i was denied a mobile phone contract with 3

hi there,

this is my first post, i went in to get a mobile phone contract with 3 (my current contract is with vodafone) and everything seemed great until they did some sort of credit check and i was denied - twice! the guys in 3 could not tell me why, it was a third party company that did the check.

i have never had a loan, always pay off credit cards on time, have a good permanent job (2 yrs), am married, no debts etc., so i am wondering why this is so. I never had any trouble with paying my vodafone bills, direct debit every time. i was wondering if anyone knew much about this?

a few things I thought might have a bearing on it:
1. my job is not in this jurisdiction
2. I have only lived at my current residence a year
3. I am only with my current bank about 18 months.

Any help or ideas much appreciated!

Also, is there any way i can get the info about why i was denied?

I think number 1 is the issue.

They don't have access like your loan payment history , or your vodafone records.

The same happened me for 3 mobile broadband even though I was a 3 mobile phone customer. I had to write to them explaining that I was already a customer with them!!!. They use an automated scoring system as far as I know.
I also know of a couple of other people who had the same problem even though there was no obvious explanation.

I wouldn't be overly concerned as to why. Try speak to a customer service rep who is not from India(Mumbai). They work from scripts and will not be able to help you in any meaningful way. Try get through to their customer service in Scotland. They tend to be better at resolving these type of issues.

A friend had a problem with them for BB.

They would not give a reason so he just went with vodafone.

It turned out there seemed to a be a black mark against the adress someone dodging a debt or something before he ever bought the place.

Maybe similiar in this case

thanks for the input, I will try and talk to them again. the whole reason i want to switch to 3 is that there is no roaming charges for the UK at all, and I work up the north! I miht drop an email to customer services or something. Sounds like they are a bit funny about giving the contracts.

I would say both your term in existing address and your short term with a bank are making the difference. They dont access deeper details about your financial status normally, but can sometimes do checks. Say, for example you were claiming to be a business that needs 20 lines and 20 shiney new phones that are probably free of charge. Then the solid checks are done.

If you are denied a contract, going to them with new details will make no difference. they will hold the initial details you gave them as so you dont go to another store and give details that could improve your credit scoring. This would then ring alarm bells on their systems and could have you appear as a fraudulent customer. (although i'm not suggesting you would do this)

It is also quite normal for them to withhold information regarding reasons for being declined. Firstly, if you know the reasons, you then could be able to manipulate the credit scoring rules of another business. Secondly, it takes away the risk of you feeling descriminated against if you dont know the details.