No personal horror stories with the credit bureaus here but I wanted to remind you that the credit reporting agencies work for the creditors, not us.
They have no motivation to "help" us, as we are not their "customers".
It's a crappy system, that's why you have to learn to play the game. If you are that fed up with the CRB's BS then you can always sue them for not complying with the FCRA. Might be worth a consultation with an attorney.
Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does - except wrinkles. It's true, some wines improve with age... but only if the grapes were good in the first place.