Trying to correct FICO error

Hi all! First some basics: I have about 12,000 worth of debt altogether, including my car loan, and about 70,000 of available credit. I haven't been late or missed a payment on anything in over 20 years. I haven't applied for new credit since I bought my mattress last year, which has since been paid off. I pay about 3X my minimum payment on the only card I carry debt on, the other one I use I pay in full each month. I have paid off about $6000 of debt in the last year. My FICO (transunion) score has risen from 747 last May to the 750's as I have paid off debt.

My problem: One of my bank cards, as a courtesy, offers customers their Transunion FICO score on their web page.
It has been 757 for the last several months, then last week I got an e-mail alert from the bank that there has been a "significant change" in my score. So I log on, and find my score is now 724, a 33-point drop in one month! I see the problem right away: Next to the score, there is a little box that tells how much revolving debt I carry. It HAD said 10,000-15,000, which is accurate. Now it says $21,000-25,0000, which is NOT accurate, I have never carried that much debt.

So immediately, I go to Transunion's website and order my credit report. There is nothing inaccurate on it. I add all my debt listed on the report, and it says about $12,000, which is correct. So why does the FICO score page on my bank account say $21,000-$25,000? That is what I am trying to find out, because I am sure that error is the reason for my huge unexplained drop.

I call Transunion. They tell me they get the score from FICO, so I need to straighten it out with FICO. Okay, I call FICO. They say "we don't set the scores, we only provide the formula to Transunion to set your score. I call Transunion again. They insist FICO gives them a formula based on my credit information, therefore the error is on them and I need to call FICO to straighten it out. I ask for a supervisor, who tells me the same thing. I call FICO again. See where this is going?

FICO tells me over and over TU needs to fix it, and TU tells me over and over FICO needs to fix it. No one can tell me where that $21-25,000 number came from, since my credit report accurately reports $12,000. And I am between a rock and a hard place, and have absolutely NO IDEA what I am supposed to do from here.

So my questions are, who actually creates the score, and based on what information? Where did that $21-$25,000 figure come from, and most importantly, how do I fix this as long as I keep getting a bunch of minimum wage kids and their supervisors who keep telling me to call the other guy?

Thank you so much for any help you can give!

 

Yes, I agree with you about the customer service people. It is quite frustrating!
But who do I write the letter to? Both still insist they aren't responsible and have no idea where the number came from.

 

Actually, I think I found the answer, as someone had a similar problem on another forum and it sounded very similar to mine.

I transferred a balance from one card to another last month, and apparently the card company that got paid off did not report it, so when my FICO was calculated it looked like I had taken on more debt! Hopefully by the time it gets calculated next month, the score will be back up where it should be. I am so relieved to have an explanation that makes sense. Why on earth didn't any of the half dozen TU people I spoke to think of that??

I was considering getting one of those services where you can check your reports anytime, but I do not want to deal with TU! Are there any companies that do not outsource? It may be the language barrier, but I don't care what it is, it is frustrating. I returned my HP printer 2 days after purchase and got a Canon for that very reason.