Another Credit Report Horror Story

Now I know it's the general practice of the media to pick the worst stories and ignore when things are going right, but, still, should these credit reporting agencies really be wielding so much power over us?

Look at this article in the NY Daily News. This woman Marie McGrath had her credit history just wiped off the map by Experian and the only way she got it back was when the newspaper contacted Experian to see what was happening.

Ridiculous:

Maxine Sweet, a spokeswoman for Experian, acknowledged the company made
multiple mistakes. "It was a mixed file that went to a no record," she
explained. Credit reporting agencies define a mixed file as one that contains
information pertaining to more than one consumer.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, as many as 5% of credit bureau
files could be mixed.

When Experian attempted to separate the accounts in McGrath's file, it "did
not get the identity perfect," Sweet said. "We are now creating her credit
report and making sure that the accounts are linked to the right names."

It was "a mixed file that went to no record"? First off, no average person knows what that means, and, once we know, we're incredulous that your way of handling getting two people's information mixed up is to simply wipe away their credit history.

It's also annoying how these companies jump when they know the media is going to shed some light on their practices, but they ignore the customer up until that point.

Like I said, it's not totally fair to take one problem and pin it on the company or the industry as a whole, but, still, they could at least try to fix it once they know.