Free Annual Credit Report? Right…
I just sit here, frustrated and entangled in a web of marketable deceit purported by the three credit reporting agencies of the United States: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. In the early years of this millenium, the United States government (Congress) enacted a law requiring these three credit reporting agencies to issue a free annual credit report to every eligible U.S. citizen that requested one, the most common method being the site, www.annualcreditreport.com .
Examples in this article are used in accordance with the Fair Use Act and are considered inclusive only as proof of concept on the article’s subject.
For those of us that had been had on more than one occassion by such agencies, this seemed like a strike back in our favor in the first two-three years of it’s existence - however, now I am concerned that something originally intended for the well-being of a nation has been turned into a menial marketing ploy by these agencies. What is worse, is that there is no failsafe in the letter of the law to stop them under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) which was enacted by the Federal Trade Commission.
Spelled out in black and white on the FTC website here, it states:
Q: How long does it take to get my report after I order it?
A: If you request your report online at annualcreditreport.com, you should be able to access it immediately. If you order your report by calling toll-free 1-877-322-8228, your report will be processed and mailed to you within 15 days. If you order your report by mail using the Annual Credit Report Request Form, your request will be processed and mailed to you within 15 days of receipt.
Whether you order your report online, by phone, or by mail, it may take longer to receive your report if the nationwide consumer reporting company needs more information to verify your identity.
There also may be times when the nationwide consumer reporting companies receive a high volume of requests for credit reports. If that happens, you may be asked to re-submit your request. Or, you may be told that your report will be mailed to you sometime after 15 days from your request. If either of these events occurs, the nationwide consumer reporting companies will let you know.
However, this is a loophole being exploited by the companies themselves in the Act. After successfully downloading my credit report from the Equifax website, http://www.equifax.com , through the Annual Credit Report link and saving it in PDF format (something they will not let you do from the site, which I speculate they view it as a danger to their bottom-line business when you’re caching a local copy of your report and not re-visiting their site to get an up-to-date product offered in one of their service packages), it seemed that all would be well and that I would have a fair chance of getting all three credit bureau reports online as I had in years past. [NOTE: Before explaining the next event, I will credit (no pun intended) Equifax with the fact that despite the host of advertisements and offers for their additional services on their website to boost your product portfolio 'purchase' from them, they are abiding by the traditional intent of the Act's opportunity to the citizens it serves - it is the ONLY one that is doing so as far as I can tell.]
Moving forward, this unfortunately was not the case. As I moved to TransUnion’s website, http://www.transunion.com , through the Annual Credit Report link, the credit bureau asked me a series of security questions I had already previously filled out as I had used the site years before. Why it couldn’t determine this information based on the pre-registered username and password combination it stored on file in the first place, I couldn’t say. What I do know is that upon entering the site as defined in the FTC’s instructions, I was greeted not by a page or link with my free annual credit report, but moreso I found myself surrounded by a sea of ads requesting that I “click here” for a credit report for only $10.00. $10.00? What happened to my free annual credit report?
I’ve been had once again, tricked by a lawful confidence artist of Biblical proportions. I clicked on the tab at the top stating I could contact them - well I did. Here is what happened:
- Called them up, went through the usual annoying menu system that places people in a state of confusion to break them down for the outsourced, Norwegian or Indian customer service representative that will undoubtedly be no help to them.
- My agent’s name was Nigel. Now, I am pretty good at understanding what individuals are saying in broken English, my wife’s father doesn’t speak much of it and you have to learn to put two-and-two together on what is being said, but Nigel was definitely a special case which led to further frustration - these companies count on this because a large percentage of callers will hang up to not have to deal with it and the company will continue their operations unobstructed. For the sake of the reader, I will attempt to piece together what he was trying/intending to say below in his dialect:
- Nigel: Good afternoon, thank you for calling, can I have your information
- Me: Sure Nigel, my SSN is ………… .
- Nigel: Thank you for calling, how may I assist you?
- Me: Through the link provided on Annual Credit Report, I cannot find my free credit report to review/download after logging in, what gives? It is asking me to pay $10.00 for a credit report that is supposed to be free.
- Nigel: Thanks you sir , I understand your situation and I want give you a link.
- Me: Ok, Nigel, but what exactly is this link for?
- Nigel: Thanks you sir, but I will give you this link to login to the website and get your free credit report. It is www.transunion.com .
- Me: No kidding Nigel, thats interesting, because that just happens to be where I am at right now! I’ll do as you ask though.
- Nigel: Ok, thank you and we’ll go ahead and click on the free 30-day trial offer on the couple with the man holding the bag of apples.
- Me: I am thinking not Nigel, you do understand I am looking for a free annual credit report and not a credit report service your company offers correct? This site isn’t what I am looking for because I am not looking to spend any money today Nigel.
- Nigel: Thanks you sir, I understand your situation and I need to have you click below on the FACT ACT link so we can login to the website and get you your free credit report.
- Me: Thank sounds good, thanks.
- Nigel: No problem sir, now please click below on the FACT ACT link and login with your username and password.
- Me: Wait a minute, Nigel, this is the site I was just in!
- Nigel: Ok, thank you I understand your situation and as you’ve logged in please click on the credit report to receive your free credit report.
- Me: Nigel, I am a patient man, but I am clicking on the exact same link as I did before when attempting to get the credit report for free and you’re telling me now to revisit the same link! I don’t need you to thank me because I am not doing anything for you, I simply need you to direct me to the proper link for my free credit report or manipulate my account data to reflect it as such.
- Nigel: Ok. Thank you sir, I am very sorry for inconvenience, I need you to give me your e-mail address so that I can send you out a free gift certificate through e-mail to get your free credit report online.
- Me: Well Nigel, two things on that: A) If it was a free credit report, why would I need a gift certificate to purchase it and B) what are you going to do with this e-mail address information if I give it to you?
- Nigel: Yes, thank you, I need you e-mail address to send you the gift certificate.
- Me: Listen Nigel, I understand why you need it, what I want is assurances that your company and ONLY your company will be using it for their identification purposes in resolving this matter and will not be giving it to outside companies for their own use - as you are currently being digitally recorded, do I have your assurance this will not take place?
- Nigel: Yes, we will use it only, can I please have your e-mail.
- Me: Ok Nigel, it is ……………………… .
So, after that conversation, what resolution does this leave me with? A gift certificate that never arrived to my e-mail. A misleading set of links and product identification attempting to coerce me into purchasing their service. No free annual credit report. A headache. An most certain likelihood that Nigel really didn’t understand a lick of the last question I asked him and just said yes which means my e-mail will now be spammed by hundreds of companies of the next couple of years because it has recently gone into his database.
On that note, I ditched my attempts to get the TransUnion report and went to the last agency, Experian, http://www.experian.com , through the Annual Credit Report link. With them, I didn’t even get to their website. The site denied me after asking me for the last four of my social security number. When I went to their site to find some contact information, the phone number I called led me to a circus of menus full of unnecessary information I didn’t need in double-speak and never relayed me to an operator or service representative.
I’m soured on this system. I am soured on the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s inability to protect the people from three companies that are continously manipulating this process or not providing a standardized procedure for accessing their information in an immediate, timely fashion as advertised. The FTC is letting the U.S. citizens down by not being more explicit in the wording of the Act and disciplining these bureaus for their contempt. What more can we do now, but attempt to file a complaint through the FTC? Well, I am doing both that and writing to three of my congress persons to have this wolf-in-sheep’s clothing operation reviewed. I encourage you to do so as well because the more voices in arms against, the greater the chance for change.
July 23rd, 2007 at 4:55 pm
All well and good that you are going to file a complaint and write your congress people but do you think that it will do any good? In my opinion I have lost a lot of faith in the government and that it is just bought and sold by big business. So I agree with you that filing a complaint is the way to go, in fact what else could you do besides go on a rampage with a baseball bat and handgun?(I think thats from a movie) But do you actually think it will help?
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:01 pm
CJ,
From the looks of the responses I’ve gotten from the three agencies themselves, or the lack thereof in some cases, I’d say it probably won’t do any good - individually. However, if enough complaints pile up about the same thing from a couple of hundred/thousand people, they’re going to take notice that “hey, someone feel’s we’ve got a serious problem on our hands..”.
Jon
September 28th, 2007 at 4:42 am
This is a vicious circle these bureaus play with people, I’m with you, it happened to me, the only hope would be with a complain to the proper authorities expecting they will look at this complaints.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:01 pm
I have not read every word on this website yet, but I have a terribly frustrating issue with
several companies and bureaus. On October 18,2007, I went to annual free credit report website, as I have every four months since the program was initiated in 2005. I rotate among the three credit bureaus. It was Equifax’s turn this time. I requested my report and printed it. However, it did not contain such information as previous reports from such bureaus did, information required by law to be furnished. It did not contain payment history with different creditors nor a list of inquiries made by various financial institutions, etc., only consumer identification information, most of which I furnished in my request.
I then proceeded in an effort to obtain a complete report to which I was entitled, not an abbreviated report that was of no value to me in monitoring possible theft of my identity. I have tried virtually every avenue I can think of to obtain a telephone number that will allow me to talk to a live person about this at Equifax, at the Annual Credit Report Service and at the Consumer Protection Division of the Federal Trade Commission, but every number I’ve tried is an “automated” system that doesn’t provide a predetermined opening for reporting my problem. At some telephone locations I was told that I could complain or talk with someone if I would call the telephone number provided on my credit report. There is no telephone number on the credit report I received. Also, there is no confirmation number on the report I received which is necessary to use, I am told, when you contact Equifax about this. Any ideas about how I should pursue this matter quickly (i.e., by phone) or is my only effective course (?) of action to write Equifax, Annual Credit Report Servioe and the Federal Trade Commission (all of whom furnish postal addresses on their websites) and see if anyone will respond during this century, if ever?
October 25th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
@David
Have you tried the following?
General: 1-800-997-2493
Report fraud: 800-997-2493
Business Report Credit 800-997-2493
If you can’t get their ridiculous automated system, you should take the FTC’s recommendation to send your correspondence/inquiries through Certified US Mail at this address:
Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
If you continue to have issues, file an official complaint with FTC and notify your congress persons that reformation is needed on the principle guidelines these bureaus are required to adhere to.
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:20 am
I am pleased to report that an Equifax company that handles my credit file responded to a letter I mailed them through the US Post Office with a complete copy of my credit report or file in mid-November. It appeared to me to be accurate. Before I had received it, I had reached a live person by phone at the FTC in Washington, and had filed a complaint about this. The following day, I received my credit report I had requested. I telephone the FTC and cancelled my complaint or dispute, and wrote the credit report provider, thanking them for sending me the report and advising them that I had cancelled the complaint I had filed with the FTC. Case closed at this point, so far as I am concerned, but am shocked to learn that my entry on your website shows up on a google search of my name???
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:30 pm
@David
I am glad all has worked out for you! I hope their results are satisfactory and that your needs have been fulfilled in that regard.
Regarding the Google search, this is pretty normal. Google crawls and scrapes the web over millions of pages.
Everytime there is an entry here or most other sites (unless instructed not to by some scripting), you’ll always find articles and comments indexed. You used your name to register with this site, “David A. Tanquary” to comment to this post so of course that content will get crawled along with your commentary. Once a article or comment is generated on theReformed, it is open to public viewing or scrutiny without restriction, into electronic history for as long as search engines cache data.
December 2nd, 2007 at 1:59 am
“If you continue to have issues, file an official complaint with FTC and notify your congress persons that reformation is needed on the principle guidelines these bureaus are required to adhere to.”
I response, I don’t understand why the annualcreditreport.com Website should have ads displaying in your login account area!
Suggest, if possible, you ignore the ads and proceed through the order process.
On balance, though, I think you’re right about their cumbersome order process. You can always file an official complaint at the FTC Website just to make your point. After all, why let them off the hook?
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:10 pm
this is the 2nd year the so called free annual credit report has not let me receive a free report. but they will give you one if you pay. the first year worked great. since then it’s the old pay to play free annual credit report game. i have called all the listed telephone numbers with the usual touch tone #1 for this #2 for that and a bubbly thank you for calling and is there anything else we can help you with today before you go sir/mam? no.well then have a great day. and that’s assuming you can get even get a live person to talk to. i must assume the govt. is involved with these companies, as witnessed by my friends and others on this sight. uncle sam err(barry bonds)knocks one out of the park again. thanks for allowing an out let for americans frustrations. and, oh yes i will contact my elected officials on this matter probably more than likely to hear them say (were working on this, just be patient while we look into these purported un-official complaints.) do you really think were going to get another free (ha ha) annual credit report from these credit agencies who seem to be clouded in a cloak of secrecy about how our credit reports are even determined? i only have one piece of advice, if you call for help, you might want to drop a valium first. and just to let you all know, i have a one year free credit monitoring of my credit because of a lack of security from my former employer through experian. woo woo.i happen to be in the top 91.08 percentile for my credit worthyness. so this is not just a spilled milk person talking. and oh yes, have a great day.
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:55 am
The only thing these credit reporting bureaus understand is force. You have to force them to do what they are supposed to do. File a lawsuit Pro Se against them in Federal Court. That will get their attention. You will most certainly win so they will make a settlement, and you’ll getthe damn credit report you are entitled to plus a cash settlement. Hold them accountable and make them suffer the consequences of their behavior.
January 20th, 2008 at 2:53 am
There are many good reasons to get your free yearly credit report, even if it may take a sidetrip around the world. The first reason is to make sure there is not misinformation posted about you as many of my business women subscribers and myself have learned can happen to just about anyone. It wrecks havoc with your credit score. Thanks for alerting people about the credit reports. I just hope that people don’t misunderstand and not ever ask for their report that they are entitled to because it’s important to know what the credit agencies have posted.
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