Consumer complaint received 2019-12-23
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: NM
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Investigation took more than 30 days

Complaint:
I arrived to XXXX  XXXX  XXXX XXXX 2019, due to a military change of station from XXXX XXXX. Needing transportation to and from work, through XXXX XXXX XXXX, I financed a XXXX  XXXX XXXX for roughly XXXX on or around XXXX XXXX 2019. The loan was scheduled to start XXXX XXXX 2019, or when the loan was finalized. I was on the phone the whole time with XXXX while I was purchasing the vehicle from a XXXX dealership in XXXX XXXX, XXXX. On that day, I set up " Auto-Pay '' for my loan through XXXX. The process was simple, due to the fact that XXXX was my primary banking institution for about 5 years. They had most of my information on file. That day, I even got my auto insurance from XXXX. 

On XXXX XXXX 2019, I was on the phone with XXXX. Reasons ranging from my anxiety to confirm a payment would not be missed, to trying to stay on top of a lot of money coming in and out from the international military move. I recall specifically, discussing the " auto-pay '' subject. The XXXX representative assured me that I had " nothing to worry about ''. I was told that my auto-pay was set-up and I have provided all the information and paperwork necessary. I was told that when the loan was started, my auto-pay would kick in. ( This phone call is recorded and on record, it was confirmed by another XXXX representative ) On XXXX XXXX 2019, around XXXX am, I received a call from XXXX informing me that I am 3 payments behind. XXXX XXXX is thirty-six ( 36 ) days past due. At thirty ( 30 ) days past due, XXXX reports late payments to the credit bureau. Any payment determined to be late, accrues a late fee. So, at thirty-six ( 36 ) days past due and just being notified for the first time, my head was spinning. By being notified at thirty-six days past due, I was unable to prevent those penalties. XXXX XXXX was the first time I was notified. Prior to that day, I had received no phone calls, I had received no emails, I had received no postal mail from XXXX regarding the late payments. As soon as I found out I was late on payments, and being short on money from the military move, I made one payment as soon as I could. 

That day, after work, I spent XXXX hours on the phone with XXXX XXXX trying to get to the bottom of everything. I was met with a lot of incompetence and unhelpful representatives. Being transferred from person to person, department to department. Not really ever getting the exact facts on why it took thirty-six days to notify me and why my auto-pay never kicked in. I had XXXX representatives tell me that everything was setup for auto-pay and that it was " weird '' I was never notified. To people telling me to just pay and it is my fault. I was able to get one person that gave me a little more information on the situation. My phone records show calls to and from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. Almost all calls I raised the issue and had to re-explain the situation to every XXXX rep. 

On XXXX XXXX 2019, I was told by a XXXX representative, that the XXXX dealership in XXXX XXXX, XXXX  never sent the proper paperwork required to XXXX for the auto loan to start until XXXX XXXX 2019. According to the XXXX rep, by not sending the paperwork, my auto-pay was never triggered to start when it should have on XXXX XXXX 2019. Same goes for the " debt notifications ''. How it was explained to me, is that I fell through the cracks. Because I had a loan agreement, I was accruing debt from the auto loan but not having actual debt in XXXX   system. 

Since XXXX XXXX 2019, I called XXXX PLENTY of times to find out what exactly happened. To this day, I still get different stories on what happened. Following the XXXX XXXX phone call, I filed a " credit dispute form '' through XXXX  website. Weeks later, XXXX responded with a blanket statement, saying they only report what is reflected in their records. Their records have me thirty-six ( 36 ) days past due on three ( 3 ) payments. Nothing about their faulty system and me not knowing I even had a debt. My credit score took a major hit. First time in my life I had late payment ( s ). I had excellent credit and excellent payment history. 

From some of my other calls, it was discovered that the dealership did everything on their end, allegedly, according to XXXX and the dealership. It is still unknown what happened on XXXX XXXX 2019, that finally pinged XXXX  debt department to call me two days later. It was said that the dealership " cleared '' the check given to them by XXXX for the car on that date. Different XXXX reps and departments say different things. 

On XXXX XXXX 2019, I was told by one XXXX representative, that because of how XXXX  auto loan system is, that even if I had noticed my payments were late or not being paid, I would not have been able to make the payment anyway. Due to the issue with the dealership paperwork. That sounds illegal, for me to owe a debt and not be able to pay that debt in a timely matter, before fees and penalties occur. I had two or three XXXX reps confirm that unjust faulty issue of not being able to pay due to XXXX  inept payment system. One XXXX rep even agreed that it sounds illegal. 

XXXX XXXX 2019, I went to my base legal office for instruction on how to further proceed with this situation. I was told to start with this report and follow-up from there.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation