I waited all weekend to call Experian and when I got the chance to yesterday–all I did was deal with an automated machine that after 50 million prompts would tell me that no agent can help me because the office is closed. Hello, I was calling after 8am all the way to 9am and got the same recording. Their hours are 8am-5pm. I could not deal with it any longer. I was already late for work, my little one was sick and we ran into major car issues (more on that later). So yeah, “Monday, Monday” was playing in my head.
I would have loved to call from work but I have a boss that sits right on top of me..all day. So basically, I make no personal calls all day–and I don’t have a lunch break to do it either. Yeah, it’s legal…don’t even make me go there. So I am home because the little one that decided to go to school sick yesterday–so she wouldn’t fall behind, is flat-out sicker than ever. My husband is overloaded and can’t stay home. So I am here and I needed to be. Great time to catch up on my other work, be here for my little girl, and get someone on the phone at Experian.
I remember talk about sites that will tell you how to get a “live” person on the phone at some of these big companies. Wow-What a lifesaver. I found a number and directions for Experian. I am posting a link here and let me tell you…I was on and off the phone in less than 13 minutes! For them, that was awesome. As I was on hold, I was reading horror stories and I was nervous. Experian did alright. I am still pissed I had to wait all weekend, but I think I got to the bottom of it.
Basically after giving my basic info to the first rep(that was very nice by the way) that helped me, she recognized right away there was a problem. She then transferred me to “that department”. My next rep was nice too and she was helpful. My main concern was if creditors were going to start hounding me for this other person with the same name. She could not offer any answers about that but assured me they will handle my “credit reporting issues”.
She also seen there was a mix-up and I was getting questioned on what names and addresses were mine. I was then told my file is obviously mixed up with someone else and that there is another “special” department that will go through everything and clear it up. I will then receive an updated copy of my credit report when it is all straightened out.
So now, it is a waiting game. I am sure there will be the few legit discrepancies, but I am not touching anything until they are done with what they are doing. As far as the 4 disputes I initiated, I can only hope Experian intercepts them so the creditors do not get them. I don’t want to deal with relentless creditors and collection agencies again. Luckily, my credit report info shows my PO Box and Cell #. If they start, well then I guess it will be finally time to get a new phone number.
I’ll update here with the outcome.
Hopefully it will work out.
Years ago at a bar I worked I carded a girl that turns out had my exact same name (first middle last were all same as me). It was really weird. This past year I paid off all my debt. I then received a call saying I owed $75 to Verizon. I bever had a Verizon phone. At the time they said I did I had had Cricket. I thought about paying it since it was just $75 to be done with them, but I told them to send me a statement and I would pay it. Never got it and havent gotten another call from them, and never had before.
I think it was for her and they thought Id pay it. They probably just looked on Whitepages.com for my name and called.
Ive also had a mystery woman using my address and phone # and last name for stuff. I had a repo guy come to my home looking for her, and her car. My cars are paid off and not the same brand as hers. He was good though and reported it as wrong address for her. Same for her creditors calling. Crazy.
That is crazy! It is pretty sad we gotta deal with stuff like this. Life is wild enough without all this crap.
You know, years ago I went through identity theft and it was a total mess to clear up. Lots of phone calls, letters, even had to fill out a “Not Me” case with the State Attorney’s Office. Never had a repo guy show up though…well not for someone else’s car anyway
It kind of stinks having a common name, and they should really make it harder for this stuff to happen. Even when I sold my home, another girl’s info was on our closing paperwork…all because she had the same common name as me. I had to fill out an affidavit saying that was not me…blah blah blah. Now this whole credit report stuff. It just agitates me. This crap should not be happening.
I am glad your situation worked out and I hope it never happens again.
Same here, also with Experian. It’s actually my wife’s credit report, contains tons of records from another woman with the same first name spelling, and last name is only different by one letter. I had a horrible time reaching experian as well, but used the link you provided and said “agent” at the key moment and after a lot of hold time got to someone who helped me out. Now I’m waiting for them to send us a corrected credit report. I wonder how many of us are in this same boat? And will they be able to keep it from happening again? It was clearly an automated process that led to it happening in the first place. The person my wife was confused with also lived about 50 miles from an old address of ours, and had a similar SS#.
Hi Peter,
I’ve been wondering that myself…how can we keep this from happening in the future? Luckily for me, I wasn’t sitting in a car dealership getting my credit pulled trying to buy a car, or better yet trying to rent or buy a home. I would’ve been out of luck until I got this mess all cleared up.
Of course Experian tried to put it in my box like if this mix up was “my fault”. I just read a little paragraph that was enclosed with my credit report that I didn’t pay mind to before. It basically told me that every time I pull my credit, I need to use my complete identification information when doing so: full name with middle initial, SS#, DOB, and complete addresses for the last 2 years…basically to keep this from happening. They don’t say it, but I know that is what they mean.
Hello? That is exactly what I do and have always done. What does Jane Doe with one SS# have to do with another Jane Doe with a different social security #. I mean, how many people have the same name on this earth? I have googled mine and I am share the same name as millions of others.
If our social security #’s are unique to us, why would a name or variation of it even matter. Even birth-dates? The likelihood of 2 Jane Doe’s having the same birth date is very high. They need to figure out a way to make sure this type of situation does not happen…to anyone.
I’ve also really thought about the security aspect of all of this. Having your name, DOB, and last 4 of your SS # show up on someone elses report is a problem. I am an honest person and would never use the other Jane Doe’s info, but is the other Jane Doe as honest? Of course, they say your whole SS# is not compromised, but isn’t it always the last 4 digits they ask for anyway? I don’t know, I think about this stuff…
Right now, I have the other girls address, phone #, where she works, last 4 of her social and DOB. I don’t think she would like that too much. However, I am pretty sure if this happened to me, another girl with my name is probably carrying around my information—and I know I definitely don’t like that!
I hope they straighten out everything with your wife’s name and info and soon. I have been reading up on this, and no, we are not the only ones this happens to, and Experian seems to be the one who is famous for this.
Good luck with it all…
P.S. Sorry to any Jane Doe’s reading…I just used the name as an example. ;P
Same thing happened to me. Also with Experian. I was able to resolve it with them on the phone.
My concern is: I still don’t understand how this happens in the first place. I’ve been looking around online, but I haven’t yet found a good description of what causes this mixing of credit data. Do you know of any good resources on this?
Brian,
I wish I knew!I am happy to say that I got my report all cleared up after months of dealing with it.
I asked the very same question you did, but Experian seemed to throw the ball back in my court-like it was *my* fault my report got mixed up. They never admitted any fault and could not give me reasons why this happened.
All I got was a notice with my updated report to make sure that I always use my FULL name when making any credit inquiries or when pulling my credit file. For instance, if my name is Jane Marie Doe, I need to fill out the information with
Jane Marie Doe, not just Jane Doe.
I always do that anyway….
I did not forget about this one at all. If I find anything else out, I will update you. Because like you, things are fine and dandy with my Experian credit file now, but who’s to say it will not happen again?
It’s scary, isn’t it?