Experian - Are they pulling my leg? Have you heard of non-foot print searches ?

CANDYTROOPER1922

Dear All,

Is Experian pulling my leg? Is there really any point in having the subscription?

Background Information
Back in September i applied for a sole trader account with the co op bank. They declined and sent me a letter confirming that they ran a credit search via Experian and that I was declined due adverse information. I purchased my credit report subscription £14.99 per month as i had been a member before and couldn't have the free trial again. I had several searches on my report relating to a sibling which i requested to be removed which they are still dealing with some of them. Anyway my credit improved and still is.

I appealed the decision and asked the co op to research after some of this information was removed. They declined in November 2012, December 2012 and January 2013 and now again in February 2013. I had to send them 12 months bank statements and other additional information for the appeals.

The Problem
I have had the Experian subscription since September now and not once has any of the searches from the co op appeared on there. I am also meant to be alerted when a company searches my credit report.

On all of the occasions that the co op have searched the report it has not appeared on my report. Hence this was making me think that they are not even searching my report. I contacted the co op and explained the issue and they stated they have searched my report and they have the credit score number in front of them for the months they ran the search and they subsequently quoted it to me and it was correct. So now i know they where searching my report.

Summary Responses

Experian's 1st Response
Me: I contacted them stating the searches are not appearing on the report and hence have had no email or text from you.

Experian: They must be using another credit referencing agency.

Experian's 2nd Response
Me: Re: to my previous email - Please find attached the letter confirming that they used experian

Experian: They have not conducted any search for you. Any search that has been completed with us would appear on the report. You where not a member when the search in September was completed so you would not of got an email/text if they had searched with Experian.

Experian's 3rd Response
Me: Re: to my previous emails. Please find attached 3 letters confirming that the co op has conducted several searches and they where conducted while i have been a member with you and i have not received an email/text like i am paying you for. On top of this the searches are not appearing on my report again.

Experian: They have not been conducted with us. It is actually benefitting you that theses searches are not appearing as they would decrease your credit score even more.

Experian's 4th Response
Me: Re: to previous emails. I am not happy with the responses. I am paying you for a service which i am not receiving. I would like a refund for the months that i have had a subscription and these searches have been conducted and i have had no alert from you either.

I will be forced to charge back all the payments with my credit card provider if this is not dealt with.

Experian : We are now treating this as a offical complaint we will contact you shortly.

• Received a telephone call from experian this morning stating the searches are not appearing as some companies choose to search via several methods. These methods are a non-foot printing method and a method from where they run the search and then delete it.
• The non foot printing method is where they look at the report and choose not to leave a foot print.

My question's where


so they have looked at the report and chose not to leave a record of it on my report? Yes he answered.



Shouldn't you have a time/date there when they did look? No if they don't choose to leave a foot print we do not record this.



Questions

What is the point in having a credit record then if people can search it and not even leave there footprint. In effect you could have a company search your report, give the credit to a fraudster and they do not even leave a footprint on the report!



I have 2 mobile phone contracts and the searches appear on my report but the credit agreements with the monthly payment breakdown do not. How do people out there know this isn't happening to them ?



I have looked up this non foot printing method on the net and can't seem to find anything.



I have also contacted the co op and they have not heard of this method either and have stated that they have searched the report which they have proved.



Has anyone heard of this method? Does it exist?



Even if it does at some point Experian has provided them access to the report and they are not alerting me or placing this on to the searches part of my report. So what am I paying them for ?:(



Another thing that has made me think they are pulling my leg is that the man that telephoned me stated they would be sending me a email confirming what was discussed but there was no mention of the 2 methods we discussed on the telephone.

Lokolo

There are some things that don't mark your credit records, such as ID searches.

I honestly don't expect Experian have done anything wrong here and in fact that co-op are in fact doing no external credit searches, and have you on record and just aren't offering you an account.

Also you said

appealed the decision and asked the co op to research after some of this information was removed. They declined in November 2012, December 2012 and January 2013 and now again in February 2013.

Does that mean you applied for an account once a month over the past 5 months? If so, you should firstly take a hint and then secondly think that co-op most probably have a record of you and auto decline without a credit search.

CANDYTROOPER1922

Lokolo wrote: »

There are some things that don't mark your credit records, such as ID searches.

I honestly don't expect Experian have done anything wrong here and in fact that co-op are in fact doing no external credit searches, and have you on record and just aren't offering you an account.

Also you said



Does that mean you applied for an account once a month over the past 5 months? If so, you should firstly take a hint and then secondly think that co-op most probably have a record of you and auto decline without a credit search.

The Co Op have completed the searches as mentioned earlier they have the credit score from each time they have searched which is the same to the one i have on their website. I've got an account elsewhere now. But its the fact i am paying Experian £14.99 a month and they are not providing the services.

grumbler

I am pretty sure that companies can remove their own searches recorded to the file. If so, nothing stops them to remove the search right after conducting it.

I think it's just Experian that fail to do their job of alerting that they take money for.

What is the point in having a credit record then if people can search it and not even leave there footprint. In effect you could have a company search your report, give the credit to a fraudster and they do not even leave a footprint on the report!

The system was designed for other purpose, not for potection against ID fraud. Experian are happy to sell a new service, but are too lazy to modify the system.

CANDYTROOPER1922

Lokolo wrote: »

There are some things that don't mark your credit records, such as ID searches.

I honestly don't expect Experian have done anything wrong here and in fact that co-op are in fact doing no external credit searches, and have you on record and just aren't offering you an account.

Also you said



Does that mean you applied for an account once a month over the past 5 months? If so, you should firstly take a hint and then secondly think that co-op most probably have a record of you and auto decline without a credit search.

Also with ID Searches / Address Verification Searches they appear on the Experian credit report as Generic: ID Check or Unrecorded Enquiry- Which will not decrease your credit score.

CANDYTROOPER1922

grumbler wrote: »

I am pretty sure that companies can remove there own searches recorded to the file. If so, nothing stops them to remove the search right after conducting it.

I think it's just Experian that fail to do their job of alerting that they take money for.

Exactly - I would have expected that they alert to say ABC searched your report.. Then when you log in if it gone it obvious it has been deleted.

Equlifax alert you of searches and deleted searches and keep a report of them on there system for you to look at.

izools

I think we're missing something really simple here folks.

If the address provided on the application is formatted differently to how it is on the applicants credit file, the searches may not appear on the applicants copy of their file. From the lender's perspective, they may be returning a null file, hence the declines.

EDIT: I do however support the supposition that Co-Op are pre-declining the applicant for the account if he is an existing customer of theirs and sending out generic letters regarding the use of Experian, without actually having their data team investigate whether or not the system has performed a search.

CANDYTROOPER1922

izools wrote: »

I think we're missing something really simple here folks.

If the address provided on the application is formatted differently to how it is on the applicants credit file, the searches may not appear on the applicants copy of their file. From the lender's perspective, they may be returning a null file, hence the declines.

The address on my report is the same as the address on the letters from the co op.

Just to point out to readers. It is not so much that i have been declined, i don't mind about that as i have got an account else where. But it is more the fact that i am paying them to alert me when someone has searched my report and they are not alerting me and also not even putting the search on my report.

I have had several searches appear on my report and i have not been alerted whatsoever and then there is several searches that do not even appear on my report at all.

izools

I understand.

Soft searches can be made, and these aren't visible to other lenders, but they would still be visible to you. Co-Op don't use these, however.

Whilst the address quoted on their letters is yours, there may be a subtle difference in the way it is formatted resulting in your situation.

This or the only other explanation is that they are "Super declining" you i.e either based on existing customer information or based on the data supplied in your application alone.

I don't support the belief Experian have done anything wrong.

I suspect more that Co-Op are sending you generic letters and haven't done investigations into whether their credit scoring system has actually referred to Experian in the real world.

CANDYTROOPER1922

izools wrote: »

I understand.

Soft searches can be made, and these aren't visible to other lenders, but they would still be visible to you. Co-Op don't use these, however.

Whilst the address quoted on their letters is yours, there may be a subtle difference in the way it is formatted resulting in your situation.

This or the only other explanation is that they are "Super declining" you i.e either based on existing customer information or based on the data supplied in your application alone.

I don't support the belief Experian have done anything wrong.

I suspect more that Co-Op are sending you generic letters and haven't done investigations into whether their credit scoring system has actually referred to Experian in the real world.

But everytime they have ran the application via the appeals they have came back with different credit scores which have changed over the months because of incorrect information being removed as mentioned earlier. The co op actually has the following infor for example. Score in Sept 500, Score in Nove 600, Score in Dece 700 and so on. They must be getting it from somewhere and the score amounts are exactly the same as what is held by Experian.

Has anyone heard of this non foot print searches? As the co op has not and hence are not conducting them and they have stated that they are not searching and then deleting the search.

I can not find anything on google and the gentleman that spoke to me didn't want to put them in writing.

So its the case they are searching and obtaining my data that they have proved to me they have got.

Or there is a gap in Experian's system?

I know already there is a gap as there is search searches on my report that are appearing and they have not sent me an update about theses like i pay them for.

izools

samhor wrote: »

The co op actually has the following infor for example. Score in Sept 500, Score in Nove 600, Score in Dece 700 and so on..

The co-op won't have shared this information with you, it is business sensitive.