Consumer complaint received 2023-03-31
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem — Problem with personal statement of dispute
Company: EQUIFAX, INC. (MA)

In Feb/Mar XXXX prior to the Covid pandemic I had made a charge to my XXXX card for a purchase. I am single and not married and live alone and had to leave my residence at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX MA to care for an elderly parent with demential who was widowed and who was quarantined. A XXXX bill had been due to be paid and I had mistakenly believed the account was on auto-pay which it had been in the past and as I seldomly used the store credit card I did not realize the statement had been mailed to my home address. When I was able to return to my residence which was in a very high risk XXXX area in my State where people were asked not to visit and to remain sheltered in place I noticed a bill in my mailbox and realized it was not paid. I immediately contacted XXXX and discussed the situation with them. They were able to remove some late charges which I appreciated but were not willing to adjust the impact to my credit report. Knowing that I would not be returning to the home again for quite some time I specifically asked to pay the account in full to pay the balance owed. At this time I felt the matter was resolved to my satisfaction. A couple of months later I returned to the home again and noticed another XXXX invoice in the mail. At this time after opening the invoice I realized that they had not in fact processed the full payment ( their was some residual owed ) and I believe this was intentional as the balance was minimal at the time and I provided my payment information and specifically asked them to take care of what I owed which they apparently did not. I asked for the payment provided over the phone to pay the balance off in full and I fully expect the company to properly process these payments correctly. I called them back again and asked for this to be settled and they did finally clear the balance and I closed the account. Unfortunately this error on XXXX behalf has seriously impacted my credit score. I have tried unsuccessfully on multiple occasions to resolve this with XXXX credit department which I believe is an absolute abuse due to the circumstances. I have also filed a discrepancy report with Equifax in XXXX of XXXX and no changes were made. The dispute # is XXXX I am more than willing to accept my responsibility for a single late payment which I did not make on time when it was due in XXXX. It was a simple oversight and as my FICO report reflects I have faithfully made on time payments to all my creditors for almost 20 years. However the back to back late payment blemishes ( 60 days ) on my record from XXXX due to their inability to process my payment correctly has significantly damaged my very long and virtually unblemished credit history. A fair resolution to this matter would be for XXXX to correct the reporting and take responsibility for failing to process my payment properly and remove the 60 day delinquency in XX/XX/XXXX. Simply crediting me for late fees is not an acceptable resolution. Furthermore I have requested an ( AW ) code be added due to the pandemic. It is absurd for this incident to damage my XXXX score significantly during these times when we are talking about a mere {$200.00} which I had the full ability to pay had the call center processed it correctly. I believe far more leniency and forgiveness has been provided to XXXX consumers who had balances they could not pay and for consumers who have missed multiple payments throughout this pandemic. I find it reprehensible for them to simply send a boiler plate letter to dismiss my legitimate claim for arbitration in this matter. I believe this to be discriminatory to me as a former customer in good standing and I would expect that this situation be resolved accordingly.