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Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself

Long story short... I have to eat my words as even though I tell everyone I know never dispute online or over the phone I had a moment of weakness and thought it would be quick and painless. For a fleeting moment it was... and then it wasnt Smiley Frustrated Updating erroneous addresses and an incorrect name variation and DOB seemed like flawless 10 minute victory through EQ. Holy hellfire was I wrong!!. Entered system clicked a few buttons... seemed to update till I got to the name and DOB which flagged to call the CSR as that couldnt be automated. No problem... grab the phone. Get CSR on the phone, explain situation.. he offers to be helpful and away we go down file repair road. Hit a few bumps, CSR asks to upload supporting docs through secure upload... no problem ... CSR gets Docs... "problem" He neglects to tell me that in 2019 EQ's system cant handle PDF's only image files like JPG and Tiff... I'm like "Fur real doe?" Smiley Indifferent He explains "yes" Ok.. it is what it is and off I go to convert PDF to JPG and resubmit thru secure upload. CSR thanks me and gets busy clicking away in theh background spitting out confirms like they are going out of style. He explains all is taken care of and to write down the confirm #s and I will get email as well... cool.

 

Fast forward to yesterday (2 days) I get EQ system confirm updates that dispute has been completed. Great. I check PDF confirm and it says all the changes have been made... awesome.. I can have the real me back... life is good. Fast forward to today I get a Alert from EX saying something was popping off in my EQ file.... Oh shizzle!!!... time to man the keyboard... something's going Down... "Not on my watch!!" Low and behold I cant get real-time access to my EQ file as I don't have that Platinum white glove service... **bleep**... What now? Jump from EX IDW Premium to EQ via CK to see if I can figure this out... Check # of account's, account balances, score changes... Nothing. Now I'm getting ansy. Have to go straight to the source... myEQ to see if I can see something from the rear. Lo and behold ZERO of the confirmed changes were actually changed... ZERO! Smiley Surprised WTH? How... What... I saw... even the CSR said... and the email confirms... WTH???? OK escalate time... EQ Hotline... here I come. Smiley Mad

 

I get a CSR after a myriad of AI prompts. "How can I help you Sir?" I explain in detail from start to finish and I can hear it in her voice she thinks the situation didnt occur the way I explained... I tell her about "W****r" my friendly CSR that helped me and basically  manually completed the previous dispute and assured me everything was "good to go". I swear she said "there's no "W****r" here" under her breath. I know I heard her but cant prove it. She didnt repeat it. I explained to her how the CSR had me upload supporting docs with correct information and everything. She tells me... get this... theres only two ways to get docs to EQ... 1) Mail and 2) Fax. I fell off my chair. I was thinking I just got schooled by the CSR and she was now mocking my Newbieness at CR disputing. I swear she went in on me if it wasnt for the fact that she beleived there was no Secure Upload. I almost started to laugh but couldnt as I was mentally shocked as to the path the conversation was going. I finally said "I have confirms!!... I have confirms!!!" It didnt impress her one bit. She was unphased. As I pressed the issue she asked for the numbers then began to say they didnt exist.... "What?"... "I have confirms!!!" "Look theyre downloaded directly from YOUR website..." She relented and asked for the numbers again. Now I'm buckling up for the Twilight Zone adventure that was to come. I started to repeat the numbers for a third time when she stated "Ok I found one..." I let out a huge sigh of relief... maybe too soon. The confirms apparantly confused her as she couldnt believe that the information that was stated as "deleted" and "updated" were still there in their original form. As this is going on, I learn frustratingly that even though they make you repeat to them in the "security questions" portion of the call your entire life history to confirm that "You iz You" the CSRs will make every effort to not read what it is they see on your file. I'm like.. "What does it show for my DOB?" She states "It shows what you said" ... "No... No... what is it showing now?" she replies "It says what you stated when I asked you to tell me what your DOB was." I'm like the system is showing a wrong DOB."  She says... "What system?" ... I say "Your system"... "What system is that?" she replied. At that moment I had to take a deep breath. She was working me over like a schoolyard bully. Finally I repeat myself 10 different ways to Sunday to get confirmation that we agree the info is inaccurate and needs to be updated... HOWEVER I need to fax the documents to EQ. "What documents?"... "Your supporting documents" she says. "The ones you have in your Secure Upload system?" ... "Yes" she states. Urrrgggghhh!!!. "Ok.. lets go... I have a fax right here" "No no.. you have to write a letter and EQ will get back to you in 30 days."  "No... No... No... this cant be happening." "Oh but is" My inner voice quips. At that point I just want off the phone as I just wasted 45 minutes plus another 45 from the previous dispute phone call to EQ. I end the call nicely as it wasnt her issue but my own Newbieness that caused this whole trainwreck.

 

Moral of my misadventure is.... "NO SHORTCUTS!!!!" It aint worth it and you just may set yourself back further than when you started. Smiley Frustrated I couldnt help but laugh at myself for this entire escapade. Smiley Very Happy Should've known WAAYYYYYY better. Fax or USPS CMRR only!! And as luck would have it, I never found what triggered that original EX alert on my EQ file.

Message 1 of 15
14 REPLIES 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself

Sorry to hear this OP. The only real thing I can say is “Welcome to dealing with Equifax”. I’m pretty sure they’re incapable of tying their shoes. Scary to think they have control of so much personal info. Best strategy is HUCA - hang up, call again. Get a different CSR, try again. Ask to speak to a supervisor. Escalate and eventually you may get someone who passed fourth grade and can help.
Message 2 of 15
CreditInspired
Community Leader
Super Contributor

Re: Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself

I’m so sorry for your long, drawn out mini series with Equifax but IDK OP, changing/updating erroneous addresses, incorrect name variation, and DOB IMHO all scream possible identity fraud. Maybe a supervisor looked over the original CSR’s updates and decided “oh blasphemy.”

Just my 2cents.

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Message 3 of 15
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself

Disputing online or over phone is a great option for CRAs and CAs, but not for consumer 

If it's something important, it should always be certified mail and keep copies of all supporting documentation 

 

This still does not even mean that dispute will be treated properly, but it's the right way to do it, especially if you need to file a complain or engage in civil action later. 

 

 

Message 4 of 15
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself

There were more shennanigans by EQ, as well as, a slight language barrier issue but the original post was quite long already. They are the only CRA with this wrong info to make matters worse. No other CRA has my wrong DOB... I checked. Similar number of accounts across the board so I really dont know how its wrong in the system and as a cherry on top the DOB is off by ONE DAY. I asked where that was reported from and she wouldnt tell me. Grrrr... Uploaded my DL, Birth Certificate and still couldnt get this fixed. The first CSR was at least helpful and could see the info was completely out of whack in the system. They tripped up tho as they either reinserted the DPs without notification or were never truly deleted as the dispute confirmation stated. Mind you this happened twice. Theyre up to 10 violations and counting already including other DPs originally disputed and still there after deletion confirmation from them. I dont have time to make a mountain out of what seems to be a simple resolution but this is becoming hard to ignore. I submitted the dispute on paper this time so we'll see how they respond this time.

Message 5 of 15
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself


@Remedios wrote:

Disputing online or over phone is a great option for CRAs and CAs, but not for consumer 

If it's something important, it should always be certified mail and keep copies of all supporting documentation 

 

This still does not even mean that dispute will be treated properly, but it's the right way to do it, especially if you need to file a complain or engage in civil action later. 

 

 


Silly me, I thought "personal information" dispute would be a simple task. No issues with other CRAs. If this was an "account" dispute then CMRR all the way. EQ is special in many ways.

Message 6 of 15
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself

You want the personal information change to be somewhat involved

If it was not, I could call and change your address, your DOB, apply for bunch of cards etc and ruin your life in minutes

 

While EQ is indeed something else, this part should not be made easy. It is not convenient, but neither is ID theft/fraud. 

 

Thank you for sharing, though. 

 

Message 7 of 15
GApeachy
Super Contributor

Re: Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself

OP, all you gotta do is look online at INDEED, you'll see the complaints from the employees, (unclear and procedures are key words) some of which are high schoolers, temp. workers and such.  Just check the drop down box for ALL (positions and places around the world) and that'll pretty much sum it up.

 

So like @Remedios stated above, send in writing (This is me saying this part: it goes to someone fluent in your language- well hopefully) and have that paper trail. Good luck, I think a lot, if not most here has had to take aspirin cause of them.

My Take Home Pay Don't Take Me Home
Message 8 of 15
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself


@Remedios wrote:

You want the personal information change to be somewhat involved

If it was not, I could call and change your address, your DOB, apply for bunch of cards etc and ruin your life in minutes

 

While EQ is indeed something else, this part should not be made easy. It is not convenient, but neither is ID theft/fraud. 

 

Thank you for sharing, though. 

 


Believe me, I get it. My background is actually financial data and security. Never really used CCs all that much in the past with very few life changes in the recent past so I ignored my own files not thinking much of it until now. I agree there should be checks and balances, however its not like there wasnt a verbal security check and the fact that I provided documentation to support my claim. I didnt "add" any data to my file other than attempting to correct my DOB which was off by one day. If they just stated they couldnt do it onile and all documentation must be submitted directly via USPS then no problem, thats 5 minutes and Im on my way. What transpired was a cluster of showing that the prior interaction resulted in deletions and updates to my account however the system didnt save the changes made by the CSR. Confirmations were printed and loaded to my file and as according to "policy" will remain viewable for 30 days. I already downloaded for paper trail. It could be someone behind the scenes was attempting to save the world by reversing the results of the prior investigation but thats a bit much. My file isnt that attractive for a target. A one-off consideration is that I have been familiarizing myself with the "Freeze" feature recently and maybe that had something to do with it. A few frozens and thaws in the past few weeks may have crossed in the system. Who knows... thinking out loud.

Message 9 of 15
zerofire
Valued Contributor

Re: Never never never... Ever!!!! Dispute over the phone or online.... Kicking myself

Sounds like EQ really upped the security to the point that the whole system locks key identifiers. Getting hacked will do things like that. If you want something done reasonable fast get a fax machine otherwise have fun with the USPS. I am lucky my phone company offers fax sending over my line included in the ~$7 price.

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