By nature, I am a nice person. In my first attempt to resolve a problem, I try to be nice. Eventually, I get so ticked off, I tend to get nasty. Experian merged my report with someone else. I got extra SS#'s, credit lines, addresses, etc. It made me look like I was pulling some type of scam - operating under 3 different ss#'s. I wrote a well thought out letter detailing the problem and mailed it to EX. They deleted the credit lines but left the other info (ss#'s, addresses, phone numbers, etc) on the report. Then, in a few days, they reinserted most of the trade lines. Conclusion: Nice, well thought out letters do not work with EX. Then I tried online disputing, again being nice. They verified the information. I have never dealt with these creditors in my life, the "other me" lives in a different state. How can they verify the info? Maybe they didn't call? Conclusion: Nice, well thought out online disputes do not work with EX. Then I called and got nasty. I told the rep I had been dealing with this for months and had gotten nowhere. She promised to fix all the problems within 48 hours. Conclusion: Nasty may work. Nice will not work. I will see if she follows through. I was on hold for 23 minutes. Every 40 seconds I got the "your call is important to us. Please hold on". If my call is so important, then why don't they answer the phone?
I believe they prefer telephone calls to letters-- easier to get around when there's no documentation. It sounds like you've done everything you're supposed to do. Why not take it to the next level and file suit? If you have all your documents, it should be open and shut: Negligent non-compliance. http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra.htm#617 Start with small-claims; ask for an award equal to the amount of postage you used. I'm serious; give your local magistrates a chance to show you that the system works. If it doesn't work, then you'll be one more case for reform of the law. Let them bring in their lawyers and bump it up to the civil division court. Then, try to hire a lawyer on contingency for the the "costs of the action together with reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the court." Even if you don't hire the attorney, the oppostion will look silly moving it out of small-claims-- and there are many places to tell your story (while remaining anonymous; I believe the desire for privacy/anonymity is the reason most of these cases don't see the light of day). One way or another, you've got a story to tell in the court of public opinion. Stay in the "nice" mode and live to fight another day.
UPDATE> Nasty works. The phone call yesterday resulted in everything being deleted from the other person. Seven accounts deleted, plus 2 extra social security numbers, extra addresses, phone numbers, etc. It was all gone in about three hours. I asked her how they could have verified this info twice with the creditors when they were not my accounts. She didn't answer. I told her I knew they did bogus verifications. Her reply was that all these creditors were reporting me as the borrower. She would not admit they merged the credit reports. Bottom line was no change in my score.
If anybody ever documents and publishes one of these alleged series of events, thousands of credit repair agents will be looking for other work. I'm not holding my breath.
