acljump wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 10:33 am
I tried obtaining my free annual credit report from Equifax through the AnnualCreditReport.com website and it gave me an "Online Delivery Unavailable" error message. ...
...I'd rather not request my credit report by mailing sensitive documentation through the postal service where it could get lost.
Is Equifax not allowing credit reports to be obtained online anymore because of the data breach?
(Note: I'm able to obtain my credit report online from the other two credit reporting bureaus, Transunion and Experian.) ...
acljump wrote: ↑Sat May 02, 2020 9:08 am
kaneohe wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 9:26 pm
I requested DW's Equifax report by telephone in mid Feb. using that number and it arrived uneventfully 1-2 wks later as it always has. Hope nothing has changed since I just ordered mine today.
Its possible that requesting the credit report by telephone does work but my paper report may have been lost in the mail. I have been getting less mail delivered by USPS since the pandemic started. I don't know for sure what happened. All I know is that nothing ever arrived.
Eno Deb wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 9:37 pm
If you make a free account at my.equifax.com, you can view the Equifax credit report online up to 6 times per year. The account can also be used to manage the security freeze. Just make sure to dodge any attempts by them to get you to sign up for a paid service when you make the account.
I also heard that if you submit a complaint through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Equifax might fix the problem going forward.
My experience was similar to that of @acljump - the Equifax report could not be accessed through the annualcreditreport.com portal. The denial was worded "We are temporarily unable to grant this request. Please try again later." Experian and Transunion worked fine through the annualcreditreport.com portal.
I went to the trouble (and risk) of creating a MyEquifax account online and was immediately granted access to the credit report. However, this MyEquifax report was not presented as a single continuous report. Instead, you must click on each of several different sections - Revolving accounts, Mortgage Accounts, Installment Accounts, Other Accounts, Consumer Statements, Personal Information, Inquiries, Public Records, Collections ,etc. Then each of these must downloaded (or "print", then save as PDF) as separate files. Very awkward. The Equifax account access displays information stating that credit reports are available six times per year. There was no mention of the weekly reports supposedly offered through annualcreditreport.com.
I dislike the requirement to create an Equifax "account" for three reasons:
1. I am required to provide Equifax with additional information (e.g., cell phone number, email, etc.) that is now permanently linked to all of my other information in Equifax's database. And now available to hackers worldwide, plus any organization to whom Equifax wishes to sell the data.
2. I am now subject to additional communications from Equifax with various sales pitches that must be carefully handled to avoid inadvertent purchases or subscriptions. Good luck trying to cancel subscriptions or get refunds from Equifax.
3. I must carefully navigate and tread lightly through the MyEquifax website to avoid inadvertent purchases for paid services or subscriptions.
So - Equifax does not "play nice" with the annualcreditreport.com portal, requires consumers to create a direct online account with Equifax in order to obtain an online credit report, provides an awkwardly-formatted report through the MyEquifax account access, and frequently requires consumers to mail in sensitive data to obtain a report that should be available online through the annualcredireport.com portal. All of this from the company that was hacked, with release of sensitive data for hundreds of millions of customers.
How is it possible that this (in my opinion) criminally-negligent enterprise, masquerading as a legitimate business, allowed to stay in business?