Consumer complaint received 2018-03-01
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: VA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes

Complaint:
Long ago an extended fraud alert was placed on my credit report. Once such an alert gets added, it then automatically spreads to each of the other two credit bureaus. I did not request this be added in the first place and no contact information was provided for creditors to reach out to me to see if the credit check was legitimate or not. There is a place for this to be added but for an unknown reason this was missing. The result - I was rejected from any credit line increase requests, new lines of credit or the ability to even sign up for a cell phone when switching jobs and losing my employer provided phone despite having a credit score over 800. 

Some credit bureaus are easier to deal with than others. My experience with XXXX  and XXXX have been significantly better to deal with than with Equifax. 

Awhile back ( perhaps 6 months ago ) I went through the painful process of removing the fraud alerts ( reminder, I never wanted or requested this in the first place ) and was successful in doing so with XXXX and XXXX. Equifax 's limited operating hours, especially with departments that deal with fraud alerts, caused me delays and I eventually learned I would need to write them a paper letter and send it to them via snail mail in order to get the fraud alert that I never asked for removed. It's the year XXXX at this point and I can sign mortgage documents to buy a house online, I can attach digital documents and upload them, there's email, heck there's even fax machines. Why must I send in a letter? 

Given this chore of writing, printing, finding a stamp and envelope and sending in a letter, I was admittedly lazy and decided to defer applying for the credit card I was eyeing ( it had an enticing introductory offer which is now gone ) and figured I would punt this task down the road and perhaps any credit requests would go through one of the other bureaus. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I had my last day of work with my former employer which provided me with a XXXX cell phone. I was able to keep the number, but needed to buy a phone and switch the line over to a new personal account. XXXX said I would need to have my credit pulled and I became cautious. I explained to them my problem with one credit bureau ( Equifax ) and they said that was the one they used. They advised me to get is resolved since it would be rejected. I offered to buy the phone in cash ( rather than pay it off interest free for 24 months ) but they said the credit check was mandatory.

So I leave and call Equifax. Closed - after hours. Call again the following day, closed for the weekend. Call the next day during the day, and they said a written request would need to be mailed to them as I suspected. I wrote them a letter and mailed it to them. I followed up over the phone and asked if they had processed it yet because I needed to get approved for a corporate card at my new employer since there was an orientation that I needed to expense travel for. I asked if there was something that could be done to approve this when it came through in advance of them actually removing this fraud alert that must be done in writing. The person on the phone informed me that there was no contact information listed for the fraud alert for me ( which I previously knew ) and asked me if I wanted to provide any. I was afraid that adding any information would trigger new alerts for the other bureaus so I said I did not want anything updated as I just wanted it removed. 

Getting back to the cell phone, the alert could not be removed before leaving my prior employer so I had my boyfriend get me a phone in his name. Very embarrassing since like I previously mentioned, my credit is above 800 and better than his. 

Then all of a sudden, I am alerted via email that changes have been made to my credit report ( I have some free account monitoring provided as compensation for some of the past website hacks ) and it says that a fraud alert has been added! Yes, ADDED! I called XXXX and they said that Equifax had alerted them and that is why they added it. XXXX  also now had put the fraud alert back onto my account. I was able to get both of them to remove it after speaking to them on the phone and explaining what had happened but Equifax is worthless. They continually insist that the fraud alert is gone and that they never alerted the other credit bureaus. They explained the recent event as " coincidence ''. This is absolutely laughable. Call them and you will see! Oh wait, they will probably be closed ... 

I asked to be notified when the alert is actually removed and they said I could pull my credit reports for free once per year. Yes I know, and that is how I knew I still had the fraud alert with Equifax when I pulled it about a week ago, but I am no longer able to pull it again for free. I think it should be required that if you are requesting a correction to your credit report, that when the correction is made, you are notified it has been processed and provided a corrected copy of your credit report so you can verify the correct was actually done. When you order food at XXXX XXXX, you would expect them to notify you when your order is ready right? This is just common sense. 

What is a consumer like myself to do? I am stuck in the endless loop of trying to remove this never-ending fraud alert. If fraud alerts can get added to all three bureaus so easily, why is removing them so much harder - clearly the lines of communication have already been established.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation