topic Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work? in myFICO® Product Feedback

Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:11:26 GMT

Score Watch seems like a scam to me. The only time my score has updated has been when I "spent" a Power Score. I have seen other comments here about the same issue. I have followed the advice about where to set the score threshhold, but it is apparently broken. How can they continue to sell a product that doesn't work?

I purchased the product, because I saw value in it, much like this community. I guess I'll alert the Better Business Bureau and the other consumer watchdog groups on the web.

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

FicoScore626 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:13:00 GMT

My score watch is a bit wonky at times. I have gotten email alerts in the past and then there have been a couple times when score watch didn't send me any alerts when my score changed and I set it to alert me every time my scores change by just 1. Perhaps it's still a work-in-progress and all of the kinks haven't been ironed out yet?

I'm not ready to give up on it yet, I just wish that it worked most of the time instead of just the few times that it did.

Message Edited by FicoScore626 on 11-03-2009 11:13 AM

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

tray — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:03:54 GMT

Are all your alert perferences in place, also if you do have your alerts set for instance if your target score goal score is set for a high score you will not recieve a score alert until the goal is met so I keep mine on a low goal score and increase it slowly to get my score watch alerts also it will instantly alert you when your credit score has dropped ( score watch has no problem to report then) as it hits in a different score band for instance say your credit score was in the 700's then it decreased to 600's you should recieve an alert. If still problems call Equifax

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:16:36 GMT

Score Watch seems to work for me though it's a bit slow. For instance I had a new inquiry on Monday and haven't received an alert as of yet. However, I did receive an alert yesteday on my American Express Credit Secure.

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:26:59 GMT

Thanks for your input everyone.

@tray wrote:
Are all your alert perferences in place, also if you do have your alerts set for instance if your target score goal score is set for a high score you will not recieve a score alert until the goal is met so I keep mine on a low goal score and increase it slowly to get my score watch alerts also it will instantly alert you when your credit score has dropped ( score watch has no problem to report then) as it hits in a different score band for instance say your credit score was in the 700's then it decreased to 600's you should recieve an alert. If still problems call Equifax

I set the alert score to be one point above the actual score. Last week the score grew by 2 points and it did not show up in SW until I used a PS.

This matters to me because in August, my beautiful wife totaled my car. Afterwards, I learned that my credit score had dropped from 702 in November 2008 to a lowly 610. The reason - high utilization and too many accounts with balances (16). In the beginning of October, I paid off $10,000 -all but two Visas and an installment loan. My score has been creeping back up as these 0 balance TLs are reported. My score is now 644 and only some of the smaller accounts have been updated.

In the meantime, I am driving my wife's mini van and watching my score very closely. I have the new car picked out, it is sitting on the lot, the dealer is aware of my situation and as soon as the score is workable I am ready to make a deal. I have a great payment history, with no late payments or collection (ever), so I should be good to go once all the TLs are reported.

When I purchased Score Watch, I really expected it to work, thereby, lessening my anxiety over the situation. Unfortunately, it has increased the anxiety a little.

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Barry — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:54:06 GMT

kabong wrote:

Score Watch seems like a scam to me. The only time my score has updated has been when I "spent" a Power Score. I have seen other comments here about the same issue. I have followed the advice about where to set the score threshhold, but it is apparently broken. How can they continue to sell a product that doesn't work?

I purchased the product, because I saw value in it, much like this community. I guess I'll alert the Better Business Bureau and the other consumer watchdog groups on the web.

Sorry, kabong, but your claim that the only time SW alerted you to a score change was when you ordered an EQ report isn't correct. It appears you were sent a score change alert on 10/19/09, stating your score had exceed the target.

Also, keep in mind that score changes are monitored weekly, not daily, so it's hard to know just when your score changed most recently. So, for example, if you pull a report today your score could have just changed a few days ago and given a few more days you would have been sent an alert. I'm not saying this is always the case, but rather pointing out that what you're describing doesn't necessarily mean SW didn't alert you properly.

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:59:55 GMT

Barry, I appreciate your involvement.

However, I have only received one alert from Score Watch. It came on October 20, 2009 informing me of a 27 point increase. My score increased last week and I DID NOT receive an alert. I only know that my score increased because I pulled a Power Score. So, even if it is monitored weekly as you state, and I have no reason not to believe you, I still have not received an alert since October 20th. I do not think it is fair that I have to pay $10.95 to get an update. Do you?

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Barry — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:51:56 GMT

kabong wrote:

Barry, I appreciate your involvement.

However, I have only received one alert from Score Watch. It came on October 20, 2009 informing me of a 27 point increase. My score increased last week and I DID NOT receive an alert. I only know that my score increased because I pulled a Power Score. So, even if it is monitored weekly as you state, and I have no reason not to believe you, I still have not received an alert since October 20th. I do not think it is fair that I have to pay $10.95 to get an update. Do you?

One thing about the alert process that I wish was different is that once you pull a new report showing a score increase, that report is considered your alert and you won't then receive one. This makes it hard to know if you would have received one anyway.

I only brought up the fact that you received a score change alert recently as a way of pointing out that, while I can't say that SW works perfectly for everyone all the time, it has worked for you recently. And as for it being fair or not to pay for a score update, while I do see your point, myFICO has to pay EQ for every one of these reports so charging for them is pretty much a necessity.

I have added a couple of free reports to your subscription as a courtesy, though, and would suggest the following as a test of SW: pull one report immediately and set your target score to that score. Then don't pull another EQ report for a month (or longer), while waiting to see if you get a score change alert during that time. Of course, your score may not actually change -- for example, mine hasn't moved since Auguest -- but giving it at least a month should be a good test of SW. Then let us know what happens. Or, if you don't want to do this, enjoy your free updates.

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:53:11 GMT

Barry, I will do as you say and see what happens. Thank you for helping.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Barry wrote:

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The score did not increase until I pulled the report. I guess it could have been a coincidence. Maybe I pulled my report at the same time as MyFico. Let's drop it for now and I'll follow your suggestions. Thanks again.

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:40:17 GMT

I just pulled the Power Score and it has increased another 33 points since the last one I pulled 9 days ago. I am not trying to beat a dead horse here, but it seems like I should have received a Score Watch alert since it's been over a week since the last.

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:03:08 GMT

Ok...I received an alert today for the inquiry on Monday. It works. I'm content.

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

amp0804 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:35:58 GMT

Ive been getting score updates usually on a regular monthly basis but I havent in 2 months and my credit card debt has been completely

wiped to 0 and my reports are showing 0 balances on my cards. Now today i get an alert for my capital one card

Alert: The balance on one of your accounts has increased by 771%

I didnt know a balance can increase 771%, I must have a rediculously high limit that im not aware of

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Anonymous — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:22:18 GMT

Well, 771% is a relative term. If your balance was 10 dollars and it went to

$87.10 it would be an increas of 771%. . (on another note when I was looking for the little emoticon, I accidentall clicked on one titled "manwink" which just seems a little creepy)

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:49:12 GMT

I completley agree with the fact that Scorewatch has quite a few bugs that need to be sworked out. Last week I received a Scorewatch e-mail that my score had gone up 9 points, then immediatley following that, I received another e-mail saying "congradulationgs, your score has not changed in the last month" or something along those lines.

Anyway, my main gripe is that Scorewatch seems to be a sporadic updater. What I mean is, that it def. doesn't pull daily. Maybe weekly, maybe even more than that. While I understand that it costs MyFico money everytime they pull a report (and hence report an updated score) I think most were misldead by the statement that we would recieve an update whenver our score changed. It's more like, we'll recieve an update whenever our score changes and after we discover that change."

I'm going to cancel my service. Think about it. I know I'm better off with going with a service like CCT (Credit Check Total) which gives you DAILY pulls. Then I can just pull my FICO whenever I have an alert that somthing changed. Case in point, I know a collection was just deleted from my reports. My Equifax report (as of 11/12/09 shows that it has been deleted. MyFico? Nothing yet. From CCT is should of been deleted on the 9th. It's just kind of ridiculous when I'm paying the monthly fee, and also paying when I want a Score Power Report, or whatever they call it. Because that's what I've been doing, and that's how I've been "notified" that my score has changed.

Message Edited by ryan1984 on 11-13-2009 09:49 PM

Re: Score Watch - why doesn't it work?

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:53:51 GMT

I agree that this product is starting to look too unreliable for me to continue using. Both my husband and I have subscriptions. I paid off all our credit cards last month and neither one of us have gotten any alerts whatsoever. It now says on my profile "You don’t have any recent scores from Equifax." Very frustrating. It's almost more worthwhile to get FAKOS from Credit Check Total on a daily basis and when you know there's been a significant change, purchase a true FICO score. Definitely not satisfied.