Consumer complaint received 2016-07-25
Product: Credit reporting — 
Issue: Credit monitoring or identity protection — Account terms and changes
Company: EQUIFAX, INC. (TN)

SUMMARY : I was only told about an expensive " monitoring and locking '' way to protect my account and was NOT told about the much-less-expensive option of freezing my account. I had to call back, escalate the call to a supervisor and then argue with the supervisor before I was given information about my option to " freeze '' my credit. DETAILS : On XXXX XXXX, 2016 I contacted Equifax to find out what steps I could take to protect my credit after I learned that someone had applied for a credit card in my name. I was told about XXXX services : ( 1 ) a fraud alert which advised, but did not require, creditors to inquire further about identity of the person seeking credit and ( 2 ) a " LOCK '' that would cost me $ XXXX/month or a discounted rate of {$120.00} for the year. I was also told that this was refundable if I chose not to continue it. I chose the yearly amount and authorized a payment of {$120.00} on my credit card. When I contacted the other XXXX credit agencies, however, I learned that I could " freeze '' my credit account with them for a one-time fee of {$7.00}. Therefore, today ( XXXX XXXX, 2016 ) I called Equifax back to find out if they offered this same process ( and why I ended up with a much more expensive charge from them yesterday. ) The first representative I spoke with insisted that they only had XXXX ways to help me : ( 1 ) the monitoring and locking service that I had purchased or ( 2 ) a locking only service that was $ XXXX/month. I explained to her several times that at the other XXXX agencies I had been offered a " freeze '' for {$7.00} a month. She said they did n't have that service. So, I asked to speak with a supervisor. He also began the call by insisting that these were the only XXXX services they had. He repeatedly listed the monitoring advantages of these XXXX services, which I told him I was n't interested in. I only wanted to lock/freeze my credit so no one could access it unless I unlocked/unfroze it. Finally, he told me that they could do a freeze, too, but I would have to do it on line and that he could not help me with that. He also told me that they would not refund the whole amount I had paid, even though it was only one day since it was purchased and in spite of the fact that I had purchased it only because the Equifax representative did not provide me complete information. Instead of refunding the full {$120.00} they would only refund {$110.00} and it would be another month before that refund was made. 

Equifax has withheld information about a widely-available protection ( freezing my account ) in order to force me into a position of purchasing a much more expensive service which I did not want. It was only when I spoke with the third representative ( and only after I questioned him at length ) did he finally tell me about the option of " freezing '' my account -- information which the other XXXX agencies had readily offered and easily processed for me. This indicates a systematic withholding of information that would have been beneficial to me as the consumer.