Another Update:
Applying for PayAnywhere reader is safe after all. Soft pull confirmed!
Yesterday I posted about a possible free $1,000 processing offer you might get from PayAnywhere credit card reader some time after you’ve ordered the device. Today I received a disturbing comment from one of my readers.
Pay Anywhere just pulled report from Experian. Did you know about this?
Not only did I not know about it, it never happened to me, so I went to the PayAnywhere website and asked them about it. Here is the transcript.
Welcome to Chat!
1:23:31 p.m.
Interaction transferred to CS – PayAnywhere – Chat.
1:23:33 p.m.
Interaction alerting Steven McCarrick.
1:23:35 p.m.
Steven McCarrick has joined the conversation.
Steven McCarrick
1:23:47 p.m.
Good afternoon. Thank you for contacting Mobile Support! My name is Steven. How may I assist you?
Chat User
1:24:01 p.m.
Hello,
I wonder if you are
1:24:59 p.m.
If you make a hard credit pull before sending the reader. Please advise.
Steven McCarrick
1:26:08 p.m.
We do a soft credit check when you apply for the account
Chat User
1:27:58 p.m.
Are you sure about that? It appears that one of the readers of my blog (where I recommended your reader) has just received a hard inquiry from Experian. Could you verify this for me, please?
1:28:14 p.m.
I mean that it’s soft and not a hard inquiry.
Steven McCarrick
1:29:39 p.m.
From what my supervisor has told me, it is a soft credit check.
Chat User
1:30:09 p.m.
OK, thanks.
Steven McCarrick
1:30:34 p.m.
Is there anything else I can assist you with?
1:31:47 p.m.
We appreciate your business, and thank you for chatting with me today! Have a great day.
1:31:49 p.m.
Agent has left the conversation
1:31:49 p.m
So, as we can see, this is not supposed to be a hard pull, but for $26, I wouldn’t risk it until we know for sure. In the very least, go to their
chat option before ordering and get the same assurance in writing, so that you have a recourse (or recompence) in case this unfortunate accident happens to you, as well.
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Thanks Andy. I got in touch with them and they confirmed it was a “soft” pull. The email I got from them was a rejection email, stating they based their rejection on my EX credit report. I wrongly assumed it was a hard pull.
Phew, good to know! Sorry you got rejected, but not a huge loss.
No loss at all, and glad they didn’t hard pull. Didn’t want to deal with yet another unauthorized hard pull!
Hi John, not a very wise idea to advertise publicly your true intentions towards this merchant services program. It might lead to the closure of your account.