Consumer complaint received 2023-10-18
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2023, I sent a formal request to validate some consumer information reporting on my credit file to Experian by XXXX XXXX. And on XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email saying " We received a recent request regarding your credit information that does not appear to have been sent directly by you or to be authorized by you. As a precautionary measure, we have not taken any action on your alleged request .... '' I was sure that I sent it signed by me, dated, along with a copy of my current drivers license with my current address and also including a utility bill showing my name and address. So it seemed odd. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a request to Experian again by mail and I double checked that all my information was correct, my name, DOB, address and signed by me. Also included a copy of my Drivers License and most recent Utility Bill showing my name and address. On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from Experian again saying the same thing : " We received a recent request regarding your credit information that does not appear to have been sent directly by you or to be authorized by you. As a precautionary measure, we have not taken any action on your alleged request .... '' So this time I called Experian and spoke with a woman named XXXX XXXX case # XXXX ), she asked me to verify my information, which I did, and she did not let me know that she was updating or changing my information on my Experian profile. Once I asked her about the email and the requests I had submitted, she was not polite and basically said there was no record on her system showing any disputes since XXXX. I asked her to explain to me why they sent me that email and what led them to believe that the request for information was NOT sent by me or authorized by me. She said doesnt know and that theres nothing showing those emails on her system anywhere and then told me that I can just make the disputes with her over the phone. I told her I dont want to make disputes over the phone. I want to have a record of my disputes which is why i sent them by mail. I told her im concerned Experian has found a way to disregard my requests for information and she showed no interest in helping me and said " is there anything else i can help you with.. '' expressing that she just wanted to hang up on me. So I asked to speak with a supervisor. I was on hold for quite a long time then she picked up the line and transferred me to a man named XXXX XXXX case # XXXX ) He had alot more courtesy but explained that there is no record of the disputes letters that I sent in XXXX or XXXX. I asked him to explain the emails I had received saying " We received a recent request regarding your credit information that does not appear to have been sent directly by you or to be authorized by you. As a precautionary measure, we have not taken any action on your alleged request ... '' and he said his system showed no records of that. I let him know that the requests I sent them were signed and dated by me, had a copy of my current Drivers License showing my current address and even included a copy of my recent Utility Bill showing my name and current address. And that they sent me those emails saying they dont believe that the information requests came from me or were authorized by me so they needed to explain to me what led them to believe that the requests were not authorized or sent by me. He said that they can not explain their guidelines and that if I wanted to do a dispute to simply do it over the phone or through their website. I told him that I rather do it by mail so that its well documented and i had not had a good experience on their website or dealing with them by phone. He said theres nothing he can do for me and that if it was urgent for me to dispute some items that i should just do it by phone or their website.

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