I went to an appliance store, Conn's, looking for new couches. I already have a fridge with them, so I figured I'd see about getting couches too. The rep told me they offer in house financing, and all he needed was some basic info to see how much I'd qualify for. Before I could present pay stubs to finish the application, my wife and I decided to go elsewhere because the prices and selection sucked (ended up buying furniture from Rooms to Go with cash).

Two weeks later, I see that I now have a credit card from Synchrony on my credit report for $1000. Furious, I called the manager and she told me that because I was pre-qualified from their "premium" creditor, I was automatically issued a card. She calmed me down by telling me simply to not activate it (with extra emphasis NOT to cancel it or I'd tank my credit score), and it would fall off my credit report.

I got the card and the letter in the mail a few weeks later and ignored it, opting to not activate it as advised. Months later, it's still on my credit report with a zero balance.

My questions are:

1. How was I issued a $1000 line of credit without my permission?

2. Did the manager lie to me? Will it fall off my credit report with no penalty?

3. If that's not the case, how do I dispute this?

If I got hustled, I want to exercise the full extent of the law to punish that manager and store for what feels like identity theft/fraud.