Consumer complaint received 2019-10-31
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: NC
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report
Sub-issue: Credit inquiries on your report that you don't recognize

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX  regarding a notification that a XXXX store located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, WA XXXX had run a hard inquiry ( one that effects your score ) via Equifax. I contacted XXXX via phone and they told me to contact Equifax and XXXX to initiate a dispute. 

Equifax Complaint I contacted Equifax 3 times ( approx. 3 hrs. ) on XX/XX/XXXX via phone and tried to initiate a dispute over the XXXX credit inquiry, request a copy of my credit report and place a fraud alert on my account. Their phone number directed me to an overseas call center where I was told that the dispute into the inquiry had been initiated but, when I checked my account on XXXX, no such dispute was shown as having been initiated so the representative to whom I spoke on XX/XX/XXXX did not do their job since that was the primary reason I had called. In addition to this, the fraud alert that had been requested on XX/XX/XXXX had also not been placed. On XXXX, wanting to follow up and hoping to avoid the nightmare of overseas customer service, I decided to try their online system when I noticed that Equifax offers Identity Theft Protection plans starting at {$19.00} and reflected that I was receiving free XXXX credit monitoring because of the Equifax databreach of XXXX and thought, " Wow! What a marvel of modern capitalism, I can pay these guys to fix a problem they created through their carelessness and greed which they purposely make difficult to resolve. I wonder if they make it difficult in order to sell their service? What a miracle of the 21st century! '' I then used their online system to initiate a dispute over the  XXXX credit inquiry, place the fraud alert. I have yet to hear a response from Equifax on the XXXX Credit Inquiry. On XX/XX/XXXX, I filed a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( XXXX ). 

XXXX Complaint I contacted XXXX 3 times ( approx. 2 hrs. ) on XX/XX/XXXX and was told that XXXX does not offer services in NC in my area and that as far as they could see no account was listed under neither my SSN nor my name and XXXX told me that a Credit Bureau Inquiry ( Ticket # XXXX ) had been initiated in my name and that I should hear something by XX/XX/XXXX. On XXXX I filed a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( XXXX ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a phone call from an unidentified person at XXXX with XXXX and was told to mail in the " ID Theft Claim Form '' along with proof of ID and residency. In the message the person listed two call back numbers but did not specify which to call ( XXXX & XXXX ). I mailed the letter certified, return receipt requested ( {$7.00} ) [ Tracking # : XXXX ] as directed to an address in XXXX XXXX, NJ. On XX/XX/XXXX after verifying that XXXX had received the letter, which they had received the day before, I contacted XXXX at XXXX ( an overseas call center which handles ID Theft for XXXX ). She said she did not see a record for ( Ticket # XXXX ) in her system and after I explained the the situation, she gave me an Escalation Reference # XXXX. Frustrated that no records had been found using the reference number I had just received a call about, I then tried calling the other number XXXX and spoke with someone named XXXX in the United States whose operator id was ( XXXX ). She looked for accounts using my Social Security # and said that she could not find any accounts open under my name, she then spoke with her supervisor and said that a person named XXXX XXXX who lived in XXXX WA had recently opened an account and that Equifax had probably sent my information instead of XXXXXXXX XXXX by mistake. She later called back from XXXX and said that she had verified this via email with Equifax and that the inquiry would be removed. At this point, I thanked her for being the first person in this process to make my life easier and to actually resolve an issue for me and I assumed the matter to be closed. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a message from XXXX at XXXX Customer Security Assurance ( XXXX ) who did not leave an extension or direct number to contact him but who told me to call XXXX and to reference Case # XXXX. ( For those of you keeping track at home, I now have 3 reference numbers in XXXX XXXX System : Ticket # XXXX, Escalation Reference # XXXX, Case # XXXX ). When I called with my case number, I encountered a woman in the XXXX XXXX { XXXX Speaking Country } ( an overseas call center which handles ID Theft for XXXX ) who could not forward my call to XXXX and who wanted to know the account numbers for the accounts I was disputing, I then explained that when someone steals your information to open fraudulent accounts, the perpetrator does not typically notify the victim with the account information and the customer service representative then hung up the phone on me. Infuriated, I called the number a second time, and got a call center in XXXX XXXX { XXXX Speaking Country } ( an overseas  call center which handles ID Theft for XXXX ), where I spoke with XXXX at XXXX XXXX. After giving my case number, I asked again to speak with XXXX and was given all kinds of reasons and excuses as to why that wasn't possible, I then requested to speak with someone who spoke fluent English and who I could have as a direct point of contact to finally resolve an issue that has been going on since XX/XX/XXXX ( 2 months ). XXXX then transferred me to an extremely rude woman somewhere in the United States who kept talking over me, refused to give her name and who hung up on me all because XXXX does not issue meaningful case reference numbers, their internal departments as well as their international call centers fail to communicate efficiently ( I am sure they hired XXXX himself to design their organizational chart! ) and they failed to train their employees properly at all levels in all locations. For example, they did not train their employees properly to check ID 's when opening new accounts at their store located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, WA XXXX. Additionally, two of their employees who contacted me at my home phone number failed to leave extension numbers or direct lines with which to return their calls and instead elected to send me down the rabbit hole of overseas non-fluent inefficiency of one of their call centers. Now, I have wasted two months of my life, spent {$7.00}, mailed my information to a company that claims to have received it but who can never find it when called and have a total of 3 meaningless reference numbers ( Ticket # XXXX, Escalation Reference # XXXX, Case # XXXX ) to no avail. Furthermore, I still have to bear the concern that typically when a credit report is requested, the requestor has the right to see a hard copy of that report so how do I know that XXXX and Equifax didn't just send all my personal information to a potential ID Thief in Washington named XXXX XXXX? Do you think either company will compensate me for any damages that may be incurred in the future due to their negligence? They did share my information without my consent and they should be held financially liable for any damages.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation