Complaint Review: TransUnion -

6/26/19 -- Sorry, TransUnion, but your accusations are based on the wrong algorithms as usual.  The last communication I had from Target was, "We have processed your payment of $10.29..." to the old email address, and I have this on file.  However , realizing I could have misinterpreted this, I asked Target if they could show me any emails about missed payments.  Together we searched through both the old and new emails but found nothing.  I put it down to human error because Target customer service is usually excellent (like my credit).  The only real fly in the ointment was TransUnion's ugly attitude, which is so obvious in their rebuttals that no further justification is necessary.  Credit scoring no longer bothers me, now that I know how it works, and because the extremely well organized Ripoff Report provides a much-needed voice for peons who feel unfairly taken advantage of.  I love Ripoff Report!

You do NOT get a medal for 25 years of making payments on time; that is narcissistic entitlement.  Making payments on time is EXPECTED behavior once you have gained the priviledge of obtaining credit.  The vast majority of people in this country can obtain credit, so even getting credit doesn't get you a medal.  Stop trying to break your arm giving yourself a pat on the back because honestly...no one cares.  Certainly no one at TransUnion, Equifax, or Experian care.  The fact is - and I'm really trying to be nice here - you were late because you failed to let anyone know you changed your e-mail address.  The fact you failed to check your old e-mail address for a possible bill is the reason you now have a late payment.  This was your own fault.

You want to blame an algorithim you were perfectly happy with before you failed to make a $10 payment and now that you do have a late payment, you want to blame everyone except yourself.  Let's be really clear here:  This is your fault plain and simple.  Take responsibility for the fact you failed to notify anyone about your changed e-mail address and accept the consequences associated with your failure.  It has nothing to do with an algorithim.

You were not ripped off.

6/25/19 -- One final suggestion: TransUnion should give me a medal instead of an insult.  In addition to paying my bills as soon as I get them, I pay the entire amount, since I strongly believe rules and laws are to be followed rather than trashed.  May I suggest that if TransUnion wishes to treat consumers fairly, they should create an algorithm to reflect it.  Since they deal in symbols instead of words, they could use the star system to balance out their negativity.  This would be a positive step to regain the credibility lost by using algorithms instead of common sense.

TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax are basically the same - the person at the bank who just happened to find the item by looking on the TransUnion site could just as easily found it on Experian and Equifax.  It isn't like Target only contacted TransUnion - they contact all 3.  TransUnion just happened to be the unlucky party.  And no, TransUnion (notr Equifax, nor Experian) would not have been able to tell you where the debt comes from because that isn't information they can provide over a telephone.  You could have pulled up a credit history on yourself and it probably would have shown the debt was from Target.

Your explanation at least sets out a scenario regarding how you would not have been contacted regarding the debt - I understand it completely and no doubt you did not receive the notification.  However, there is also a lesson there as well.  If you move from one residence to another, you generally provide forwarding information to the USPS so you can continue to receive mail for a period that was addressed to your old residence.  You generally do the same thing switching e-mail addresses.  However if that isn't possible, at least monitoring the old e-mail address would have been a good thing to do.

I would highly recommend getting your credit report every 2-3 months to monitor that as well for the time being.  For example, if you happen to be a member of AAA, you can get free credit monitoring that would allow you to get your credit history without dinging your credit score each time you pull one down to review.  What I would not do is employ the use of a credit repair company for a late $10.29 payment, assuming that is your only black mark on your history.  Credit Repair companies capitalize on the assumption your credit report has mistakes that bring your score down; they write letters that challenge the 3 agencies that bad information in your report is wrong.  Well, if the $10.29 is the only bad information in your history, and you know you were late, and they know you were late, then credit repair is a waste of time and money.

Best of luck to you....

Then I was able to trace the missed payment to the fact that I had changed email addresses, and perhaps the late notices had gone to the wrong one, but no record could be found in either place. I paid the $10.29 bill immediately and Target waived the late fee, but to avoid future misunderstandings I closed my account there permanently.

- Thank you for proving just how unreasonable you are. YOU changed your e-mail address and "forgot" to notify them. Once you found out you contacted them, paid the bill and they waived the fees...even though you were 4 months late.  By the way the best way to avoid any future misunderstandings is to keep track of your usage, and when you don't get a bill the next month, follow up with the credit card.

As for the late notices,  by the time you got to 4 months late they were not only communicating through e-mail. I can just about guarantee that unless they also didn't have your correct mailing address or phone number, you were being sent additional notices.  Now, it is very likely you ignored these notices as just Junk mail or Robo Calls. You would have received a plain envelope with probably no more than your name and a company name on it. There would be NO indication on the outside of the envelope that it is about a delinquent bill. This wouldn't be because they are trying to be sneaky or hiding information as some conspiracy, it is because there are very specific Federal regulations about privacy that restrict them(and any other creditor) from indicating what the letter is about,

As for the calls, you very likely got several calls that if you are like most people just ignore.  As with the mail, when they call and if they did leave a message it won't be a message that you owe money.  It would just be a message telling you that you need to contact them.  Unfortunately, just because you ignore them doesn't mean they didn't attempt to contact you. These letters and phone calls are generated automatically once you become delinquent. Every company does this, and you can read report after reports where people actually call this "harassment"

TransUnion's unhelpful and arrogant attitude, along with their rigid secret algorithms,

- Again there are certain Federal regulations dealing with privacy that restrict certain information to be given over the phone.   

As for their algorithms, the fact goes back to you thinking you should be treated differently because it was only a $10 payment that you forgot about and had 25 years of perfect payment history. Well in a round-a-bout way you were treated differently based on this, as with most people a 120-day late payment would have taken the credit rating to a poor or very poor rating. The credit algorithms(that every scoring model uses) does not account for "mistakes", it doesn't matter if you are a person who "forgot" a $10 payment or just decides to not make that $10 payment. Because all creditors want is to make sure that they will be paid back, and if they don't they don't care the reason they aren't getting paid back.

But in the end you don't seem to have been any worse off as even with this you were able to get approved for a credit card. So it seems as though even with this mark, creditors do not seem to take it as a serious issue.

6/24/19 -- I found out about the drop in my TransUnion credit score quite by accident when I applied for another credit card, or I might not know to this day.  The card was issued without a problem, but I was still curious about going from Excellent to Fair. The bank said the report was from TransUnion, so I called them, but TransUnion was unable to tell me where the late payment had originated!  This made me spend time and trouble on the internet and led me to Credit Repair who kindly told me it was at Target.  Then I was able to trace the missed payment to the fact that I had changed email addresses, and perhaps the late notices had gone to the wrong one, but no record could be found in either place.  I paid the $10.29 bill immediately and Target waived the late fee, but to avoid future misunderstandings I closed my account there permanently.  TransUnion's unhelpful and arrogant attitude, along with their rigid secret algorithms, is why they get a Poor score from me.  

The problem in criticizing TransUnion is that Experian and Equifax will also lower your credit score for a missed $10 payment due.  I mean you can't criticize one without criticizing them all.

The bill was from Target who notified TransUnion instead of me, so I cancelled my account and will never shop with them again.  I mean that's your choice and you can shop wherever you like.  But by your own admission, you wrote, "overlooked invoice four months later, by which time it was called four missed payments."  Now, perhaps you didn't get one or even two of the notifications, but it seems hard to believe you would have missed all 4 notifications from Target.  However, I think most people would understand that if you didn't make the $10 payment and they send out monthly reminders to pay, then yes I could see how they would then notify all 3 credit reporting agencies.  I can certainly see that....

TransUnion's explanation was that their algorhithms determine the score.  Well, that's pretty much the same as Experian and Equifax.  FICO also uses a specific methodology and algorithim that would ding your credit score for a missed $10 payment.  Many of them weight the score in a slightly different way, so that each will score you slightly differently based on this weighted approach.  However, to only criticize one and not the others....is a problem.

This blind mechanical approach means their credibility is worthless.  Not really.  Your narrative suggests that you should be credited for your good behavior over the last 25 years and have all three agencies simply overlook this one debt - sort of the same way you simply overlooked a $10 missed payment.  The other item to consider is that the missed payment could have been for $1 or $1,000.  Missed payments are graded the same regardless of dollar amount.

Let's be really clear because your narrative contains a common misconception.  Making payments on time is the expectation and normal.  There are no extra credits or consideration provided for making payments on time.  There is an obvious underlying assumption in your complaint - by assuming that making payments on time for 25 years should warrant you additional consideration also indirectly assumes a lot of people are often late with payments, and that is the norm.  There is no evidence to suggest that is the case.

However for a highly ethical person to be insulted like this is not right.  There is absolutely no connection between your ethics and making a payment late.  You are probably a very ethical and moral person.  However, your credit score is not a reflection of either your ethics or your morals.  It is a reflection of your ability to make payments on time - if you were late once as a result of a mistake, that is not a lapse of your ethics or morals.  It does however reflect that you were late in making a payment.  A good credit score is something I would hope all people strive for, but your personal identity and good character cannot be tied to your credit score.

The important thing  to consider is that as time goes on, this mistake will get buried and your credit score will ultimately increase back into the excellent range.