Consumer complaint received 2019-09-05
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes — 
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc. (CT)

My husband and I were planning to purchase a new car with about 60 % financing ( $ 15,000+ cash down and {$26000.00} car loan ) in XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX and began the process on XX/XX/XXXX to unfreeze our credit reports with the three agencies. Within minutes, we were able to successfully unfreeze both our credit reports through XXXX and XXXX via their websites, but ran into problems doing the same on the Experian website. We then attempted to unfreeze our reports on the Experian telephone system, then attempted to contact a live person through Experian customer service at XXXX to no avail. Regarding my husband 's report, at first from his Experian website attempts, he thought he would have to mail in an unfreeze request along with all his personal ID information, copies of Social Security card and insurance or bank statements which he did not want to do because of both the hassle factor and because of the privacy issue of mailed papers getting into the wrong hands and uncertainty of knowing who would be looking at his material. He tried again a couple days later via the Experian website to unfreeze his credit and was successful. 
For my report, I went through the process online with a freeze PIN number I had received from Experian in XX/XX/XXXX and got feedback on XX/XX/XXXX that my PIN number no longer was valid. I also tried to reach a live person on the telephone, but had to dial the number XXXX numerous times and then proceeded through all the steps on their telephone system to either unfreeze my credit or to reach a live Experian person. I finally reached a live person on XX/XX/XXXX who determined that I would receive a new PIN number in the mail in the next 5 to 7 days which arrived to my mail box on XX/XX/XXXX. With the new PIN number, I again attempted on XX/XX/XXXX to unfreeze my credit on the Experian website and finally got to a screen that showed my security freeze was temporarily removed. With that information, I called my Bank to start the process of applying for a {$26000.00} car loan and {$15000.00} cash down payment since I knew that all three credit reporting agencies had lifted our credit freezes. The Bank loan specialist that I talked with had information that showed my Experian file was still in credit freeze, the Bank attempted to reach Experian by phone while I was on hold, but could not reach them either. Next, I again attempted to reach a Experian rep by telephone at the above number and was not successful in reaching anyone, only the phone voice system. I called my Bank loan specialist again and he again went through the process of contacting Experian on my behalf. We also tried using the " single-use PIN '' that Experian had issued to me on a previous call so that the Bank could use that to access my report, as described on Experian 's website. That single-use PIN did not work for that Bank either on XXXXxperians website or the phone system, nor did the new personal PIN that Experian had sent to me in the mail. About an hour after we hung up on our phone call on XX/XX/XXXX, the Bank specialist called me back because he had finally reached a live person at Experian and the three of us on the joint call went through the process of trying to unfreeze my report with the new PIN that they had mailed and a new single-use pin for the bank to use to get my report. None of the PINs worked at unlocking my freeze and the rep from Experian set up to mail me a new PIN for my use which would arrive in the mail in another 5-7 days because the Experian rep did not have access to that PIN either. At this point, I knew I would give up on working with my Bank to get a joint car loan with my husband, especially because we were told that the Bank only relied on credit reports from Experian and not from XXXX or from XXXX. 
We were still shopping for a car, found one at our local dealership that met our criteria and discussed financing through the dealership, especially checking to see which credit agencies they relied on for new credit, explaining that we had good unfrozen reports from both XXXX and XXXX, but not available from Experian. The car dealer assured us he would be able to work in those bounds and came up with a new loan package that enabled our purchase with a 41 % cash down payment. We closed on the car purchase on XX/XX/XXXX, financed with a 59 % of value car loan arranged through the dealership primarily to my husband with my name on as co-signor. 
A week to 10 days later, I have received notices from Experian with a new PIN number that I no longer need and a separate postcard statement that they had insufficient ID information to verify my identity and steps how I could get my credit report. I also received letters from 2 banks that showed my recent credit requests were denied because of the freeze and unavailable credit reports on Experian. I am submitting this complaint to CFPB because I am a person with good credit who had great difficulty in getting a freeze lifted from Experian, but no difficulty in getting the same result from XXXXXXXX or from XXXX. I found that Experian 's online and telephone systems were difficult to work with especially in comparison with the other two agencies. Then the issue of finding a live person to talk to at Experian, one rep was located in XXXX XXXX, added more complications when that agent did not have access to any information that would help my Bank access my report. The Experian lock-out took away my ability to purchase and finance a new car, except that my husband 's credit reports were available and I ended up as a co-signor.