Is Equifax plain incompetent?

RedDwarf82

So every single time I tell them about an error in my credit report they reply saying that the only thing they do is report the information provided by the lenders and ask ME to contact the lender.
It's usually something that, and I tell Equifax,
a) Shows correctly in all the documentation the lender sends me
b) CallCredit and Experian report correctly.

By the end of each complain it's always clear that what happened is that the lender reported the information correctly to Experian, but then they altered it.

So next step is telling them that no, I'm not going to contact the lender, if they want they can do it themselves (even if it's obvious that the lender is not at fault). They should have a better, direct, channel to the correct lender department.

So then they agree to contact the lender. You don't see the question they ask, but you see the reply from the lender.
Usually the lender replies saying "ask the customer to contact us". Even if I can't see the question Equifax asked, it's obvious that what happens is that:
a) Equifax asks "the customer wants to change this information"
b) The lender, without actually checking if the information needs to be changed in their database, replies with the default answer explaining where to contact to amend any information

So I explain this to Equifax, I basically give them the question they need to ask ("we have this information, can you confirm it's correct?"). So the lender replies with something like (and this is a real example)

Our Technical Team has confirmed that the data is sent across to Equifax as XXXXXXXXXXXXX so it would appear that you are then altering the YYYYYYYY to read just ZZZZZZZ.

Plain clear, right? Well, at this point Equifax decides to.... ignore the reply and fails to fix the credit report.

So after a few weeks I ask them to act on that reply. What do they do?
They reply with

You recently requested that some information on your Equifax report be changed. We wanted to update you on progress. The information you would like changed on the report is supplied to us by another company, so we have contacted them on your behalf to ask if the change may be made.

A response may take up to 21 days, but whilst we await this a note will be added a note to your report which states that some information is in dispute. This note will be removed when the query is resolved.

Ask the lender again!!!!

This is not some one time thing. This is the standard pattern every time I contact Equifax.
It's just me or they are not fit for business?

PS. Experian is basically the same.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

So it's still as bad as it was when I had incorrect information on my file. Equifax and co shrug their shoulders and say they can't do anything and the "lender" says it is all great and do nothing to really investigate it.

Try calling the lender and asking to speak to the department that reports information to the CRA's. I found no one ever knew where it was situated, who did it and were never able to redirect my call to them. Even writing to the firm would see my letters ignored.

It took nearly a year for me to sort the mess out.

Good Luck. Mine was for a utility or what I now call a toxic creditor. Since learning from that I now give a false name for things I class as a toxic creditor such as gas, electric, phone. Those who have jumped on the CRA bandwaggon thinking they are clever by reporting data but their billing and credit is not regulated by the CCA.

stclair

I have a similar issue currently being investigated by the FOS.

However I do have letters from all the lenders concerned confirming all is correct with them and blaming Equifax.

RedDwarf82

stclair wrote: »

However I do have letters from all the lenders concerned confirming all is correct with them and blaming Equifax.

Since you use the plural I guess this is like in lots of my cases where there is one specific kind of error repeated exactly in the same way in multiple places of the credit report?

Because I forgot about that, the common situation is

a) Shows correctly in all the documentation the lenders sends me
b) CallCredit and Experian report correctly.
c) Equifax has the same kind of error for multiple credit accounts, from different lenders

From these 3 points any normal person able to think would reach the conclusion that the most probable point of failure is Equifax, not the information provided by the multiple lenders that happen to provide it correctly to the other 2 agencies. But no, Equifax can't see this. They are never at fault.

I really have to restraint myself to only call them incompetent.

stclair

Yes it's the same problem happening multiple times.

They keep linking me to an incorrect address when I have an account added to my report.

Even though the lenders have never had this said address.

fermi

Is Equifax plain incompetent?

More often than not, yes.

GingerBob_3

fermi wrote: »

More often than not, yes.

And yet the actions of this company can affect the credit worthiness of just about everyone in the country. Seems to me they need tough regulation, or better, being compulsorily wound up.

MoneyMate

Worked OK for me, cleared up an existing problem on my rating during the 30 Day free trial, and kept me informed.