Consumer complaint received 2021-06-24
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: AZ
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX turned off their auto pay engines without proper notification. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I received a notification that my XXXX XXXX account had been sent to collections for a past due payment and the credit bureaus had been notified. Immediately I pulled up my account on XXXX XXXX website to investigate the situation. Upon doing so, I discovered that my last two payments had not been withdrawn. I have been enrolled in the autopay program since beginning my lending relationship with XXXX XXXX and each month my payment without fail my payments were withdrawn and on time. As the world is aware, the months of XXXX and XXXX were very tumultuous given the global pandemic we were experiencing. I was fortunate, however, to still have the funds to maintain all of my financial commitments. Understandably though I was very distracted as I navigated the emotional and physical effects of COVID-19 and the thought never crossed my mind that I needed to double check the payment statement and just trusted that everything was fine. Given the heightened sensitivity around this pandemic and the toll and hardship it has presented for many individuals, I would have at minimum anticipated that I would be contacted with a we noticed you missed your payment or assistance is available type of notice when as a customer that has NEVER missed a payment nor been late on payment suddenly doesnt make a payment. This is highly concerning to me. 

XX/XX/XXXX Upon this discovery, I placed a call to XXXX XXXX and immediately made the payment in full for the two unprocessed payments ( I spoke with customer service representative XXXX XXXX ). He reviewed my records and informed me that my auto-pay 'expired ', which resulted in my payments not being withdrawn. He also had me remain on the line while he submitted a formal complaint on my behalf outlining the situation. Let it be noted that I also did not receive a direct notification that my payment method would expire or be turned off and to set a reminder to ensure I re-enabled that for future payments. Post-call I then proceeded to file a dispute with the credit bureaus. 

I HAD a pristine credit history with XXXX negative accounts, XXXX late payments, XXXX collections. 

I filed disputes with each credit bureau at this time as well. 

XX/XX/XXXX I mailed a letter to XXXX XXXX outlining the events that took place and requested review and correction. On this date my credit score had dropped -79 points compliments of XXXX XXXX, and the only word I can think of is shameful. I can not believe that this is how business was being conducted, especially in the climate we are currently experiencing. While I certainly own that I need to do a better job of verifying that any automated payment processes moving forward, by no means did I intentionally withhold payment nor did I have a reason to ( though I am not sure even if I was struggling financially, assistance would have been provided based on what I have experienced here ). 

I re-submitted disputes to each individual credit bureau in XX/XX/XXXX as even though they claimed they would correct the information, they removed one and not both. The disputes were unsuccessful. 

This has caused me so much undue hardship. 

I thank you for your time and attention to this matter in advance, and invite you to please contact me directly if any further information is required.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation