Make sure you check your credit!! (Credit Bureau) This happened to me today!!!

[FiSh]

Listen to this folks.. this is what happened to me today!


So I go to COMPusa today to buy a computer. Noticed they were running 6 months financing, ZERO interest.. so I thought hey, I have immaculate credit and only one bill.. house payment!
Car is payed off etc.. top notch credit. Why not just pay it off over 6 months a little at a time? SO... they run a credit check and tell me im denied because... **I filed for BANKRUPTCY in 1989!!** It said this was reported by American Express just two months ago (to credit bureau) and it occurred 12 yrs ago!! WHOA!!!!??
Imagine my reaction!!
From the top of the food chain, to the very bottom!

Here's the kicker.. NO, ive never filed for bankruptcy!! ..and, Ive never owned an American Express card.

Anyway, tomorrow I have to make a zillion calls and write alot of letters.. i dont know about you guys but ive seen some nitemare stories on shows like Dateline about having things removed from your credit report.

**The point of me writing this today is to tell you to CHECK YOUR CREDIT! I do it once ever 1 1/2 years and I do it online. If it wasnt for going to COMPUSA, no telling when I would have found out.**

So pissed off im foaming at the mouth!!






EQUIFAX
(1-800-685-1111)
EXPERIAN (FORMERLY TRW)
(1-888-397-3742)
TRANS UNION (TU)
(1-800-916-8800)

[peachfront]

American Express is an irresponsible and incompetent company. I wonder if there is way to collect damages from them for making this false report? They did not go so far as to say I declared bankruptcy but they kept trying to bill me for some woman's Optima card in New Jersey. As "Proof" they sent me signed statements from her from various businesses in New Jersey. Or rather their computer did -- it was obvious that no human could have actually read the *&^%$ they were sending out as the woman did not have the same or even a similar name, lived in a different part of the country, had a different signature, had a different account and credit card. I would never do business with them again as I feel they can't be trusted.

In my case, they NEVER apologized and they NEVER did admit that I was not the woman in question.

[littlebitties]

My husband and I were victims of "identity theft" a couple years ago. It was a disaster...he works for the US Government in security, and it nearly cost him his job. To this day, we STILL get letters from collection agencies.

If I could do things over, I would pay a few hundred bucks and hire a lawyer to write a generic nastygram letter on important-looking letterhead, so I could send it off to everyone involved.

It's not easy to get the credit agencies to take things off your report...good luck!

Of course, my solution to this identity theft now is to keep all the credit cards maxed and be in so much debt that nobody could possibly get any credit using MY name! THANKS, dealhunting, for helping me in this quest! hee hee

[sadie]

Originally posted by peachfront
American Express is an irresponsible and incompetent company. I wonder if there is way to collect damages from them for making this false report? They did not go so far as to say I declared bankruptcy but they kept trying to bill me for some woman's Optima card in New Jersey. As "Proof" they sent me signed statements from her from various businesses in New Jersey. Or rather their computer did -- it was obvious that no human could have actually read the *&^%$ they were sending out as the woman did not have the same or even a similar name, lived in a different part of the country, had a different signature, had a different account and credit card. I would never do business with them again as I feel they can't be trusted.

In my case, they NEVER apologized and they NEVER did admit that I was not the woman in question.

I pondered a long time and finally decided today that I'm going to apply for their Blue card. Only because they offered the pricematching advantage. But if this is the stuff they pull, then NO WAY! There goes that idea.

[ILUVaDEAL]

Just a note that you can get a FREE copy of your credit report (I think once every year) at:

www.equafax.com or 1-800-435-1903

I used the 1-800 number a few months ago and it was so easy. All I had to do was enter some info about myself into this automated thing.

Once I got my report, I discovered a probelm too. About 10 years ago I got a disney charge card (never used it) and it is still listed as an active account (with a 0 balance). I tried calling disney to cancell the card and they have no record of me or my account. After calling a zillion different numbers, I finally gave up.

[aprilgail]

Wen you call that 800 number it tells you to call 1-800-685-1111

[wrb1000]

Regarding free credit reports:

Am I eligible for a free credit report?
You are eligible to receive a free copy of your credit report if:

You have been denied credit, insurance, or employment within the past sixty (60) days as a result of your credit history.
You can certify in writing that you are unemployed and intend to apply for employment in the 60-day period beginning on the date in which you made the certification.
You are a recipient of public welfare assistance or have reason to believe that your file at the agency contains inaccurate information due to fraud.
If you are a resident of Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, or Vermont, you may receive one free copy of your credit report each year from the credit bureaus. If you are a resident of Georgia, you may receive two free copies of your credit report each year from the credit bureaus.

[FiSh]

So little I can do at this point without receiving information from equifax (not the actual credit report.. i have one of those in hand).They send you a report with a special.. acct number, with it, a special 1-800 (none listed above)

Didnt go to sleep until 10am this morning just thinking about it.

Ive read your stories above and its a scary thing to have your identity stolen or.. well, assumed by someone else.
In my case so far, that not the case. Just a HUUUUUUUGE screw up by american express.

I walked around today mumbling "Im Bankrupt".. "Im Bankrupt"..

Hoping to get my offical report from Equifax soon so i can begin the process of having this removed.
Wherever u choose do get your credit report, online or locally, get it done!

Check it so that you can have the screw ups corrected as soon as possible.

[ILUVaDEAL]

wrb1000,

Yes-I beieve (these was the rule a year ago, when I got mine) if you go through equafax, you are able to get one free credit report once a year, no matter what the curcumstances are-good/bad/no credit.

[wrb1000]

ILuvaDeal - thanks for the info, I will look into it. FiSH, good luck - that is a scary situation. Hope it all works out, let us know what happens. That's the good thing about a community like DH - everyone learns from everyone and we're here to listen. I'm sure alot of lurkers out there read your story and did a "oh no".

[peachfront]

Sadie said: "I pondered a long time and finally decided today that I'm going to apply for their Blue card. Only because they offered the pricematching advantage. But if this is the stuff they pull, then NO WAY! There goes that idea."


Let me tell you about another experience with American Express that is still going on and has been going on about 9 months now. My friends get me to help them write their complaint letters when they have a problem. I guess it is a hobby of mine. So I have all the details and paperwork. Anyway, last June, a friend received a free junket to Mandalay Bay in Vegas. Nothing unusual about that. He has received several of them. Now, when you sign in at hotels in Vegas, they always get your credit card number because they charge you for telephone calls -- tacky but they all do it there. Anyway, through some error, at the end of the trip, they accidentally sent a bill to Amex for $1,500. Since that time, they have sent American Express a letter showing that my friend owes Mandalay Bay "zero dollars and zero cents." Can't get any clearer than that! My friend and I have sent Amex at least one letter including documentation, copies of the invitation, copies of the statement from Mandalay Bay every month since June...and Amex just keeps on billing him!!!

OK, so the deal is that my friend doesn't owe any money. Mandalay Bay agrees he doesn't owe any money. But Amex wants money whether he owes them anything or not!

Last week, as a "compromise," Amex suggested that my friend pay them $600 and they'll stop billing him.

I told my friend that extortion -- trying to get people to pay money they don't owe through threats (and threatening your credit IS a threat) -- is a felony, and he needs to start getting in contact with some federal agencies. Enough is enough!!!! When a company is this outrageous, they do need to be fined or somebody needs to go to jail, or it will never end.

There are lots of good federal regulations that apply to the other credit card agencies, such as Visa or Mastercard, but American Express is trying to claim that they are not a credit card and the "rules" don't apply to them. Excuse me? Mandalay Bay made a mistake, but I doubt it is the first time a business ever made a mistake. Amex needs to have a procedure for crediting billing errors back to people's accounts without all this how-de-doo.

[sadie]

Someone should find a good, hungry lawyer and file a class action lawsuit against them.

SUE THE PANTS OFF OF THEM!

Probably only then will they get the message and change their policies and procedures.