I had reserved a car on-line with XXXX XXXX XXXX. When I went to pick up the car, I was told I had to give my Social Security Number in order to use my debit card to complete the transaction. I declined to give my SSN, so the agent directed me to XXXX at the next counter and asked the agent to honor the rate I had arranged with Budget. When I tried to pay at XXXX, my card was declined due to a " soft credit check '' by Equifax. The Equifax number on the explanation card was totally automated and only allowed me to request a credit report for a charge of {$7.00}. When I tried to rent a car through XXXX, they wanted to know the flight number I was booked on. Since I was traveling by bus, I did n't have a flight number, but when I asked about a train reservation they said that would be OK. So I called XXXX, bought a ticket with the card previously declined by XXXX. I was then quoted a rate XXXX the on-line rate for XXXX, the explanation being that I was a " walk-in. '' I called my bank and was told there was no problem with my account, which had more than enough to cover the {$200.00} hold requested by the car companies. I also had sufficient cash to cover both the hold and the original quoted rate by XXXX. I finally ended up getting a car through XXXX, same scenario as XXXX. The erroneous hold on my debit card by Equifax cost me both time and money, and no business should be asking for my SSN in order to make a payment.