Every time I've tried to use Equifax web service to lift a security freeze, it says that I need to call 888-836-6351. I have valid credentials for "MyEquifax", but as soon as I click "Manage a Freeze", it tells me I need to call. This same thing has been happening for three years. When it first happened, I pursued getting my web account fixed. I was assured my web account would work next time I tried, but it didn't work. I gave up trying Equifax web site and resigned myself to wasting time on the phone with them.
Today (8/4/2021) I called 888-836-6351 3 times spending over 60 minutes on the phone. The first call, after spending 15 or 20 minutes, I was told they system was down and they could not lift security freezes and to call back in a couple of hours. In a few hours, I wasted another 15 or 20 minutes only to find out the system was still down and to call back in a couple of hours. In another few hours, I called a third time and wasted 30 minutes. This call included answering questions from my credit report, which I had open on the desk in front of me. I answered all the questions, reading things directly off the credit report that Equifax had printed out a few months earlier. The result: I was told they could not process the temporary lift of the security freeze, and I would need to fax a letter or use snail mail.
Equifax should have a web site that allows lifting of security freezes that actually works. I have no problem with Transunion or Experian. Why can they make it work, but Equifax can't?
If they are so incompetent as to not have their web site work, they should have a telephone process that works. The questions they ask should be solidly answerable if the person is reading their credit report. For instance, he asked me about a credit card that was active, I asked "any credit card on my credit report?" The representative repeated the original question, word-for-word, as if I hadn't asked a question. Then he asked me the "monthly payment" on the credit card. But first of all, on the report, there's no column "monthly payment". There is a "Scheduled Payment Amount", but it differs every month in many cases. When I asked for which month, the representative repeated the original question, word-for-word, as if I didn't just ask "for which month". It went on like this for 10 minutes before he finally said the system couldn't validate me.