Consumer complaint received 2024-05-28
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Unable to get your credit report or credit score — Problem getting your free annual credit report
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc. (CA)

I've requested my free annual credit report from all 3 of the major companies, but XXXX XXXX Experian are stonewalling me, leaving my best recourse to complain with the CFPB. XXXX sent me my credit report, so XXXX did the right thing and is exempt from my complaint. 

To start with, sometime after this new year began, I decided I would request my free annual credit report ( from all 3 agencies ). It has been longer than 1 year since I requested my free annual credit report, so I am entitled to my reports. 

I went to XXXX to try to make the initial request. But my first problem and also first complaint is that I was unable to get my reports online this year because they started requiring 2-factor authentication with a cell phone. I only have a land line, so I could not complete the process online to get my credit report. 

So my very first complaint is that this is XXXX and there should be other ways to continue the process online without a cell phone. You should be sensitive to people who still only have land lines, and just as importantly, XXXX XXXX scams are becoming a very prominent attack against cell phone 2-factor authentication, so it isn't even that safe. That's why it should not be required. 


Continuing on, the instructions said that I would have to request my annual credit report by mail. So I downloaded the official PDF form and filled it out to mail. Since things have already started off badly, I cynically anticipated that somebody might try to claim my filled out form is illegible due to handwriting. So not willing to take this chance, I painstakingly typed in all the information for the form so there could be no question of its legibility. 

I followed all the directions on the form and I mailed the form in XXXX XXXX. A few weeks later, I received a postcard in the mail, stating " We were unable to honor your request because you did not provide sufficient identification information for us to verify your identity, or the information that you provided was legible. '' I will upload a picture of the postcard with my submissions which includes the full text. But the other important part of the postcard said, " please provide all the following information in order to process your request : 1 ) Your full name including middle initial ( and generation such as JR, SR, II, III ) ; 2 ) Social Security number ; 3 ) Complete addresses for the past two years ; 4 ) Date of birth ; 5 ) One copy of a government issued identification card, such as a driver 's license, state ID card, etc. : 6 ) One copy of a utility bill, bank or insurance statement, etc. '' Before I continue with my next step, I need to say that a couple of days later, I received my credit report from XXXX. So clearly, my form was legible, and they didn't need all the additional documentation the postcard was telling me to send. 

I also want to point out that I have been living in the same place for decades ( no address changes ), I have received my credit reports in the past without having to do any of this stuff, and there are no weird changes to my legal name or life that should trigger any reason for this extra identify verification. And the fact that XXXX sent me my credit report without any fuss proves that. 


But continuing with my story, I decided I would simply comply with the postcard request. I printed out a new request form with all my information typed in again. The only difference with this form from last time is I removed requesting a credit report from XXXX since they already sent it to me. So this form has XXXX and Experian filled in. 

Going through the check list on the postcard, the form requires me to fill in : XXXX ) My full name including middle initial 2 ) Social Security Number 3 ) Complete addresses for the past two years ( I've only been at one address for the past two years, so only the Current Mailing Address section needs to be filled out ).

4 ) Date of birth Additionally : 5 ) I printed a photocopy of my state driver 's license ID ( both front & back ).

6 ) I included my most recent bank statement, which has my name and address on it. I also picked a statement from a brick & mortar bank, because I have heard a claim ( I don't know if it is true ) that statements from online-only banks may not carry as much weight. So just to cynically anticipate another potential problem, I provided a bank statement from a bank that has actual buildings.

7 ) As an extra, I also wrote a cover letter, explaining that I had requested my credit report a month ago, and I got rejected with a postcard response demanding the extra documentation. I also noted that XXXX did complete my request. But I was complying by issuing another request for XXXX XXXX Experian, with all the extra documentation that was requested of me. I also listed all the items I was including on the cover letter. 


I mailed this entire packet on XX/XX/XXXX. A few weeks later, I received another copy of the generic postcard you sent before, rejecting my claim and telling me to send the same documents again. 

This is unacceptable. I have compiled with everything that was asked of me, and now I'm being stonewalled with the exact same message. You have left me nothing to do except file a formal complaint. 

This is infuriating because it has been a waste of my time ( months ), a waste of my money ( postage ), and XXXX proved there is no reason you actually need all this documentation. Then when I send you all the documentation anyway, you just stonewall me asking for all the same stuff again, pretending as if I never sent any of it, or lying that my form is " not legible ''. 


So to resolve my complaint : First and most importantly, I want XXXX and Experian to send me my free annual credit reports, which I am entitled to by law. 

Secondly, for future annual credit reports, I want these companies to remove whatever flags they may have in my file that are demanding I send them this extra identification documentation. I have been able to get my credit reports in the past without having to send all this. And I know most people also don't have to do this. I don't think there is any legitimate reason to make me go through this, since I haven't done anything like moved in the last 2 years. It feels like they are just using this as an excuse. 

Third, I want all of them to modify their online system to not require a cell phone for 2-factor authentication. XXXX XXXX attacks are going to get worse in the future, so this is a terrible system to require anyway. If they insist on keeping 2-factor authentication, most other companies that do this also support an automatic voice callback which does work with both land lines and cell phones. It's baffling that they didn't even have a voice callback option as a fallback.