Consumer complaint received 2024-07-25 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Credit monitoring or identity theft protection services — Billing dispute for services
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: UT

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/2024, I went to access my Experian CreditWorks Premium account, and it would not let me in, saying my card could not be billed. I realized the card I had used was closed after I decided not to continue with that company, and elected to use XXXX XXXX. I paid with XXXX XXXX, and though the transaction cleared with XXXX and my bank, their application continued to say I could not log in. 

I called their membership services and was given the option of providing my user ID or SSN to verify, and out of simplicity, I chose to give my SSN. I was stunned when the next question was for my DOB, which is a peculiar set of data to provide to someone about an account issue, no less someone with a thick accent I suspected was not in the United States. I declined to provide my DOB, as I have no means of validating whether their call center operates a " clean room '' environment as required of non-US contact centers handling sensitive PII. Their employee refused to provide me service, so I asked for a manager. Upon reaching the manager, they were abusive and refused to raise the complaint with Experian that it is inappropriate to ask that combination of PII for account access issues on paid memberships. While speaking to the manager, I heard questionable noises that may indicate they were working from home, which I am unsure passes muster for an offshore organization handling US consumer financial/credit data.

I called back to Experian after getting their corporate number, and their system routed me to the fraud department. The fraud employee forwarded me to a team lead in Membership. She took the complaint of bad behavior and the advice that if they need only collect a user ID and DOB to address access issues, that's all they should ask for in the interest of consumer privacy. She then claimed she investigated the cause of the access issue, concluding that my bank had not confirmed the transaction, which I know to be false. I repeatedly asked her to put in a research case with her technical team as I have paid for the service and am entitled to access the account, but she refused while continuing to blame my bank. I informed her that XXXX merchant agreements indicate that upon completion of the debit transaction I the product or service must be rendered, but she refused to acknowledge this or take action to attempt to resolve. 

To sum it up, this complaint is as follows : 1- Experian has refused to grant me access to a credit monitoring service I have paid for, fraudulently blaming other organizations to dismiss my concerns. 
2 - The abusive and unprofessional behavior by the representatives acting on behalf of Experian make it clear to me that they have not had formal training on US privacy/banking regulations/rules, and that it is unlikely that they are practicing standards like maintaining a clean room environment -- this was especially suspect when speaking to the first manager.

3 - Experian may not be in compliance with US rules/regulations/laws with regard to their membership division as it appears their employees collect sensitive PII and have access to credit monitoring data, but that they do not seem to be engaged in practices that are required of such organizations to protect the privacy of Americans. 
4 - The employee 's handling of the issue ( in refusing to open a research case with their technical team ) seemed to reveal that this occurs with frequency, resulting in consumers not having access to the resource they're paying for, for days or more.

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 non-monetary relief