Now, if you're like me and watch your credit scores and reports like a hawk, especially since Facebook takes delight in selling your personal information and after I found my $#*! on the dark web after a scan, I've taken proactive steps to protect myself from identity theft. We all know that there are 3 major credit reporting agencies lenders use to determine if they will give you a loan, and if they do, based on your credit worthiness and other factors, either give you a great rate or a rate so high, you'll still be sucking buttermilk for the next several decades paying off that new air conditioner you buy today.

Well, what started out as NOT an experiment turned into one this month. And I realized, Experian sucks, and withholds information from your report. I found the question "Why does Experian suck?" on Reddit, I found with the answers all echo my findings. I had to chime in, and this is what I had to say., based on my experience so far monitoring my credit from both agencies in the past 4 months.

"Experian does suck. For example, after decades of paying for everything in cash, whether it's the car I buy or the apartments I rent, I dumped the use of credit cards in my mid 30's, which dropped my FICO score to 4 (which is the same as 0) as the old cards dropped off. It was basically working with a clean slate. Just for chuckles and grins, I applied for a Capital One Platinum credit card recently which was unsecured and to my surprise, with a zero FICO score, I was approved with an unsecured $500 credit limit, which for my needs, was absolutely perfect. Well, after 2 solid months of using the card and paying the card balance off in full before the end of the statement cycle, my scores with both Transunion and Equifax skyrocketed, from zero credit to a range of a "fair" raiting of 667 by mid January. I recently added my rental payments to be reported to all 3 agencies, and within a half of a month, my 15 month good payment history took my score up over 20 points virtually overnight when the payments were reported. But, only 2 agencies posted everything. Transunion and Equifax, Experian still shows my score as "unscoreable"

As for Experian, they have yet to post even a single payment to my Capital One Platinum card, even though it is in good standing with an outstanding payment history, and has yet to report my over year long payment history with my property manager. That account isn't even showing up yet on Experian, yet showed up on the other agencies as soon as the information was reported along with a 15 month record of on time payments. On Experian, only one open account has been listed (The Capital One one) with no payment history listed, But, they were oh so glad to have the 3 derogatory reports hitting from medical bills from last year that are virtually impossible to pay because the hospital chooses to send a seperate bill for the various departments involved (one for Radiology, one for the lab, one for the ER doctor, one for the ER visit, one for the $500 aspirin they give you in the ER, billed by the pharmacy) instead of one itemized bill.

I know some here say Experian is not dropping your score, but I can tell you that one thing is quite obvious after this 4 month "experiment" that didn't even start as one, they do pick and choose what gets into their reports. When you're hovering near 700 with the other 2 and still haven't even moved the needle with one, you can clearly see something isn't right.

Now, I dunno about you. But I do think this is a class action lawsuit brewing over willful under-reporting of peoples credit and scores based on their favor of derogatory crap over established loans and good credit history and have a total disregard over good payment history.

No wonder Credit Karma only offers Transunion and Exquifax scores in their service. Because Intuit knows what the answer is to the question that kicked off this topic, "Why does Experian suck?" Because they do. That's why.

Or, if you apply for a new apartment and they happen to do a check credit, as most landlords do that nowadays, PRAY they chose Transunion or Exquifax to pick from. With what they tell the perspective landlord, you're a good responsible person and pay your bills on time. But, if they choose Experian to see what kind of responsible tenant you can be, don't be surprised if they wouldn't even rent you a dumpster to eat out of."

Now, today I go to get my free copies of my credit report from annualcreditreport.com, which now offers them WEEKLY and not annually like it used to be. And I had NO problems getting my Transunion and Equifax reports. Trying to get my Experian report, on the other hand. Just see the 2nd photo to see what Experian gives as an excuse. They say I either "didn't answer the questions correctly", which is absolute BS, or I didn't answer the questions fast enough (all 3 questions were answered correctly in a 15 second time period), or the universal cop out excuse "We are having technical difficulties", which I know is another BS excuse.

Figure 1, is my current credit scores from Transunion, Equifax, and Experian. 2 good from Transunion and Equifax, one "unscoreable" from Experian.

Figure 2, is my attempt to get my free credit report from the annualcreditreport.com website. The other two agencies did not give me this problem and I got both reports with no problems. Experian just will NOT give you a credit report for free, as they are now required to do.

Figure 3, the screen where Experian tries to sells you snakeoil products to "improve" your score with them.

Experian needs to be held responsible. This is inexcusable..

When I was informed by my current mortgagor that rates had fallen in June, I tried to refinance my house. The credit report that was sent to me indicated that my credit score was too low, and that there were several key risk factors that impacted the credit decision. These included:
TOO MANY OUTSTANDING CREDIT CARD BALANCES
TOO MANY NEW CREDIT CARDS (1 IN 24 MONTHS)
TOO HIGH A RATIO OF BALANCES TO CREDIT LIMITS
TOO MANY DELINQUENCIES (1, in 2014 at JCPenney, when I was relocating from Saudi Arabia to the US)

So, I took distributions from my IRA that were sufficient to pay off ALL the outstanding credit card balances in June and on or before July 4th On July 29th, TransUnion still did not reflect the payment of more than $36,800 on a Bank of America credit card... but by the 2nd week of August, my FICO scores shot up to 803 - 824, depending on where we were on the current billing cycle for my regular gas, groceries, etc.

However, on 10/26/2020, I spent 2 hours on the phone with representatives from CredCo, who told me that their query against Experian showed a credit score that was around 759-763... and that they might be using a DIFFERENT ALGORITHM FOR LENDERS than the one that is used to generate the scores displayed on the Experian site and American Express. I explained that the Experian data I was looking at indicated that I was using about 1% of my credit limit... and that had NOTHING to do with some algorithm... and that the Key Factors that were displayed in the letter I received bore no relation to the nature of my credit usage since July 4th.

Experian does not provide contact information to dispute their lying reports to lenders.

We recently made a large purchase, and were "scrutinized" by the sellers like most people. Credit-history was a focal point. Imagine our surprise learning the Experian report "... had a few problems..." The latter translates to increased down-payments, a reality wirh which consumers must deal also. We were (more than) prepared to discuss and/or make a substantial down-payment; down-payments help by reducing monthly costs. What irritates is The Dance which is seemingly embedded in credit bureau information--in our case Experian.
Experian charges for all information, even when the information is inaccurate, not current, or irrelevant. If reviewing and checking credit is necessary--like background search for a major purchase--Experian never seems to gel with other credit, reporting businesses. The public, for reasons not understood, has accepted shoddy, overpriced information from Experian, a business that, along wirh two (2) other credit bureaus, has held generations hostage with credit information that can negatively impact the ability to purchase... or live! Experian has a responsibility to consumers, initiated and nurtured within parameters Experian set up.
When we tried getting a "free report" supposedly offered by Experian once within certain time periods, the report was not free, and ANY review of the report "... GENERATES A DECREASE IN (CREDIT) 'POINTS' ON YOUR EXPERIAN CREDIT REPORT..." Really? When did such nonsense start, and why would a business believe people would be okay with same? We used another business to verify. No cost!
RECOMMENDATION: Don't fall for obligatory credit "dances" perpetrated by and between businesses (e.g. Car dealers), financial instirutions (banks), and the Top Three credit bureaus. Other ways exist to gather credit info; accurate, current information that does not cost consumers money or hard-earned, credit points. Beware of any business using fear (identity theft) to get business. Any consumer can police personal information with just a bit of consistent homework. Experian is not necessary.
It's 2018! 20th century mechanisms re: "credit history" are nothing consumers "need." Who makes the decision on what points are added, or subtracted, from a credit report? What are the qualifications of employees at Experian? Why is YOUR personal information sacrosanct... to YOU? You can move forward with purchases sans sanctions by hostage-takers like Experian. Time for change is due, and here.