That makes sense. IF someone stole your identity they could attempt to open accounts with your current creditors (obviously not knowing).

I still don't understand Citi and BofA, I know they pull equifax and transunion in different parts of the country. Did you try talking to a supervisor?

The person from Amex told me that their computer simply has a requirement of which report based on location in the country and there was no getting around it. I didn't ask for supervisors because a) I'm convinced they just hand you to the person the next desk over, and b) the whole process was taking so long (more than 1 day) that I was already running the risk of losing the 'element of surprise' of the simultaneous app-o-rama.

Very true. I've only seen one or two people who were successful in getting Amex to pull transunion.

So I decided to do the freeze with Experian and it was easy to do online. If you don't answer the usual credit history questions correctly, then they will request you send it in via mail.

What I didn't expect was to received a letter in the mail stating that they have removed my name from preapproved credit offers for the next 5 years. I don't want that. So I called them and they said the removal from prescreened offers is part of the freeze, which I didn't see or missed. They won't even talk about it unless I get a credit report.

Try calling or looking at this website to see if you can get back in on the prescreened offers: 1-888-5-OPTOUT or visiting www.optoutprescreen.com

Thanks for the data point though, it's unfortunate that they do this automatically. Although if you're doing it for security purposes, I can understand the logic behind experian doing this.

Just came across this. Out of curiosity, are you still having success with Chase pulling other bureaus by freezing Experian? Mine is getting up there in inquiries, I was thinking about trying this too. Thanks.

I think it is worth a try. It worked for me in December. That was my last Chase card application.

ADVICE NEEDED: Freeze EX & TU for August AoR?
 

Edited: I have another thread about the AoR itself, this pertains to questions really for all future AoRs about freezing reports

I'm planning an AoR in August, and I'm thinking of freezing my TU and EX reports so the bureaus will only pull my EQ. Why I'm wanting to do this is because my most recent inquiries on my EQ were 07/12. My question is CAN I do this? Will it work as I'm wanting it to, where all three issuers JUST see my sparkly Equifax? Not that the other two are horrible, my TU is just rather shaky right now due to being battered by inquiries (plus, my AAoA is on the low side, but the Amex will help).

I'm wanting
1 AMEX Personal (50k MB Plat)
1 AMEX Business (50k BGR)
2 Chase Personal (40kCSP, 30-55k UA MPE)
1 Citi Personal (50k AA Visa Plat)
1 Citi Business (40k Visa)

Chase pulls EX in Arizona. AMEX has pulled all three, but it was my first time with them. I've heard they also pull EX, which they did for my April 2013 Gold Business DL card. Citi pulled TU & EX for all three of my AA cards + 1 TYP.

In August I will have:

Transunion: 11 inquiries in 12 months (14 in 24)
Experian: 10 inquiries in 12 months (12 in 24)
Equifax: 0 inquiries in past 12 months, 5 in 24 (all 5 were July 2012)

Any advice on freezing reports is VERY appreciated! Thank you :)

Both Amex and Citi have about a 99.9% chance of telling you to pound sand if you ask them to pull something other than what they tried first. Chase you might be able to convince to pull something else...emphasis on might.

This tactic doesn't work as well as it used to.

I agree. I have never been able to get AMEX to pull anything other than Experian, they deny the app and send me a letter stating that I have to unfreeze Experian to continue with the application process. Citi pulls Experian for my area and I have never been able to get them to pull anyone else. Chase is my only success in that if I freeze Experian (their default for my area) they will pull TU for me most of the time.

A few follow up question about Chase and EX.

Has anyone gotten instant approval from Chase after freezing EX (assuming it pulls EX and TU by default), or does it always lead to recon? If the latter, how much more complicated is the process? Do they ask why you froze EX? If so, what do you say?

My EQ has virtually no activity, so it would be great if Chase looks at that instead of EX. Or better yet, skip it altogether and just look at my TU, which is also sparse.

I have no datapoint, but this is a great question!

italdesign, did you try? I'm curious to do this, too. 11 inquiries on EX, 2 EQ (both Chase, as well), 3 TU. It seems Chase always pulls EX and EQ for me, both, so I'd definitely like to just push them to EQ if possible, but don't feel like doing the recon dance.

Any update on Chase success lately? My wife will be going after Chase personal/business this fall and would like to push those into Equifax. She's got 12 Experian and 6 Equifax. Chase has always pulled both on her previously. If no data point, I'll probably try it anyways.

Chase computers won't prevent analysts from using another report, but it does prominently remind them of which bureau it was trying to pull when you applied. YMMV.

If Citi pulls Exquifax in your area, you can still be instantly approved with an Experian freeze.