Consumer complaint received 2018-12-10
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: PA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone

Complaint:
On Sunday XX/XX/XXXX, I logged into XXXX which allows me to look at credit reports from XXXX  and Equifax. I noticed errors on my Equifax report and I clicked the link to file a dispute. This bounced me over to an Equifax web site to log into my credit report and submit the dispute. When this happened, a new window opened that did not allow me to click the back button and there was no navigation buttons in the web form to allow me to go to various parts of my dispute. I had entered information and when I clicked next, the characters in my statement changed to nonsense, ( example :? / ' & XXXX # & % : { |+ ) I tried to go back to fix it, but the form broke. I received an error message that information had to be resubmitted in order to complete the form. I went back to the beginning and started again. I am no longer able to log into my report. It tells me to call Equifax support every time. I had to wait until Monday. I started with the chat feature for support. The person chatting with me told me that the dispute system was down and that I should call or submit my dispute by email. I said no, that I wanted to wait until the system was back up. He couldn't give me any information about whether or not it would come back up. I called the XXXX number and spoke to someone who couldn't confirm or deny whether the site was working. He started to take my dispute by phone. They are not allowed to share any information with me once I am chatting with them. So, the agent couldn't even confirm that they were taking notes about the correct account. Example, I'd say, " I'm referencing this XXXX account opened in XX/XX/XXXX, do you see that one? '' and the agent would say that they can not share any information. I've had multiple accounts over the years with the same companies. How do I now, the agent and I are talking about the right one and my complaint will be taken correctly? They can't corroborate any information and there is no way to view the information online once you're locked out. I then asked how to send supporting documents. They told me, I could fax them, " If you want, '' to use the exact words o the agent. I don't have a fax machine. It's XX/XX/XXXX, most people upload or email documents as PDF 's. I worked in XXXX for nearly 2 decades and I assume that when the session broke on Sunday, my account was locked out. I asked if it could be unlocked and they won't tell me anything. They support department is separate and they don't take phone calls. How is this serving the consumer? I want this bad data cleared from my credit report in a timely manner, so I can apply for credit on MY schedule. What if I wanted to buy a house in the near future? Equifax ' web implementation is inferior to that of any other major corporation and I surmise it is in an attempt to deter the consumer from being able to submit disputes which should be illegal. Equifax should be forced to update it's procedures and software in a more consumer friendly manner.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation