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Equifax,
Experian, and Trans Union Corp., have agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle
charges that they dodged calls from consumers wishing to obtain and
discuss their credit reports.
The Federal Trade Commission’s charges alleged that the organizations
did not adequately staff their toll-free numbers, as they are legally
bound to do. Instead, the FTC alleged, callers were either met with a busy
signal, greeted with a message telling them to call back, or were left on
hold. The charges also allege that Equifax and Trans Union blocked calls
from some locations.
None of the companies admitted any wrongdoing.
“The reality is that consumers never got the access to the consumer
reporting agencies that the law guarantees,” said Jodie Bernstein,
director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “These cases
demonstrate in no uncertain terms that it’s time for Equifax, Experian,
and Trans Union to pick up the phone and meet their obligations to
consumers.”
As part of the settlement, Trans Union and Experian will each pay $1
million. Equifax will pay $500,000. Some terms of the settlement include:
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Connecting 90% of calls to a human within 3.5 minutes, on
average,
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Increasing the number of people staffing the toll-free
customer-service lines,
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Curbing the number of blocked calls, and
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Making other attempts to talk to callers.
Dave Wolff, Trans Union’s consumer relations vice president said, “We
will continue working diligently not only to meet appropriate service
levels but to exceed them.” Maxine Sweet, Experian’s vice president of
consumer affairs, said, “Developing and enacting these standards is a
win-win for all concerned. It’s what we want, it’s what the FTC wants
and most importantly, it’s beneficial to the consumer.”
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