Wrong Date of Birth on Equifax / Will O2 close my account?

Leigh73

Hi,

I've just tried to post a looong message, only to find it vanished and I'd been logged out..I've calmed down now though!

Any help with the following would be most appreciated.

I took out a mobile phone contract with O2 in December of last year

I applied online, and was accepted straight away.

The trouble is, I checked my Equifax credit file yesterday, and found to my annoyance that O2 have logged the wrong Date of Birth next to my account details.

The day and year are spot on, but the month is one month out

I called O2 and told them, only to hear (to my horror..) "Well, we should've rejected your application at the credit check stage then really.."

I told the O2 guy that he'd worried me now, and that I didn't want to lose my phone account because of their error (I'm 100% certain I entered my date of birth details correctly at the time)....he said "Oh no, don't worry, that won't happen..they wouldn't have sent you your phone, and set up your account if they hadn't accepted you"

My worry is though, have they only accepted me because they used the wrong date of birth during the credit check?

The strange thing is though, I can see all of their checks at each of my 3 past addresses..surely I wouldn't see those if they'd put in the wrong DOB - ie - also different to the correct DOB held by Equifax in my personal details section of my credit file?

I had to bite the bullet and tell O2 though, as primarily, I want the correct and true info on my credit file.

Also, if I apply for anything else, surely O2's error will show up to them, and they may suspect something dodgy?!

I also considered, that in 18 months time, O2 would've seen the DOB mistake anyway. I mean, do they do another credit check when you request an upgrade / renew your contract?

Anyway, the long and short of it is, the guys at O2 told me "No, they can't close your account now, it's too late.."..but he sounded vague, and I'd prefer some impartial advice please!

O2 man says it's the fault of Equifax, but Equifax say it's down to O2 to change the DOB info (in my online query to them), so what can I do to get the DOB showing correctly, and to make sure I can keep my O2 phone and account?!

Many Thanks,

Sorry to witter,

Leigh.

reehsetin

they shouldnt do if all your bills have been on time, tbh it happens,
in my experience (not with o2 but another network) if the credit checking team were troubled by it they would just ask for proof of id/DOB/address something like that, once everything is verified it should be fine unless you have a bad credit history in which case like i said if you have paid all your bills on time it should be fine

Leigh73

Thanks very much for the info mate.

You mention 'bad credit history'..this is my worry!

I still have 2 CCJ's (1 settled in January 2007 for around £300, the other CCJ for £186 settled as part of my past Bankruptcy, but still showing as unsettled..this will drop off my file in September of this year though).

There is also 1 Default with Littlewoods Extra on there too, for £199, again included in my past Bankruptcy. This Default is showing correctly, as being 'settled' in January 2003, and so will drop off my Equifax file Jan '09!

The Bankruptcy, would you believe, shows up on my Experian file, but has never shown on my Equifax one.

As you can see, I'm just worried the O2 guy will make a note of my query, and they will then re-do a credit check, and looking at my correct DOB and the above, I will fail

What do you think?

Many Thanks

Leigh.

reehsetin

i would think it probably would go to referrals thats even if the CS bother to record it/re-credit check

put it this way
they will take into account that your already a customer, they will not make you give back your handset, which would have cost the network say £150, if you have been paying your bills then why will they not take the opportunity for you to pay the handset off, it may just mean they put a limit on the account so something flashes up if you spend over x and decline to give you roaming.

try not to worry untill you know you have to worry, there is too many ifs and buts at the mo

Leigh73

Thanks mate.

That's a very good way of looking at it!

Yes, I've paid my bills on time, even though I've only had 3 to pay, Dec, Jan and Feb, but all paid in full, and on time.

They even dropped my tariff from £35 pm to £25 pm after the first month, 'cos I thought it too steep / didn't need such a high allowance :T

Thanks for helping me see this more rationally. I mean, O2 are going to be getting a further 14 x £25 = £375 from me, so I'll be surprised if they complain about that!

The only question I still have though, is how on earth do I get Equifax to correct my DOB details on my file, if they say it's down to O2? If I contact O2 again, they really will think something is wrong!

I don't half worry too much.

There's bigger things to worry about in this world!

Many Thanks again mate,

Good Night,

Leigh.