Equifax - FINALLY A REAL ANSWER!!

I've always had problems accessing my credit reports online with Equifax. Each time I get a copy in the mail or when I am able to get it online, 5-10 inquiries (per report, for an average of 40-50 inquiries that I've never made) appear on my credit report. I tried to dispute them, but they say that inquiries are a matter of fact. We'll after getting fed up today, I called equifax internet support again today and got a person who really clued me in (we talked about canadian beer and women too while he was looking into the problem - He was Canadian):

My credit report information is accurate, my username information is accurate. The problem resides on their end. It's a problem between their database server and their internet server. During the transmission of my report, the report header is getting hashed, which means in technical terms that the report information is comming back garbled. Here's how Equifax's website works:

You sign up for an account, either a regular account or a creditwatch account. Each time you access your report, a request is made to the database server that houses your credit report. The database server sends back a confirmation code to the internet web server that it has compiled the report. The Internet server then says okay, send it to me so I can verify the person with the information I have (this keeps the info from being transmitted to the wrong person supposedly). During that transmission, because their network is overworked (as I was told on the phone), reports are not being displayed properly and some not at all. The internet web server cannot verify that the report it received from the database server is your report and therefore comes up with an error code, that error code is transmitted to you for your information when calling technical support.

The problem is that Equifax cannot fix the problem. It resides in the communication between the database and web server. When they pull up your report on their computer, they are doing it directly from the database server, NOT from the internet web server. Their application is hard coded and not web driven. They attempted to use a web driven program, but had so many problems with the exact same thing, they opted to go back to the hard coded application to access your report on thier computer. There isn't a fix for this as of yet, but he says that they are aware of this issue and one in 1000 people are experiencing this same problem. He admitted that this is probably the reason that I'm getting mysterious inquiries on my credit report. When some of you are pulling your report, and I'm trying to pull mine, some of your inquiries are being mixed with the bad data being transmitted and thus ..end up on my report, permanently. Because of the datastream and the way it writes the data (it works the same way when you dispute something).

I wish I had a tape recorder, this guy was totally honest, even to the point of telling me that they have a call time limit which has to average 5 minutes or less (we were on the phone for 27 minutes). He told me about how Equifax is trying unsuccessfully to stop the bumpage on inquiries and said that a team of programmers had been working to resolve the issues with their software, but can't seem to fix it just yet. He also told me about the reason you can only pull every 24 hours now, it's because they hope to curb the bumpage of inquiries. I told him that I had a consipiracy theroy that FICO scores are market driven, in that when the stock market is bad, scores are lower, when the stock market is higher and consumer confidence is up, the scores are higher. He didn't deny that it was possible, but didn't confirm it either. He said they keep the exact scoring software in a seperate location and access to any real info about it very restricted from personnel.

All in all, it was a good day with Equifax. A lot of information learned, hopefully this might be of interest to some of you. If Equifax can't fix my problem, what makes them think I'm going to pay $70 for a Credit watch membership that's unusable. I think I just might sue Equifax for discriminating against me and not allowing me the same privilige of accessing my credit reports online like most other people can.

 

Thanks,
Hopefully it helps!

 

The sad part about all of this is this:

Equifax knows about the problem. During our conversation, he said that they had a Tech Support & Web support staff meeting to discuss common problems that were occuring. From what I was told on the phone, and what I've learned from my other calls to tech support, Equifax knows the data they are giving out usually contain errors. They know that their system can and usually does cause problems with reports. They know that the inquiries may not be valid, but they have no system in place to accurately verify the inquiries. An inquiry is an inquiry, no matter if it was someone elses inquiry and placed on your report by a network error or someone who requested your report. The first time I got my report online, there were accounts that didn't even belong to me. They were my deceased mothers! Equifax refused to remove the inquiries and accounts! Even after I explained to three supervisors that I couldn't have filed bankruptcy when I was only 13 years old! My mother has been dead for over two. My father got the idea to pull a copy of her credit report. Low and behold what do we find? A complete copy of my credit report mixed in with hers, on top of that it lists her address as my father's address and says that there is an inquiry for credit that on 6/16/02 (mind you she passed away in April 00). On top of THAT is the fact that the same inquiry on her report now shows up on my fathers report AND shows up on my credit report too! Same date, same company, same notations.

I feel like I'm getting it from both ends! One day my FICO was 638, the next it was 599 and today, I don't know what it is because I have to wait for my report. Funny thing is, a few months ago they said they fixed the problem and I was able to get my report online (one time only), credit score was 601, two days later, I tried to get an updated report and it wouldn't let me, so they sent me a copy in the mail.........(a week later)....my score was 598.... and 6 more inquiries were listed. Equifax still stands behind their policy that inquiries are a matter of fact and record and will not remove them. I'm going to call them the day I receive my report and DEMAND they remove EVERY inquiry from my report because their system is screwed up and because I can no longer distinguish what I applied for and what inquiries have been added to my report by them. If they refuse to delete ALL of them, I will be at the court house the next morning filing every motion, court case and action I can against them for everything I can prove and not prove. I have them over a barrel, and when push comes to shove I've got them on a couple of these charges:

Failure to Keep and Report accurate information about me.
Failure to investigate information contained in my report.
Reporting information that they know is incorrect.
Financial Damages resulting from the inquiries on my report that I never authorized.

I might even go as far as to include all the companies that are listed on my report in the lawsuit. That way they can deny that I applied for credit with them in front of the judge and then he/she can ask Equifax about that inquiry. I'm only being denied credit now because of inquiries. I've authorized about 2-3 inquries..... why do I have a total of 60 on my report and HOW could I have applied for credit with the same company three seperate days in a row?? Mind you, these aren't soft inquiries and these aren't Equifax consumer inquiries... these are real HARD inquiries from companies.

Again, I hope the information can help someone. It's certainly put me in a different mind set for my next round with Equifax, which if they push me, could end up like that suit someone won against TU for millions. I hate having to go that far, but Equifax needs to do something immediately, instead of giving me the same old speeches.

 

Funny you mention that! That's the #1 reason. Excessive inquiries in last 12 months. Says that I have been seeking way to much credit and it would probably be better if I utilized what I had already and not seek anymore.

PURE BS if you ask me.. all of it.... now to await my report in the snail mail........

Californians Notice - MAKE SURE YOU SPECIFICALLY ASK FOR A COPY OF YOUR SCORE TO BE SENT WITH YOUR MAILED REPORT. California is the only state (to my knowledge) that now requires CRA's to provide your score with every credit report. But since it's a seperate form that they have to fill out, make sure you ask.