Consumer complaint received 2025-01-22 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: MN

Complaint narrative:
In XXXX I started receiving past due notices in the mail for another person. Since it was not a name associated with me, I threw away these notices. Then we applied for a refinancing of our house and I was rejected because of my credit score. I requested my credit report from Experian and found they had merged this persons credit information with mine, which resulted in my credit score being reduced by over 100 points. After spending hours on the phone with Experian, they removed the erroneous information from my account and told me it was my fault for not using my middle initial on credit applications.

So I added my middle initial to all my accounts.

What Experian did not tell me on the phone was that they also added a safeguard to my account.

Note that the other two credit bureaus did not lower my credit score. 

Fast forward to XXXX, I noticed that my credit score with Experian was falling fast. I looked at my credit report and saw the problem : it did not show my three credit cards. Since my mortgage was paid off, and my other lines of credit were recently paid off and closed, Experian was showing I had no lines of credit. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Experian and finally got to a manager who could identify the problem. Because Experian merged my credit account with a wrong entity ten years ago, Experian has a safeguard on my account so nothing can be merged unless it contains my SS # or full name ( not just my middle initial as I was previously instructed ). 
Since we can not add my SS # to the credit card accounts ( they are not joint accounts, but set up as authorized user ), the phone representative tried to merge my account with my husbands information. A few weeks later, I received a notice that this dispute was denied. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called Experian again since my FICA continues to plummet. Note that my credit score is about 100 points higher with the other credit bureaus. 
I tried to tell the phone representative the issuethat our credit card accounts are authorized user accounts so my SS # can not be added, therefore I wanted Experian to remove the safeguards from my account so it will function like the other credit union accounts. The rep interrupted and was quick to blame me for not adding my FULL middle name to all the credit cards and that will get them connected to the Experian account. 

So once again, Experian is claiming that it is my fault that they have ruined my credit score. 

I have contacted my credit card companies again and found that I would have to open new credit card accounts to make them joint accounts. As a result, I have added my full middle name to each account. 

I have no guarantee that this method will solve the problem of Experian blocking my credit information from being accurately gathered into my Experian account since they have led me astray several times in the past.

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