Consumer complaint received 2020-02-01
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CO
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes

Complaint:
General complaint - All three companies. Yesterday ( XX/XX/2020 ) I tried to start refinancing my mortgage. I had previously locked all three of my wife and my credit reports. In trying to unfreeze my report with Equifax, their website would not let me proceed after I received a validation code via email. I typed in the code, pasted the code, and tried anything I could think of, but the " continue '' button would not go from " grayed out '' to active. I was stuck. ( Note that XXXX I did nothing wrong, but their website wouldn't let me proceed no matter what I tried. ) I called the number they gave me, and they said there was nothing they could do without me *faxing* two Gov. issued IDs, and then after that it would take 5 to 7 business days to unfreeze my report. Rates on refi change moment-by-moment. Locking a rate while it was low is a significant financial issue. Waiting five or more business days would ruin the deal. The first level person said there was nothing they could do. I escalated the issue and asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor repeated the partly line that there was nothing they could do. I asked if I could just verify my identity verbally over the phone and they said no. I escalated the call to a manager. That person gave me the same answer. After nearly coming unglued at the person, I asked them to think " outside the box. '' I gave a couple of ideas like could they reset my account or anything so I could try it again. The manager put me on hold, and came back, and asked me to try to log in again. I did try, and this time it worked. So the crisis at hand was solved. Whatever they did solved the problem ( thankfully!!! ). 

Today I'm trying to refreeze my wife and my accounts. On XXXX  this time, I apparently mis-answered one of the verification questions or had a typo or something. After what I assume is one mistake ( no feedback is given about why ), I'm locked out from freezing an account. The only way now to freeze it apparently is to again ( this time ) *snail-mail* copies of two photo IDs, plus a ton of other verification info ( e.g., a utility bill ), etc. to them. ( See the attachment for a screen capture. ) The bottom line for this complaint is that while I know they are actually trying to protect me from fraud, there still needs to be some level of sanity so that we ( the consumer ) have relatively quick options for freezing and unfreezing our credit reports - in the event their website doesn't work as expected, or user error. Feedback on the mistake with at least one-try to correct it would be wonderful. Reset the lockout after 15 minutes and giving three attempts at trying things again before the bruit-force, but SLOW options. Being able to verify my ID over the phone ( they have my credit report after all, so give me another chance to answer questions with a person ). ANYTHING, but one-strike-and-you're-out, and it takes 5 to 7 business days to resolve the issue by fax or snail-mail. Even being able to send copies of photo IDs via email to a person that actually can receive them and unlock the account, again, within a relatively short period of time. There seem to me to be numerous options. But please : A ) Give us a chance to be human and make one mistake without locking things down, and B ) With 2020 's technologies, find a way to provide the consumer options that can resolve an issue like this quickly ( MFA, email, etc. - again they have tons of info about us, so text me a verification code to the cell-phone on file, or call to verbally give a verification code, etc., etc. ). 

Thank you!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation