March 5, 2009
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News: Journey to Free Credit Report.
Because of the many hurdles, it might be called the road less traveled. With recent events like the Heartland credit card incident and all the many credit card scams, this journey is being touted as the only way to go. Yet, the reality is that for many who attempt this steep uphill path, the journey is never completed. In my own experience, I found many reasons why this might happen. Perhaps, with some well-documented roadmaps, this journey could become a calculated and necessary right of passage. When my credit card score fell from 819 (FICO) to 691 back in November, I thought this would be a good time to find out why.
My free WaMu credit card reporting tool shared that the lower score was based on the credit report from TransUnion. Two ‘derogatories' were mentioned as part of the reason. So, I started out from the "AnnualCreditReport.com" site and tried to move forward. The hurdles started immediately as, the next screen inundated me with misleading choices. Everybody was on the take and, about all I could see were pathways for, what they call ‘appropriate partners', who wanted to get my money. All of these seemed to offer everything I wanted and more. The fine print or deceptive ploy, however, always included the ‘trial offer' clause. After trying to find the leak to the freebee three times over, I realized that the first choice was the right one. After having my attention grabbed at the get-go, I had already skipped over what I really needed to see. Marketing well done but, a distraction for me and my credit card report quest.
When, finally I figured it all out, I finally made it all the way to TransUnion's grueling security gauntlet. Being my first experience, I didn't have a clue of what I was facing. After passing all the rudimentary security levels, I now, was faced with the high-level mesh that would immediately rule out the faint-hearted. Three more hurdles quickly followed, each one more steep then the previous. I, somehow, managed to scale the first two. Then, the third one fell me when I couldn't recall all of the PANs of my 32 credit cards. I was locked out and given no more chances. Thinking the lock would go away over time, I tried again the following day, then week. No joy. So I waited 4 months (today). Still, no joy. My triumphant journey is chronicled in the article series entitled "Wilderness to Free Credit Report".