Consumer complaint received 2019-09-03
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: NY
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: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
XXXX, 2019 I noticed a drastic drop on my Experian FICO score this past XX/XX/2019 because I responded to an offer to apply for a XXXX credit card. My score had gone down 8 points from XXXX to XXXX. Which is acceptable I guess since it was a hard inquiry although typically the penalty of a hard inquiry should only warrant a 3-5 point drop, I did not think any of it. I unfortunately did not get approved for that XXXX product and left it as is. 

XXXX, 2019 On XX/XX/2019 my FICO 8  score has again decreased from XXXX to XXXX and I believe the reason was because my total aggregate utilization has increased from 0 % to 3 % this was a balance I have with XXXX ( only one card reporting a balance ) which again I accept as a penalty for a sudden increase on overall Utilization, my balance went up from {$800.00} to XXXX. But come XX/XX/XXXX, I paid XXXX {$1000.00} which brought my balance down to {$680.00} so my utilization overall went down from 3 % to 1 % and my FICO score from Experian has increased 1 point from XXXX back to XXXX. Eventhough it was such a significant decrease on Utilization which is 35 % of the Fico scoring ingredients, Experian only merited 1 point. Which I guess was fine, since my Average age of credit history was only 2 years old. I accepted it as is and left it at that. However ... 

XX/XX/2019 I logged into my Experian membership and was surprised to see that my SCORE had again decreased from XXXX to XXXX with my utilization staying at 1 % ( {$680.00} balance with XXXX ) and Average Age of Credit History going up from 2 years to 2 years and 1 mo. How did my score decrease in such a way when all the positives such as : - On time payments across all accounts - Utilization stays significantly low at 1 % ( same balance from last report XX/XX/XXXX ) - Average Age of Accounts increased from 2 years to 2 years and 1 mo. 
- NO negative such as late payments or derogatory report on file. 
- Last credit inquiry was on XX/XX/2019 ( Usually recovers in 3-6 mos ) With all the above listed factors, it puzzles me as to why my Fico 8 score would drop continuously rather than going up. So I did a fine tooth and comb through my report and found nothing negative or nothing that I feel should warrant that decrease In score. So I called Experian to find out, and spoke to XXXX from Customer service. I was told that nothing could be done, since Fico scoring models are usually computer generated and that, legally, they can not discuss to me why my score had gone down. I asked if they could have someone manually review the report since it is quite surprising for yet another decrease in scores when XXXX and XXXX have both recovered from the last Hard inquiry from XXXX and has been going back up again. While I do understand that every CRA scoring may vary. It should not be adverse in it's results. How is it, that my other two CRA 's have been increasing my scores, whereas Experian in this case is penalizing me for factors such as short credit history and no loan history, those have been the factors that I've been seeing since I started building credit 3 years ago. And eventhough 4 points maybe insignificant as Fico is just a number representing how responsible we are as consumers. I think the fact that Experian has continuously decreased my FICO score as opposed to recovering from the past Hard inquiry and balance from a lender, is starting to become unacceptable and doubtful of how they are updating my reports. I even pay them a monthly subscription so I can keep abreast of my progress in my credit building. Sadly, they have been a disappointment as of late. I can not even speak with someone that has knowledge and capacity to explain to me why my scores have been continuously going down with no apparent changes to my credit report. It really is upsetting. And I want someone from Experian to review my credit report and tell me why my score had gone down or what caused it.

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