The problem with staying up into the wee hours of the night is that you’ll be hit with various types of television ads with incredibly annoying jingles — FreeCreditReport.com is one such type of ad.
Now, as a quasi-marketer, I appreciate the fact that The Martin Agency was able to come up with such catchy/annoying jingles, but the deceptively named service makes me wish Experian would have found a crappier marketing agency instead.
It has been two years since Experian, the company that owns FreeCreditReport.com, took obvious advantage of the government mandated Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act to promote their ‘free’ credit report service.
A lawsuit from the FTC, an inquiry by the Florida Attorney General, and thousands of consumer complaints later… FreeCreditReport.com continues to operate, and the catchy/annoying jingles continues to interrupt my favorite episodes of Kim Possible (just kidding, the ads aren’t placed into animation time slots).
The gist is simple: back before the complaints and lawsuit, Experian pitched FCR as a source to get “free” credit reports. What many consumer missed are the fine prints that states the requirement to enroll to Experian’s “Triple Advantage” program in order to receive a free credit report. The charges for the enrollment vary, from $79 per year to $12.95 per month to the current $14.95 per month. In either case, canceling became a hassle, and many people either forgot or were unable to cancel within the trial period.
The current websites’ disclaimer and fine print is a bit clearer, but the color scheme and design obviously wants you to avert your eyes away from the notice of trial period (currently only 7 days) and monthly membership fee (currently $14.95).
Now, if you’re fully aware of the type of service FCR offers and still want in, then more power to you (FCR does offer unlimited Experian credit score and report along with credit monitoring), but you’re probably better off with other sources for your check needs:
Better, Cheaper, and Free Alternatives
- For your truly FREE annual credit report that’s provided by FACTA, head to AnnualCreditReport.com. No credit card information is required.
- For a credit score with more weight and use, head to myFICO.com and purchase a single score from a credit reporting agency of your choice (the link gives a 20% discount, which brings the cost for a single score and report to $12.76).
- For a credit monitoring service, consider Score Watch, also from myFICO. This service has a 30-day trial period option, otherwise it’ll cost $99.95 per year, or $9.95 per month with 3 months minimum required
14 Comments to “Crap: FreeCreditReport.com = Scam-a-licious”
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September 19th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Those commercials are sooooo annoying.
I love Kim Possible too!
September 20th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Stop comment spamming my crappy blog, Mr. Look-at-me-I-got-a-new-logo-and-I-am-better-than-Cap.
October 4th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
As if those commercials weren’t enough reason to hate them!!
October 7th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
The commercials I really want to rip the guys face off and eat it. I tried there serves it was ok, but dear god I tried to cancel out. I had to threat them that I was going to change my card number and report this, they will give you so many excuses you wonder if they had a book full of them. Any how your best bet is to use the link above annual credit report and a good bank to inform you.
October 29th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I did it, and I cancelled a couple of days later. Boy did they try to talk me out of it… but it was “free”.
Not worth it!!
March 12th, 2009 at 9:54 am
I signed up to check my credit report. I found out I had 7 days to cancel before I was charged on a monthly basis. I immediately called to cancel the account. After saying several times and very firmly: “Cancel my account, please”, the operator on the phone said the account was canceled and I would not be charged.
A few months go by, I was charged 4 times! I went through all these hoops to get my FULL refund of $59.80. I know it doesn’t seem much but I CANCELED my account! I finally got my FULL refund.
I have my whole story here and well as email, phone, and fax information to getting a refund:
http://ootie.blogspot.com/2009/03/freecreditreportcom-is-scam.html
June 10th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
just a matter of reading and comprehension, baby..don’t be stupid..these days, nothing is free… you’re lucky enough to get your free report on their website
September 1st, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I actually thought it was real, but after noting charges on my credit card, I sent a cancel email and called them. Going back into the website is a tricky deal, as it automatically thinks you want to order more credit info. Am now fighting a $24.99 charge for ordering a 3-bureau report, which I absolutely did not do. I should have checked it out here first…thanks for the info.
October 4th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Thank you for exposing Experian, as the manipulative company they are!
I have tried to get free reports from annualcreditreport.com… the only known ‘Free” reports endorsed by the FTC. Same deal though!
EquiFax did play by the rules, ( no strings attached) but sure enough, EXPERIAN offers thier FREE report only if you sign up for thier rip off Triple Advantage- and yes, it it difficult to get out of.
Am I missing something ? I think I’d better stick with MyFico , and just pay for it!
Thanks for your info ….
January 20th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Stupid question, but if it is my credit score, and it is just a click away, why do I have to pay for it? And why can’t I check it whenever I like?
February 12th, 2011 at 10:39 am
Myfico.com is a total scam they’ll try to trick you into buying one their “reports”
March 14th, 2011 at 11:52 pm
John:MyFico is the only site where you can get an actual FICO score and not a FAKO. Most lenders still use FICO
June 13th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
I tried to get my credit scores from them. Thinking I had heard of them before I didn’t have any reservations. After keying in my information it stated I had to call for validation. Which I didn’t think much of since I had a fraud alert placed on my account 3 years ago that lasts 7 years. After answering about 10 questions I asked the lady how many more questions so I have to answer? She informed me they had to get to 200 points. Now I doubt after 10 questions I hadn’t gotten there. After getting frustrated, I asked for a supervisor who was unhelpful. Then I asked a simple question. “Can I have an address to send a certified letter?” I was informed this was a web based business and they didn’t have an address. I informed her I didn’t need the call center address. I wanted the corporate address.. the one where the CEO works and etc. I was told they didn’t have one. She let me speak to the floor supervisor who informed me that they don’t have any address for correspondence. This was a RED FLAG to me. Any legitimate business has a correspondence address. I asked them how would I resolve overcharges if I don’t have a fax machine? I asked what if I wanted to hire a lawyer (hypothetically) and have them served? I was informed they do not have a physical address to their headquarters AT ALL.
Please do not use this company. It is a scam company. They couldn’t give me a number to contact corporate. Their solution was to send an email. What legitimate company only receives correspondence by phone or email? Buyer Beware!!
October 13th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
The ten day free trial with MyFico.com requires cancellation by email or phone. I attempted to cancel by phone on the tenth day. It was Sunday and their office was closed. The next day was Labor Day and their office was closed. I called to cancel on the next available business day and was told by the customer service representative and the three supervisors I was transferred to, that the free trial had already ended. I repeated that their office was not open on the tenth day. They said you should have called earlier or sent an email. I pointed out that their policy doesn’t say that ten days to cancel doesn’t apply to phone calls and that pretty much every business in the world allows the next business day to be the deadline for a cancellation that occurs when their office is closed. But not these guys. I asked for the name of the company president. They refused to disclose. I asked the last supervisor, Edwin, where their office was located. He said the United States. He eventually said Texas. I asked what city. He would not disclose that. Bottom line is that whatever else you find useful about them don’t get anywhere near relying on them to interpret a policy in your favor.