Free Credit Report review: Unauthorized billing! 60

Hi,

I visited the website FREECREDITREPORT.COM for a look at my credit report. However I signed up using my Bank check card and agreed to the terms for the 7 days trial membership. after reading the terms and conditions which I have a copy of from that same day 4/ 19/2008 (just so that it does not change from then to now. I viewed my experian report, but then on the top of that report there wwas abox with an option that saids view all three report so i clicked on it and the three reports came up on the screen. Two days after I saw a charge for $39.95 from my bank account from CIC*Creditreport. the website saids 7 DAYS TRIAL MEMBERSHIP WITH TRIPLE ADVANTAGE (MONITOR ALL 3 REPORTS- KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON TRANSUNION, EQUIFAX AND EXPERIAN. This was one of the triple advatage that they spopke.
when I called, I got a runaround and was told they wont refund my money.

I was told that to view the other two reports it is a seperate charge which is contrary to what is advertised on the website. I am also aware that comsumerinfo/CRG is part of experian and free creditreport.com so if nothing is done I have recordings of conversations with freecreditreport.com's customer reps and supervisors. Some of these recordings contain acknowledgement that a triple advantage benifit of the the trial period membership includes viewing all three bureaus. I am going to expose freecreditreport.com and make sure they are shut down for this and that they dont do it to anyone else. My Number is [protected]. If this matter is not resolved immediatley I have already began to speak to my advisors. This is not because of $39.95, this is because $500, 000.00 and more you people are ripping of the public.

Adam,
I find your remarks quite condescending. I like others signed up for the service about 6 months ago, and was charged. I called them and successfully canceled it, only to find that this month I've been charged again! Not only do they make it difficult to unsubscribe, it appears they take the liberty to re-subscribe you. I'm back on the phone trying to cancel. Watch your account closely. Even if you did cancel, another charge may pop up.

I was also duped, so I called the number I found on this website (after googling it), and told them to cancel my membership and refund my money. They said I had agreed to signing up for the service while checking my credit report. I told them I did it all via BlackBerry so the fine print never showed up. They said they will refund my money and send e-mail confirmation.

I checked my FREE credit report and have now been charged $14.95. I want this money put back and I want my name taken off this company!

Adam,

If its such a cut and dry, 'okie dokie' business practice...then why are they in trouble with the FTC? See below:

Agency: Federal Trade Commission (FTC)Los Angele
Description: On August 15, 2005, the FTC filed suit against the company alleging that the company deceptively marketed "free credit reports" by not adequately disclosing that consumers automatically would be signed up for a credit monitoring service and charged $79.95 if they didn't cancel within 30 days, in violation of federal law. The suit also alleges that the Defendant's practice of causing the annual $79.95 charges to be assessed for payment without the consumers' express, informed consent causes, is likely to cause, or has caused, substantial injury to consumers that is not reasonably avoidable by consumers themselves and is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or competition. In addition, the suit claims that from December 1, 2004 to at least March of 2005, Defendant failed to disclose or to disclose adequately in their advertisements or on their websites that the "free" credit reports they were offering were not associated with the annual free credit report program pursuant to the FACT Act, but rather a commercial promotion, and that consumers cannot obtain their statutorily-mandated free report through the company's websites.

To settle the suit, the Defendants, without admission as to the allegations in the complaint, agreed in part, to be permanetly enjoined from: misrepresenting expressly or by implication that consumers can obtain a free product, program, or service at no cost or obligation, or misrepresenting the amount of any charge or fee. The Defandants must also disclose in their advertising the fees associated with the service, its terms, and that under federal law you have the right to receive a free credit report available at www.annualcreditreport.com and that they are not affilliated with the annual free credit program. The Defendants were also ordered to provide refunds to any consumers who qualify and enrolled between November 1, 2000 and September 15, 2003. In addition, the Defendants are to pay $950, 000 as disgorgement of profits and any refund checks that are not cashed as to the consumers who qualify are also to be remitted to the US Treasury.
Date of Action: 8/15/2005

Agency: Federal Trade Commission (FTC)Washington
Description: On January 8, 2007 Consumerinfo.com entered into a Stipulated Judgment and agreed to an Order for Permanent Injunction to settle charges that the company's "free credit report" offer failed to explicitly disclose that subscribers would be automatically signed up into a paid credit-monitoring program.

The FTC charged that ConsumerInfo.com had engaged in deceptive marketing practices through requiring credit card information for consumers to purchase their "free credit report, " then billing them $79.95 annually unless they opted out within 30 days. ConsumerInfo.com was also charged with violating the terms of a previous settlement with the FTC over similar practices in August 2005. The previous settlement required the company to pay $950, 000 in penalties, as well as requirements for prohibiting the company from engaging in deceptive business practices.

The 2007 Order requires that the company more clearly disclose the terms and conditions of their services. The company agreed to pay $300, 000 in Civil penalties, and is prohibited from advertising any of its services as related to the free annual credit reports consumers can receive each year from the major credit bureaus, under the terms of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Order was entered without admission of guilt or wrongdoing by the company and was for settlement purposes only. Upon entry the Order was finalized.

* * * * *

For those that say NO credit report is free:

All Americans are entitled to one free credit report each year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies -- Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. The free credit reporting service recently marked its first anniversary of availability across the 50 states. To get a copy of your free annual credit report, you can; call [protected]; visit their website at www.annualcreditreport.com; or file a written request for your report to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA [protected]. AnnualCreditReport.com is the only official site for free credit reports.

It is deceptive marketing or else thousands wouldn't be making the same mistakes. I guess Adam is a paid shill for the company. No one but an employee would spout the drivel that he is.

unauthorized billing as well...how do I get this to stop?

I to have attempted to cancle this account for several months now. I finally got someone to admit that I had a account with these people. I have now been on hold for 10 minutes waiting for cancle information. The clerk kept trying to say I hadn't accessed my information, but was very eager to cancle the account when I mentioned the FTC. I tried to explain that I was never given a user name or pass word so this account was useless for me. I am also contacting my bank to put a red flag on this company. I do plan on reporting them also.

This must STOP! How can you charge my card without my permission?
I will be reporting this to the BBB. And my account at the bank will be notified.
I NEVER signed up for monthly reports!
I would greatly appricate it if you would remove me at this time! Deb Gregoire

Adam,
You a [censored].. Please do me (and every other sucker on this site) a favor and kill yourself, you ###.
thx

D
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Yes, I'm another person who had no idea as to why my credit card is being charged automatically. I'm willing to agree that I may have inadvertently signed up to something that I was clueless about, but luckily, the credit card that they're charging is one that I've been planning on closing. I was only waiting to make sure the I didn't have any "valid" automatic billings that I needed to change to a different card before I closed it. I'd seen the charge is the past, but as I used my card for lots of purchases, I disregarded it as being something that I'd purchased and didn't remember. Luckily, the only charge I now see is CIC Triple Advantage (had to run a search to see what it was) and now thanks to all you fine folks, I'll be closing my account tomorrow. I'll let them contact my "customer service" department next month when their charge is rejected due to my closed account. They can contact the FTC is they have a problem.
On another note, I don't know who the infamous Adam is, but is it really necessary to be vulgar on this website? Also, please check your grammar and typing before insulting someone!
Have a great day!

I think this is the company that comes from getting a "free" credit report at freecreditreport.com. Guess thats how they afford all those catchy commercials. Heh. You have to call the phone # listed on your bank invoice to get them to stop charging you.

Unauthorized charge from CIC triple advantage. Being billed for this, which i never authorized. Have to pay my bank charges for overdraft for a payment i never authorized.

seach "free credit report" on google...they should come up as the first SPONSORED LINK company...they pay for every click...they ran up our costs, let's run up there's! (but make sure the link say freecreditreport.com because it's not cool if you click on another company's ads)...tell all your friends and family...let's really increase their marketing costs :)

let's not make it too obvious though cuz they can reverse those charges if they catch on...so search "free credit report" but also search "credit report" and "credit score" or "credit check" or just "credit"...switch up what you search, click on their ads from different computers, different locations, different days...and just get a bunch of people to do it

I only encourage this because the way they "earn" their money is unethical...they knowingly trick people

I call bull**** on this. The advertisements clearly state "freecreditreport.com" and then they turn around and charge money. What I signed up for was a $1.00 fee (which makes sense) and nothing else. By the way, I did read the fine print. Not sure how small it was, but I will never do this again. I tried to call the number after hours so I will try again tomorrow. I will turn the channel the next time I hear this stupid commercial.

CIC Triple Advantage
Vice President Customer Care
Robert Fosmire
robert.fosmire@consumerinfo.com

Address
18500 Von Karman Avenue Suite 400
Irvine, CA [protected]

Telephone Number
[protected]

I was billed without my knowledge for monthly access to my credit report. When I called to cancel, the representative was extremely evasive and difficult. It took more than 7 attempts for me to communicate that I wanted to have my account canceled. I remained persistent and refused to give her my Social Security number. I have not yet received confirmation of my cancellation. Thanks to other comment suggestions on this site, I immediately called my credit card company and had them issue me a new account number and new cards.

I was fortunate that I saw an unauthorized charge on my credit card credit card a couple weeks after I had logged onto this website for a "free" credit report. They had automatically enrolled me into their scam for $14.95 per month. They agreed to cancel the "membership" but would not refund the $14.95. A complaint to the credit card comapny said they would credit me and bill back to CIC Triple Advantage. Keep away fro their websie for a "free" report. Apparently, they have a "fine" print somewhere that enrolls you into their scam.

I have actually CALLED TO CANCEL my membership DURING THE 9 DAYS it's supposed to be free! I read between the lines! And I was told the membership was canceled. But I still got charged for it.

This is called deliberate lie, and this cannot be expkained by a paragraph I was supposed to read but didn't. This is not a scam anymore, it's a FRAUD.

We not only had our credit card billed over $100 but our checking account was also billed $14.95 per month. I was told to file a police report and a subpoena to have our fees removed. They also gave their "Consumer Relations Group" fax no. [protected]. I have filed a complaint the with Better Business Bureau, WI Department of Finance, and about to file one with the FTC. If enough people are having issues with this company and their affiliates, it is preditory marketing. I am nearly certain that anyone who defends this service is vested in some form in the company. It is sick. I did research on CIC Triple Adv and the article stated over 1.25 million dollars in FTC fines, 10, 000 complaints and multiple class actions lawsuits. How can you defend a company that has obviously duped many consumers?