Consumer complaint received 06/27/2017 about Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports (Credit reporting) with TRANSUNION INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS, INC. (CA).
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account information incorrect

Complaint: I received a bill in early XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX XXXX for {$720.00}. I never had an account with that company. I called them and spent over an hour on the phone during which the person I spoke to confirmed the following : ( 1 ) I never had an account with XXXX
( 2 ) They received my information when the acquired XXXX XXXX service in XXXX XXXX, CA. ( 3 ) My account with XXXX was closed at the time XXXX acquired the account with a XXXX balance. Despite acknowledging these three items the woman said she could only route me to their billing department to set up a payment plan. I explained how illogical it was to make payments on a non-existent debt. She said she could n't correct the records, I could just set up a payment plan. Eventually she said she 'd transfer the call to someone who could help me but all she did was route me to the people who set up payment plans. I told them I did n't owe the debt and they re-routed back to the same number where I had just spent over an hour on hold waiting to be told nothing could be done. Rather than waste another hour talking to someone that I knew was n't going to resolve the issue, and having seen online the fact that numerous people in XXXX XXXX were complaining about XXXX being unresponsive to all complaints, I sent a check ( # XXXX ) to XXXX for {$720.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. I referenced on the face of the check that I did not owe the debt and that it was, in fact, a fake debt ( I have a copy of it ). As of the last time I checked, XXXX did not cash that check. I then received a notice from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX saying they were trying to collect the non-existent {$720.00} debt. I called XXXX again and spent another hour during which another XXXX employee re-confirmed the same three facts mentioned above. Despite recognizing that I obviously did not owe XXXX any money and that my old ( closed ) XXXX account also had a XXXX balance when it was acquired by XXXX, she asked me to send all of my records of payments to XXXX in order to confirm that XXXX 's own records were accurate that I did not owe XXXX {$720.00}. I explained that any such attempt was much more time-consuming than {$720.00} was worth even if I still had such records which I was certain I did not have. A short time later she hung up or we were disconnected as she tried to transfer my call. In an effort to save my credit rating from this utterly false debt claim, I did as directed in the letter and sent another check for {$720.00} directly to XXXX ( but this time without noting on the face of the check that I did n't owe it ). XXXX cashed that check on XX/XX/XXXX. Despite paying the amount that I never owed, XXXX reported this fake debt as a charge off and my credit rating dropped from well over XXXX to less than XXXX. It is now affecting my ability to buy a home.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation