Consumer complaint received 2021-01-28
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:
For 3 years, Equifax has locked my credit account and prevented me from getting onto their website. A company named XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX told me they could not retrieve my credit information from Equifax. The most I can get from them is because I changed my first/second names. It was the 2nd time I've changed my name ; I didn't like the name I changed it to in XXXX, so I changed it the next year ( XXXX XXXX. Equifax processed my name change in XXXX with no interaction from me, but today the guy on the phone said my name was still the original, which couldn't be true unless Equifax deleted the XXXX change. I saw it that way on their website. My guess is they scrapped the change, and then locked me out when I tried to change my free online account with them. I went to their website and have been locked out, so I deleted my account out of frustration. I cant get a new account without getting an error NH from their website, and reps cant tell me what that is. One of the things that infuriated me is they wanted me to buy a product to get direct support a year ago. I got past that by complaining, but now I have trouble getting to their phone support. 

Accessing phone support is obnoxious at best, because they ask a bunch of questions to verify who I am. It used to ask questions directly out of my credit report, but if it asks 3 questions that aren't even on my report, it says I can't talk to a rep and hangs up on me. Sorry, but I didn't write down all the dates these things happened, because I was on the phone too long and was extremely frustrated. Today, XX/XX/XXXX, I got in touch with a phone rep who was foreign and indifferent about all the problems Equifax is causing me. Im trying to buy a house and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX cant pre-authorize an amount, because they pull all 3 credit bureaus. XXXX  & XXXX  arent giving me these problems due to me changing my name ; just Equifax. I contacted an attorney who told me to send them mail with my court order & drivers license. I sent it to a PO Box , and nothing happened. After struggling with contacting Equifax by phone again, I asked for a fax number, and the indifferent woman gave me a number. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent them a fax, and its now 10 days later. I havent heard from anybody, and the guy told me the fax information gets processed and then sits on somebodys desk to be worked on ( when someone feels like it ). This could be subject to discrimination, because if theyve noted all the times I tried to contact them, they could just be pulling this nonsense on purpose. 

Today, I received two pieces of mail from Equifax. One addressed to one of my names, and the other addressed to my legal name. They know dog-gone well Im not 2 different people at the same address, same social security number, and I see they are toying with me. I accidentally froze my account 2 weeks ago while trying to unfreeze it. I went through the long process of trying to contact them the same day, and the guy on the line said he took the freeze off, but he lied and didnt. The other letter asks for things I already faxed to Equifax on XX/XX/XXXX. Before I faxed my identification to them, I mailed it to a PO Box in XX/XX/XXXX and got no response. This is turning into an obnoxious game that I am not enjoying. Three separate entities have already figured out why I changed my name, and no doubt people working for Equifax did, too. They are being micro-aggressive and discriminatory. I thought the mail was something relating to fixing my account, yet theyre responding to things that happened after I faxed them my identification and a letter. Im not submitting those things, because they contain personal information that could get my ID stolen. 

The error that XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX received is : Information from your inquiry has been identified by the consumer as fraudulent and therefore the credit report is not available for delivery XXXX XXXX ). They told me this in an email today ( XX/XX/XXXX ). No, it was identified that way by Equifax, not me. Theyre not even being accurate with error messages that merchants receive. I submitted a case about this to you on XX/XX/XXXX ( case # XXXX XXXX, and you did nothing to help me. An attorney recommended I contact you, but why if you arent going to really help me? He certainly has more confidence in CFPB than I do. Please do something. My life is being severely impeded by all this, and its not cute anymore.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation