Power Home Technologies Home Security Rip Off Ran my credit report without authorization! Huntsville, Alabama

A sales rep from Power Home Technologies contacted me by phone on Fri, 03/15/13. She was promoting a GE wireless alarm system to be installed at no charge & a monthly monitoring fee of $45 per month, which would be guaranteed for life. The monitoring company they use is Monitronics, which I have dealt with in the past & had no real problems. I had a question regarding moving the system as we would be moving in the next couple of months. She transferred me to a supervisor who could answer my question. He was very polite & seemed knowledgable, assuring me they would add the move to our other home at no charge to our contract, which the installation tech would bring with him. I told him we would like to set up an appt to check out the alarm system & we would decide on installation. My husband is in the Loss Prevention field & he wanted to see the system before committing. He told me that would be fine & if we decided we wanted the alarm, the tech would be able to install it at that time. The appt was set for the following Tuesday, as that was the only day my husband & I would be available at the same time. He told me if I had any questions to call him direct & he gave me his number. I'm still trying to find where I wrote down that stupid number! couple of hours later, the installation tech contacted me about scheduling earlier. I told him I picked that day because it was the only day my husband & I would be available together. He said ok, thank you, & he would call Monday to confirm the appt. On Saturday, we received another call from the company about earlier appt times. I do not know if it was the same guy or not & I didn't care to know. Again, I told him we wanted that day so we both would be home. I also told him if anyone else called prior to Monday, we would cancel the appt. My request was met & they called to confirm on Mon, 03/18/13. I told him my husband ended up being scheduled for a work appt & I did not want to reschedule at that time. He started with the but...but...the price is...family safety...blah..blah. I told him no thanks & hung up. So, fortunately, the actual cash rip off was avoided. I received an e-mail from my credit monitoring service that I had a new "hard inquiry' on my credit history. Of course, I logged on to see what it was. Guess who? You guessed it! Showed up as POWER HOME T in the home furnishings industry. Huh? The name did not sound familiar. I haven't shopped for furniture, much less applied for credit anywhere. I called the number listed on the inquiry. It was a fax number! So I Googled it & found their website & remembered the alarm company that called. What?! How in the world did they perform a credit inquiry without my consent?! We are going to be refinancing one of our homes in 3 months, we are watching our credit very carefully & definitely NOT applying for credit! I called the number for the Alabama office, I got a recording on a Verizon cell phone with a message that no one was available to take the call. I called the service/support number, it rang & then went straight to a recording that the next available rep would assist me, 10 min later, still on hold. Next, I called the sales number, went straight to a recording, no one was available to take the call & to try back later. Are you kidding me?! Now I am REALLY concerned. Next, I called Transunion for help. A very polite rep pulled my report up & verified the inquiry was showing up. I told him this whole long story & asked how a company could run a credit report without me giving my SSN, without authorization, no signature, no verbal, no anything. He said if the company is a member of some service with Transunion, they can run it. What?! He said I cannot dispute it with Transunion because an inquiry is a "record of fact" because the inquiry was actually performed. I said yes it was...fraudulently. The company is not even on file with Transunion under its true industry. It appears on my report that I was buying furniture. Now get this! I have to contact the company I just rejected & have not been able to reach after multiple attempts using their various numbers over a 6-8 hour period of time. I have to obtain a letter from them stating the inquiry should not be on my report (yeah right) then I also have to write a letter & send with it with the letter from the company requesting the inquiry to be removed. Oh, and don't forget the separate cover sheet with the list he gave me of my pertinent information or it won't be processed. Also, he needed to inform me a "hard inquiry" stays on the report for 2 full years if I couldn't get the letter from the company. I cannot believe what I am hearing! How can this be legal?! DO NOT talk to this company, DO NOT give them ANY personal information...just hang up the phone if they solicit you! Hold on just a minute here...I just remembered while writing this...our home phone is on the "Do Not Call List". I really feel like I need to contact an attorney!!!! No, I didn't lose any money, but I did lose several points on my credit report. Just great!! Wish me luck getting that letter!!