Appreciation post for the guy at the car dealership who told me to freeze my credit

Six months ago I was at Honda of Seattle waiting on an oil change. This older salesman saw me filling out a credit app for a new card they were pushing. He just walked over and said 'son, lock that credit report down. Nobody needs nine hard pulls a year.' I had no idea what a freeze even was. He sat there for ten minutes explaining how to do it on all three bureaus. Saved me from a few dumb mistakes I almost made. Anyone else have a random encounter like that where a stranger just handed you good credit advice?

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.dylan7d ago

Wait isn't a credit freeze different from locking your report?

morgan.rose6d ago

Oh come on, they're basically the same thing though.

henryp407d ago

That older salesman sat there for ten minutes explaining how to do it" yeah that's the kind of thing you don't forget. It's wild how many people just don't know about freezing your credit. The whole system is set up to make you think you gotta keep applying for stuff. I got a similar random tip from a bank teller once about putting a fraud alert on my file after I lost my wallet. She just wrote the number down on a slip of paper. Little stuff like that sticks with you because it's someone taking five minutes out of their day to help you dodge a bullet you didn't even see coming. Makes you wonder how many other simple tricks are out there that nobody teaches us.