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“Free” doesn’t always mean “free”
May 11th, 2009, 3:00 am · 35 Comments · posted by Ronald Campbell
Laura Russell admits she should have known better. She admits she should have read her credit card bills more closely.
But she didn’t. And it cost the Orange resident $832.
In August 2006, Russell saw an ad for Irvine-based FreeCreditReport.com, a division of credit reporting giant Experian. Recently married, she decided to order reports for herself and her husband. That, she thought, was the end of it.
Then the charges started appearing on her credit card bill: two $12.95 charges each month to something called “CIC*TripleAdvantage 877-486825 CA”.
Russell said she thought it was for a life insurance policy she had obtained through her credit card. The life insurance policy carried a monthly $12.95 premium, so it seemed to make sense.
“I have no other excuse,” she said.
Last month, her credit-card company asked if she realized that she’d been paying $26 a month for nearly three years to FreeCreditReport.com. Her answer, in effect: Huh?
Russell called FreeCreditReport.com to complain. She says the company offered a one-month refund.
Upset, Russell called your friendly neighborhood OC Watchdog. We tut-tutted sympathetically and did a little research. She also called California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s office. His form letter to the company brought some action.
After getting the AG’s letter, a FreeCreditReport.com spokeswoman told us, they’ll refund an additional 11 months payments to Russell. “Legally, we’re not obligated, but we did it as a courtesy.”
FreeCreditReport.com’s corporate parent ConsumerInfo.com Inc., was dinged by the Federal Trade Commission — twice — for failing to properly inform consumers that they’d be charged a subscription fee after the initial free report. The FTC grabbed $950,000 in “ill-gotten gains” in an August 2005 settlement and an additional $300,000 in January 2007 after the company allegedly violated the original settlement.
But FreeCreditReport.com has mended its ways. Its website contains a prominent disclosure that if you don’t cancel within seven days of getting your free report, you’ll be billed $14.95 a month.
“The company is in compliance,” FTC spokesman Frank Dorman said. “They haven’t violated the terms of the settlement.”
Norma Garcia, a senior attorney for Consumers Union in San Francisco, is unimpressed.
“A lot of consumers are confused, and rightly so, by the name, FreeCreditReport.com,” Garcia said. “You’ll get something, but it’s not free.”
The FTC wants to prevent consumers from making Russell’s mistake. It’s adopting, for a federal regulatory agency, a wildly innovative tactic:
Satire.
The FTC has prepared a couple of funny videos publicizing a free credit reporting service that is — get this – really free. The site is AnnualCreditReport.com.
As the name implies, you can get your credit report free of charge from Experian and the other two big credit reporting companies, Equifax and TransUnion, once every 12 months. It was mandated by a 2003 federal law.
The videos parody the unavoidable FreeCreditReport.com ads, with a singer pitching the service and dissing its commercial rivals:
Beware of the others,
There’s always a catch.
They claim to be free,
But strings are attached.
We like this video, set in an Irish pub. Check it out.
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shes a moron for not knowing. I had frecrecitreport.com and payed for it for a few months. I knew what i was getting into and cancelled when I no longer needed it. they even offered me 3 free months if I stayed but said no. that was the end of that. no more charges. DONT BE LIKE HER, ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT.
U.S. Congress required the credit companies years ago to provide free annual credit reports to the public. I’ve used it for many years.
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/
That’s the Website.
Question everything. I don’t understand how she could just not understand her credit card charges. If something looks confusing such as the description on her credit card - question it.
faceguy–
please note that I admit I should have realized what this bill was, my reason for reporting this was to alert people. You seem to be very astute and aware of your bills. I now pay better attention. There are many people out there who like myself are billed from this preying company who is looking for persons like myself to make their money. If by reading about my stupid, moronic mistake it saves someone a few dollars, than your comment was worth it.
Hi Mushu;
I have no interest in trashing you for making a mistake; I’m glad it is at least partially resolved for you.
That said, I think it is disingenuous to characterize FCR as ‘preying’ upon people when they make it absolutely clear that by signing up, you are enrolling in their credit monitoring service. I knew this when I signed up, and I maintain their service, because quite frankly I want to know what is going on with my credit.
I just don’t understand characterizing them as preying upon people when the reality is that you made the mistake. They provide a service that continuously watches your credit score. They charge a monthly fee for that service. People who want to know this information find that quite helpful, but if at some point they STOP thinking such, they can quit any time they want. This seems like basic commerce to me, not some shady rip-off scam.
I did the same thing as Ms. Russell a few years ago - for me and my husband. When I called to cancel, they would not let me cancel his, only mine. They said they needed to talk to him directly. So he called them to cancel. BUT two months later he noticed the charges were still occurring on the credit card. He called again and they said there was a note in his record that said the agent he spoke to initially was able to “change the customer’s mind about cancelling the service.” which is complete BS. They would only refund one month - liars and thieves!
BTW I canceled within the free, grace-period to cancel. Thankfully, they did not get me for $800, only $50.
If the FTC laid down the rules in 2005, and this lady ordered her credit report in 2006, who’s at fault? Also, with so many instances of identity theft and data breach, it doesn’t sound as if she reviews her monthly credit card statements very carefully. Again, who is at fault here?
Look closely at your bills every month! I rarely ever have problems, but the second I notice something fishy I call people up right away!
[...] « Previous Post All Posts [...]
“Legally, we’re not obligated, but we did it as a courtesy.”
TRANSLATION: “Legally we’re not obligated but we’re doing it because (1) we got caught doing something just this side of legal and (2) the resultant bad publicity”
Watch out. There are lots of “legal” scams like this on the web that bank on you not noticing certain aspects of what you’ve done. CHECK YOUR CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS EVERY MONTH>
preying is absolutely what they are doing. i never sign up for anything because i’ve learned that services such as this one, are completely a hassle to cancel. just like health clubs and many other monthly charged services. they make it easy and tempting to sign up - and rediculous to cancel. and with a name FREE - they imply something they are NOT. I hope the overseeing agency requires them to return 100% of the funds! Especially since there service was never used. Clearly the consumer was unaware. Small hidden print is no excuse for them taking advantage of a busy consumer. It’s clearly what FCR is banking on! Criminal!
I was caught by this as well. It is most certainly a scam. They conceal any information indicating that you will incur additional charges and then make it VERY difficult to cancel.
I had to call nearly 2 dozen times and talk to almost as many people to get them to cancel the “service” and refund the money - and I caught mine early because I check my statements.
The charge description is deliberately vague and there is only fine print available on any of their materials that give info on the “agreement” or how to cancel it. They increase the charges gradually over time as well!
They rely on the fact that only a certain percentage of the people they trick will notice and then only a few will have the tenacity to correct the situation and out of that only a few will demand ALL of their money back. This equals hundreds of thousands of dollars of income for the company just for scamming people.
YOU MUST DEMAND ALL OF YOUR MONEY BACK AND DON’T STOP UNTIL THEY COMPLY!!!
The same happened to my 83 year old dad. Took about 6 months for them to stop billing him.
Does anyone know how to get Classmates.com to stop automatically renewing that membership???? Emails go unanswered.
For classmates.com, you should be able to cancel your subscription by signing into “your account” and then removing the credit card on file.
Thanks, Seich ~ if I can even remember how to access it!
A few years ago I signed up for classmates.com and didn’t realize that a “one time annual charge” would be billed each year. I tried to cancel when they billed me a year later, two days after the charge hit my credit card. They refused. I complained to my credit card company who dropped the charge.
I am always puzzled when I hear about cases like this. It tells you when you sign up that you have to cancel the free trial before they start billing you. When I did it, I just got my credit report and cancelled it right afterwards.
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
If you order anything and have to give your credit card number for something that is supposedly free, then it’s not free.
When something is legitimately free, they won’t need your credit card. The second they ask for a credit card, I cancel because I know that’s how these companies work. Once they have your number, they’ll charge you will all sorts of stuff and getting them to stop or refund you money is then impossible.
These guys are scam artists! They have ripped off the public for years, and should be subjected to a prison cell that repeats their theme song for the duration of their term.
Scumbags!
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
[...] “Free” credit report costs Orange woman $832 [...]
I know a college friend of my sons that bought this same fraud and he was so upset he really had to fight with them to get off of their spending spree with his credit card.
It’s amazing this is allowed–