Consumer complaint received 2020-02-06
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: GA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX Last year, XXXX, I tried to sign in to myEquifax to temporarily unfreeze my credit. I was unable to sign on and was told to call in. They said my personal information didn't match ( they didn't have information on my married name, FYI I got married in XXXX, and XXXX  and XXXX  had my name correct in their records without me sending them any documents ). As requested, I mailed in copies of the documents ( SS card, drivers license, and marriage certificate ) they requested and a letter explaining the need to update my name on XX/XX/XXXX. I received a letter saying they received the documents and were working on updating it. Today I tried to log in again, and again I received a message saying that I need to call in. Once I reached an employee, I was told that my name didn't match ( same issue ), and I would have to send in a copy of my SS card, drivers license, and marriage certificate. I had to beg, and plead to be transferred to a supervisor, when that didnt work, I started screaming and cussing ( quite out of character for me ). When I talked to the first supervisor, I was told the same thing. I requested to speak to the supervisor of the current supervisor, and again had to resort to screaming. Once I got supervisor number 2 on the phone and explaining the whole situation again, he was able to confirm that Equifax received the documents I sent in, but now they were expired and I would have to resubmit since this was a different problem. I asked them to tell me what they fixed when they received my documents last year, since they were claiming it was a different issue. After being put on hold again, supervisor 2 came back to the line and said that he had updated my name, and my login should work. I asked him to wait on the line while I tried to login. It did not work, I was unable to login. He said he would have to escalate it and it would take 48 hours and I would receive an email about it. I asked him for a confirmation/case number for the issue, he said there wasn't one. Instead, I would have to call the XXXX number and go through the process again. I asked to speak to his supervisor. After making a request to speak to his supervisor 3 times, I was connected to a woman named XXXX. I explained the whole situation to her. She was able to give me a case number. She confirmed that I sent in all the documents, but said that because I didnt send in instructions on what to do with the document the files were scanned in and attached to my account but nothing was done. I said that I had sent in a letter explaining why I was sending in the documents, and to check to see if my letter was scanned in. My letter was present and scanned in, XXXX was unable to explain why my name didnt get updated and my account didnt get fixed. I told XXXX that I had been on the phone for 1 hour and 45 minutes trying to get this resolved. I explained that if I couldnt login to my account in 48 hours I would have to report it to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, because I had done my part in resolving the issue and that they were the ones who couldnt get it right. After 48 hours, they have not fixed the problem. I spoke with a XXXX XXXX, today. She said, that I was now denied access and not allowed to have an account at myEquifax. XXXX checked and said because they entered my information wrong I am FOREVER denied an account at myEquifax. Instead, she said I can use a new service called Lock & Alert that does about the same thing. I am unsure about this option and believe it is not secure as freezing and unfreezing your account. It doesnt make sense that due to no fault of my own, Equifax cant fix my account. In this day and age of technology this does not make sense that I am denied access to online services to freeze and unfreeze my account.Case number XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation