Consumer complaint received 2015-04-27
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on credit report
Sub-issue: Account status

Complaint:
Hello. Please note that the contents of this complaint is same as previous. I was advised to resubmit for each of the XXXX major credit reporting agencies. This is for EquifaxXXXX 's processed a payment late, and added a late fee. Then they never notified the customer and reported it to the credit bureau. Hello. I 'm writing because of an unsuccessful dispute regarding a late payment that was sent to collections by XXXX XXXX, before I was contacted for payment. To start, I opened up a XXXX XXXX account sometime last year and have never been late on any payment. I buy and pay off the balance right away. I never received any mail or email regarding balances, and since I have been paying it off as soon as possible, I never expect there to be a balance. On XXXX XXXX I made a payment to XXXX online and paid it in full. Since it took them XXXX days to process it, they tacked on a XXXX late fee, that I was not aware. From the time I made the payment, I thought that my balance was XXXX. On XXXX XXXX, I was contacted by XXXX XXXX ( for the XXXX time ) and was asked for payment and told that late fees had accumulated from the original XXXX. They removed the late fee after we discussed that I had made the payment on time and did n't know a late fee was added due time processing delay. I paid in full as I also had made other purchases and decided to just balance my account as I usually do. Later I found out that XXXX XXXX already sent it collections. Collections never contacted me, in fact XXXX XXXX contacted me and I paid them. I was fairly upset to find out that the late fee was tacked on when I paid on time, and I was never notified by phone, email, or mail regarding the bill sent to collections. Even more, I find out that before I was given an opportunity to pay, collections sent the record to the credit bureau. All this was done so fast, with no knowledge or attempt to contact me regarding a late fee on a bill that was paid on time. I tried to dispute with XXXX XXXX but after they got the payment, plus additional to XXXX my balance, they were unwilling to listen or help. I asked them why they waited to contact me after the issue was sent to collections ( nevertheless, sent to credit bureau too ) their response was that there are too many customers to contact when they are late on payments. But, since they did contact me, they could 've done so sooner so I can be made aware of an old late fee that I could 've easily paid. They argued that it was my job to check my online account information, even though I signed up for paper and email statements. I would agree if I ever received either XXXX. I investigated why I was n't receiving any mail regarding collections or statements, and I saw that they were sending my paper bills to the wrong address ( seen on my online account ). I called and opted out of paper statements since damage was done and my information was sent to the wrong address. Before this experience, I had a credit score of XXXX, which I had to work hard to achieve. This XXXX, XXXX $ late fee which increase for XXXX months, despite paying the original balance on time, dropped my credit to XXXX. XXXX XXXX credit is my least used and I payoff up to XXXX a month on my XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX card, with never XXXX late payment sent to collections or any discrepancies. I feel that I was treated unfairly and my banker had advised me to contact the credit bureau to help resolve this issue, because XXXX XXXX is habitual for treating customers in this fashion. They do n't offer any customer service or give customers a fair chance to pay their bills on time. I was also advised to notify the BBB, for which I plan on doing as well in efforts to help resolve this issue and raise awareness.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation