actually I think I'm going to ring someone up tomorrow and get cranky. People do it to me often enough.

Update: The phone arrived today; it appears the 'fail' email was sent in error. I could complain about the stress of wondering what had happend to my credit rating, however it doesn't seem to matter too much now. Shiny thing make it all better... ^_^

rosco p coltrane

I know this is an old thread, but just to let you know the credit refusal thing is still going on. I've read the previous posts, and i think my downfall was saying that i was self employed.

I wrote them a letter ( as i was advised to do so by the meteor shop assistant), and i got a response saying that i was rejected due to my application information.

No bad debts, no mortgage, 30k in bank, with vodafone for 7 years paying around 60/70 euro a month. I want to change as my mobile coverage is pretty poor where i am in the country. And i wanted to sign up for their €15 month 200mins/200texts, no iPhone/Galaxy offer.

The hilarious thing was i got the letter back and it was signed off like this:

Yours faithfully,


<SNIP>
Credit Control Team Leader
Meteor Credit Control in examination (under the Companies (Amendment) Act 1990)

NO WONDER THEY'RE IN EXAMINATION - MUPPETS !!!

Boskowski

If its any consolation to you credit scores at that level are usually not personalised. It's not a 'judgement' on you but on your statistical profile. You could be the wrong age or living in the wrong area or whatnot.
It doesn't mean your credit is bad.

dudara

Closing thread as it's a bit of a zombie

dudara