Consumer complaint received 2019-07-10
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: AZ
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Unable to get your credit report or credit score
Sub-issue: Other problem getting your report or credit score

Complaint:
On XX/XX/19 my bank attempted to pull a credit score on me because I am trying to purchase a property. I was informed by my bank that they were unable to obtain a score from Experian, and gave me a telephone number telling me to call to request the " freeze '' be removed, and that the " freeze '' would be lifted within one hour. I called the number for Experian, but encountered a phone tree that said that the freeze could not be removed over the phone and the phone tree dead ended, and I could not speak to a live person. In the next few days, I scoured the internet to search for a phone number for Experian to try and resolve this over the phone but to no avail. After getting stuck in the same phone tree, although I called several different phone numbers that I found, the recording stated I needed to submit my request by mail, which I sent via express mail to the address in XXXX, TX that was provided on Experian 's recording. My letter was sent on XX/XX/19, via two-day express mail. Expected delivery date was Monday XX/XX/19. In my letter I expressly requested that someone from Experian contact me to let me know when the " freeze '' had been lifted and I provided both my cell phone number and email address. I still, to this date, have not been contacted by anyone at Experian. I requested that my bank attempt to get my credit score again on XX/XX/19, and was again informed that they could not obtain a score because there was still a " freeze ''. I also tried to allow one-time access to my bank via Experian 's online request form, but an error kept popping up stating there was not a freeze on my credit report. I have been using the phone number that my bank provided me to try and talk with a live person at Experian, trying different options, and I also found a few more phone numbers that take me to the same dead-end phone tree. It has been extremely frustrating that I can not speak with anyone about this over the phone and no one has contacted me from Experian. This morning, XX/XX/19, I was finally able to locate another telephone number posted on a website with other people 's comments about the difficulties they have had contacting a live person at Experian. One of the  numbers they listed actually worked, and I was able to speak with a live person at Experian at XXXX XXXX MST. The Experian representative 's name is XXXX. He informed me that there is not a freeze on my credit report or score. He then checked further to see if anything else is preventing access to a credit score, and the problem he found was that the information needs to be " organized ''. I asked him what exactly that meant, and he couldn't give me an adequate explanation, only that he would put in a request to have it " organized '' and it would take another 3-5 business days for my score to be available. This is ridiculous! It has already been over a week since they received my written request to unfreeze my report, and although they say the issue is not that it is frozen, it makes no sense as to why this happened in the first place, and what needs to be " organized ''? Obviously my written request for the freeze to be removed indicates that there is an issue that needs to be addressed, so I find it hard to understand why someone from Experian did not contact me at that point, or even when I was going around in circles on the phone tree, why isn't there an option to speak to a representative, and if they knew there was an issue, why was I not informed or transferred to a representative at that point while I was on the phone. When I was speaking with XXXX, I asked him if there was any way that I could have known that there was an issue that needed to be resolved with my credit report and he said " no ''. He explained that the only way to know is by applying for credit and the creditor informing me that they were unable to obtain a score because of a problem that needed to be addressed. This is absurd! Assuming that the issue ever does get resolved, am I supposed to call them periodically to ask them to " organize '' my information so that I don't run into this issue in the future? I am very disturbed at Experian 's lack of customer service. It is very obvious that they have no concern for being available to be contacted. Their blatant disregard for consumers is very disturbing, and in my opinion, the issues I have been having with them is worse than identity theft. It has rendered me unable to move forward with submitting an offer on real estate, which time is of the essence. At this point, I am still waiting for them to " organize '' the information on my report, and I hope that this issue actually gets resolved. I also hope that they will do it sooner rather than later. It seems that I have no other choice but to wait the 3-5 business days and have my bank check my credit score after the time has passed, hoping that the issue has been resolved at that point. In my search for a phone number to a live a person, I have found that there are many people who have had issues with Experian, so apparently this is a common problem and needs to be addressed.

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 non-monetary relief