Worst Credit Reporting Agency?

[Anonymous]

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@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.

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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.

[Anonymous]

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@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.

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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?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Jeffhacker]

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. 

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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!

[Anonymous]

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@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!

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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,