Experian review: Scam-bad customer service, unauthorized charges! 34

Same here. I had to order my credit report because my new landlord needed it and so I tried Experian. It had a big sign saying Free 30days trial and so I signed up the account. The funny thing was I couldn't even see my own report online, the screen said they'll email a private access code to me once they confirm my identity and so I waited.

During the waiting period I found another website that provided the service I needed, in a MUCH shorter time and so I didn't pay anymore attention to Experian after I already gave my landlord a copy of my report.

However, about two weeks ago, I got the private access code but I still didn't pay attention to the code and did not log in with that because I didn't need it anymore. BUT, today, as I was doing my bankings online, I saw TWO charges by the CIC*CE

CIC*CE CREDIT REPORT [protected] CA US In Progress $ 12.95

CIC*CE CREDIT REPORT [protected] CA US In Progress $ 9.95

Both of my roommates did the same 30trial thing as I did but they haven't checked theirs yet, which I hope there's are fine...
Heh... so yeah... I totally understand your situation, and I hope they can hurry and fix everything SOON.

I signed up with the free trial thinking it would probably be a VERY good idea to know what my credit looked like. Filled out the info, and they told me they would be snail mailing me my login information to verify my address. I NEVER RECEIVED THE MAIL! So you know I never logged in, I can't. The password was supposed to be assigned and mailed to me. Now I get my credit card statement and I'm down the 12.95 for the monthly fee! This is stupid, bogus and as far as I'm concerned theft. You'd better bet I'm killing someone tomorrow when I can call them because of course by the time I get my statement they're already closed. I'm going to post something in various places about what a scam this is if it's not dealt with properly the first time. I don't like being scammed and I certainly don't want my friends to be scammed either.

I had the same problem James had, I wanted to check my credit report, and apparently there are public angecies that suggest to do it for protection from fraud. I did it through freecreditreport.com, I thought it was free, but anyone who is getting a one time free credit report is automatically enrolled in a subscription with a monthly fee. What kind of free credit report is this?

This was my first and only time I checked my credit report. I realized that I have been charged a monthly fee of $12.95 twice when checking my online bank account, "CIC*TRIPLE ADVANTAGE [protected] CA $12.95" x 2.

I called the operator twice at [protected] to discontinue the service that I never wanted, and I was told that the charge is nonrefundable.

The third time I called, they said the were going to refund one of the 2 monthly fees I was charged for.
It is my personal opinion that this is not a transparent and honest behavior.

I wander how many thousands of people are being charged monthly being unaware of that, either because they don't check their account carefully or because they do not understand what "CIC*triple advantage means".

I just discovered the same thing on my credit card, same amount and everything. It looked odd, so I went through my receipts and couldn't find that charge. I then googled the name of the transaction and came across this site. I'm currently trying the e-mail method, that way, you get proof of any feedback in writing. If this doesn't work, I'll move to a more serious step. I've done the phone tag thing with Dell already, and from the sounds of it, this is no different. I will not call unless it's a direct line.

Good luck to everyone else!

same thing here today, a charge of $12.00. i cancelled my free trial the 5th day of the 30 day trial, was it cancelled? hell no. these people are losers. i am so pissed off.

This company charged my credit card 12.00 for something I never asked for or got. Dont know how the got my card number but they did and I am mad.

I AGREE I JUST RECENTLY WENT THRU ALL THIS NONSENSE! I HAD CALLED AND CANCELED THREE ACCOUNTS THAT WHERE ON MY CREDIT CARDS AND I EVEN REVIVED A CONFIRMATION LETTER! NEVERTHELESS MONTHS LATER I RECEIVE A CHARGE OF 25.90. AND IT SEEMED THAT ONE OF THE ACCOUNTS WAS STILL OPENED.

ALL I GOT WAS AN ADDRESS WHERE I NEED TO GO AND DISPUTE MY CHARGE AND MAYBE I WILL GET A REFUND!

THESE MATTER NEEDS TO BE TAKEN CARE OF. IF THEY CAN'T FOLLOW OUR NEEDS THEN THIS SITE SHOULD BE CLOSED!

I have had the exact same experience the original post.

SAME SAME SAME

when i called to cancel this subscription that i never even signed up for they asked for my social security number. when i told them that i wouldn't give it to them they put me on hold for an additional 15 minutes from the time i had waited already. they eventually came back and kept telling me to upgrade when i said i didn't want this to begin with. this is absolutely ridiculous and a waste of my time and money!

I was charged 14.95 USD for no reason. I was promised not to be charged, since I was taking my first report, which is absolutely free according to credit reporting policies. This is like stealing money. How can a Credit reporting agency act this way?

I was charge 1495 for something I didn't ask for or want. I guess nothing really free.

freecreditreport.com is not the way to go. They will have you do a trial period and put in small print that there will be a monthly charge to your account after the first month. They take advantage of our bussy schedules and bank on us forgetting that we have "free" trial with them. Then they just swipe away. I have been getting charged by them for the last 6 months not even knowing it. I guess that is what I get for not looking in detail of what is being charged to my card. Trying to pay off my credit card is hard when a credit reporting agency is charging the same account, without me knowing. At least they could send me an email about the billing. Life goes on and you learn, hopefully.

Over a year ago, I signed up for the free credit check WITH STRINGS. I then cancelled the service after a couple of months of the credit watch service.

Two months ago, my credit card number was stolen and I had to get a new one. Therefore the old number should no longer be valid. However, today I just checked my online banking statement and have noticed a pending charge of $14.95 from CIC CE CREDIT REPORT. How could they get my new number?

My state's Attorney General's Office has a Consumer Fraud department -- as I assume most state's do. I am going to send them all the information I learn about these practices and see what they can do about it.

Has anyone else tried this tactic?

I also went on line to get the free credit report about 2 weeks ago. Yesterday my account was charged 14.95 without authorization. I haven't called them yet but will.

you have taken money out mf my bank account and i did not autharise it i want that damn money put back or i am going to get a lawyer and sew the ### out of you

They had an offer for free online report and stupidly i signed up. Then when i see three charges to my account for 12.95 the company does not refund my money or care what so ever that they were terrible and lied in an advertisement.

I went on line for a "free report" and cancelled within 10 minutes and it still charged my card $24.95! They said they will not credit my card back and hung up on me.

They have been taking 12.00 out of my checking account for the past 3 months! WTF! For what?... ... Now i'm really pissed off & will be taking legal action on this matter!

I just had the same problem with this company. I was charged 12.00 out of the blue, so I went back to check to see if they had done it before, and sure enough they hit me about 3 months ago. I have notified the fraud investigator at my bank, and I have used this website as evidence that this is a full fledged scam. FreeCreditReport.com has to be the most fraudulent, and dishonest website out for credit reports. To let you all know. I signed up for the free trial about 18 months ago, and canceled my account the first time they charged me. Since then they have charged me every few months, and I have complained every time. This time a lawyer will be contacting them because I can't believe a company that is advertising like FreeCreditReport.com is, and getting away with this type of scam. My bank has currently blocked any type of transaction coming from this company.

I very much agree with yall they keep on charging my account when i have only veiwed my credit report once.

This is a tricky one, as you do get a service for the $12.95 fee.

I was very aware when I signed up that it was just a 30-day trial, however I haven't experienced anything untoward as I have been enjoying the service so haven't had a need to cancel my subscription.

Be careful threatening lawyers, as they are not just taking your money - they offer monthly credit reports with a full history tracker and ways to improve your score.

I'd recommend calling to cancel (take down details such as time, date and person you spoke with) and then follow up with a snail-mail letter (make sure you keep a copy).

SJH.

This company has the worste policy's and customer service ever. I cant believe a company like this has information to humans credit history in the first place, i signed up for free, , enter your credit card for identity check reasons and blahsay blahsay and when i called about the charges they were sending me it was like they had it written knowing there a scam company saying, , , haha we tricked you! Im sorry to be the one to inform you that the website you signed up for sir is not the government free website.. lalalalala.. I promiss you i hope someone in this company reads this and fixes my account charges because im gonna report them to ever website and ajency i can find until i get my money back!

I have dealt with all three credit bureaus on consumer reporting and Experian is the worst and that is even according to a creditor that is attempting to remove a malicious and false report off my credit report. Experian reported the item as a Reposeesionstill driving the car and paying for it. They investigated it they said hehehehhee and it remains there today. Experian is not working with the consumers but the businesses that report. If you ask them to investigate it they do not. Trust me. Several agencies have reported that. They keep it on file and eventiually tell you you can't complain about it anymore and put a comment. This is a snakey company and have you noticed that most online lenders deal exclusively with them. I don't even know why our congress and senate pass laws for not only the credit bureaus but collection agencies. They are still doing what they always did. This time they never send you a written letter telling you that the debt is owed they call you so they can get around the law. With the economy in such bad shape and the agencies reporting false information and sometimes just blatanly wrong it puzzles me. I think everyone should pull their credit report and if you find an error and it doesn't change then report it. It is time for consumers to take action too.

I receive a letter about my credit and I have alot of problems on my credit which is not true I called a rep told me to go on the internet about my issue. so furthermore here is my complaint.on July 10, 2008 I was looking to purchase a car at Adp/holzhauer in Nashville, Illinois however I did not purchase one there. then you have Discover in Dec 13, 2007 that is taken off my record I filed chapter 7 bankruptcy back in June 1998 and as of the new year of january 2008 my record is clean from everything Here is another one. Bank of America I do not have anything with them. First State Bank of dix that account is closed. Another is Union Planters Bank that account is closed. Verizon wireless is closed Washington Mutual is closed also. and another washington mutual is close Here is the last is wells fargo that account is closed and i have a letter to prove it. Could you pleased take care of this matter this is damageing my credit. ASAP! Here is my phone number if u need to speak with me [protected] best time to call is after 3pm. Thank you Michelle Trotter

I have been waiting an email to straighten my credit report from your company there is alot of mistakes on this credit report i receive please email me at mtrotter48@yahoo.com or call me [protected] asap. Sincerely Michelle Trotter

We should of read the terms of conditions. Experian charges your account after 9 days. You have a 9 day grace period. When the 9 day period is up, Experian charges your credit card. So much for a free credit report which I thought is was. They use the credit card info start your account and then use it to charge your account after the grace periods are up. Call [protected] to cancel the account or they will keep charging the credit card. And don't try to get you money back. The terms also state no refunds after payments are completed. Its not a scam and its are own fault for not researching this through regardless that it says free credit report. Like my Dad use to say, nothing in life is free.

I signed up with freecreditreport.com so I can see what my credit score was. Since it was a free trial as long as you cancel before the next month I figured why not. I signed up for it...saw my credit score..and then checked my bank account. I realized I was charged $1 for some credit report and on my online bank statement, it said the charge was from CIC CE Credit report [protected]. I looked up the number and found this site. So I figured to prevent any more troubles later on, I'll just call now and cancel it. I called and asked to cancel my account. The representative asked why. I told him because I just wanted to know my credit score, therefore, would only need to use this site once. He then went on a spiel about how I should continue with the service because it will benefit me in the long run. Five minutes later I repeated, I just really want to cancel my account. He then went on to tell me I could upgrade to some package. I again said, no thanks, I just want to cancel my subscription. He then went on for another 5 minutes about how he can give me the upgraded package at a discount. I said I want to cancel and really don't need the service. He finally agreed to cancel it for me. He asked me to wait and while I was waiting for him to pull up my records and cancel everything, he goes on again about how he realized he can now give me the service for only $6 a month and I still get the upgrades. I told him I had diarrhea and just really need to cancel my subscription and if I stay on the phone any longer I'll ### myself. He cancelled it for me and said thank you for choosing freecreditreport.com and hoped that I would be using freecreditreport.com again in the future. This was my experience with them. Hopefully I don't see anymore charges. I am thinking with all the other comments here that I should maybe get a new account number too. =/

It seems every time you go to Experian for a "free" credit report, you get redirected to their 3-in-1 site and create a new account each time. Charges are for $29.95 per month, but even though they have your email address, they never notify you that they have charged you. Their customer service people are rude.

EVERYONE'S LIFE IS REGULATED BY THE EXPERIAN CREDIT REPORT. CREDIT BUREAUS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO OPERATE BUSINESSES THAT CAN ADVERSELY AFFECT CONSUMER'S CREDIT!

No wonder they changed their name from Trans Union! What will they change it to next to avoid adverse publicity. In this economy, with deceptive practices such as this, their company should be dissolved. But you know that won't happen. Too much money is being traded under the table to those who represent us.

Note: after calling twice I finally got a full refund, but only by talking non-stop and reading from this webpage. I think the rep did it just to get rid of me.

over thirty five dollars was taken out of my account by this company and now my account is in the hole. i have no idea where they got my info or what they took it out for. i want my money back and i want something done about this

They keep charging me $14.95 per month, under the guise of Experian Direct or CIC.

Yep... me too. Signed up to find out my credit rating as i'm having money problems, they got back to me offering me ludicrous apr and solutions that would've led me into further debt. I made it very clear to the 'customer services rep' in Deli that I wanted nothing more to do with their company - 4 weeks later a charge of £14.99! When i called to dispute this the guy on the end of the phone informed me that i was made aware of the charge - nope! Further to this the credit score they gave me was nonsense, i know full well that my score is poor... according to Experian it was excellent?! When I took this up with the csr he told me that it was the fault of my credit card company for not providing them with the information, I told him surely it was their job to 'check', he informed me that this was not the role of Experian- so what do they do then? sit back and wait to see who delivers information to them and then produce a bogus report based on half the facts - well done Experian! I could've done that myself. I told the csr that I was sure he'd heard this complaint many times today - he informed me I was the first complaint he'd EVER dealt with... PAHAHA! A joke of a company who pray on people in need, do half a job, offer loans that'll lead to more trouble and trap them into a monthly charge - DIsgusting!
Kelly

After trying to receive a 4.95 credit report online, I have been charged for $68.70. After speaking with Experian representative, no resolution. On May 23, 2013 I had received an email from Experian notifying me of an account. I began to wonder what type of account they could be referring to. I decided to call the customer support phone number for Experian. I spoke to someone named 'Ashley'. She had explained I was auto-enrolled in a service I hadn't even known Experian provided. She said that it began back in February of 2013 and continued until today, May 23, 2013. She said she could credit me back the latest charge. I refused to accept the refund stating that I had received charges totaling $68.70 above the original charge of the $4.95 credit report. I asked to speak to her supervisor. After waiting on the phone for over 5 minutes, she came back saying that she could only offer me the last charge as a refund and the "charges are valid." I insisted to speak with a supervisor, and was finally transferred to a man named Ryan. Corporate ID #25699. Ryan said that I was auto enrolled into a program, and was given 30 days to cancel. "It is up to you to cancel the service." He lead me to think I hadn't paid enough attention to my finances and that now I had to pay. He lied to me in saying that the previous rep had offered me TWO previous months worth of refund. I was only offered one. He began changing his story. He credited my account for $31.76 as a "courtesy". Is stealing my hard earned money through auto enlisting me into a service I didn't want sound like a courtesy to anyone? I am amazed at the poor business practices that are being shown to me by Experian. Rest assured, I will be letting everyone I know how sleazy a company Experian is. The internet is a small place, and I plan on warning as many online as possible to prevent others from having to deal with your company. I expect to receive the full refund of $68.70 less the $31.76 refunded to me. The total amount due to me as a consumer is $36.94. Please do everyone a favor and stop trying to steal the US citizen's money through these despicable business practices.

Why bother creating a quality product when you and two other companies, by law, are the only companies in the USA that is allowed to provide credit information? Their web site operates like a bunch of 75 year old lawyers where given a 'how to code a web-site in 24 hours' book, and two bottles of scotch. Pathetic.