Denied free credit report AND credit freeze by Experian!

[ocean view]

Trying to get my ducks in a row in light of the Equifax breach. I was able to put a freeze on my credit at Equifax over the weekend - no problem (although their NOT randomly generated pin is a bit troubling).

This morning I tried first to request my free credit report from Experian and was denied. I was able to request the report by phone, however it will take 3-5 weeks for delivery. I guess that means that I answered the security questions incorrectly. There were two that I answered as none of the above - the first was oddly specific about opening a new mortgage in May 2017 and how much was the monthly payment. We have no mortgage, paid it off 5+ years ago. No new credit of any kind in many years. The second question asked me to pick the phone number I was associated with. All of the choices were from an area code I have never lived in, so I again selected N/A. The mortgage question worries me. I was going to start the 4-month cycle of free credit reports, now I think I need to request from one of the others to see what's up.

Then I tried to put a freeze on my credit at Experian and was denied that too! Now I'm worried. Experian said in the denial info that I would not be charged the fee, but as I type this I just got an email from the bank -- they charged my card. Joy!

Anybody else ever get denied for free credit report or to place a freeze?

 

[easysurfer]

I tried getting my free credit reports online this year at the free annual credit report site. Two out of the three places, my request failed. Not sure if this was because I already had a freeze in effect or what. I was successful in the past and pretty sure I answered correctly.

My solution (well, least aggravation) was just to print out the paper form and fill that in and mail to request the reports through snail mail. Looking at the request, I think all for form asked for was pretty much my name, addresses and SSN and which forms I wanted.

I think in the future, I'm just going to go the snail mail route instead of trying to debug the online issues for them .

I'm trying to remember (my memory not 100% certain) what happened. Think I filled out and sent out a form, then got a letter saying I needed to send a photocopy of drivers license. After that, I got the reports. Process wasn't that long.

 

[gayl]

Annualcreditreport.com denied me. Then Trans Union & Equifax made me jump through ridiculous hoops to get a freeze put on. In fact I had to call Transunion and do it over the phone. Annoying. However I had no problem with Experian even though it said that if I had an ongoing relationship with the bank they would be able to get my credit score. So I've got an ongoing relationship with both Schwab and USAA. I guess it means them?

 

[SheitlQueen]

I was denied through annualcreditreport.com yesterday too.

 

[JoeWras]

I tried getting a SSA.gov account today and apparently blew a question (regarding something from 25 years ago), now I have to wait a day or two to retry. I'm trying to do that before freezing.

This process is unnerving.

 

[ocean view]

Update: Probably no issues with my credit, just system overload.

I was able to get through by phone to dispute the cc charges (they charged me twice). The agent said that system overload was the cause of the denials and that everyone was getting charged twice. CC charges would be reversed with 12 hours. He did offer to place my freeze for me without a fee, so naturally I accepted the offer. Mostly relieved to know that there are probably no issues with my report.

 

[RobbieB]

I started trying to freeze stuff Friday. Equifax and Experian went through no problem but I couldn't do Transunion until today.

 

[kaneohe]

......................... I was able to request the report by phone, however it will take 3-5 weeks for delivery. ..............

I routinely request the report via telephone. Don't recall what the automated phone promises but they typically come within 2 wks. I have not had freezes in place in the past but am considering it.........trying to decipher whether that means more trouble getting reports.

 

[Katsmeow]

For those freezing through TransUnion did you use the freeze or did you use their free tool where you can lock your credit report (and unlock it if you want). If you did the freeze, why do that instead of the other?

 

[aja8888]

For those freezing through TransUnion did you use the freeze or did you use their free tool where you can lock your credit report (and unlock it if you want). If you did the freeze, why do that instead of the other?

When I froze with them a few years ago, I didn't know that free tool was available, and maybe it wasn't at the time.

 

[calico1597]

I just got my Experian credit report within the last hour, also put a freeze on my account from their website. I didn't have any problems. No charge since I'm over 65. I've also signed up for the free year of credit monitoring with Equifax. I'm supposed to get an email link to complete the process.

 

[Sunset]

Last I heard, it's free to do a credit alert, and you only have to tell one of the big 3, and they are supposed to tell each other.
A credit alert lasts 90 days, and makes them extra careful (?) about giving out your credit info.

 

[misshathaway]

Tried Annualcreditreport.com yesterday and it denied me for all 3. I only wanted one, but I tried the other 2 in sequence. Had to mail in the form. It's probably just overload. The site took forever to load a page.

 

[bclover]

Another "tried and failed" gal here. Actually I glad to hear this I was worried something fishy was going on.

I didn't try annualcreditreport.com actually went to transunions, expedian sites. no luck.

 

[Chuckanut]

Just tried to thaw my Experian credit report and got a message that I had to do it via snail mail. Gather up a bunch of documentation and send it to them.

I also could not get my Experian credit report via AnnualCreditReport.Com. Same thing, fill out a from and mail it to us.

 

[Chuckanut]

I just got off the phone with Experian and temporarily thawed my credit records for a very short while with no problem. Their agent had no explanation for why I could not do it online, but the agent did offer me to sell me a service where I could freeze and thaw my credit report with the push of a button on-line. Hmmm.....

I also ordered a copy of my credit report while I was on the phone since that also could not be done online.

While it is a bit of a hassle, the phone process is still a lot easier than having to deal with the chaos caused by some criminal stealing my identity. So I will keep my records frozen.

 

[braumeister]

the agent did offer me to sell me a service where I could freeze and thaw my credit report with the push of a button on-line.

Actually?
Or is this the infamous "lock/unlock" which is supposed to be inferior to freeze/unfreeze?

 

[GrayHare]

I snail mailed them the paperwork and months later still don't have anything to show for it. Can you say broken?

 

[foxfirev5]

I tried getting a SSA.gov account today and apparently blew a question (regarding something from 25 years ago), now I have to wait a day or two to retry. I'm trying to do that before freezing.

This process is unnerving.

My SS is not that easy to set up. DW tried awhile back after unfreezing her Experian info. After a couple of submissions we were told by the help desk we had to visit a local office to set up an account. We'll wait until she applies for benefits.

 

[Chuckanut]

I have to admit that I am suspicious that I could not thaw my credit online, but they could sell me a package that would let me freeze and thaw my credit with the push of an online button. Still, I did manage to thaw it with a phone call and get my business done.

 

[calico1597]

We tried to thaw our credit freezes in December so we could get satellite tv in our winter home. Never was able to online or by phone. Equifax told us the account was not froze, but Dish TV could not pull the report. We gave up and got a roof antenna. Will have to be dealt with someday.

 

[audreyh1]

I just got off the phone with Experian and temporarily thawed my credit records for a very short while with no problem. Their agent had no explanation for why I could not do it online, but the agent did offer me to sell me a service where I could freeze and thaw my credit report with the push of a button on-line. Hmmm.....

I also ordered a copy of my credit report while I was on the phone since that also could not be done online.

While it is a bit of a hassle, the phone process is still a lot easier than having to deal with the chaos caused by some criminal stealing my identity. So I will keep my records frozen.

Good to know as the phone would have been my next recourse.