@Anonymous wrote:
@Barry wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Ummm.. this is strange and confusing. I've been waiting for a new TL to report which would probably increase my EQ score.
Well, I got the alert from SW that my EQ fico increased ( 632 to 666) but below that was this statement:
This decrease in your FICO® score happened on the same day as a change on your Equifax Credit Report™ which triggered an alert. Most likely, the decrease was caused by the credit report change, but this is not always the case. Your score may have dropped because of some change on the credit report that was not reported as an alert. Also, if multiple changes on the credit report happened on the same day, some may have helped the score while others hurt it.
Did my score really increase, or what? Do I need to use up one of my Score Power reports to verify the Score increase? Unfortunately, there have been some issues related to duplicate alerts being generated by SW, causing these kinds of inconsistencies in messages. My guess is that your score indeed increased as it said. I would disregard the "decrease" message. We hope to have this situation resolved very soon and apologize for the confusion. You shouldn't have had to use one of your Score Power reports so we added an additional one to your subscription. -Thanks Barry, I appreciate that
Also, the alert stated the change happened on 4/9 but I didn't receive the alert until approx. 1pm 4/10 You should expect the alert to arrive 1-2 days following the change. - Is there a specific reason for the lag? Yes. Equifax typically delivers credit alerts to myFICO on the day of the change, which results in at least a one-day lag, as myFICO then sends them to you the next day. This is the case for the vast majority of alerts. Occasionally, due to a variety of system-related reasons there can be as much as a two-day wait for your credit alerts. Score change alerts, on the other hand, can take one week.
Thanks in advance.
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Ok, well I pulled my remaining SW report, just to make sure the Increase score was correct, and it looks like it is. Still confused as to why it would trigger an alert with an increase, but at the same time, state the possible reasons for a decrease.
I already have Quarterly Monitoring for my TU report, but I'm sill mulling over whether or not after free trial I am going to keep SW for EQ. I like being alerted, albeit with a slight lag, although, for some reason don't understand why the Fico Simulator doesn't include an option for a collection, or negatives being removed from report, as I know there are many of us with that problem. Being able to view our possible score, if such action took place would be helpful. Also, it would be nice if one could simulate several actions at once to view a cumulative effect rather than just one action (one possible outcome) at a time. While it's unlikely all of your suggestions will become reality -- good ones that they are -- we hope expand the simulator features at some point in the future. - That's good to know. I really hope to see the option of a collection being removed, added to the simulator as it is information included in a Score Power Report that applies to "Understanding Your Score/Hurting Your Score". Naturally, one would want to see what possible Fico future they would have, should that information change. To take it further, really, the simulator should be able to reflect possible Fico future that correlates to all information your Score Power Report lists as information hurting/helping your score. I can live without the cumulative option, but one can always hope!
Also I think it is important for anyone who is new and is following this thread, who might be thinking of signing up for this, know a few things. I know that if you read the SW product description carefully, most of this info. is provided, but also know that when new, like I was, one might not fully understand it's implications.
Here's a summary of what I have learned through using the free trial of ScoreWatch
1. You get 1 free Score power report when you enroll, and 1 more to be used anytime during your subscription, Thereafter it's a reduced rate of $10.95 for each Score Power Report. However, it also states that " Two additional Score Power reports each year while you’re subscribed to Score Watch."-- I'm not really sure what that means, it's a bit confusing. Perhaps it only applies if you sign-up for the yearly, as opposed to the monthly. Maybe someone else can answer that. Whether it's a monthly or annual subscription, you will get two reports at the beginning of each 12 month period after you subscribe.
2. If an alert signals a Fico score change, you can only utilize the Fico Score Simulator for that new score, if you pull another Score Power Report. (that's kind of a bummer) Also, your Fico Score will not update on your SW front page, even if you've been alerted to a Score change, unless you pull one of your Score Power Reports. The simulator will use your most recent EQ report, not scores appearing on alerts.-
3. No Option in Fico Score Simulator for possible outcome of collections being removed or multiple actions. True.
4. You will not be alerted to a Trade Line dropping, unless it effects your Fico Score. So, for instance, if you are waiting to see if a disputed Trade Line has been successfully removed from your credit report, you will not be alerted that this particular change has occurred, unless it triggers a score alert. No alert will tell you a TL has dropped off, but it's true that if your score changes as a result and your Target Score alert is set to your latest score or a score that you've now reached, you will receive a score change alert.
5. For some reason, although you have an option to select a target score, which I would assume you would want to set higher than your current, it's recommended that you actually set your target score to your current score to ensure you get alerted to a score increase. I don't think you'll find this info. on the product page though. We're working on providing more such information on our product page. Your target score can either be set to a score you wish to achieve or your current score if you want be alerted to the next score change. Which one you should do depends on which of these kinds of score changes you want to be alerted to.
Thanks for your questions and comments, somkey10. I hope my comments above will help clarify some things.
-Barry
Thanks for your response Barry, it is much appreciated.
Please see my answer to your question about the length of time it takes to be alerted following a change to your credit report.
