EQUIFAX: Incompetent or Braindead?

[Anonymous]

I've been wondering for the past year or so why every month for a few days my EQ CR fails to show a date of birth.  If I just leave it alone, after a week or two the DOB will reappear.  If I dispute it, EQ will ask me to fax or mail in ID copies.  Why they continually need ID copies is beyond me because almost every time I have called they tell me "Please fax inthe same ID that you've previously used."  When I ask which that is, they reply "The military ID that you've previously used."  They then even give me the ID number.  When I ask how they know I've previously used that ID, they tell me because we have a scanned copy in your file and even have commented at how clear the photo came through.  So, if they have my ID scanned and available for view, WTF do I need to always send it in each month?

Aside from the irritation of having to call those morons every month and sending them in yet another copy of my ID, I happened to ask AT&T for an additional cellular account for my son which they denied after pulling my CR because, they stated, they are not able to verify my ID with the information appearing on my CR (i.e. lack of DOB).

EQ claims that when a creditor reports using no DOB or one other than that which EQ knows is yours, they report no DOB until another cerditor comes along and reports using a correct DOB.  When I ask them which of dozens of creditors this is, they say they do not know.  That they do not know sounds like a crock of crap to me. 

Finally on May 17 I pulled my EQ and my DOB was correctly reported.  The very next day I pulled my EQ and no DOB.  I noticed that this happened the exact same day that Alliant reported.  I called Alliant and the lady at their card services hotline confirmed that even she could not see my DOB in her system, but stated that I needed to talk with the credit union itself about the issue.  I called Alliant directly and they stated that, yes, they do not usually include DOBs hen they report, but will do so for me from now on.

WTF is Equifax so retarded?  Why doesn't Alliant report a DOB?  For those who have an Allliant TL and have been denied credit based on ID verification at one time or another based on an EQ pull, now you know why.

[GregB]

I had a similar issue with my Credit Reports showing that I was moving twice a month. A creditor had added an extra digit in the middle of my street number resulting in a different address. I could fix it with the CRAs but then the creditor would update. Since no account was being mailed to the wrong address, I had to figure it out by the timing of the change.

[Lel]

I don't know which is worse: having no DOB reported, or having the wrong DOB reported.  Here's my story.

Sometime between August 2007 and April 2008, Equifax started reporting my DOB incorrectly.  The month and year were correct, but the day of the month was wrong.  I submitted a dispute and received confirmation within a week that it had been corrected.  That was the end of April 2008.  I thought that was the end of that, and I didn't confirm the persistence of this correction on many subsequent EQ pulls.  Then last August, as I was responding to someone here who had an incorrect birth date, I realized that the error had reappeared.  I have no idea when this happened, but I'm guessing that it reverted to the wrong date almost immediately.

From August 2009 through March, I have submitted SIX disputes in an attempt to get this fixed, once and for all.  I have submitted my driver's license and SS card on at least 3 occasions.  As you can infer, after each of the first 5 disputes the error was only temporarily corrected.  As of now, my DOB has been reporting correctly for two whole months.  But I'll keep checking to see if this problem reappears.

For the longest time, I couldn't figure out who might be reporting my DOB wrong.  Between August 2007 and April 2008, I opened only one new credit account.  However, this creditor had my correct DOB on file.

But now I'm cautiously optimistic that my problem might be permanently fixed.  On February 1, shortly after I disputed with EQ for the fifth time since August, I pulled my score here and my DOB was correctly listed.  A few days later, I obtained my report directly from EQ, and my DOB was incorrect.  Comparing the two reports, I discovered that a single creditor's entry had updated in those few days.  It was a CC that I have had for about 12 years.  I called them up, and lo and behold, my DOB was wrong - and was the same DOB that kept reappearing on my credit reports.  I had them change it, and then allowed another billing cycle to pass and let them update EQ and...the error came back again.  So I disputed again and got confirmation that it has been changed.  Two billing and reporting cycles have now passed since that last dispute, and so far my DOB is still reporting correctly.

Still, I can't understand this whole issue.  Why would my CC report updated balances immediately, but have a lag in reporting my correct DOB?  Why did this CCC suddenly change my DOB for no apparent reason?  But my biggest question of all is why did this one CCC's incorrect reporting "trump" all the other creditors who reported my correct birthdate?  I have two dozen accounts reporting, and I know for a fact that most of them have my correct birth date.

TU and EX, by the way, have always had the correct date.  Yet my CC reports to those as well.  I just don't get it.

[Anonymous]

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@Lel wrote:

I don't know which is worse: having no DOB reported, or having the wrong DOB reported.  Here's my story.

Sometime between August 2007 and April 2008, Equifax started reporting my DOB incorrectly.  The month and year were correct, but the day of the month was wrong.  I submitted a dispute and received confirmation within a week that it had been corrected.  That was the end of April 2008.  I thought that was the end of that, and I didn't confirm the persistence of this correction on many subsequent EQ pulls.  Then last August, as I was responding to someone here who had an incorrect birth date, I realized that the error had reappeared.  I have no idea when this happened, but I'm guessing that it reverted to the wrong date almost immediately.

From August 2009 through March, I have submitted SIX disputes in an attempt to get this fixed, once and for all.  I have submitted my driver's license and SS card on at least 3 occasions.  As you can infer, after each of the first 5 disputes the error was only temporarily corrected.  As of now, my DOB has been reporting correctly for two whole months.  But I'll keep checking to see if this problem reappears.

For the longest time, I couldn't figure out who might be reporting my DOB wrong.  Between August 2007 and April 2008, I opened only one new credit account.  However, this creditor had my correct DOB on file.

But now I'm cautiously optimistic that my problem might be permanently fixed.  On February 1, shortly after I disputed with EQ for the fifth time since August, I pulled my score here and my DOB was correctly listed.  A few days later, I obtained my report directly from EQ, and my DOB was incorrect.  Comparing the two reports, I discovered that a single creditor's entry had updated in those few days.  It was a CC that I have had for about 12 years.  I called them up, and lo and behold, my DOB was wrong - and was the same DOB that kept reappearing on my credit reports.  I had them change it, and then allowed another billing cycle to pass and let them update EQ and...the error came back again.  So I disputed again and got confirmation that it has been changed.  Two billing and reporting cycles have now passed since that last dispute, and so far my DOB is still reporting correctly.

Still, I can't understand this whole issue.  Why would my CC report updated balances immediately, but have a lag in reporting my correct DOB?  Why did this CCC suddenly change my DOB for no apparent reason?  But my biggest question of all is why did this one CCC's incorrect reporting "trump" all the other creditors who reported my correct birthdate?  I have two dozen accounts reporting, and I know for a fact that most of them have my correct birth date.

TU and EX, by the way, have always had the correct date.  Yet my CC reports to those as well.  I just don't get it.

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It's amazing that it only takes one to screw up a DOB on EQ, but EX and TU don't have that problem.

I believe that if you have verified your DOB with EQ then they should have the ability ot make your correct DOB frozen on your report.  If a creditor then reports incorrectly, then EQ can hassle the creditor and not us.

P.S.  You do know that it only takes two to start a class action, right? 

[Lel]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Lel wrote:

<snip - no one needs to read my rant twice.>

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It's amazing that it only takes one to screw up a DOB on EQ, but EX and TU don't have that problem.

I believe that if you have verified your DOB with EQ then they should have the ability ot make your correct DOB frozen on your report.  If a creditor then reports incorrectly, then EQ can hassle the creditor and not us.

P.S.  You do know that it only takes two to start a class action, right? 

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Are you offering your services as lead attorney, pro bono?

[Anonymous]

BOTH...!

[Anonymous]

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@Lel wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Lel wrote:

<snip - no one needs to read my rant twice.>

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It's amazing that it only takes one to screw up a DOB on EQ, but EX and TU don't have that problem.

I believe that if you have verified your DOB with EQ then they should have the ability ot make your correct DOB frozen on your report.  If a creditor then reports incorrectly, then EQ can hassle the creditor and not us.

P.S.  You do know that it only takes two to start a class action, right? 

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Are you offering your services as lead attorney, pro bono?

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I would were it not for the fact that Uncle Sam's Misguided Children would get pretty upset with me. 

[ScarletFever]

Is that a trick question? Equifax is both! Oh, and stupid too. They just want to make life difficult by making ridiculous requests to stall the process. They are criminally stupid.

[Anonymous]

WOW...I feel sorry for young people today...MY house was bought long before this FICO mess and I will never buy anything large I would have to finance again....

[BungalowMo]

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@Anonymous wrote:

WOW...I feel sorry for young people today...MY house was bought long before this FICO mess and I will never buy anything large I would have to finance again....

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How does this comment relate to this thread?   Just wondering....