February 18, 2003
Customer Service (Or lack thereof)
Kelly just dropped by in the comments on the last post with a horror story I have heard far too often. Seems she tried out one of the FREE CREDIT REPORTING companies (freecreditreport.com, to be exact,) and is getting screwed over. Now there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth, which calls to me to hold forth. Listen carefully, for I am shifting into advice mode. My motto: I fuck up, so you don't have to!!!
Never, ever, under any circumstances get a credit report from anyone other than a banker or one of the Big Three; Experian (formerly TRW), Transunion LLC, and Equifax. Here is a page with all of the contact info in one place. Most of the sites offering "FREE CREDIT REPORTS" will resell your information, opening you up to a world of spam. I know this intimately. My mailbox groans under the weight of my spam.
Unless I am mistaken, under Colorado law you are entitled to one free credit report a year from each of the reporting companies. Check with the companies I listed above, and concentrate on Equifax and Experian, as they tend to be the most aggressive. I'm speaking from experience here. (Whaddaya mean, negative credit score!?)
In regards to Dell Customer Care being the worst support line in the history of the known universe, it pains me that I must agree. I run an entirely Dell office, and have for almost 8 years. Loved their service, loved the machines, and never had a problem. Then they laid off half their support staff. Because I have a corporate account there, I only have to wait 10-20 minutes (a little sarcasm there) for service that I paid a fair amount of money for. So, when the Dell I have at home started showing its age, I shopped around. Gateway won my business, and I couldn't be happier. Great case design, all reference components, support line answered in 3 rings everytime I call, I'm a happy guy. Best of all, they actually ship an OS CD!* Woot!
So, the moral of the story is, watch what I do and do something else follow my lead! No, that wasn't it... Oh, yeah. When your dealing with legal or financial information, go to the source. Don't deal with the middleman. Oh, and don't buy Dell!
*Some computer manufacturers who shall remain nameless have started shipping home computers with an image CD instead of source files. This makes it really hard to get a clean install without turning to a life of crime and 'borrowing' a copy from a friend.
[edited to remove stupidity - still far too much left.]
Posted by Dork at February 18, 2003 05:02 PM | TrackBackSo I finally get the "tracking number" in the mail so that I can log in and check my report, except the envelope the number came in (one of those where you tear along the perforations to open, like a new credit card) was half opened. I really hate these people. Thank goodness I finally was able to login and cancel the service from there. Sheesh.
Posted by: Kelly on February 22, 2003 03:39 PM