Consumer complaint received 2024-10-01 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
I sent this letter to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  To Whom It May Concern : This letter regards an inaccurate reporting of a 30 day late mark on my credit report in XXXX of XXXX. The payment was NOT MADE LATE and XXXX XXXX has inaccurately reported this information. 

I had been prepared to make the final payment on this account on the XXXX of XXXX XXXX days prior to the 30 day mark for XXXX payment. 

As XXXX login data will confirm, I had logged in to the portal to make the final payment but was presented with account data demanding payment in full for the entire remaining balance of nearly {$1800.00}, which was a total aggregate of my last scheduled payment along with the accrued fees and surcharges acquired over the life of the account. 
It was not clear to me from the data presented on the XXXX XXXX webpage that paying my last single months payment at that time would satisfy my obligation to remain timely. It was after operating hours, so I resolved to call XXXX back in the morning, which I did. 
XXXX XXXX invited me the next day when I called this is XXXX DAYS before the 30 day late mark in a recorded conversation, to roll my last payment and the remaining fees into a flat-rate payoff plan that would satisfy my obligation entirely and avoid any late marks. 

As recorded call data will indicate, I took the time to explicitly discuss the possibility that agreeing to this plan instead of making my last scheduled monthly payment on its own would result in going over the 30 day late mark for my XXXX payment. I expressed clearly that I was prepared to make the payment independent of rolling it into a payoff agreement and that I did not want to risk being in remiss or suffering a 30 day late mark if I took advantage of the offer. I WAS ASSURED BY XXXX XXXX IN THIS RECORDED CONVERSATION THAT DOING SO WOULD NOT HARM MY CREDIT. 

It took XXXX an entire day to send the signature request for the payment plan, which I signed digitally and sent back via email WITHIN XXXX MINUTES of receiving. I have attached a copy of this document in support of my case clearly signed and dated by me before the 30 day late mark. 

I called to follow up on the document submission as was requested by the representative who I had spoken with the previous day. When I called to follow up, the agent I spoke with said they could not verify that they were in possession of the document even though they had insisted that I follow up on the phone to confirm receipt. They suggested I call back the following day to try again. I pointed out that my understanding was that XXXX XXXX was not open on the weekends and that the next day was Saturday. They said I shouldnt worry about it because the department handling my paperwork was open on the weekends and the document was signed on the XXXX and I could always just dispute it anyway. 
I called back on the XXXX and was informed that the department handling my paperwork was not open on the weekend and that I should just call back the following week. In this conversation I was also encouraged not to worry about the timing because to be XXXX days late you actually have to be 31 days late for the system to flag you and the paperwork was signed on the XXXX, so you should be fine. 

When I called back the following week I was told that they could not tell if the system had reported me but that the paperwork was successfully processed so I was not to worry about it and again that I could always just dispute it anyway. 

I was entirely prepared to make my last payment well before the 30 day mark and logged in to do so AND CALLED to do so, but was encouraged to roll XXXX payment it into a payoff plan AND I was assured that doing so would not harm my credit. 

My credit score plummeted the following week when XXXX XXXX reported my last payment 30 days late in XXXX to multiple bureaus, even though my last payment was due in XXXX, not XXXX, and even though I had been through all of the above making sure that this would not happen. 

I filed a dispute with XXXX numbered : XXXX, which resulted in the mark being moved from XXXX to XXXX instead of being removed entirely, and XXXX now refuses to allow me to further dispute the item. 

XXXX XXXX did the following : XXXX ) Presented account data for a total past due of nearly {$1800.00} online, which created confusion as to whether making my single last scheduled payment would satisfy my immediate obligation. 

XXXX ) Offered to roll the last payment into a payment installment agreement XXXX ) Assured me that doing so would not harm my credit XXXX ) Took over XXXX hours to send the signature request XXXX ) Demanded that I call back to confirm receipt of the signature request paperwork but could not acknowledge its receipt when I did XXXX ) Assured me all would be fine if the paperwork was signed on time XXXX ) Told me the department handling my paperwork would be open on Saturday but it was not XXXX ) Could not verify credit reporting details but finally confirmed the paperwork was processed XXXX ) Proceeded to mark my credit files with a 30 day late mark XXXX ) Encouraged me to dispute the charge if this happened XXXX ) Failed to correct the inaccuracy when I filed a dispute with XXXX Please reinvestigate this matter and correctly report my timely payment history to all nationwide credit bureaus for every month in XXXX. 

I submitted the above letter, along with copies of the signed and dated documents proving that I had signed and submitted the final payment agreement multiple days before the 30 day late mark. 

In response to this letter XXXX XXXX called me and stated that they refused to communicate in writing in regard to the matter, that they had not and would not review the phone calls that they had recorded, and that they would not adjust my credit marks- EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE IN POSSESSION OF PROOF THAT THE PAYMENT WAS NOT LATE.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief