Consumer complaint received 2021-10-05
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: CO
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: Investigation took more than 30 days

Complaint:
I have used the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX on an XXXX device since I first purchased the car on XXXX of XXXX and had never had an issue with payment processing. On XX/XX/XXXX I tried to submit a payment in the amount of {$770.00} and received the usual message that my payment has posted successfully. A week later I received a notification email that said my payment failed. I knew the funds were available but double checked that nothing funny was happening with my bank account activity and everything was good on that end ( I typically keep 3 months worth of income available in that account ). On XX/XX/XXXX I tried to process the payment again through the app in the same amount ( {$770.00} ) and again received a notification that my payment processed successfully, only to find no activity in my bank account and another notification a couple weeks later about a failed attempt to collect the funds. On XX/XX/XXXX I tried to see if a lesser amount would process and tried to send {$600.00} and received an successful and then failed notification. This happened again on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX. I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and the customer service representative and the manager both said it is a " known software issue '' where the app is not connecting with their payment processing server but that it has been fixed and to try again. I did try again on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX until I got frustrated enough to take care of the past due amount over the phone and get the account current. The manager assured me that they were unable to do anything about the negative credit report unless I contact their " credit dispute research team '' which I did in XXXX and received a letter back saying their analysis showed that their original finding was correct and the payment was late. I explained everything I just explained above and sent a copy of an amended bank account statement for XXXX and XXXX to validate my claim. The audacity of this group to say that it is a consumer issue and not theirs yet have impacted several thousands of customers who, like myself, have ALWAYS paid on time reflects on their company culture and values. They have customer service representatives who are admitting that they have heard this same issue from many customers and are aware of the issue, but it is the customers fault! Does it make sense that if you have always done payments a certain way - the way their sales representatives suggest at the dealership, and it works for over 8 months, and then lets you know your payments are successful and then fail several times, that the customer is at fault? Normal transactions that assure you something is successful, usually mean just what they say. In the case of XXXX XXXX XXXX successful means that it could be successful or that they will come after you and impact your credit when they are at fault or have a payment processing issue on their end. Everything is wrong with this! Be aware of this and consider financing elsewhere. It is like they are purposefully trying to make the consumer appear as they are making no payments- for instance, on the app for the payment in XXXX of XXXX, they do not include this in their transactions even though it has already come out of my bank account and the statement for XXXX shows a past due balance. However, when I contact their customer service, they say my account is current. They should be fined for this kind of misinformation and blatant misleading of consumers.

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