Consumer complaint received 2018-04-17
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CO
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: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
I am resubmitting a previous case ( XXXX  ) which was closed without resolution. Despite the response from Equifax claiming that the issue has been resolved, it has not. I just had another 21 minute call with Equifax with no success. It seems to me that you should check with the consumer who submitted the complaint before closing it.

The original complaint : My Identity was stolen in the Equifax data breach. I have been trying to set up XXXX  since XX/XX/2017. Despite following every every instruction I was given and spending lots of time on calls with customer service, I have been unsuccessful. On a call in XX/XX/XXXX I was asked to submit documents supporting a name change from about 8 month prior. I submitted the documents onXX/XX/XXXXbut received no response. On XX/XX/XXXX I submitted the documents again with a comment about having received no response from the prior submission. This time I received a response with a case number ( Case # XXXX ) and a message asking me to be patient. Well, after being patient far to long, I called again only to be told that the deadline had passed for setting up XXXX. I am angry and frustrated. It was not my fault that my ID had been stolen in the data breach. It was not my fault that the XXXX  account did not get set up properly. It is not my fault that the deadline has passed. I do not get to choose to do business with Equifax and I can't close my account. I basically have no recourse for the lousy service that I have received. Don't get me wrong, the customer service people are courteous, they just are unable to resolve anything. If this was any other service I would close my account but I just can't do that with Equifax.

The Equifax response : Dear XXXX XXXX, we received the complaint you submitted through the CFPB Portal. Equifax has reviewed the complaint and its records. Please be advised that the name on the Equifax credit file has been updated. We are excited to announce that we have launched our Lock & Alert service. Lock & Alert was created with a simple premise : that you should be able to conveniently control access to your Equifax credit report, for life, and for free. We believe that credit responsibility is important, and Lock & Alert helps put you on track. Please visit our website ( www.equifax.com ) or contact our call center at ( XXXX ) XXXX from XXXX  to XXXX  ( ET ) 7 days a week to learn more and enroll. Please note that for future disputes of credit report information, you may call XXXX or visit www.equifax.com.

The current situation : I still can not access the Lock & Alert service on Equifax. Despite having submitted the legal name change documentation they requested, twice by email and once by postal mail, they still say my name does not match the name on my credit file. Every time I call they promise to escalate and get back to me in 7-10 days. Other than the response I got from my complaint filed with the CFPB, Equifax has never once responded to me no matter how long I wait. It seems that I am unable to resolve this on my own.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation