Consumer complaint received 2025-11-11 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes — 
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
I am completely locked out of my Experian credit account and am unable to unfreeze my credit report temporarily in order to apply for new credit. ( Yes Unfreeze [ per federal requirement ], not unlock ). I have made many attempts to contact Experian by phone, as detailed in the letter copied in below. I then tried contacting Experian through US mail. 
The letter copied in below was sentXX/XX/XXXX, the XX/XX/XXXXin XX/XX/XXXX by normal first class mail, and theXX/XX/XXXX, by certified mail, on XX/XX/XXXX. The XX/XX/XXXX letter was received by Experian on XX/XX/XXXX per the return receipt we received from the XXXX. I received XXXX response to either letter. None by phone, none by email, and none by XXXX mail to the address they have on file. 
Since thatXX/XX/XXXXletter, I did try to log in again and reset my password. This resulted in an error page from their website instructing me to call Experian on the phone. I tried to call but the phone system would only direct me back to the website. Every request I made to the automated phone system asking to speak to a representative resulted in the system explicitly telling me that it would not transfer me to a representative and pushing me back to the website. The system did indeed recognize that I was asking to talk to a person, and it said No. Many times. 
I understand if the system believes that someone else is trying to get my account that there would be additional hoops. But I have provided more than sufficient information to prove my identify, including copies of my passport, driver 's license, voter ID card, bank statements, and the like. 
I also tried sending Experians own unfreeze form to temporarily unfreeze my credit through their website. This was uploaded to their secure file service, for which the link was provided on the error page I got when trying to log in. To that upload I did receive a response by XXXX mail, dated XX/XX/XXXX, telling me " No, we won't unfreeze your credit temporarily '' and to unfreeze my credit either through the website or through phone. 
I can't log into the website, and if I try through the phone it will not accept the PIN they sent me when my credit was originally frozen when I was a on XX/XX/XXXX. 
Below is the letter I sent to them in both XXXX and XXXX. The XXXX version was modified slightly to indicate this was a resend and included some additional information. I was on a college internship in Iowa during this period, and depending on the sophistication of their systems, they could have detected attempts to call them from both XX/XX/XXXX ( our home and my permanent address ) and fromXX/XX/XXXX. 
To : Experian Please perform the necessary actions so that I can unfreeze my credit report and access my online account : Please send me my current unfreeze PIN by XXXX Mail to my address on file Please perform whatever adjustments are necessary to my online account so I can reset my password and regain access to my online account. When I try to log in, I do not get the text message youre sending me with the XXXX code and I also get Error Code XXXX. 
If any of these actions require that I speak with a customer service representative, please tell me exactly which phone number to call and exactly which responses to provide to the automated system to allow me to reach a human representative. 
If your automated systems for sending security codes by text is dependent on knowing the mobile carrier for the phone number, note that I moved my phone number XX/XX/XXXX to a new carrier around XX/XX/XXXX. I suspect this is important because when I try to log in using my existing user password, the system says that it has sent me a security cXX/XX/XXXXe, but I never receive it. But if I try to create a new account, I do receive the security cXX/XX/XXXXe in that scenario. If completing these actions requires that you completely delete my online account, then please do so and provide me exact instructions to successfully create a new account. 
I have attached the following documents to prove my identity : A copy of my social security card A copy of my US passport A copy of my drivers license A copy of my voter registration card A copy of the credit report you sent me by XXXX Mail on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX A copy of the letter you sent me by XXXX Mail on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX informing me that I had successfully unfrozen my credit ( and yes that was me that unfroze my credit by phone ) Over the last couple of months, I have tried to access my online account, potentially including a failed attempt to reset my password, with no success. Trying to resolve these problems has been a nightmare. It appears that correcting this requires the help of a human customer service agent, but I am completely unable to get the automated system to route me to a human in fact the system explicitly tells me it cant route me to a human representative. 
My bank tried to pull a credit report at my request on XX/XX/XXXX but my credit was still frozen. Later, on XX/XX/XXXX I was able to unfreeze my credit by phone with my PIN, and the bank pulled it again, but there was a statement on the report that prevented their systems from ingesting the report. With my fathers help and navigating the automated phone system with his information we were able to reach a human customer service representative. That representative made an update to my account so that I should have been able to log in, and she instructed me to call back after XX/XX/XXXX to complete identify verification. That representative also transferred me to someone else that removed the neutral statement on my credit report that she believed was preventing my bank from ingesting it. After XXXX or XXXX days I attempted to call back to perform the identity verification, but I was not able to get me to a human to perform that action, and the automated system would only refer me back to the website. Trying to log in through the website still failed. I did try to navigate the phone system through the dispute option, hoping to get a person that could help me, but that person just sent me back into the phone system and I could not get to a person that could help me with my account. When I tried to unfreeze my credit by phone XX/XX/XXXX, the system said that my PIN was incorrect ( the same PIN I used on XX/XX/XXXX ). When I try to sign into my online account with my mobile number and last XXXX digits of my SSN, the system says it is sending me a verification text message, but that message never arrives. If I try to login with my username and password, I get Unknown Error Sorry for the inconvenience, but we encountered an unspecified error connecting to experian.com. Please try again. ( Error CXX/XX/XXXXe : XXXX ) If I try to sign in using my google account ( same username/email address ), I get Error Something went wrong. Please sign in using your existing Experian username and password. ( Error CXX/XX/XXXXe : XXXX ) I look forward to your response allowing me to access my account online and to manage my credit freeze.

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