Experian

Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 642 historical complaints about Experian, published between 2002 and 2013. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.

• Consumer ReportPublished Sep 16, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Aug 26, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Jul 30, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Jun 28, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Jun 13, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished May 8, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished May 7, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished May 3, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Apr 13, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Apr 11, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Apr 5, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Apr 4, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Mar 21, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Mar 21, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Mar 20, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Mar 19, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Mar 18, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Mar 14, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Mar 13, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation
• Consumer ReportPublished Mar 11, 2013 · Historical consumer allegation

Complaint Themes

Each tag reflects a complaint's single primary theme (not every angle it raised), and complaints outside any problem theme — a positive report, or one later retracted by its author — aren't tagged. Counts may total less than the full complaint count above.

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Contacts

• Official website: https://www.experian.com/
• Experian membership questions and changes (Mon-Fri 8am-8pm CT, Sat-Sun 8am-6pm CT): 1-866-617-1894
• Consumer help center (disputes, freeze, fraud alert, contact): https://www.experian.com/help/
• Start or manage a dispute online (free): https://www.experian.com/help/dispute-credit/
• Fraud and identity theft assistance; also the dispute phone number given by CFPB and FTC: 1-888-397-3742 502 complaints mention this number
• Annual credit report line (AnnualCreditReport.com): 877 FACTACT: 1-877-322-8228 5 complaints mention this number
• Opt out of prescreened credit offers (run jointly by Experian, TransUnion, Equifax and Innovis): 1-888-567-8688 33 complaints mention this number
• BBB-listed phone for Experian, Costa Mesa (not a help-page number): (714) 830-7000 489 complaints mention this number

Locations

Experian credit report problems: disputes, freezes, fraud alerts, memberships and complaint routes (checked October 7, 2026)

Experian collects what lenders, collectors and public records report about you and sells credit reports to businesses. Its own consumer help page (opened October 7, 2026) lists these tasks: Security Freeze, Disputes, Fraud Alert, Denied Credit, Identity Theft, Opt Out of Prescreen Offers and Contact us. A credit bureau is not the lender or collector whose account appears on a report; Experian's dispute page says creditors and other data furnishers "send us updated payment information routinely."

Disputing an error with Experian.

• Online: the contact page points to "Start or manage your dispute" (experian.com/help/dispute-credit/). Experian says "Generally, a dispute should be resolved within 30 days with Experian's online dispute," that filing a dispute "has no impact on your credit scores" by itself, and that "Accurate information cannot be deleted."
• By mail: Experian, P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013 (the address in Experian's mail-dispute article and on the FTC's page). Experian's mail-dispute article says disputes are resolved within 30 days in most cases, "up to 45 days" if the bureau asks for more information after the investigation begins, and suggests certified mail with a return receipt; the CFPB makes the same suggestion.
• By phone: the CFPB and FTC list (888) 397-3742. Experian's contact page says it can best assist consumers who have a copy of their report and asks them to use the number shown on that report.

What the law says (agency pages). The FTC says you should dispute with each bureau that has the mistake and with the business that reported it, and that "the credit bureau has 30 days to investigate it." The CFPB says the bureau "must investigate your dispute, forward the dispute and all relevant information you provided" to the company that supplied the information, and "report the results back to you," and that a bureau may stop a dispute it reasonably decides is frivolous or irrelevant but must send a notice within five business days. The FTC adds that if a dispute leads to a change you are entitled to a free copy of your report, and that if the investigation does not resolve it you can ask that a statement of the dispute be added to your file.

Freeze and fraud alert. Experian's freeze page says a security freeze is free, is managed online in real time with a free Experian account, no longer needs a PIN, and "is not automatically shared with other credit reporting agencies," so a freeze must be placed separately at Equifax and TransUnion. By mail, write to Experian Security Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 with your name, Social Security number, two years of addresses, date of birth, a government ID and a utility bill or bank statement; Experian says a mailed request takes up to 3 days after receipt. Experian's fraud alert page says an initial alert lasts 1 year, an extended alert lasts 7 years and requires an identity theft report, and an alert placed at one bureau is shared with the others. Experian CreditLock is listed in that comparison as "included in a paid membership", while the freeze and fraud alerts are shown as free.

Membership charges and cancellation. Experian's help page, under "How to cancel my membership," gives two options: sign in and change a paid monthly membership to a free membership, or contact Experian by phone. The contact page lists 1-866-617-1894 (Monday-Friday 8am-8pm CT, Saturday-Sunday 8am-6pm CT) and, by mail, Attn. Customer Care, PO Box 2390, Allen, TX 75013. Experian's plans page says "You can change your plan, cancel it, upgrade your membership, or downgrade back to the free plan at any time," and its consumer privacy policy (effective date shown as 9/22/2026) says "If you wish to cancel your subscription, please contact us." Downgrading to the free plan and cancelling are therefore described separately by the company. No refund rule for consumer memberships was identified on the Experian pages opened on October 7, 2026, and the membership terms themselves were not reviewed, so ask the company in writing what it will refund and keep your card or bank statements.

Free reports and offers. Experian's contact page says federal law lets you get a free copy of your credit report weekly from each bureau through AnnualCreditReport.com or 877 FACTACT. To stop prescreened credit offers, Experian's article gives OptOutPrescreen.com and 888-5-OPTOUT (888-567-8688); the online or phone request lasts five years and a mailed form makes it permanent, and the line is run jointly by Experian, TransUnion, Equifax and Innovis.

Complaint routes. The CFPB accepts complaints about credit reporting at consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ (phone (855) 411-2372 as shown on its site); the FTC's page on disputing errors directs readers to ReportFraud.ftc.gov for fraud and bad business practices; and your state attorney general's consumer protection office takes complaints about businesses in your state.

Regulator and attorney general actions: CFPB lawsuit (pending), 2017 CFPB order, FTC, Justice Department and state settlements

These are the agencies' own documents. A complaint states allegations, not findings, and a settlement or consent order is not a court finding of liability unless its own text says so.

CFPB v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc. (filed January 7, 2025, pending). The CFPB's second amended complaint (August 22, 2025) alleges that Experian violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to properly conduct reinvestigations of disputed information, failing to delete inaccurate, incomplete or unverified information, failing to give adequate written notice of reinvestigation results, failing to prevent improper reinsertion of deleted information, and failing to follow reasonable procedures for maximum possible accuracy. It also alleges unfair practices under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, including relying "excessively and unreasonably" on furnishers to resolve disputes and improperly reinserting tradelines. The Bureau seeks compliance, consumer redress and civil money penalties. The CFPB's page records that on May 5, 2025 the court granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss the original complaint, finding some claims time-barred; on August 6, 2025 it granted a second motion to dismiss with leave to amend; on October 22, 2025 it denied the motion to dismiss the second amended complaint and ordered an answer; Experian answered on November 3, 2025; on January 26, 2026 it granted in part and denied in part the Bureau's motion to strike affirmative defenses; discovery is ongoing. On the CourtListener docket opened October 7, 2026, entry 215 (July 24, 2026) continued case deadlines and set a final pretrial conference for April 28, 2027 and a jury trial for May 3, 2027; the order says the court "will provide the parties no further extensions."

Experian's position. In a statement dated January 7, 2025, Experian said the lawsuit "is completely without merit," that its "legal position is strong," that it would "defend it vigorously," and that it takes "great steps to ensure we investigate every consumer dispute thoroughly."

CFPB consent order, March 23, 2017 (No. 2017-CFPB-0012). The CFPB's page says it took action against Experian Holdings, Inc., Experian Information Solutions, Inc. and ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. (dba Experian Consumer Services) "for deceiving consumers about the use of credit scores it sold to consumers," and says lenders did not use the scores Experian marketed to make those credit decisions. The order requires Experian to represent truthfully how its scores are used and to pay a civil money penalty of $3,000,000. The respondents consented "without admitting or denying any of the findings of fact or conclusions of law, except that Respondents admit the facts necessary to establish the Bureau's jurisdiction."

FTC, 2005 and 2007. The FTC's February 21, 2007 release says that in August 2005 Consumerinfo.com paid $950,000 to settle charges that it deceptively marketed "free credit reports" (the free offer was followed by automatic enrollment in credit monitoring at $79.95 a year), and that in February 2007 Consumerinfo.com, doing business as Experian Consumer Direct, agreed to pay $300,000 to settle charges that later "free credit report" ads violated the 2005 settlement.

Justice Department and FTC, CAN-SPAM, August 2023. According to the Justice Department's August 22, 2023 release, ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. dba Experian Consumer Services agreed to a permanent injunction and a $650,000 civil penalty to resolve allegations that commercial emails sent to people with free Experian accounts used to control access to their credit reports lacked an opt-out notice and mechanism. The release says the stipulated order was entered the day before and does not say whether Experian admitted the allegations.

Multistate attorney general settlements, November 7, 2022. Delaware's release says 40 states obtained two settlements, one with Experian Information Solutions, Inc. and one with T-Mobile USA, Inc., over a 2015 breach of Experian systems holding information of more than 15 million people who applied for T-Mobile services; under a $12.67 million settlement Experian agreed to strengthen due diligence and data security practices and to offer 5 years of free credit monitoring and two free credit reports a year to affected consumers. The release says neither Experian's consumer credit database nor T-Mobile's own systems were compromised. Colorado's release describes a separate multistate settlement in which Experian Data Corp. agreed to improve security and reporting practices and pay $1 million to the states after Experian did not warn consumers when it learned an identity thief posing as a private investigator was retrieving personal information from the Court Ventures database it had purchased. Texas's release describes the settlements with Experian and T-Mobile as totaling more than $16 million; these figures are as each state stated them and are not added together here.

New York attorney general, March 2015. The New York attorney general announced an agreement with Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Equifax and TransUnion providing, among other terms, a 180-day waiting period before medical debt appears on a credit report, removal of medical debts paid by insurance, and review by specially trained employees of supporting documents in disputes involving mixed files, fraud or identity theft.

Scope of this check. A search of the CFPB enforcement list for "experian" returned two actions (the 2025 lawsuit and the 2017 order). No other federal or state action against Experian entities was identified in the sources checked on October 7, 2026; that is a statement about those searches, not a finding that none exists. A 2014 Mississippi attorney general lawsuit is listed under court cases.

Who Experian is: Experian plc, Experian Information Solutions and Experian Consumer Services

Group. Experian plc describes itself as a FTSE 100 company listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) with "a team of 25,200 people across 33 countries" and corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland (full-year results for the year ended March 31, 2026, published May 2026). Its shareholder FAQs say it "is incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands under registered number 93905." In the same release the company says its consumer business "now serve[s] over 215 million free members globally," a company figure for all countries.

U.S. entities. Experian Information Solutions, Inc. is the consumer reporting agency that holds U.S. credit files; the CFPB's August 2025 complaint places its North American headquarters in Costa Mesa, California, and the BBB lists 475 Anton Blvd, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. The CFPB's 2017 order says it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Experian Holdings, Inc. ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. dba Experian Consumer Services markets and sells the consumer products and memberships; the Justice Department's 2023 release says it shares a parent company, Experian PLC, with Experian Information Solutions Inc. The two roles matter for readers: a credit report dispute goes to the consumer reporting agency, while a membership charge is handled by the consumer services side (see the contact channels above).

Recent company news. Experian's newsroom (opened October 7, 2026) lists releases including "Experian Becomes First Personal Finance App Integrated with Google Gemini" and a new integration with Workday for income and employment verification. These are company announcements, not regulator or court events; no new settlement, enforcement action, breach or acquisition was identified in the official sources checked on that date.

BBB file. The BBB profile for Experian, Costa Mesa, CA gives the business start and incorporation date as October 30, 1996, lists "Experian Information Solutions Inc" as an alternate name and says the business is not BBB Accredited. The BBB says it keeps a separate report for Experian Consumer Services (Freecreditreport.com).

Older brand names in our archive. Posts from 2002 to 2013 on this site use names and billing descriptors such as FreeCreditReport.com, CIC Credit Monitoring, Triple Advantage and Credit Expert next to the word Experian. The FTC's 2007 release ties Consumerinfo.com (doing business as Experian Consumer Direct) to the "free credit report" offer, and the BBB profile ties Freecreditreport.com to Experian Consumer Services; the other names were tied to Experian only by the offender field of each post and were not independently confirmed in the sources checked.

Complaint record: BBB, Trustpilot, ComplaintsBoard, CFPB database and posts on this site

Each source below is shown as displayed on October 7, 2026 and measures something different. The numbers are not added together or compared with one another, and a count of complaints is not a finding that any complaint is accurate.

BBB. The profile for Experian, Costa Mesa, CA shows the rating as "Not Rated" with the reason "The business is in the process of responding to previously closed complaints," and says the business is not BBB Accredited. The complaints tab shows 9,859 total complaints in the last 3 years and 2,195 closed in the last 12 months. The reviews tab shows 1.05 out of 5 as the average of 412 customer reviews. BBB also displays the CFPB lawsuit as a pending government action.

Trustpilot. The experian.com page shows a claimed profile with 4.1 out of 5 from 99,184 reviews, 10,259 of them in the last 12 months. Trustpilot says the company invites its customers to review, whether positive or negative, that it replied to 98% of negative reviews, and that Trustpilot does not fact-check reviews. The company's invitations are one reason this figure should be read separately from BBB's.

ComplaintsBoard. The page for Experian (www.experian.com), marked "Updated on May 15, 2026," shows 2.8 from 17 reviews and 136 complaints.

CFPB Consumer Complaint Database. Querying the database's interface with the company filter "Experian Information Solutions Inc." returned 4,416,458 complaints received between October 16, 2012 and October 6, 2026 (the database's own API, queried from the CFPB's complaint search page), and 1,889,424 received on or after October 7, 2025. By product, the 4,416,458 include 3,729,799 under "Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports" and 568,365 under "Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports"; among the 1,889,424 recent ones, 1,876,263 are under the first of those product names. For the full period the response categories shown are: closed with explanation 3,559,808; closed with non-monetary relief 523,454; in progress 331,867; closed with monetary relief 1,155. The counts change daily as the database updates. Database counts cover consumer submissions to the CFPB and are not our own posts.

Posts on this site. 642 approved posts from 2002 to 2013 are linked to this page as Experian-subject complaints (116 filed in 2011, 300 in 2012 and 53 in 2013; the rest are spread over 2002 to 2010). Posts that name Experian together with other bureaus or other businesses, that came from look-alike letters using Experian's name, or that were machine-rewritten, duplicated or not complaints were not linked. Counted by keyword (a post can match several, and the counts are not additive), 479 posts mention membership charges, billing or cancellation, 318 mention phone or customer service access, 161 mention report or score access, 136 mention report errors or disputes, 106 mention identity theft, fraud or a freeze, and 26 mention collections or old accounts. Many of the posts, including those from 2011 to 2013, describe a monthly or one-time charge on a card or bank statement (the amounts quoted in the posts include $12.95, $14.95, $19.95 and $79.95) from a credit report or monitoring offer that the writer says was not authorized or not understood; these are consumer accounts, not findings.

Court cases: CFPB lawsuit, 2015 data breach class action, Mississippi, FTC and CAN-SPAM matters

A settlement is a compromise and, unless the order says otherwise, not a finding of liability. Court cases are listed in the case table with their dockets.

CFPB v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc. (C.D. Cal. 8:25-cv-00024). Pending; see the regulator section for the allegations, rulings and the May 3, 2027 jury trial date shown on the docket.

In re Experian Data Breach Litigation (C.D. Cal. 8:15-cv-01592). A consolidated class action over the 2015 breach of Experian systems holding T-Mobile applicants' data, filed October 2, 2015. The docket shows a settlement agreement filed November 12, 2018, preliminary approval, a minute order granting final approval entered in May 2019, and a final judgment entered May 29, 2019 that awards class counsel $10.5 million in fees and $152,854.28 in costs from the settlement fund and allows $2,500 service awards; the case is shown as terminated. The state attorneys general settlements of 2022 concern the same breach.

State of Mississippi v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc. (S.D. Miss. 1:14-cv-00243). The Mississippi attorney general sued in June 2014 over alleged errors in credit files and the correction process. The docket shows a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice filed by the State on March 7, 2016; the docket entry does not state any settlement terms.

FTC v. Consumerinfo.com, Inc. (C.D. Cal. 8:05-cv-00801) and United States v. ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. (C.D. Cal. 8:23-cv-01494). The FTC and Justice Department releases summarized above describe the 2005 and 2023 resolutions; the dockets were located through CourtListener's search records, whose dates are shown in the case table, and their entries were not read for this page.

Individual consumer cases. CourtListener's search returned other dockets captioned against Experian entities, for example several Reyes v. Experian Information Solutions cases filed in 2022, 2024 and 2025 in different districts. They were not opened, and nothing is stated here about their claims or outcomes.

Is Experian Legitimate?

Experian Information Solutions, Inc. is a nationwide consumer reporting agency that the CFPB's pending lawsuit and 2017 order treat as a regulated consumer reporting agency, and its ultimate parent, Experian plc, is a FTSE 100 company listed on the London Stock Exchange with a Jersey registration number and a Dublin headquarters, per its own releases. Its consumer arm, ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. dba Experian Consumer Services, has been named in an FTC settlement (2005, with a 2007 follow-up), a CFPB consent order (2017) and a Justice Department CAN-SPAM settlement (2023); the corporate group has been named in 2022 multistate breach settlements; and the CFPB's lawsuit over dispute investigations is pending with a jury trial set for May 3, 2027. Experian says that suit is "completely without merit."

This page assigns no rating or verdict. The BBB shows "Not Rated" and 1.05 out of 5 from 412 reviews, Trustpilot shows 4.1 out of 5 from 99,184 reviews, ComplaintsBoard shows 2.8, and the CFPB database holds 4,416,458 complaints naming Experian Information Solutions Inc.; these measure different things and are shown as displayed on October 7, 2026. For practical steps, use the dispute, freeze, fraud alert and membership channels listed at the top of the page.

Court & Public Records

Company Relationships

• Owned by: Experian plc
• Owned by: Experian Holdings, Inc.
• Affiliated with: ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. dba Experian Consumer Services

Frequently Asked Questions