On my EX report (which everyone pulls here), I have several non-CC inquiries:

2 hard pulls for housing rental
2 hard pulls for credit card processor acceptance at business (found a cheaper service)
1 hard pull for Verizon (fios install)

That makes up a total of 5 out of 21 inquiries over the past 2 years. 8 of the 21 will fall off by New Years including 0 of the aforementioned 5. EX "Plus" score (paid subscription) is 774 and credit history is 8 years old with a single minor blemish.

Do those inquiries count less in the score because they're not being used for lending purposes? Do banks care on a recon call (if you get denied for too many inquires) that some of the inquiries were not lending related? Or do they factor out those types of inquiries to begin with?

TIA

First off, inquiries over 12 months of age do not affect FICO scores and inquiries 6 to 12 months in age have only a really small impact.

Second, the "type" of inquiry mostly matters if you meet the "rate shopping" condition for FICO scoring; i.e., multiple mortgage inquiries within a set period of time count as a single inquiry.

Third, the "Plus" score you cite is a fake score, ignore it.

Myfico.com sells (an overpriced) score based on your Equifax consumer report (using FICO04 model). The Transunion-based FICO score sold at myfico.com is FICO98 and obsolete; consumers should not waste money buying it. There is no current means for a consumer to buy his or her EX FICO score.

Free FICO scores can be obtained if you are a walmart card holder (based on TU), are a member of DCU (based on EQ), or a member of a small CU in PA with limited membership (based on EX).

All that said, an inquiry for phone service affects FICO the same as one for a credit card. I hope this helps.