Consumer complaint received 2019-12-16
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: OK
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Unable to get your credit report or credit score
Sub-issue: Problem getting your free annual credit report

Complaint:
I logged into XXXX to get a copy of my credit report. ( It has been a few years since I requested one and we are getting ready to possibly do a bankruptcy ). I got two of my credit reports with no issues. When attempting to  get my Equifax credit report, there was a message stating 'Unable to get your credit report at this time '. 

I then logged onto the sales chat and spoke with someone with Equifax. When I told them of the difficultly I had, they advised me to call the XXXX number ( the customer care number ). This automated number walked me through the system to first get to the free credit report, answer a series of questions of who I was and followed with a second series of questions again on who i was based off my credit report. At the end, it said it could not confirm who i was and hung up on me. I tried it a second time with the same result. When I called back the third time, it just stopped me after the first series of questions and hung up on me. 

I logged onto the site to create an account to get my credit report. I was able to create a new account only to be told that 'I was unable to get my credit report at this time, please try back later ' I went back to chat because now I am quite mad that they are refusing to either identify me ( Yes, I gave correct answers each time ) or give me access to a way to get my report. 

Conversation log XXXX XXXX Hello XXXX XXXX, how may I help you? 
XXXX XXXX  Me I am attempting to get my free credit report but everytime I call, it tells me it can not help me XXXX XXXX why XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX I am sorry to hear that. 
XXXX XXXX  I would be more than happy to address this concern for you. 
XXXX XXXX May you please provide the phone number you dialed? 
XXXX XXXX  Me I am about to declare a bankrupcy so I am attempting to get my free annual credit report, XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. 
XXXX XXXX  Me I enter my first questions, then enter in the second set of questions. then it says, oh sorry, cant help you. bye XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX In this case, you may review all the options to request your free annual credit report, provided in the following link : XXXX XXXX  https : //help.equifax.com/s/article/How-can-I-get-a-free-Equifax-credit-report XXXX XXXX  Do you have any additional concerns? If no further assistance is required, please disconnect the chat. Thank you for contacting Equifax. 
XXXX XXXX  Me I am here because the annual credit report said the same thing XXXX XXXX  and I was able to get my other two reports XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX In this case, you may consider obtaining your free credit report by creating a myEquifax free service account. 
XXXX XXXX  You may use the following link to sign up for myEquifax : https : //my.equifax.com/consumer-registration/UCSC/ # /personal-info XXXX XXXX  Me tried that as well, it told me the same thing XXXX XXXX  that it was unable to provide me the report at this time XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX Download the annual credit report request form : https :  //www.annualcreditreport.com/manualRequestForm.action ( requires an XXXX viewer ). Print and complete the form, and mail the completed form to : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  Service XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX, GA XXXX XXXX XXXX  Your Equifax credit report will be mailed to you within 15 days. 
XXXX XXXX  Are there any other questions or concerns that I can assist you with today? 
XXXX XXXX  Me Umm.. No. This is violating federal mandate to provide customers with a free copy of the credit report upon demand XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX  Please note, you may request your free annual credit report using the channels provided above. 
XXXX XXXX  Me the channels above are denying me the report ... 
... A customer should not be denied a credit report when they are authorized to have it From <https : XXXX? XXXX XXXX   XXXX & XXXX & XXXX & XXXX Each time, they kept shifting me to a different route instead of providing me the report. Now they want me to go through the long process hoping I will forget about it. No other company I dealt with did this. Please advise.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation