Calling CRAs. Worth It?

[Anonymous]

I recently paid off some CC debit and, of course, the card with the highest utilization is taking the longest time to report.  I called the lender and they confirmed that they have reported the updated balance to the CRAs but, for whatever reason, I don't see that update.  Has anybody ever had any luck calling into the CRA and asking for the most recent reported balance to be updated?  Yes, I'm being impatience, but it's annoying.

[Anonymous]

It's a horrible idea.  You're going to get some foreigner* in a call center who may mangle what you're asking for and they'll put in a dispute instead and then a great positive tradeline could disappear forever.

Don't call them.  Not worth it.

I used to call just to remove old addresses but once when I called EQ the lady said "I understand this address is not yours so I will place a fraud alert on your report."  I replied "No, that's not what I said, I just said I don't live at that address."  She replied "Then I will place a fraud alert on your report."  I said "No, don't place a fraud alert, just delete the incorrect address." She replied again "I will place a fraud alert on your report."  I made her say she will do nothing at all, hung up and decided to stick to written disputes.

Where are you pulling your reports from to check the balance?

*I should mention that both my parents are foreigners with heavy accents, and I wouldn't want them to manage my credit report data, either, lol.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It's a horrible idea.  You're going to get some foreigner* in a call center who may mangle what you're asking for and they'll put in a dispute instead and then a great positive tradeline could disappear forever.

Don't call them.  Not worth it.

I used to call just to remove old addresses but once when I called EQ the lady said "I understand this address is not yours so I will place a fraud alert on your report."  I replied "No, that's not what I said, I just said I don't live at that address."  She replied "Then I will place a fraud alert on your report."  I said "No, don't place a fraud alert, just delete the incorrect address." She replied again "I will place a fraud alert on your report."  I made her say she will do nothing at all, hung up and decided to stick to written disputes.

Where are you pulling your reports from to check the balance?

*I should mention that both my parents are foreigners with heavy accents, and I wouldn't want them to manage my credit report data, either, lol.

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Sage advice.  I'll just wait it out.  During my rebuild, I have a subscription with each of the CRAs, so I'm receiving updates reports from each.

[Anonymous]

Good deal -- just wanted to make sure you're not getting pseudo-reports form the free "monitoring" credit card advertising junk houses like CK or CS, lol.

Calling anyone is a dangerous play if you aren't exceptional at taking notes and making them repeat what they're writing.  I never call banks, credit bureaus, collection agencies, etc, unless I have PREWRITTEN exactly what I will say and ready to demand they read me back what they wrote.  I won't even call businesses for order errors or any such thing -- I prefer writing everything and demanding replies by postal mail since mail fraud is a real concern for businesses in responding.

I had an issue with a mega online company everyone knows of with an order error and instead of emailing them, I wrote a letter, included photos, sent it CMRRR and the day they received the letter my refund was processed.  The only reason I did this is because I've read horror stories of the rare 1 in 100 people who got screwed by an email CSR there. I am a lucky guy, but some of that luck is doing things the right way and being a bit more patient.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Good deal -- just wanted to make sure you're not getting pseudo-reports form the free "monitoring" credit card advertising junk houses like CK or CS, lol.

Calling anyone is a dangerous play if you aren't exceptional at taking notes and making them repeat what they're writing.  I never call banks, credit bureaus, collection agencies, etc, unless I have PREWRITTEN exactly what I will say and ready to demand they read me back what they wrote.  I won't even call businesses for order errors or any such thing -- I prefer writing everything and demanding replies by postal mail since mail fraud is a real concern for businesses in responding.

I had an issue with a mega online company everyone knows of with an order error and instead of emailing them, I wrote a letter, included photos, sent it CMRRR and the day they received the letter my refund was processed.  The only reason I did this is because I've read horror stories of the rare 1 in 100 people who got screwed by an email CSR there. I am a lucky guy, but some of that luck is doing things the right way and being a bit more patient.

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To piggy back on your experiences, it seems that the more "automated" things get in our world, the less humans are able to effectively interact.  Everything is a process it seems.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely that, and first line CSRs generally just read from a playbook and don't write anything, they just click a multiple choice answer on a screen.

The last call center I visited on a personal trip to Asia was at least 80 people in a big (and nicely air conditioned and lit!) room all giving answers from a screen.  Most of them also pretended to play "the manager" and would just take over a call from the person next to them.  Pretty hilarious to watch and all of them LOVED their jobs because they didn't take angry customers personally.

In the near future, I assume first level CSRs will not be real humans, either.  It'll be some modification of Amazon Alexa or Google Home and you won't even know they're not real.