Consumer complaint received 2020-07-07
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CT
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes

Complaint:
I have been using security freezes on my personal financials and those of my wife for 10 years, since first enabled by law. On several occasions I have needed to temporarily unfreeze all three major credits agency locks, and I have documented those steps to make the process as painless as possible. Typically, a PIN number is assigned to prove my identity, and it has shown to be effective. 

Yesterday and today ( XXXX & XX/XX/2020 ) I unfroze the XXXX and XXXX  accounts for my wife and I with no trouble at all ... as expected. Equifax, however, is another totally different situation. 

I assume that because of the failure by Equifax to protect our financial data when they were hacked, they have suspended the use of the original methodology and eliminated the use of the PIN to enable freeze/unfreeze. They now require the customer to create an on-line account. While I understand the requirement, the burden should be on them to make this as painless as possible - they should not burden me with a poorly-executed and delivered " account ''. 

My experience with setting up an " account '' with Equifax for both myself and my wife required hours of work and left us still without active " accounts ''. An agent told me on XXXX that there was a " system update '' underway, which is why, although my account creation process seemed to finish successfully, the system would not let me sign on with the credentials I provided. Prior to calling their land-line help number, I tried the process twice, with the same result : the process finished and presented me with a " sign-in '' box, which took me to a log-in screen and then on to a splash page saying my credential were bad, and if I tried three times I would be locked out. 

Today, my wife tried to create her Equifax " account '', and received the same failure. Her phone call to the help desk, which led to an hour of aggravating questions about 10-year old accounts, bank and payment amounts. The agent demanded account balances for her credit cards : they are in fact always paid in full each month! The effort finally yielded an " account ''. BUT! The account still needed to be " approved '', and she should be on the lookout for an email approving her new account and credentials. Meanwhile, her Equifax credit report is frozen and we can't proceed with the mortgage loan process we have started. 

When will Equifax get their system working? I looked on the Internet for similar experiences and found an extensive catalogue of complaints about the usability of the Equifax on-line " account '' functionality and availability going back for months. 

If Equifax can not maintain their service to the public, they should be banned from doing business. As it is, credit agencies typically demand reports form all 3 agencies. That is not competition ; it allows a slacker like Equifax to continue in existence while the other agencies might be asking " why bother '' with good service?

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation