Consumer complaint received 2018-10-23
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: FL
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit repair services
Issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
On Monday XX/XX/2018 starting around XXXX XXXX and ending at XXXX XXXX ; I spent over 3 hours on the phone w Equifax Credit Bureau. I spoke to literally all departments ( fraud, dispute, customer service ) and was placed on hold continuously for over 20 mins at a time. All I wanted to do was make sure the criminal who was trying to buy a car under my name and information wasn't able to successfully complete it. Once I did that I needed to verify w all 3 credit bureaus and then place a freeze on my name. Equifax couldn't help me at all w this. They made me continuously repeat myself because they weren't listening ( ex : do you have a car loan and for how much? Next question would be followed w do you have a car loan and for how much? It was a joke, full robotic mode without paying attention or hearing what I was saying both in my request for what I wanted done and to the answers for their questions to me. The incompetence was through the roof. I am a past victim of identity theft so I know what I got to do to solve/prevent this and it XXXX, it's time consuming, it requires a lot of time on the phone, police report fileing, FTC reporting. It's a long terrible process but  it needs to be done. If I didn't know how to handle this and if it was my first time going through this, Equifax would've put me further in the hole and damage my credit even worse. I talked to multiple reprentatives and mostly supervisors yesterday. Some of them especially one was absolutely out of control and very disrespectful. She challenged me, mocked my request to speak to a supervisor, did all of it with a very aggressive tone, and then clicked the call on me, which I had to call back get put on hold and do the process from the beginning all over again plus the long wait times. Nobody was of any help, I couldn't leave feedback and when I finally spoke to a supervisor to do so she only recorded a third of what I told her happened. Absolutely zero accountability w this company. Yesterday was my day off and I spent it on the phone for hours being frustrated and upset. I get the large call volume but at what point does a company say this person has been on hold for a very long time today, lets try and solve this. No leadership whatsoever. To make matters even worse, I have my dad as a co signer on a loan for me. He's about to retire, what better way to send him into retirement with a bad credit score cause his kid got hit w identity theft and couldn't prevent it from escalating because a credit bureau like Equifax was of no help. To have someone try and perform fraud through you and then not have a Bureau whose responsibility is to protect our identity give no help or act like they care. This is what convinces me why fraud will continue, zero accountability. Aggressive tones and language, not listening, long hold times, being clicked on when you ask for a supervisor, lack of knowledge on the issues, this is what represents Equifax customer service. I asked for my calls to be sent and heard, and hopefully corporate w hear my frustration and do something to improve on this issue of service. I'm fileing this so people are aware. A company like Equifax proves the point that we are truly in the era of smart phones XXXX people. Hopefully this brings awareness and attention to how serious it is to help people who are going through identity theft.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation