Consumer complaint received 2023-02-02
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: NY
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account information incorrect

Complaint:
On XXXX of XXXX, people gained access to my online account and, claiming to be XXXX, transferred without my knowledge or approval {$10000.00} from my savings account to checking, and then proceeded to " XXXX '' themselves {$5000.00} over 3 transactions during each of these two days. on the second day when I realized what was happening I contacted XXXX immediately, closed all of my accounts and online access and set up new ones, and had XXXX start an investigation ( XXXX and XXXX for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, respectively ). XXXX proactively gave me back the {$10000.00} during the investigation, and eventually came to the decision that the transactions on XX/XX/XXXX were fraudulent, but the transactions on XX/XX/XXXX were NOT, and that I had to pay them back the {$5000.00}. Of course I immediately disputed this decision and appealed this decision multiple times. Every time I appealed, they sent me a letter confirming my appeal, followed by another letter saying they support the original decision. Meanwhile, at no time did any contact me, the branch I went to when this occurred, or seem to do anything different or gather any more information. Eventually, XXXX then decided to CHARGE ME the {$5000.00} to a Line of Credit account that I didnt even have access to anymore since it was connected to the closed account. Not only did I have no way to pay these accounts online, I never conceded to agree to this charge and had continued to dispute the monies owed. While there was a previously legitimate balance on the Line of Credit that predated the {$5000.00} charge, once the account was closed and the unapproved charges were added by XXXX to that Line of Credit, i did not want to pay ANY of the balance as I was in active dispute of the charge they made and did not want to risk validating the balance by making any sort of payment until I spoke with someone at the bank about the fraud, as I did not want my payment ( even in part ) to be construed as an acceptance of the charge. 
After filing a previous dispute through your website, I received a call today where they profusely apologized for all of the inconvenience, and noted how the manner in which XXXX has handled ( or failed to handle ) my situation has highlighted several areas for improvement in their processes. AS a result, they now agree that I am not liable for the {$5000.00} charge back and they will credit that amount. HOWEVER, they say they will not remove the negative reporting, because of the prior balance of {$710.00} for which I made no minimum payment. This has been going on for just over one year now, and after admitting their own wrongdoing in handling this and not honoring my request to speak with someone during their investigation process so that we can come to a more reasonable and swift understanding at ANY POINT during the past year from ANY OF MY APPEALS, I must now suffer the negative reporting on the CLOSED ACCOUNT which I didnt even have access to in order to pay the legitimate balance online?

They have treated me with zero respect as a customer, taken up a year of my time, and have had a personal hand in helping ruin my credit and there is no remedy for me? This is totally absurd, and further highlights they think they entire issue is about MONEY and not about how they treat a customer who has put their trust and money with their company for almost 20 years! They had no sense of fiduciary responsibility over the past year in resolving my issue until I posted here, and now want to refer to fine print about a prior balance owed without looking at the big picture that as a consumer who was clearly being abused and neglected by XXXX I was never called by a representative despite multiple requests, never sent a remit envelope to make a payment, never given online access to the accounts, and was not inclined to pay in part to an account where 90 % of the balance due was in dispute and I was receiving no personal response to any of my inquiries or appeals. Anything having to do with XXXX from the time of the fraudulent offense, which they have no admitted I am in the right about, should be stricken from all credit reporting agencies.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation