I was curious as to your experiences with the three CRA's. Which one do you think is the worse one to deal with? My experience: Equifax. Fairly quick but seems to be able to deal with only one problem at a time. Two problems in the same letter really throws them. Will eventually solve all the problems but it takes a long time. TU - resolved all my problems with one letter but took longer than Equifax. Experion - takes forever, especially when it comes to sending out the credit report to get the process started. Can resolve more than one problem at a time but probably not more than two. Smarter than Equifax but not by much. Based on my experiences, I would recommend only one dispute per letter. Make it real simple because we are not dealing with bright people. My overall impression is that these are people who could not find a job elsewhere. What are your experiences? Based on my comments, I better proofread this before posting it.
I personally find that Trans Union is the most difficult to deal with because of the fact that EVERYTHING has to be done via U.S. mail. They will not even discuss anything over the phone for "confidentiality" reasons. Plus, I live in a region of the country that is served by Credit Bureau Central ("automated with Trans Union"), Credit Bureau Central is totally inept and has a way of actually aggravating situations by their absolute ineptness.With the other two CRA's you can handle minor problems and disputes over the phone, more often than not. Sean
Equifax gets my vote. Their inability to deal with more than one problem at a time is annoying. Their customer service reps are just dumb.
In my experience, Equifax is most difficult. They are ingorant, stubborn, lazy, and downright malicious. Experian deleted everything I disputed immediately, and shortened their reporting time to 5 years instead of 7 (or so it appears to me - I've had things drop off that I never even disputed). Trans Union has been accurate and fair, more thorough than the other 2 in their reporting - they have things the other 2 don't have. All of them have responded promptly to my disputes, but I don't think Equifax even pays attention to anything I say - I think they just make up an answer - understandable when I read that thepeople who investigate are paid $7.50/hr., and expected to do 10 investigations per hour. So they just make the answers up in order to keep their jobs. That's 6 minutes per incestigation, hahaha. And I/m sure, like all of us, they tell jokes and drink coffee, in between.. breeze
My local Equifax bureau is the hardest to work with. They rarely investigate anything. and they are constantly sending me highlighted sentences from the OLD Credit Reporting Act. Grrrr. Experian and TU have been easiest to deal with. Though they both like to stall.
I have to completely agree with Kelly. Dealing with any of them can be a real challenge sometimes, but I love it when I catch them in some mistake or other. That's when I give them one of my favorite "karate chops" and then they wake up real quick. I win every time. But I quit fooling with the credit bureaus anymore until I have taken care of the source of the problem first which is the creditor/ca. Once I have them beat down to a nubbin, they are real happy to remove their reports for me without any further prodding. That way, I don't even have to fight with the credit bureaus. I let the creditor/ca do that for me. That's an even better way to go at it. Force the creditor/ca to give up ever trying to collect from you and you win every time. That makes a whole lot more sense to me than fiddling with the bullheaded credit bureaus.
Experian is the worst. Months ago I tried to have an outdated itrem removed and they supposedly verified it. I called and ask to have it reinvestigated because it was wrong. The supervisor came on the phone and said you only chance to dispute this item and they are not going to reinvestigate the item. I told them that they have inaccurate information in my file and I demanded that they correct the matter. She refused and said you could write to my supervisor if you like. She was impossible to deal with and I just hung up. So in my book they are the worst. I am disputing the information again months later I guess she was wrong,,,, Cyprigirl
Well, I certainly wish you luck, but my experience says that there is at least a 50-50 chance they will just come back with the same old answer all over again. If I catch them dead wrong, I use a trick that is about as effective as the one the farmer pulled on the lawyer feller who was out duck hunting and shot a duck which fell in the farmers field. The farmer told the lawyer he could not go on the farmer's land to get his duck. The lawyer threatened to sue the farmer. The farmer replied that they didn't settle things that way in these parts. The lawyer asked how the settled in these parts whereupon the farmer replied that they settled disputes like this one with the 3 kick rule. The lawyer asked how that works and the farmer replied, "I get to kick you 3 times and then it's your turn. We keep that up until one or the other gives up." Well, the lawyer was pretty active physically and went to the gym every morning so he figured he could beat that old farmer pretty easy, so he agreed. The farmer was wearing steel toed boots and his first kick was right where it hurt most. The lawyer dropped to the ground in real pain. The farmer's second kick just about turned his face to pulp and the 3rd kick was right to the kidneys. The lawyer slowly rose to his feet and smiled through his pain filled face and said "Ok, now it's my turn." The farmer replied, "Naw, I give up, you can have the duck."
Equifax is far and away the worst. Obviously inaccurate information is not deleted when disputed and in some cases the reporting status is changed after a dispute to a more adverse condition. They are incredibly frustrating.
In my experiance: Trans Union has been the best to deal with. They must employ the lazest people because every time I dispute, I always get my way! Equifax is a little difficult but ive still had success with them. So they come after trans union. Experian is a BI#TCH to deal with. ITS ALSO MY WORST REPORT. Every time a dispute with them, it comes back verified. one time i disputed a spring bill that was showing on my report for 4000 that WAS NOT MINE. They would NOT remove it. I finally got sick of them and sent then a really nasty letter threating to sue. The removed it on my next report. just my experiance, psugirl
I also hate experian because they never send you a full updated copy of your file when an investigation is completed, they just send the results page. Also, experian reports are way too long. My trans union is 2 pages (front and back) My equifax is 1 page front and back. psugirl
Experian. Hands down! This bureau is tough! Most of the time, they don't investigate. On one occasion, I actually received a letter saying that my disputed items were being investigated and, on the same day, got a second letter with the results. Needless to say, there were no changes. The disputed items had been verified. hehehe Yeah, right. Some investigation. Believe me, if I performed at my job in a similar manner, I would be fired! Donna
Experian is definitely the worst!!! I sent a dispute the first week of April. They signed the postal receipt April 10th. Three weeks later I get the famous "We are investigating and will get back to you in another month" letter. I called this morning to check the status of the dispute. Guess what? They say they have never received my dispute!!!! Since I have a postal receipt and their notification showing that they did receive it, I told them they should delete the items. Their answer: NO WAY!! Basically I was told to mail the dispute again. Grrrrrr!
I always request that, dirrectlyafter the dispute is finished, that a complete updated report report be sent with the updates and corrections,along with the names/addresses, phone#s with extention #s be provided of the person who provided the verification. VJ
So far, it looks like Experion and Equifax are tied for the worst. TU is way behind. Any other opinions?
Worst: TransUnion (can you spell S-L-O-W)? Best (with quickest results): Equifax, followed very closely by Experian. Worst with "canned answers" (otherwise read as "we're too lazy to look at it, so here is our automated response in print"): Equifax. Hardest to interpret: Equifax, followed by just a hair with TransUnion. Easiest to interpret: Experian (despite the number of pages). Most polite/helpful on the phone: TransUnion. Quickest to "verify" something when you know they really didn't: Equifax. Just my 3 cents. David On the lunch hour.
