Consumer complaint received 2018-02-24
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: PA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Problem with personal statement of dispute

Complaint:
No options offered for my complaint. I heard that your the people regulating the credit agencies. There's something wrong with the system. I'm a XXXX year old XXXX veteran who chose to serve my country instead of going to college.We never had much money growing up, we didn't worry about credit ratings, we paid our bills on time because that's how things were done.I tried a credit card and charge account back in the XXXX 's but quickly realized except for emergencies if you didn't have the cash for something you wanted you couldn't afford it. I've paid cash all my life. As I go into the later years of my life I have a desire to own my own home and exercise my Va Loan entitlement. Thats where the credit agencies figure in to this whole thing. I learned I had to develope and maintain a good credit rating. So after all these years I got a credit card and a revolving charge account to build a better credit rating so I could purchase a home. I'm getting quite the lesson and unfortunately learning the hard way. At first my credit rating jumped up from a base XXXX rating, as I had no credit history, to XXXX and I was on my way.I have a secured credit card with a {$300.00} limit, the due date is on the XXXX of every month and my first lesson was about credit reporting and credit utilization. I had a balance of {$280.00} on the XXXX, I paid my balance in full on the XXXX. My credit rating took a 73 point dive for being 4 days late. The credit agencies will never know I paid the balance in full 4 days later. They will only see my balance on the reporting date the following month and know nothing about the in between time. Credit utilization is math applied the same across the board for everyone, but there's a big difference between a {$300.00} limit and a {$3000.00} dollar limit and a big difference between a {$280.00} balance and {$2800.00} balance. The average person can pay off a {$280.00} balance in full the same month where an average person realistically can't pay off a {$2800.00} balance in the same month. But in both scenarios the same credit utilization applies. At XXXX years old I had to go back to school to learn how to manipulate the credit bureau 's. Make no mistake, this is a fact, this has become a game. I've been reading countless articles about this to help myself and the one word that is in everything I read is manipulate. These companies drastically change peoples lives based on a one day snapshot of their outstanding credit. It actually hurts your credit rating if you don't owe somebody money. They recommend a 6-10 % balance of your credit limit showing when it's reported to the credit agencies. Then everyone scurries to pay off the balance so they don't have to pay on the interest. 
If your smart and disciplined you manipulate the credit agencies, your credit rating is golden and everyone is happy. I never had any use for credit, I paid my own way, and now that I need credit I realize I was not prepared for this objective. The majority of Americans are just simple people who go to work, pay their bills and live their unassuming lives. To achieve anything beyond that you have to self educate to learn how to play the game to make a better life for yourself. Then it took a law to get them to let you see your own credit report once a year while anyone else for a multitude of reasons get get it. And good luck if you have questions about why your credit rating dropped 70 points. I never bothered to check, but what exactly do you get when you pay {$24.00} a month to Experian for example. {$24.00} a month to find out why your credit rating dropped I guess, I keep getting a try back later when I call to find out about anything but I don't pay the {$24.00}. It's basically a sorry state of affairs for the average person. I consider myself below average at {$25000.00} a year income.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation