E-Town Small Engine, Inc.

Response: Our employee, [redacted], is a tenured employee with us and has been with us for over 17 years. She correctly followed all procedures for a financing application. Mr. [redacted] openly provided all necessary forms of identification and signed the credit application to open an account with [redacted] Bank. We cannot provide a correction to a credit report when he applied to open an account. We stand firm on our position. Furthermore, he stated in his complaint that he contacted [redacted] Bank and that they have taken care of the issue. As far as E-Town Small Engine, Inc. is concerned this issue has been resolved

Response: The customer came in on June 3, 2016 to apply for financing for a lawnmower. We gave the customer an Outdoor Power Equipment Consumer Credit Application. He completed and signed the application. We faxed the application to [redacted] Bank for a credit approval determination. Our employee...

explained to the customer that if he is approved he would have to come back in and sign the contract with [redacted] Bank. On June 3, 2016 we received a credit approval back from [redacted] Bank. Customer stated that he wanted the mower and that he wanted the mower delivered to him that Saturday. We arranged for our delivery driver to come into work on his day off to deliver the mower to the customer. The customer called us on June 4, 2016 and asked if we could price match the mower from another company that he could get the mower from at a lower price. We explained to the customer that we were not able to price match the mower as the price that he stated was less than what the mower cost us. The customer stated that he did not want to purchase the mower from us because he was going to go with the other company with the lower price. We told the customer that was fine and that we wouldn't proceed with the financing. The customer called us later and told us that we ruined his credit because we ran the application to see if he would be approved for his purchase. The customer seemed very upset that he received a [redacted] card from [redacted] Bank. The customer told us that we needed to call [redacted] and then we needed to fix his credit. We explained to the customer that he would need to contact [redacted] Bank on this issue. We explained to the customer that we do not run the credit check on any customers, it is all handled through [redacted] Bank. The Outdoor Power Equipment Sales Invoice was never signed by the customer and it was never sent in to [redacted]. The customer states in his complaint that he spoke with our manager named [redacted], he actually spoke with the owner, Phil, Then [redacted] called him back and spoke with him. [redacted] did explain to the customer what the card could be used for. [redacted] did explain to the customer that if he did not want to keep the card that he needed to cut the card up and contact [redacted] Bank to close the account. The very first line on the signature section of the application states, "By signing this application, I am asking [redacted] Bank ("[redacted]") to issue me a [redacted] Credit Card (the "Card"). I agree that if I am not approved for the Card, or if I am approved for an amount less that the Total Sale Amount shown below, [redacted] may use the information in this application to consider me for an installment loan ("Loan") from [redacted] to purchase a qualifying product from the program sponsor and dealer ("Dealers")."

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[It is quite unfortunate that after contacting this company and having to file a complaint that fault is still not realized or owned up to. As the company stated previously, “We faxed the application to [redacted] Bank for a credit approval determination,” meaning that they are the ones who are responsible for my information being provided to [redacted] Bank for credit APPROVAL not for financing. The responder continues to state, “our employee explained to the customer that if he is approved he would have to come back in and sign the contract with [redacted] Bank. The customer called us on June 4, 2016 and asked if we could price match the mower from another company that he could get the mower from at a lower price. We explained to the customer that we were not able to price match the mower as the price that he stated was less than what the mower cost us. The customer stated that he did not want to purchase the mower from us because he was going to go with the other company with the lower price. We told the customer that was fine and that we wouldn't proceed with the financing.” First, I did not call on June 4, 2016; I called back on June 3, 2016 because I was not going to purchase the mower from this company and also as a courtesy to the company to let their delivery driver know to not make the drive into their store on Saturday on his day off. I will be happy to provide my call records if needed. Also, if financing would not proceed, why did [redacted] Bank open financing in my name? I did not come back and sign any paperwork allowing this to occur (which they have agreed I did not finance with them).This is not a mistake made by [redacted] Bank. I have provided information showing how my credit score has declined 27 POINTS due to this added financing/remoing financing and how this is the only change that occurred within thirty (30) days; therefore, it is the only possible reason for the declined points to my credit score. So yes, this company is the reason my credit score has been affected because they continued with fraudulent financing without my consent. My photo proof will show that only one account has been opened in my name in the past year, which was by this company, the massive decline in my credit score, and that a line of credit was, in fact, opened in my name – which everyone has admitted was not supposed to be done! [redacted], regardless of how long she has been an employee, made a mistake, lied to me, and a credit card was fraudulently opened in my name. [redacted] should know that by signing a preapproval, this company would then issue a credit card in my name, thus start a line of credit with this company. However, she did not share that information with me; instead, she verbally confirmed there would be NO LINES of credit opened unless I returned and completed more paperwork to finance the mower.The responder also stated, “the customer seemed very upset that he received a [redacted] card from [redacted] Bank… the Invoice was never signed by the customer and it was never sent in to [redacted].” No, I’m upset I received a credit card from this company. The credit card clearly has this company’s name labeled under mine on the bottom and was something I NEVER AGREED TO. Also, how did I receive this credit card solely from [redacted] if they never received my information from Etown Small Engine? The entire response from this company is contradictory and ridiculous. I did not even know this company offered credit cards. Yes, I did called [redacted] Bank and cancel this credit card but that has not fixed this issue with my credit report nor has it fixed the issue that Etown Small Engine needs their policies reviewed because consumers do not deserve this type of treatment. My first thought when I received this credit card was the possibility that perhaps I was a victim of identity theft. I reached out to this company to figure out how/why this happened. I was given no answers. This has probably happened to other consumers. Luckily, I receive notifications when changes occur to my credit report and I check all my potential junk mail. I deserve my credit to be fixed and an apology, bare minimum. Changes need to be made.]
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
As stated before, I was told by the employee that I would NOT be applying for any type of loan and/or credit card when seeing if I could be preapproved for a lawn mower. I asked and made sure of this several times before beginning the preapproval process because I was still not 100% sure I would even purchase a lawn mower from this company. If I was preapproved, I was told I would need to come into the store and sign this additional paperwork in order to continue with a credit card/loan process. I did not sign any additional paperwork. I did not make any more efforts to contact this company about the lawn mower after June 3, 2016. Therefore, I want this company to remove this false, fraudulent information from my credit report as it does, in fact, have a negative impact on my credit having to add a new account and then immediately remove it.
Regards,
[redacted]