After Court Battle Equifax Admits that God Exists

As reported in the Canadian Globe and Mail and the New York Daily News, Equifax consents to the existence of God.

"Without a decent credit rating, it’s tough to borrow for large purchases, as a Russian-American discovered.  The New Yorker, owner of a business called Gold Hard Cash, was refused a car loan because rating agency Equifax would not provide financial details on the man.

The problem? God Gazarov was told by Equifax that it “could not process his name as God.”   The suit alleged that an Equifax official told Gazarov it could not provide him or a lender with his credit file "because it could not process his name as 'God' and suggested that he should consider changing it."

After appearing before Brooklyn Federal Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes, the two parties to the suit struck an agreement, and Equifax will now acknowledge God’s name. He will also receive an undisclosed monetary settlement from the company...

Mr. Gazarov claims his name is not uncommon in Russia, and that he was named after his grandfather. Still, he’s used to the jokes. “My principal in junior high school would walk by me in the cafeteria and say, ‘Oh my God, there he is.’” "

Not to unlike the battle I faced with Equifax over the existence of my address,  but I'll be the first to admit that this was much better than my reported problem.

Proposal to Get Credit Reporting Agencies to Provide Timely and Accurate Information

I have noted on this blog instances where Credit Reporting Agencies are sloppy and inept and seem to be incapable of providing the minimum of quality control necessary to protect the consumers they report on.  They have also been shy on the level of customer support that is required to do the job right. I have watched as the Credit Reporting Agencies try to grind the consumer to a halt through endless revisions of erroneous corrections to their credit reports.

Obviously, as a business model, it pays for a Credit Reporting Agency to not invest in customer service because it will take away from their bottom line.  However, if they invest too little, the cost of compliance through fines and litigation will rise.  So, they must strike a balance that works for them.  Clearly, the level that they have arrived at to achieve this balance is tilted against the consumer too much.

Exactly what can we do as consumers to tilt the playing field more in our direction -- a more responsive Credit Reporting Agency?  Obviously, if consumers were more diligent in reporting or acting on violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act the cost to the Agencies would go up.  Unfortunately, many of the penalties to these agencies don't accrue until some point after they have been notified that something is wrong and then through either the laborious actions of the various government agencies or the courts.  This is not always the case.  For example, the release of credit information to those who are not authorized to receive it, once established could result in fines, or judicial damages.

First principle, you cannot know what is going on with your Consumer Credit File unless you look at it.
The Credit Reporting Agencies are required to provide to you on an annual basis a copy of your credit report for free.  All you have to do is request it.  In most instances you can do this either on line or via the telephone.  You do not necessarily have to write them a letter.  In fact, it is more costly for them if you call.

Second, you must notify the Credit Reporting Agency of any discrepancies in your file, no matter how minor the error is.  I have challenged my reports when a credit balance is off by as little as $1.  This requires the Agency to contact the company that reported the information to verify that the information is correct, or they have to remove the information. Even if the entry is correct, if it is stale (over 7 years old, except for bankruptcy) they must remove the information if you request it.  This, in aggregate, is a very costly process for the Credit Reporting Agencies, especially if you call in your request and use up precious customer service representative time. Of course, you will want a copy of the corrected report to verify that it has been corrected properly.

If the Credit Reporting Agencies are inundated with disputes on the contents of credit files, then they will be forced to expend more money on consumer support activities, or risk the liability of heavy fines and other damages through litigation.

Please comment on this proposal below with any other ideas to help keep Credit Reporting Agencies in check without going through the lengthy complaint to the FTC or litigation methods.

EQUIFAX/NCTUE and the great fallacy of the credit reporting agency circus

CASE CLOSED. Success!

EQUIFAX/NCTUE and the Great Fallacy 

of the Credit Reporting Agency Circus

I have decided to create a new entry for EQUIFAX. This post grew out of my DirecTV post. I  am not going to repeat here what is in that post, so, if you want the detailed background material, I recommend that you start on that post and work your way forward to this post in order to more fully understand the situation.

Notwithstanding the above comment, I include here a very short summary for those not inclined to look at the details: I received a notice from DirecTV that the credit reporting agency that they use, NCTUE, was unable to locate a credit file on me and so, in effect, DirecTV was not really going to offer me servies like normal people. In other words, I was given a denial of service based upon the inability of NCTUE to locate my file.

After a lengthy interaction with both DirecTV and NCTUE, it was determined that the letter was sent to me by DirecTV in error and I was not denied any service based upon a bad or non existent credit report. Additionally, NCTUE, did not really lose my file, they are just incompetent, and couldn't access it in their own database. In the face of all this incompetence, I have requested to see the credit file on me that NCTUE has.  They also go by the names Exchange Service Center and Equifax.  Since Equifax is the most recognizable name I will use their name from now on and have started this post to deal with their incompetent handing of this matter. Only time will tell how really bad they are.  It is totally up to their performance.

At this point I have spent about 15 hours of my time trying to get a copy of my credit file.  After reporting twice to me that they could not locate any such file, they have subsequently located my file. They have attempted to mail it to me four distinct times. As of today we have the working hypothesis that they mailed it to the wrong address in spite of the thirteen times we have tried to verify the address that they allegedly sent it to.

I found this interesting blog on NCTUE that has background information on the organization should you be interested. Here is another interesting blog entry, and one more.

By way of background information, according to their website, "the National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange (NCTUE) is a consortium of over 60 member companies from the telecommunications, utilities and pay TV industries. The board is comprised of member companies in these industries. The exchange is managed by an executive director and a 12-member board of directors. NCTUE membership is governed by member agreements, operating guidelines and bylaws."

"Their mission is to serve as a Fair Credit Reporting Act compliant credit data exchange service for the telecommunication, payTV and utility industries by submitting industry-specific payment information to enable members of the exchange to better identify and manage financial risks and to better monitor customer relationships during the life of the service affiliation." 

The NCTUE "database contains information on over 325 million consumers.  NCTUE members are required to comply with FCRA requirements as data furnishers to a consumer reporting agency and as users of consumer reports, including adverse action notification requirements.  The NCTUE database does not include EQUIFAX credit information, and EQUIFAX is not a member of NCTUE."

They go on further to state, "In the late 1980s the business credit executives of long-distance carriers and the National Association of Credit Management Southwest (NACMSW) formed the National Telecommunications Credit Group...

During a February 1993 meeting, an informal committee was formed, made up of Credit Group members and a representative of NACMSW, to pursue the establishment of a national database to be owned and operated in accordance with guidelines set by the members.

The members of the committee requested approval from their legal departments to proceed with the establishment of a national database. Attorneys gave permission for the committee to proceed under the legal guidance of a senior attorney from AT&T and a senior attorney from MCI.

In October 1993, after numerous meetings and teleconferences, the National Telecommunications Data Exchange (NTDE), a non-profit corporation, was founded by AT&T, MCI, Sprint, Allnet, Business Telecom, Inc., Cable & Wireless, Inc., LDDS Metromedia, and Wiltel, Inc. A representative of NACMSW was chosen as executive director and vice president of NTDE.

In November 1993, NTDE started the process of interviewing potential vendors and developing the Request for Proposal to be sent to the vendors. The attorneys emphasized the importance of keeping NTDE independent from any vendor. At the same time, the attorneys started the process of obtaining approval from the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Approval was obtained on March 8, 1994.

Equifax was selected to be the vendor, and NTDE and Equifax signed a contract on July 25, 1994. In August of 1995, after numerous meetings, teleconferences and extensive testing, the national database became active.

In 1996 telecommunications consumer executives, with the assistance of NACMSW, started the process of developing a national database of consumers who do not pay their local and long distance phone bills. The process followed very closely the process of the development of the NTDE database, with the exception of having to address the laws governing consumer credit and the utility regulations of the various states.

The National Consumer Telecommunications Data Exchange (NCTDE) was founded in 1997 by AT&T, Bellsouth, Citizens, Frontier, IXC, MCI, NYNEXLD, Sprint, and Worldcom. A representative of NACMSW was selected as executive director and vice president of NCTDE. In September 1997, the Department of Justice approved the creation of the database, and Equifax was selected as the vendor."

NCTUE claims that "The Exchange Service Center is a third-party contractor of NCTUE and provides services to consumers on behalf of NCTUE." I translate this to mean that EQUIFAX has set up a subsidiary unit named Exchange Service Center to further obfuscate the whole situation.

My personal experience in dealing with these people is that they use the names EQUIFAX, NCTUE, and Exchange Service Center interchangeably.  So much for the hype about the separation of NCTUE and EQUIFAX.

Right now I am waiting until Halloween to try to receive my credit file after doing so five times.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

10/30/12
Halloween came early this year.  The NCTUE (EQUIFAX) credit file arrived today based upon my fifth request.
Now, to the interesting contents of this report.

The first thing I noted is that they have my address wrong.   I attempted to correct it, but they will only do that if I mail in a copy of my driver's licence and my social security card and give them my phone number, all sent via FAX.  I do not have a FAX machine. I disputed the address and declined to send in my driver's license, etc..
I pointed out to the customer service representative that the address on all my accounts shows as the correct address, but that is not good enough for them.

Next, I noted that they show no inquiry into my credit file from DirecTV.  This is very strange, since it was DircecTV's inquiry for my credit file from them that started this whole incident. They say they cannot deal with this and that I must speak with DirecTV about it.

Next, on my cell phone bill they show incorrect billing and payment history numbers (not off by much, but still off) for just the last three months. I have had this account for nearly 10 years.  Why would only the last three months be in error?

My AT&T telephone account shows no balance amount or payment amount for Dec. 2010 and Jan. 2011 and yet shows account status of 0-30 and 30-60 days overdue respectively. I disputed this.

An old AT&T account shows "account closed/ unpaid final bill". I disputed the unpaid final bill item on two grounds. First, it is not true, I had paid the final bill, and second, if it were true, and it isn't, it is over 7 years old and should not be on my report because the information is too old.

They now have 30 days to research my disputed items and get back to me. I asked specifically how they would communicate with me. They said they would mail it to me at the address the companies use and not the address they have in my file there.  Interesting!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

11/1/12

I received a letter today from NCTUE with regard to my request to have my address changed:

                              Exchange Service Center  NCTUE
                              PO Box 105398
                              Atlanta, GA 30348-5398


October 29, 2012

Dear Consumer:

We have received your request concerning your telecom and utilities exchange data report.

However, the information you provided does not match your information currently in the data report.  Therefore, to protect your service history information, we must ask for some additional information in order to verify your identification and address.

A copy of one item in EACH of the categories below is needed in order to verify your identification and address.  The item you choose in the identification category SHOULD contain your Social Security number, and the item you choose in the address category SHOULD contain your current mailing address of:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Identification                                                 Address
*US Social Security Card                             *Driver's license
*Pay stub with US SS#                                *Rental lease agreement/house deed
*W2 form                                                     *Pay stub with address
*State or other government                         *Utility bill (gas, electric, water, cable,
  issued ID card                                             residential telephone bills)

To ensure that your request is processed without delay, please enlarge photocopies of any items that contain small print (e.g. driver's license, W2 forms, etc.).  To avoid additional delays, keep in mind that if photocopies are not legible or contain highlighting, they may cause us to ask that you resubmit your request with more legible documents.

These are the reasons for which a data report can be provided at no charge, if you don't meet the criteria below, there may be a charge.

If you have been denied service, credit or another credit-based benefit due to information on your data report within the last 60 days, you are entitled by las to a free copy of your data report.

If you have recently placed an initial 90 day fraud alert on your data report, you may receive a free data report.

If you have recently place an extended seven-year alert, you may receive two free data reports within 12 months.

You are entitled to one free data report during any 12 month period regardless of your state of residence if you are:
 Unemployed and intend to apply for employment in the next 60 days
 Receiving public welfare assistance
 Believe you are a victim of fraud
 Receive a risk based pricing notice

In the event you request the Exchange Risk Score, the charge is $7.95.

Please refer to the chart below to determine your current fee for the telecom and utilities exchange data report.

[Chart Omitted]

If you are entitled to a free data report but you included payment in the form of a personal check, it has been shredded for your protection.  If you included a money order, it is being returned to you in a separate mailing.

Please include correct payment with the new request and make check payable to: Exchange Service Center.
Please submit the requested information and this letter to the address below.

Exchange Service Center - NCTUE
P.O. Box 105161
Atlanta, GA 30346-5161

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist you.

Exchange Service Center - NCTUE


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXX



November 1, 2012

Exchange Service Center
PO Box 105161
Atlanta, GA 30348-5398

Re: Your letter of  October 29, 2012 (attached)

Gentlemen:

I am in receipt of your letter dated October 29, 2012 (attached). Please change the address in my file to the address indicated above.

In accordance with your request, please also find a photocopy of my Social Security Card and this month’s utility bill from Time Warner Cable showing my mailing address as indicated above.

Sincerely,


XXXXXXXXXXXX


encl: Social Security Card, Time Warner Cable bill (Nov. 1, 2012),
        Letter from NCTUE of October 29, 2012

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11/28/12
It has been very quiet. No correspondence from NCTUE as of this date.

*************************************************************************************

11/29/12, 12:13pm, call duration 28 minutes
I have called NCTUE/EQUIFAX about their non response.
They have claimed that they did not receive my correspondence of 11/1/12 and have consequently not changed my address.
They claim that all the other errors that I reported have been corrected.
I have requested a corrected copy of my credit file. They will send it within 10 business days.
After almost 30 minutes they have now found my correspondence of Nov. 1, requesting that my address be corrected. They will update the address and include that in the report that they will be sending me. I have been told that I will receive this within 10 business days. That should be around Dec. 13. We will see what happens

*******************************************************************************


12/13/12 8:00am call duration 8 minutes
After going through the third degree on verifying who I was and using the confirmation number supplied, it was determined that I was talking to EQUIFAX and not NCTUE in spite of the recorded introductory message saying that it was EQUIFAX/NCTUE that I was calling. The claim is that NCTUE is another company and they gave me another telephone number, different from the one on the NCTUE letter I received. What idiots.

12/13/12 8:13am duration 8 minutes 
This time the claim is the last time they sent out my credit file was on Oct. 26. not on Nov. 29 as I was informed. Again, I was told that they would send it out within 48 hours and that it will take from 7 to 10 business days for me to receive it. I asked if I would have it by 1/3/13 and they confirmed that that was a good date to expect it by. Also, I confirmed that they were sending it to the correct address by asking them what address they were going to send it to. It was correct.


****************************************************************
December 17, 2012

Today, I received a letter from NCTUE with my "updated" credit file. First, note that they sent it to the wrong address. That appears to be the only problem

Below is the text of my response to them.

********************************************************************
December 18, 2012

Exchange Service Center
PO Box 105398
Atlanta, GA 30348-5398

Re: Your letter of  December 13, 2012
      Confirmation #xxxxxxxxxxx



Gentlemen:

I am in receipt of your letter dated December 13, 2012, which was in response to my request to have certain disputed information changed in my credit file. In part, I had requested that my address reflect my true mailing address. I note that your letter, in spite of multiple previous reassurances that the matter had been corrected, came addressed to the incorrect address. Even your previous correspondence was, at least, correctly addressed. Once again I ask that you please change the address in my file to the correct address indicated above.  I have gone to great lengths to have these addresses corrected because we have had so much difficulty getting mail delivered by the US Postal Service when it is not addressed with the simple and single word change that I have requested, especially from NCTUE.   AT&T, apparently the only member of your service, uses the correct address for billing purposes. Your intransigence on this matter is only a further indication that the data you supply to your member(s) is very unreliable at best.

I find it curious that you only have three of my AT&T accounts reporting into your system. I also find it curious that you do not have my DirecTV account in your system, since it was they who initiated the inquiry that has resulted in all this brouhaha over the information in my previously reported “non-existent” file.

As I indicated in my correspondence to you on September 5, 2012, I have no fewer than twelve utility, telecommunications, cable, etc. accounts with major national companies, and, yet, the only one’s that seem to be tracked by NCTUE seem to be some of the AT&T accounts.  I would think that your members might be greatly dissatisfied with the paucity and incompleteness of the meaningful information that you are really providing to them.

Sincerely,


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
encl: Research Request Form (NCTUE)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

1/2/13
Note to self: I called NCTUE today to follow up on my letter to them of 12/18/12. I spent another 17 minutes trying to see if they have my address correct, since I have not gotten a response to my letter. They claim that they have no record of having received a letter from me. I attempted to deal with the same issue on the phone. They denied that they have the wrong address for me and that they sent the last letter to me to the wrong address. They are going to send me a copy of my credit file showing the address as it appears on my file which they claim is the correct address. I should have this letter from them by 1/15/13

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


1/8/13
Today I have received a letter from NCTUE dated 12/31/12 addressed to the wrong address that I am trying to have them correct

December 31, 2012

Dear Consumer:
We have received your request concerning your telecom and utilities exchange data report.
However, our records indicated that a free copy of your disclosure report already has been sent to you.
These are the reasons for which a data report can be provided at no charge, if you don't meet the criteria below, there may be a charge.
If you have been denied service, credit or another credit-based benefit due to information on your data report within the last 60 days, you are entitled by law to a free copy of your data report.
If you have recently placed an initial 90-day fraud alert on your data report, you may receive a free data report.
If you have recently placed an extended seven-year alert, you may receive two free data reports within 12 months.
You are entitled to one free data report during any 12-month period regardless of your state of residence if you are :
-Unemployed and intend to apply for employment in the next 60 days
-Receiving public welfare assistance
-Believe you are a victim of fraud
-Receive a risk based pricing notice
In the event you request the Exchange Risk Score, the charge is $7.95.
Please refer to the chart below to determine your current fee for the telecom and utilities exchange data report.
[Chart omitted]
If you are entitled to a free data report but you included payment in the form of a personal check, it has been shredded for your protection.  If you included a money order, it is being returned to you in a separate mailing.
Please include correct payment with the new request and make check payable to: Exchange Service Center.
Please submit the requested information and this letter to the address below.
Exchange Service Center - NCTUE
PO Box 105161
Atlanta, GA 30348-5161

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist you.
Exchange Service Center - NCTUE

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1/8/13 Notes to self regarding NCTUE letter of 12/31/12
First, I note that the date of this letter is three days before my last call to NCTUE wherein they told me that they would be sending me a copy of my corrected credit file. I am going to wait until 1/15/13 as they suggested in that telephone call before proceeding.
Next, I note that while the address on the envelope is to the correct address, the inner address is the incorrect address.

*********************************************
1/23/13
Okay, I am finally getting back to this open item.  It is clear that NCTUE has no intention of meeting there obligation here, or, for that matter, keeping their word that they would send me a corrected credit file. I will now address another letter to them to try to resolve this matter. I will post it below.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

January 24, 2013

Exchange Service Center
PO Box 105398
Atlanta, GA 30348-5398

Re: Your letter of  December 31, 2012
      Confirmation #XXXXXXXXXX


Gentlemen:

I am in receipt of your letter dated December 31, 2012, which was in response to my request of December 19, 2012 to have certain disputed information changed in my credit file. You will note that in my letter of December 19, 2012 I indicated that in part, I had requested that my address reflect my true mailing address.

I note that your letter, in spite of multiple previous reassurances that the matter had been corrected, came addressed incorrectly. Even your previous correspondence was, at least, correctly addressed. Once again I ask that you please change the address in my file to the correct address indicated above.  I have gone to great lengths to have these addresses corrected because we have had so much difficulty getting mail delivered by the US Postal Service when it is not addressed correctly, especially mail from NCTUE.   AT&T, apparently the only member of your service, uses the correct address for billing purposes on all four of my accounts with them. Your intransigence on this matter is only a further indication that the data you supply to your member(s) is very unreliable at best.

I find it curious that you only have three of my AT&T accounts reporting into your system. I also find it curious that you do not have my DirecTV account in your system, since it was they who initiated the inquiry that has resulted in all this brouhaha over the information in my previously reported “non-existent” file.

As I indicated in my correspondence to you on September 5, 2012, I have no fewer than twelve utility, telecommunications, cable, etc. accounts with major national companies, and, yet, the only one’s that seem to be tracked by NCTUE seem to be some, but not all, of the AT&T accounts.  I would think that your members might be greatly dissatisfied with the paucity and incompleteness of the meaningful (or meaningless) information that you are really providing to them.

Please correct the information in my credit file and then provide me with a corrected copy of my credit file when you have corrected the information in it.  You should also note that in your letter of December 31, 2012, you seem to think that I should have to pay for this report. I might note that I have multiple justifications to insist that I receive a corrected credit file, which I have never received, at no charge whatsoever:

Firstly, I have only this month had my credit checked by AT&T for a new account. Consequently, I am entitled to a copy of my credit file on that basis alone.

Next, until you provide me with a correct credit file I have no way of determining if the credit file is correct. Under provision of the Fair Credit Reporting Act you are required to provide that report at no charge to me.

If you want to dispute that the credit file is incorrect, then I demand that you add a statement from me in my credit file that the address is incorrect in the file and indicate the address above as the correct address.

Please comply with your responsibilities under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and subsequent legislation.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXXX


encl: My Letter of December 18, 2012
       Your Letter of December 31, 2012

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1/22/13
National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange, Inc.

Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On behalf of the Exchange, the Exchange Service Center has contacted each source directly, and our investigation is now completed. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact the source of that information directly.

Result of Your Investigation (For your security, the last 4 digits of your account number(s) have been replaced by *).

>>>> We have researched the information you have disputed. Account # XXXXXXXXXXX THE DISPUTED ADDRESS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ACCOUNT HAS BEEN UPDATED. If you have additional questions about this item please contact: AT&T, PO Box 80517 Charleston SC 29416 800 288 2020.

If you have any additional questions regarding the information provided to NCTUE by the source of any information, please contact the source of that information directly. You may contact us regarding the specific information contained in this letter by writing to us at

Exchange Service Center - NCTUE
PO Box 105398
Atlanta, GA 30348-5398
]Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you.

Exchange Service Center - NCTUE


Attachment: My credit report

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I note two things.

First, they have addressed the letter to me correctly and the mailing address is now correct on the report.
Congratulations NCTUE. However, I now note that the addresses reported as part of the report reported by AT&T are incorrect. I have today communicated with AT&T and they have assured me that the mailing address on my four accounts are correct. I do not know what to make of this.

I think this is CASE CLOSED.

I guess it was not quite closed. Today I received yet another letter from NCTUE. The text follows.


January 29, 2013

Dear Consumer:
We have received your request concerning your telecom and utilities exchange data report.
However, our records indicated that a free copy of your disclosure report already has been sent to you.
These are the reasons for which a data report can be provided at no charge, if you don't meet the criteria below, there may be a charge.
If you have been denied service, credit or another credit-based benefit due to information on your data report within the last 60 days, you are entitled by law to a free copy of your data report.
If you have recently placed an initial 90-day fraud alert on your data report, you may receive a free data report.
If you have recently placed an extended seven-year alert, you may receive two free data reports within 12 months.
You are entitled to one free data report during any 12-month period regardless of your state of residence if you are :
-Unemployed and intend to apply for employment in the next 60 days
-Receiving public welfare assistance
-Believe you are a victim of fraud
-Receive a risk based pricing notice
In the event you request the Exchange Risk Score, the charge is $7.95.
Please refer to the chart below to determine your current fee for the telecom and utilities exchange data report.
[Chart omitted]
If you are entitled to a free data report but you included payment in the form of a personal check, it has been shredded for your protection.  If you included a money order, it is being returned to you in a separate mailing.
Please include correct payment with the new request and make check payable to: Exchange Service Center.
Please submit the requested information and this letter to the address below.
Exchange Service Center - NCTUE
PO Box 105161
Atlanta, GA 30348-5161

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist you.
Exchange Service Center - NCTUE

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There they go again repeating themselves.

I think this is a wrap.

The Quagmire of dealing with DirecTV

I signed up for TV service from DirecTV on August 30, 2012.

I am having some trouble interfacing with the company, so I decided to start a trouble ticket on this item on this blog. For right now I will start with the correspondence, since I think it is self explanatory.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


September 20, 2012

Mr. Michael D. White, CEO
DirecTV
2230 East Imperial Highway
El Segundo, CA 90245

Re: Account # XXXXXXXXXX

Dear Mr. White:

I write to you as a last resort to clear up a quagmire of incomprehensible communications between DirecTV and myself.  After having spent more than eight hours of my time on this issue I will be forced to terminate my relationship with your firm if the matter is not resolved expeditiously. I cannot devote this amount of time to such an inconsequential matter.  I am a new customer to DirecTV and would prefer to have a simple relationship wherein you provide  the services and I pay for them, not an endless stream of calls and other communications that are going nowhere and where no one on your staff has any inkling of what is going on.

By way of background I provide the following narrative:

On or about August 30, 2012 (approximately 19 days ago) I initiated a call to AT&T for bundled services of DSL and TV services at one of my homes in California.  AT&T was unable to complete the TV portion of the “bundle” and told me to call DirecTV directly. I spoke with the representative of DirecTV and signed up for the service with a two year contract. They were very polite and the technician quickly arrived to set up the receiver and connected it to my TV set.

However, on September 5, 2012 (approximately two weeks ago, and about a week after I signed up for your company’s service) I received a letter from DirecTV dated August 29, 2012 ( a copy with my notations on it is included here). Besides all the incorrect information in the letter, I thought that the letter was strange in that the quality was so poor, there is no address associated with the letter, and no telephone number at DirecTV. My first reaction to it was that it was not sent by DirecTV and might be a letter ffrom someone “phishing” for my personal information. This is still my current belief.



I called DirecTV about the letter. They found no record of the letter having been sent to me, and nothing with the reference number 504697801 as indicated in the letter. I called the telephone number of the Exchange Service Center indicated in the letter. The answering system referred to NCTUE and not Exchange Service Center.

They would not deal with me unless I provided my personal information (social security number and date of birth, etc.). I gave them the reference number listed in the letter, but that was insufficient for them to deal with me. I was not giving them my personal information until I verified that they were a trustworthy party who were who they represented themselves to be.  They could not satisfy me in that regard.

Now, more specifically, the DirecTV letter of August 29 stated that the consumer reporting agency (Exchange Service Center) was unable to locate a credit file for me. I can assure you that I have a credit file. I could only conclude that somehow the representative at DirecTV had gotten my social security number incorrect or something like that, or, even more alarming, that the information provided by DirecTV to their credit reporting agency had been compromised and was being used by some interloper.  I called DirecTV to try to see if this was the case. No one at DirecTV who I was put in contact with could deal with this issue.

The letter further states that I was told certain things, more specifically, that: (1) a fee would be required and/or (2) the offer(s) for which I was qualified were not as favorable as those for consumers with a credit file. Be assured that I was not told any such things.

Being left out to hang in the breeze, so to speak, since I could not get anywhere with DirecTV, I did do some investigation into who this NCTUE organization is and found that they might be a legitimate credit reporting agency. However, I did find many comments about strange letters being received from this organization by many consumers.  Consequently, on the same day I received the letter from them, September 5, 2012 I, wrote a letter to NCTUE (see enclosed letter). I still felt somewhat uneasy about sending my personal information to them so, as you can see from the letter, I provided them with enough information for them to pull a credit file on me.

On September 18, 2012, I received a letter (attached) from NCTUE dated September 12. You will note that they were still unable to find a credit file on me.

After having received the letter from NCTUE I again called DirecTV on the matter. They again reiterated that there was no record of a letter having been sent to me on the subject and I was referred to the retention department who in turn referred me to the sales department. Since I had already dealt a few times with the sales department I decided it was time to rethink this matter. I concluded that it was time to bring in a responsible person at DirecTV to clear up this matter or I would cancel the service.

As you can probably tell from the letter that I sent to the NCTUE I have more utility accounts than most people have underwear and I can assure you that I have a credit file.

Please see that this mess is straightened out and have someone get back to me to assure me that my personal information that resides in the records of your firm is well protected and has not been compromised and the real meaning of the correspondence from your firm.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXXX

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                                                                                        DIRECTV
                                                                                          AUGUST 29,2012
Mr. XXXXXXXXXX

Reference Number 504697801

Dear Mr. XXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for your interest in DIRECTV. Based on the identification information you provided to us, the consumer reporting agency listed below was unable to locate a credit file for you.  Because a credit file could not be located, you were told that  (1) a fee would be required and/or (2) the offer's for which you qualified were not as favorable as those for consumers with a credit file.

Since this action was based on the consumer reporting agency's inability to locate a credit file for you, you have the right, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to receive a copy of your consumer credit report at no charge if the request is made within 60 days of receipt of this letter.  This report can be obtained by writing directly to the consumer reporting agency at the address below or calling their toll-free number (866) 343 2821

           Exchange Service Center
           P.O. Box 105161
           Atlanta, GA 30348-5398

The consumer reporting agency will need identification information from you, which may include:
     A copy of this letter
     Your full name, including first, middle, last and suffix (i.e. Jr., Sr., II, or III as applicable)
     Any other names you may use or have used in the past (maiden name, previous married  name, nickname, etc.)
     Social Security Number
     Date of Birth

The consumer reporting agency listed above played no part in our decision and is unable to supply specific reasons why we took this action.  If, after receiving a copy of your consumer credit report from the consumer reporting agency, you determine that the information is not accurate or complete, you have the right to dispute the matter with the reporting agency.

This notice applies to all requests for service that you made within 30 days after your first request and in response to which we informed you that an action was taken.

Sincerely,

DIRECTV, LLC


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September 5, 2012

Exchange Service Center
PO Box 105161
Atlanta, GA 30348-5398


Reference Number 504697801
Gentlemen:

I am in receipt of a letter dated August 29, 2012 from DIRECTV with the above captioned reference number wherein DIRECTV indicates that you were unable to locate a credit file for me.
They mailed that notice to me at @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ in spite of the fact that I gave them my mailing address as stated above in South Dakota. I have the right, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to receive a copy of my consumer credit report at no charge
if the request is made within 60 days of receipt of the above cited letter. Since I am within the sixty day period, I expect you to promptly comply with this request since my relationship with DIRECTV has been jeopardized by your inability to locate my file..

Since there appears to be some confusion involved here since it was reported that you have no file on me, I have provided below some additional information as to the utility companies that I currently have accounts with (cities in parentheses are where the services are provided):

Southwest Gas Corporation, Las Vegas, NV (Incline Village, NV)
Aquarion Water Company, Lewiston, ME (Ridgefield, CT)
AT&T, Carol Stream, IL

(three accounts for Ridgefield, CT, Incline Village, NV, and San Rafael, CA)

AT&T Mobility, Atlanta, GA (Sioux Falls, SD)
Connecticut Light & Power, Hartford, CT (two accounts for Ridgefield, CT)
Comcast, San Rafael, CA (this account went inactive on August 28, 2012)
Marin Municipal Water District, Corte Madera, CA (San Rafael, CA)
NV Energy, Reno, NV (Incline Village, NV)
Pacific Gas & electric, Sacramento, CA (San Rafael, CA)
Time Warner Cable, Flushing, NY (New York, NY)

Needless to say, I have many other active non utility accounts and all the major credit reporting agencies have active files on me.  I look forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,


XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mr. XXXXXXXXXXX
Sioux Falls, SD

September 12 2012

Dear Consumer:

We have been unsuccessful in locating a telecom and utilities exchange data report in our database with the information that you provided.

We were unable to locate a data report for you due to one of the following reasons.
You may not have a current data report.
You may not have applied for new services recently or not actively used services (such as telecom, pay TV or utilities) for the last 10 years with a company that reports to the telecom and utilities exchanges.
We do not maintain international addresses.
Your telecom or utilities service provider(s) may not be a company that reports to the telecom and utilities exchange.

You also may want to contact the three nationwide credit reporting agencies list below for a copy of your credit file.

Equfax
Experian
TransUnion

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to assist you.

Exchange Service Center NCTUE

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Further notes on NCTUE.
On September 18, 2012 I called NCTUE (Exchange Service Center) with regard to their letter of September 12, 2012. They assured me that they have a file on me and would mail it to me at my PO Box in South Dakota.

On September 26, 2012 I called NCTUE again, having not received any credit file from them, and they informed me that it takes 7 to 10 days to get the report. That means I should receive it between September 25 and September 28. I will wait until September 29 before calling them again.

On October 1, 2012 I called NCTUE again, having not received any credit file from them. They now inform me that it takes 7 to 10 BUSINESS days to get the report that was SENT on Sept 18. They claim I will now receive it on October 2, 2012, the tenth BUSINESS day. I will call again on October 2, 2012 if I do not receive the report by that time.

On Octover 2, 2012 I called NCTUE again, having not received any credit file from them. They do not know why I did not receive the credit file. They have now initiated an investigation as to why I did not receive the credit file and have initiated a new confirmation number to remail a new credit file to me that should be received by October 16, 2012.  It is interesting to note that the representative of NCTUE (Tom) concluded the conversation by thanking me for contacting "Equifax".  I know that NCTUE is owned by Equifax. At least now I think I am dealing with a real company.  A lot of good that does me.

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October 3, 2012

Exchange Service Center
PO Box 105161
Atlanta, GA 30348-5398
Confirmation numbers xxxxxxxxxxxx and yyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Gentlemen:

I am in receipt of a letter dated August 29, 2012 from DIRECTV wherein DIRECTV indicates that you were unable to locate a credit file for me and that the consequences of that may damage my relationship with them. On September 5, 2012 I wrote to you about this matter. I received a response from you dated September 12, 2012 indicating that you were again unable to locate a credit file for me. On September 18, 2012 I called your company and one of your representatives was able to locate the file and indicated that a copy would be mailed to me at the above address and I would receive it within 10 business days. On October 2, 2012 I called your company since I had not received any correspondence from you and I was told that the credit file was sent on September 18 and that I must have received it. The mailing address is, in fact, a secure lockbox and every transaction received in it is logged and scanned. The lockbox service I use for this is prepared to issue a letter certifying that no such letter was ever received at that location.
Consequently, your representative stated that you would mail to me another copy of my credit file at the above address and that I would receive it by October 16, 2012.

I again reiterate that I have the right, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, to receive a copy of my consumer credit report at no charge in a reasonable amount of time.  My patience is waning and I intend to exercise my rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to collect any damages and attorneys fees I should have should you not comply with the request in a timely fashion.
The request(s) have been made within 60 days of receipt of the above cited letter from DirecTV. Since I am within the sixty day period, I, again, expect you to promptly comply with this request since my relationship with DIRECTV has been jeopardized by your inability to either locate my file or transmit a copy of it to me so that I may determine if you have recorded incorrect information in my file.

I look forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

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October 4, 2012

I have received a volicemail from Debbie Barnes from the Office of the President of DirecTV, Attorney General and Better Business Bureau office 800 583-2191 X 20048. The phone number she called from is located in Idaho, (208) 363 6015. They have received the letter I sent to the President and want to discuss the matter with me. I have returned the call and left a message.

Debbie returned my call. She has thoroughly researched the history of my account and has no explanation for the letter I received. They, in fact, did pull a credit report on me and it was fine. They apologized profusely for the confusion that the letter introduced and the inability of their staff to deal with the consequences of that. I asked them to send me a letter assuring me that there will me no negative consequences that will result and that the letter was a misunderstanding on their part and should not have been sent.

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DIRECTV

October 4, 2012

XXXXXXXXXX
Sioux Falls, SD

Re: account YYYYYYYYYY

Dear Mr. XXXXXXXXX

We thank you for taking our call on October 4, 2012. We regret any frustration you may have experienced in regard to your DIRECTV service.

After review, we have determined the letter in question sent by DIRECTV on August 29 was generated in error when the order was placed. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

We have verified your account, which was activated August 30, is in good standing.

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns and hope you will have no further cause for any complaint in relation to our service.

Sincerely,

Debbie Bond
DIRECTV Office of the President



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10/21/12

My letter to Exchange Service Center, or NCTUE of October 3, 2012 has gone unanswered. According to the representative I should have received a copy of my credit file by October 16, which I have not. In a call today they claim that they mailed it again to me on October 3, 2012. After numerous attempts to get the Indian Customer Service Representative to connect me to a supervisor and waiting over an hour on the phone they hung up on me.  The best they could offer, again, was to send it to me at the same address they claim to have sent it twice before. It is now time to file a claim against them for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act.


10/23/12
I just got a call back with a voicemail from a Ms. Huffman from Equifax. She claims to have finally resolved the matter of the four attempts to send my credit file to me. She claims that because my file was sent to a third party and then on to someone else that it was returned to them.  This does not make any sense.  She left a phone number to send a fax to 888 416 9436 to send her information to request that the credit file be sent to my address.
I have tried to contact Ms. Huffman with no success.
So, the conclusion I have come to is that they are trying, for some unknown reason, to avoid sending me my credit file.  The plot thickens.

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10/24/12
After a careful investigation of the circumstances I have concluded that the address to which Equifax, or NCTUE or Exchange Service Center, whatever they want to call themselves has sent the credit report to the wrong address and it has been returned to them each time.
I called the NCTUE and attempted  to speak with Ms. Huffman. She was not available, but one of the customer representatives tried to assist me by changing the address to which I wanted the report sent to.
As hard as she tried, the system would not accept the address and kept changing it to the address that would be rejected by the US Postal Service. She suggested that I contact Ms. Huffman when she was available.

10/25/12
I called the NCTUE (Exchange Service Center, or Equifax) to speak to Ms Huffman. I was put on hold for half an hour. Ms. Huffman is not available today, but Gayle is available. I waited another half hour on hold and the phone was disconnected.  I called back and explained that I wanted to speak with Gayle. After a 25 minute wait I was told that I would have to call back in half an hour. I told them that I would wait on the phone call rather than go through the trouble again.  After about 30 minutes another person came on and explained that Gayle was not available, but that they could help me. I explained the situation again and they said that the correct address was in the system. I explained to her the situation that occurred yesterday with the other representative. She assured me that it would be sent to the correct address and that it would be sent out today. I should have it in 3 to 5 business days.  On the outside that should be by October 31, Halloween. Now, that's a scary thought. I bet I know the outcome already.
Another few hours on the phone, oh well. what to you expect in such a technologically advanced society.

I have decided that this thread has taken on a life of its own and has nothing to do with DirecTV anymore. I am now going to post to a new page called Equifax. Please continue on that post.