Consumer complaint received 2022-06-07
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: OH
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes

Complaint:
I believe that Experian is deliberately funneling people toward their paid XXXX service by cleverly arranging their menu options so that people will always see the XXXX option before the free credit freeze option. The menus on their main page are unnecessarily convoluted and I believe this is done intentionally. 


The easiest way to understand this is to visit the web sites of the other credit bureaus and try to locate the credit freeze feature. XXXX makes it the easiest- they show the free credit freeze option in the first XXXX menu options. It's impossible to miss. It can be a little harder on XXXX depending on how you access their site. If you create an account and login, the credit freeze option is prominent. On their main page, it's *slightly* harder to find, but it is clearly visible in the same section of the page as their paid service. 


Experian stashes the credit freeze option under the second to last menu which is the rather generically named " Credit Support '' menu. Experian shows you their paid " XXXX  '' option under the first menu on their page which is called " Reports & Scores ''. Also in that menu are the free credit report, free credit score, and free credit monitoring options. This may make a visitor believe that all of the free services are grouped together in this menu. Experian may argue that credit freeze doesn't fit under the " Reports & Scores '' category. But if that's the case, the XXXX  option doesn't fit there either.

If you choose this XXXX  option, you are given a description of the XXXX  service. The only mention of credit freeze on this page is a line that says " XXXX XXXX is a separate service from XXXX XXXX. '' And then there's a link to click through to learn more about the differences. It does not mention here that the XXXX  XXXX  is free. 


If you click through the XXXX option and create an account, you're given a XXXX status that says your credit file is unlocked with a subtitle of " Lock your credit file to prevent identity theft '' and then there's a button to upgrade. In order to find the free credit freeze option, you have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page - passing a FAQ section- to find a nondescript text box that says you can also block access to your file with XXXX  XXXX  for free. 


There's almost no chance this is unintentional. If Experian 's XXXX service has value, they shouldn't be afraid to prominently display the free credit freeze option right next to it wherever it's listed on their site. Because to me, it feels like they're extorting panicked identity theft victims who don't know exactly what they're looking for to the tune of {$24.00} a month. I'd wager that if XXXX customers were polled, a significant number of them would say they weren't aware of the free option. 


If we want to live in modern society, we really don't have a choice but to let the credit bureaus have our personal information. The least they can do is make emergency processes like credit freeze as frictionless as possible. If this is unintentional, then look at XXXX 's site and learn from it. Put the free credit freeze option in the Reports & Scores AND the Identity Theft Protection menus. And on the XXXX pages, do an honest side by side comparison to contrast the XXXX product with the free freeze so that people can make an at-a-glance educated decision and not have to click through and read separate web pages.

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