Consumer complaint received 12/29/2017 about Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports (Credit reporting) with Experian Information Solutions Inc. (NM).
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Personal information incorrect

Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed that my Experian credit score had dropped by 40 points in the last month ( my bank provides credit scores, udpated monthly, as a free service ). Clicking on the " details '' link, I found the remark that " You have too many delinquent or derogatory accounts. '' Since I know that I have neither, I decided to review each of my 3 credit reports. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I downloaded each of my 3 credit reports using XXXX. 
None of the reports showed any delinquent or derogatory accounts in the last 5 years, and I found no data that could justify a 40-point drop in my credit score on any of the reports. 

However, I did find several pieces of incorrect information on my XXXX and Experian reports. 
Neither company would even permit me to file a dispute, let alone resolve these discrepancies. 
I will outline my experience with each company below. 

1. XXXX. My XXXX report contains to addresses and one phone number that I have never used. 
I tried to file a dispute online but received an error from their web utitlity, " Error 372 - XXXX Online Customer Portal is experiencing a system error. Please contact customer support. '' I then called the linked phone number, XXXX, and spoke to a representative who told me that I had to file disputes online. 
I reviewed my experience online and said that 's how I was directed to call customer support. 
Upon asking for my report number, he found that my " file is under maintenance, '' which is why I ca n't file a dispute. 
He was unable to explain what " maintenance '' means, how long it takes, or what triggered it. 
He would only say that while my file is under maintenance, neither I nor any XXXX  employee can file a dispute. 
He refused to estimate a time when the maintenance would be complete, and when I requested to be notified via a phone call when it was complete, he stated that XXXX does not provide that service. 

Thus, I can not even dispute the incorrect information on my XXXX report. 

2. Experian. My Experian report also contains an address that I have never been associated with and, more troubling, it lists a misspelling of my name as " associated with your credit, '' along with my correct legal name. 
I added each of these two issues to Experian 's " dispute cart, '' but only the address was accepted by their web utility. 
For the misspelled name, I received the error message, " Our system is unable to process this item. Please Cancel to Continue and contact us at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX so we may better assist you with this item. '' That phone number leads to an automated answering system with no option listed for handling disputes. 
In fact, there are only 2 options : to report fraud, or to request a credit report.

Neither of them lead to a human, and pressing 0, *, or any other button helps either. 

For cases when their website and their phone system fail, Experian suggests uploading your dispute via .pdf files via a different web utility. 
So I wrote out my complaint, signed it, and scanned it to create a 140 KB .pdf file. 
Upon trying to upload it, their utility rejects it with an error message that states that only .pdf files less than 15 MB are permitted. Since my file is less than 1 % of that maximum limit, this error message is nonsense. 

And, as with XXXX, I can not even dispute the fact that false information appears on my report.

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