I ordered my one free credit report per year from Experian online. The order process included multiple attempts to sell me credit monitoring services. I decline the service each time the website offered. I finally made it through the process and was able to access my personal credit report.
I discovered an unusual charge of $14.95 on my statement 7 days later. I discovered that it was from Experian and immediately contacted the customer service number listed on Experian's website / 1-888-397-3742.
This number apparently does not have human interaction. The prompts ask you if you want to order/dispute. Any attempts to connect to "other" or a human gets you disconnected.
I then found another number buried on the Experian website for the credit tools. I called / 1-800-787-6864. I waited on hold in excess of 15 minutes on the first call and had to hang up. The second, third and fourth attempts resulted in "We are currently experiencing higher than expected call volume, please call another time."
I was finally able to get through to a human and spoke with a male who identified himself as Jason #11318. I politely explained my problem and he was very condescending. I explained that I didn't realize I was purchasing anything and it wasn't made clear. Jason went on to tell me that I should have read the terms and agreement. Perhaps I should have read the fine print, but everything presented to me in the check out process from order your free report to thank you indicated there was no obligation. Jason continued to berate me, but finally agreed to cancel the services. Jason went on to say repeat that I should have read the terms and conditions while trying to justify his unwillingness to refund my money.
I tried again and spoke with an Abbey, who said they don't have rep id's although Jason provided me his. Although Abbey was much friendlier, she went on to say the same thing. I should have read the terms and conditions, the charge is non refundable.
The only solution to this problem was to call the bank and put a stop on it. The tele banker was very friendly and willing to help. She took the information, credit the amount back to my account and sent it to their fraud department for research. She went on to tell me that she has received far too many phone calls for this exact same problem, Experian and the credit monitoring services. Her familiarity with this situation from numerous previous customers only further confirms that Experian is quite deceptive in selling this service.
I consider myself a fairly savvy consumer and have spotted many scams ahead of time, however this one caught me surprise. Experian business practices must have come straight from Mr. Haney in Green Acres. Sign up for one thing and we will get you on the other. I told you A but you signed for B. You should have read the fine print.
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