Consumer complaint received 2023-06-16
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: FL
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: Problem with personal statement of dispute

Complaint:
To : Whom it may concern : My complain is against XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX and the reason for my complain is as follow : I was in XXXX for a few weeks but before I left, I called XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX to extend my lease for a few months more until I get back to see what I wanted to do. I proceeded to call and I got a representative on the line. I told him of my plans to get an extension on the lease until I get back, he told me there was no problem and that he was going to take care of it right away. After a couple of minutes, he came back and told me he was able to extended the lease and the only thing I needed to do was to sign a XXXX form he was going to send me via email. That sounded too easy and asked him again if there was anything else I was supposed to do as this was my first time doing an extension on a lease, his reply, no, everything will remain the same. 
I was at the airport at the time ( I travel 90 % of the time ) got the email and as instructed signed the agreement thinking as he had originally told me Everything was going to remain the same as before I left to XXXX for five weeks and it was upon my return when I got a message from XXXX that my beacon score had dropped almost XXXX points. I was shocked to see that my credit score had dropped significantly, and I immediately contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX to resolve the issue. 

They told me I had failed to make a payment and they had no choice but to report it to the credit bureaus. When I told them that it was impossible because I have automatic payments, she said that the rep should have told me that automatic payments stop when customers do extensions. I then asked her to go back and listen to that recording when I was talking to rep, she told me that even if he never mentioned to me on the phone, the XXXX agreement I signed specifically says so, and she apologized the rep did not mention it and understood completely, but was going to talk to her boss about and gave me a dispute number. I called couple of days later gave them my dispute number talked to a supervisor, explained again in details what had happened, but she told me there was nothing else she could do and my 30 days past due was going to remain in my credit report for seven years.

I have been a loyal customer for several years and have always maintained a perfect payment history. However, my credit score has been negatively impacted by a late payment entry that was made by XXXX XXXX XXXX without my knowledge or consent. 

I am extremely frustrated and disappointed by the lack of communication and clarity from XXXX XXXX XXXX. I now understand their 1.16/5 customer satisfaction reviews they currently have. 
As a responsible customer who has always made timely payments, I believe I deserve better treatment from this company. I hope this clarification should be sufficient for you to get a detailed and truthful information about this mishap from XXXX XXXX XXXX and reconsider the removal of the late payment entry from my credit report. 
Why do I think I have the rights to complain about this issue? 

XXXX rep never mentioned the cease of automatic payments upon an extension XXXX Rep told me Everything was going to remain the same The lease agreement extension is extremely vague nor mentions about automatic payments, see attached ) I was in XXXX with my girlfriend for business for one month I couldnt get any phone call as I was in XXXX. They said they tried to call me several times. 
My girlfriend couldnt check her email because of the area we were I have NEVER been late with any of their payments I have had a perfect payment history with the company My credit score has always been in the upper 800s Never been late with any of my credit cards, or other payments because I have everything with automatic payments This is my first time I am experiencing this mishap due to mainly the lack of communication with the rep of something so important as payments He should have look at my account and immediately see that I had automatic payments and the first thing he should have say was Mr . Customer, I noticed you have automatic payments and your payment history is excellent, I just want to tell you once we make this extension, you should now pay by either calling or other ways. Period, I would have thank him, because this is extremely important for me. 
When they told me I was late, I immediately call and pay, that same day.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation