topic Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency? in General Credit Topics

Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

gabbygail — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 12:42:48 GMT

In your opinion, which Credit reporting agency is the worst overall. Equifax, Experian, Transunion and why? From your personal experience thus far.

I would say...

Equifax!

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 12:45:26 GMT

It's human nature to always look at a negative transaction as carrying more weight than 100 positive ones.

I've had horrible results with all 3, but I've also had 10x as many great and fast results with all 3.

We aren't customer of credit bureaus -- banks are. The bureaus only talk to us because laws demand it, so they only do the minimum duty necessary. They don't really care about us, and that's how it's designed.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

gabbygail — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 16:13:44 GMT

10X? Hard to believe.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 16:20:57 GMT

I'm just basing it on my own data points that I've kept track of!

I disputed addresses, wrong names, even a wrong social security number. Certainly 40 pieces of info that were wrong, 40 pieces deleted.

I had 3 different COs that had tiny things wrong with their reporting -- so call it 9 different tradelines disputed. All 9 deleted. Count is 49/49.

1 unpaid tax lien on 3 bureaus. Disputed, 2 removed 1 stayed. 51/52 so far.

Had a collection unpaid pop up in 2017 that had all sorts of incorrect information. Disputed on all 3, came back updated (ugh). 51/55.

Had lates on an old closed credit card that were all off by 3-4 months. Disputed on all 3: two deleted, 1 updated to correct (ugh). 53/58.

Disputed that corrected one a few months later because it re-updated again to reflect the wrong late dates: deleted. 54/59.

So 54 good, 5 bad. 10:1 ratio of good to bad. But no one looks at good results.

All I have left on all 3 reports is just that unpaid tax lien from 2010 still showing on TU. No more disputes left for me. CPFB dispute is next, although I am researching other options since it's a joint lien from when I was married but was actually reported after I divorced -- never had knowledge of her secret hidden income but the uninformed spousal disputes with local tax authority have been useless.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

gabbygail — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 17:04:17 GMT

Humm, it's almost like POS Equifax was reading this board. LOL No sooner do I leave this board I get a text saying there have been changes to my credit report. Apparently and according to Equifax paying of debt is a good thing one day and not the next because they docked my six points for paying off a cc. Idiots. And seriously, how come Equifax is ALWAYS the lower one-by lower i mean almost 50 points. How does this happen? I hope they get sued out of business. They shouldn't be allowed to contribute to credit decisions with the way they do business and score. Furious with this POS company.

P.S> I'll recognize something good about Equifax when I find something. The other two aren't too bad-both showing about the same numbers but Equifax... seriously.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

gabbygail — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 17:01:26 GMT

I spent a LONG time with Equifax on the phone and nearly needed a translator. fhe whole time I was thinking how insecure this process was giving all my personal information to some chick in the Philipines. Then they decided my DOB was something different even though they have been reporting it correctly for years now. I can't check my "dispute results" online because they don't have my correct DOB in their system. Stupid POS company-so pissed.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 17:29:34 GMT

None of them can be blamed for how things are reported to them, which is what accounts for score differences. Customer service is really where the complaints come from in my opinion. People who spend a lot of time on these boards may have more knowledge about credit reporting and credit terms than most people who work for the CRAs so that is something that we need to remember. These are people that work in a call center, really no different than any other call center, with probably just as much product knowledge as the average Joe off the street.

My lowest scores are with Experian, but I have never had a problem with them. I have disputed an incorrect address (my mother lived there not me and are names are not even close) three times with Equifax and all three times it came back that it would be deleted, but it never has been. If I call in, they just tell me to dispute it again... I called Transunion the other day for an early exclusion and they said that they don't do that and I need to contact the creditor, not that I am not within the timeframe (I am), but they just don't do it. I called the creditor and they tell me to call Transunion. Call back and ask to speak with a supervisor and they told me the only way for me to have it deleted is to file a dispute, which I can't do right now while in the middle of the home buying process.

Your posts seem that you have issues with the credit reporting and not the actual CRAs. You need to remember that they only have the information that they are given. Can paying off a credit card lower your score? Yes - if none of your cards are currently reporting a balance. Is that necessarily what caused your score to drop? No - that may just be what caused the alert. Are your profiles identical across all 3 CRAs? Probably not - I would guess Equifax has a derog that the others do not have, which is why the score is so much lower.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 07:53:42 GMT

The CRA with which one has had the most issues with is the worst. To them.

A poll would show that about 1/3 of the population agrees with whichever CRA someone says is the worst and 2/3 would disagree.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 08:32:07 GMT

The worst is Transunion. Because it seems like it’s the most useless. Unfortunately it’s also my highest score. But very few card issuers seem to give it any credibility except for maybe SCT or synch store cards. At least here in California. Most everyone pulls Experian and/or Equifax simultaneously on some occasions.

8/2017 12/2017
Equifax 558 Equifax 684
Transunion 575 Transunion 691
Experian 550. Experian 662

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

jesseh — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 13:40:53 GMT

Experian. Getting a customer service representative on the phone has been particularly difficult with EX for years. Also made huge screwups to my file.

TU was easiest in getting a rep fixing things right away.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 15:22:47 GMT

@gabbygail wrote:
I spent a LONG time with Equifax on the phone and nearly needed a translator. fhe whole time I was thinking how insecure this process was giving all my personal information to some chick in the Philipines. Then they decided my DOB was something different even though they have been reporting it correctly for years now. I can't check my "dispute results" online because they don't have my correct DOB in their system. Stupid POS company-so pissed.

Well that's one major issue there. I never, ever call a credit bureau. Ever. I've seen horror stories over the years of how inaccurate information was made near-permanent because of a miscommunication by phone.

When I "talk" to the CRAs, I send letters. US post mail, certified mail return receipt requested. Every time. In my letters I tell them to put their response in writing by mail. This shows I'm serious, and the letters don't go to some call center overseas.

I don't dispute anything by phone. I don't want that risk. I do credit repair properly: in writing, by mail, and demand the same in return.

I also never do disputes online because online disputes, by law, allow the CRAs more time to 'investigate'. By mail they have 30 days. Also, online disputes don't give you enough choice in how to dispute an inaccuracy.

Stop calling. Stop doing disputes online. Both are lazy and can cause you grief. Do it the proper way: in writing, by mail, CMRRR.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 15:25:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The CRA with which one has had the most issues with is the worst. To them.

A poll would show that about 1/3 of the population agrees with whichever CRA someone says is the worst and 2/3 would disagree.

Insightful response by BBS.

Questions of this sort are common on late night talk shows. What car is the worst? Who was the worst president? What is the worst place to go on a vacation? The question is like the old ink blot test: the caller simply fills in the lack of detail in the question (worst at what and given what criteria?) and everybody ends up answering a different question.

The vacation question for example ends up with people who hate the beach giving places like Cancun or the Keys or Hawaii. Better would be -- if you really like the beach, and you have X dollars to spend, what are the best places to go and which beach places should you definitely avoid?

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 02:29:52 GMT

If you've ever had a CH 13 BK dismissed (vs discharged), BY FAR Equifax is THE WORST of the 3 majors. TU and EX will drop it off of your reports as a courtesy after 7 years while EQ will continue to report it for 10 years...just because they CAN. Well, unless you do like I did and report them to your state's AG AND the BBB at the same time claiming EQ is clearly discriminating against you PERSONALLY because there is proof all over the web that they WILL make exceptions to their 10-year policy with certain individuals and remove the dismissals for whatever reason they've chosen. FWIW, I disputed directly with EQ with no love before I chose the final courses of action with the BBB and the AG and it was amazing how **bleep** fast they dropped that dismissal off of their report - had a letter and a copy of my updated report within a few days.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 00:36:59 GMT

Not even close, EQ by far.

Had a utility company incorrectly report a c/o to all three CRA's (same name but different age, social, addy, and even state). Took 4-6 weeks to get the attention of someone besides 'frontline' reps but finally got someone to remove the incorrect report (along with many apologies). Came off Exp and TU the next month, was still on EQ two months later. Initiated the process for manual review through EQ and it only took them 72 hours to say, "nope, it stays".

Contacted the utility company again (the private extension given to me by the management rep assisting me). Told the lady the happenings with EQ. She resubmitted and called me a few days later with the news she had personally called EQ along with their standard reporting methods and it should be off at next reporting. It was...

Until the following month. Not only did it reappear on EQ, it was re-aged! Took several more months to get it off that time and would likely still be on there had the CEO of this company not taken the time to personally get involved.

EQ is like a scorned ex-gf.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 03:29:23 GMT

Experian: Annoying because every lender and their mother pulls Experian. Also, I don't like Experian because my score is lower on Experian than on any other bureau and there isn't really a reason why anymore (I used to think it was lower because of a higher number of inquiries on that bureau compared to the others, but now most of my EX inquiries have fallen off and it's still quite a bit lower).

Transunion: I think favorably of Transunion because my score is high on it, but it is by far the most incompetent when it comes to reporting accurate information. My score bounces up and down +/- 10 points on Transunion regularly for no apparent reason. Also, my mom has a similar name to me and TU frequently mixes our credit reports up and keeps telling me that I've changed my name to my mother's name.

Equifax: I used to hate this bureau the most because my score on it would NEVER change, but lately it has been increasing and it's EX that won't budge for anything.

So, in my book, TU>EQ>EX

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 04:29:38 GMT

Equifax by far. it's the only CRA that I've hard of that has split files and what a pain to get fixed. Everyone in my neck of the woods pulls Equifax and it's a hot mess.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Jeffhacker — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 15:23:16 GMT

Transunion is my highest score as well, by 65 points +/- compared to Equifax and Experian. But that's only a function of what is/is not reported. If you apply for credit, with a few exceptions, the credit grantor will do a "hard pull" on one of the three CRA's, not all three (although some, notably Capital One, will pull 3); once accounts are open, then they'll typically all report, so at some point the reports will generally be similar. But the entire process is generally automated so you can't really expect one to be better or worse than the others.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 20:17:39 GMT

Re-establishing IMO an interesting thread. I think Experian is the worst. Somehow, I "won" a free multi year subscription to familysecure, a part of Experian. The Plus Score seldoms changes and the site admits it is just an educational tool. Even the Vantage Score is used by 10% of credit grantors. It is very slow to update CLI's and new cards. Yes, I have read on here that Exp is slow to removed HP's. This is true. I have to complain about the score not changing for months and then Exp will change it. The score history only goes back two years.

The best is TU. I called TU, yes, call me lazy, to try to get a couple of minor issues fixed i.e. address removed, wrong spelling of my name removed.... The CSR was so nice. She did it just on my word. Never asked to verify it was me. So, I went for it and asked her to remove a CO. She did! Trust me, I would have sent her a gift certificate for being so nice.

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 01:18:39 GMT

gabbygail my experiences in cleaning up my credit was to take the view of the bull dog that was going to bite the mail person. It took me two years of disputing, providing facts and sticking to my guns to get my reports clean and right. It did work but it was a pain. ABCD2199 gave a detailed method for dealing with disputes. Followed the same methodology ... everything in writing, certified communications and follow backs in written form. Also, I kept a copy of everything I did so I knew what was done. As has been said in this thread the three bureaus are in a business and they really do not care about us. Certainly glad that we are letting the bigger can't fail attitude to come through for Equifax. Sure wouldn't want the regular folks to get fair treatment!

Re: Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 02:19:17 GMT

@Anonymouswrote:
gabbygail my experiences in cleaning up my credit was to take the view of the bull dog that was going to bite the mail person. It took me two years of disputing, providing facts and sticking to my guns to get my reports clean and right. It did work but it was a pain. ABCD2199 gave a detailed method for dealing with disputes. Followed the same methodology ... everything in writing, certified communications and follow backs in written form. Also, I kept a copy of everything I did so I knew what was done. As has been said in this thread the three bureaus are in a business and they really do not care about us. Certainly glad that we are letting the bigger can't fail attitude to come through for Equifax. Sure wouldn't want the regular folks to get fair treatment!

There is an exception to this. EEs. They are far easier to do by calling and asking for a supervisor. I’ve had 100% success with this. Knowing the time frame each CRA will do it helps. You go by that and no problems with any except Equifax. Writing to Equifax on this narrow issue does no good. Equifax is just wont do it or only one month early most often,