The credit repositories, along with a number of large creditors, are the very companies that sell credit monitoring services. It is therefore in their self serving interests to make it difficult to reach someone within their organizations to correct a problem with your credit report. Thus driving individuals to credit monitoring services. Presto, chango a cost center becoming revenue generating center. 

It is also more profitable for them to see to it that the number of inaccurate credit reports increases over time. Maintaining a public perception that credit monitoring is needed. Thus driving sales.

Inaccurate reports = greater sales in credit monitoring. 

What incentive do the credit repositories, or large corporations, have to make reports accurate? NONE.

Inaccurate credit reports = increase revenue.

What do you really get with these services?

They don’t make your credit report more accurate. You have to do that.  They won’t restore your identity if it is stolen. You have to do that. 

What you get is an opportunity to buy your own credit report at hightly inflated prices.  You get on their mailing lists. You get on the mailing lists of their affiliated companies. You most personal information is data-mined and sold to other list brokers.

And, if you are very unlucky, you may find that you contracted for credit monitoring with a company that isn’t even located in the United States, such as Intersections Identity Track - a Canadian corporation. Meaning that US laws may not even apply.

Not quite the service you need. 

But there are options.

Depending upon where you live, if you are concerned with becoming a victim of identity theft, or if you are already a victim, you may have other alternatives.

California and Texas already allow consumers to freeze their credit files. Vermont and Louisiana will follow suit next year. Freezing your credit file is the only sure-fire way to prevent unauthorized access to your credit report and to stop identity theft.