Experian problem
 

Hello all.
I am once again having trouble with Experian. I discovered a few days ago that they have been charging me $24.99 per month for the last ten months for a credit report. I don't remember ever asking for one from them and certainly not one per month for $24.99.

So I called their customer service # and the second thing they ask me is for my full SS#. So I hang up. I don't like giving my SS out at all let alone from an entity I already think is hosing me.

Anybody know a way to speak to a human at Experian?

I went to my credit card and protested this and they have issued a credit but I am concerned that Experian will convince them to return the money to Experian.

Thoughts?

This is a tricky one. Let us know what you find. I froze mine/wifes credit report from all 3 agencies about 10 years ago. Unfreezing is easy online. You can unfreeze for a specific time and then the freeze goes back automatically.

Perhaps check with the better business people to see if they have a record. Of this being a common practice with that company. I do wonder how they got your credit card information though. To bill with. It strikes me that if they could get it perhaps others could.

I was also trying to find the relevance of them asking for your social insurance number. When you contacted them.

It is my understanding one should avoid giving out their SS number.

DMV always gave me a real hard time about that, me saying the law protects me. This ended when I got Hazmat CDL tier 1 and all the background checks and finger printing and what not.

So did they want you to give them your ss#?

yes

Watch Discove card also, if they even exist anymore. I made one late payment 20+ years ago, $25.00 late fee. That was my fault, I was pissed at myself, mailed it late. The next month sent the check the day I got the bill. Guess what I got a late fee on the next months bill. I called about that charge, their answer was, oh sometimes that happens the month following one late payment. I never shopped at Sears again. I thought they started Discove card. I am still glad they are going down in flames.

and did you?

I have a discover which I have had for about 30 years I think. It seems to work fairly well for me. Not sure about Sears connection.

My backup card is a CITI by Sears. So far on that no trouble.

I thought that Sears started the Discover card, I could be incorrect.

I had to. The background screening for CDL tier1 with haz mat is serious stuff. Finger prints, medical samples blah blah ...

So Discover took my money back from Experian but a month or so later gave it back to them. I mentioned this at lunch today and one of my buddies who is an attorney said they were doing it to him too. Apparently they target older people, thinking we will let it go.

Each of the credit reporting companies (Experian, Trans Union, Equifax) are required by federal law to give you a copy of your report annually. It's best to stagger them by four months, so that you see any fraudulent credit activity early.

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

Don't even think about what your FICO scores are. FICO scores are a sucker metric of financial health. Live within your means and pay your bills on time, and your FICO score takes care of itself.

It's important to reconcile your credit card statements every month. I enter all my spending in an Excel workbook. I make sure all my spending is on my statements, and all my charges are real spending.

I have a Sears Citi MasterCard. I'm on some kind of list with them. They keep sending me crazy rebate offers, sometimes up to 20%. The only catch is that the rebates are in gift cards. But, as long as CVS and Cracker Barrel are among the gift cards I can get, I'm good with that. I spanked them for $1950 in rebates in 2020.

Whacking credit card companies for rebates in one of my micro-hobbies. In 2020, I racked up almost $3500 in credit card rebates. In 2018, I got $1700 off on Frau Putzer's BMW with BMW FS's credit card rebates.

I have accumulated $4k in rebates on GM vehicles (5% rebates on up to $10k in purchases/year). But, they don't make anything I want. But, if Frau Putzer wrecks her BMW and totals it, her *** is going to be driving a Chevy Equinox for the next ten years.