EMB ERJ 170/175 ER/LR
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Airspace Structure; Human Factors; Procedure
I was doing the RNAV Departure off of Runway XXR. I was the Pilot Flying [and] I thought the departure altitude was up to 10;000 feet force of habit. The departure altitude is now assigned by ATC and in this case it was 7;000 feet. On initial climb out; my Non-Flying Pilot called ATC and said we were leaving 2;000 [feet] for 10;000 [feet]. Departure [said] climb and maintain 7;000 [feet] so we read back climb to 7;000 [feet]. We were still climbing and was handed off to another frequency on ZZZ Departure. At this time; we [were] climbing from 6;000 to 7;000 feet. We leveled off at 7;000 [feet] and then was told to take down [phone] number for possible deviation. We looked at our charts [and] checked our route again and nothing was incorrect other than me thinking we were going to 10;000 feet which we never did without a clearance. We continued our flight with no issues. I called the number and the deviation was that we said were climbing to 10;000 [feet] instead of 7;000 [feet]; mind you; we never busted any altitudes. We misspoke but never deviated from our clearance.I asked ATC to pull the tapes and gave them my contact information. I haven't heard anything as of yet. If we deviated from our clearance; [then] sure; I'm responsible; but if you're cracking down on people misspeaking a clearance that's another story. Please be careful when flying and reading back ATC clearances.
EMB-175 Captain reported an incorrect read-back to ATC was identified and no deviation occurred.