In February I decided to check my credit score, and I had heard about the free services online so I decided to try one out. At first, i was really disappointed with ConsumerInfo.com (transfered from freecreditreport.com). But i finally found Equifax's website and was very satisfied (I had to pay like 5$ to get my FICO score, but i didn't have to sign up for anything, but if i ever were to, I'd do it through Equifax)
Two months pass
I'm looking though one of my bank statements and realize two unexpected charges by "Electronic Purchase CIC*Credit Monitoring 800-2202626 CAUS" one for $19.90, and another for $9.95 just three days later. I say, "WTF?" and call the number to tell them to stop whatever the hell they are doing. The first option of the prompt is to cancel, which should tell you something. So i push it. My call is conveniently dropped after being on hold for a couple minutes. Hell no! So i call back. After getting put on hold again, i finally get a person on the other side, and i tell them, I don't know what they think i signed up for but it needs to stop. Period. She asks me for my social, and i tell her, "No way, you give me YOUR social!" She got my point and said she could use my name and email address to access my account. Then i tell her to cancel. She says "Ok, well what you need to do is go to ConsumerInfo.com to lookup your report so you are getting the full benefit of your service." I tell her "No, i want my account cancelled." After trying to talk my out cancelling for 10 minutes, she finally says she will cancel the account.
What disturbs me
1) I didn't even use the account that was debited when i originally obtained my report. Wherever Experian got that information, it wasn't from me. These are the people that are gathering personal information, do they have access to our banking information without permission? That doesn't just sound like a rip-off, that sounds criminal
2) If it was a monthly service, why was i not charged for nearly two months later? The 19.90 payment I'm sure was for the first two months, and the second 9.95 for the next month to come. Is this standard operating procedure? What if they had decided to wait 10 months of service charges to accrue before they decided to charge me and thus letting me know that i was even signed up for anything?
3) They know that they are conducting shady, unethical business. Unlike Equifax which did offer me service, they made no effort to make it known that you were signing up for a service. And these are the people we are trusting to keep track of our personal information?
*shudders*
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