Buyer Beware!! GreenLink is at it again!
This week I received a letter in the mail about a loan I was qualified to receive at a low interest rate. Normally I would do thorough research but they did a great job on making everything look legit!
After talking with my wife for a bit, I decided to phone them. When I phoned I was told it was a simple interest loan with an interest rate of 5.49%. I asked if there were early pay off penalties. They assured me there were no penalties.
Madelline wanted way too much information and became a little indignant when I was reticent in giving her all the information she requested. I asked on several occasions if they would do a hard inquiry on my credit. She assured me they did a “soft” inquiry. She even explained that the difference between a soft and hard inquiry; the soft being with only one of the three national credit agencies.
Frankly, I did more of the questioning than did she. As we were talking, she asked for my social SSN. At this point, I was not too exasperated and gave her my SSN. She explained that they needed all of my personal information because this was an unsecured loan.
After that, I quickly became uncomfortable and I told Madelline that I was not interested in the offer. Here’s where it gets very interesting.
The next morning, I was alerted that my credit score had changed because of a hard hit on my credit. I immediately checked, and discovered the company that did the inquiry. I called them and asked who gave them permission to check my credit. Well, you guessed it … GreenLink Financial.
At 1:36 pm, I called the direct number Madelline had given me early on in case we were disconnected. She answered and remembered me and our conversation. She reminded me that I refused their offer. I agreed, and reminded her that I never gave my permission for GreenLink to check my credit. I reminded her that before I refused the offer, she told me on more than one occasion that it would be a soft hit. She said that someone in underwriting needed more information. I nearly jumped out of my chair!
I then asked her the result since they had run my credit and the amount of my loan! She told me to call her back in two hours. I returned the call at 3:01 pm and got no answer. I have not heard from GreenLink since.
I am utterly disgusted! I plan on filing reports with the BBB, consumeraffairs.com. and with the fraud division of my State Attorney General’s Office.