Obtaining My Credit Report - Stage One

Okay, so tonight I came home and researched on the best way to obtain a copy of my credit report and discovered that when you can obtain your Credit Report free once a year from the Credit Agencies/Government (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion, etc). However the Report won't include your Credit Score. (that will cost an extra $22.95) It will also not include any extra analysis, and since you can only obtain it once a year, you can't monitor how things are changing on a monthly basis.

So then I began researching credit monitoring services. The top monitoring services are Citi Credit Monitoring Service, myFico.com, freecreditreport.com, and PrivacyMatters 1-2-3. After researching all of these I found that Citi Credit Monitoring Service provides the most complete service at the value of your dollar. You do get a free 30-day trial and then after that it's $12.95 per month and you can cancel at any time with No Obligations. I then proceeded to their site and registered for their service.

I started by Completing their online application and registration. After the registration process, it attempts to verify who you are based on your credit report and items that have been reported on your credit and asks you questions to verify your identity. I answered the questions and proceeded to the final stage, using the service. I attempted to view my Credit Report and it displayed the following message:

**** PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY*** We are unable to complete your order at this time. Your privacy and security are our utmost concerns. We need additional information from you in order to ensure your protection and complete your order. Please contact Customer Service at 1-866-311-6742, Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time, to complete your order. [7]

So I called for verification. I was on hold for 13 minutes before speaking to someone. I spoke with a Lou Ellen who verified my basic information and then transferred me to another department for proper verification. Call on hold again...total elapsed time now is 16:00 minutes.

I am now connected to Terry, who needs to Verify my Address because my credit reports do not reflect my address used at registration. I have lived at my current address for almost a year but most of my utilities and bills are registered in my fiance's name because I have poor credit. I am asked to fax them proof of residence. Acceptable forms of proof are as follows:

Car Insurance
Lease Agreements
Social Security Benefits Statements
Pay Stub or W-2's
Bank Statements
Electric Bill
Land Line Phone Bill

I am instructed to address the fax to Terry's attention and she will be handling my account. I am faxing her proof of residence using a current Pay Stub. Terry indicated that once she receives the fax and the verification is completed, she will be emailing me to let me know my account is ready for access. She let me know this should be taken care of within 24 hours. She asked if there was anything else she could help me with and we ended the call. Total call time was 26m 42s. I sent the fax to Terry's attention at 7:51PM EST. So, now I wait and tomorrow I will be able to obtain more information about my current credit situation and how to resolve it.