I have had 2 separate charges from this 'company' appear on my debit card. They were both for only $4.95, but I knew they were fraudulent.
When the first one appeared in January, I called the phone number and only heard a man with a heavy European accent tell me to send an email if I needed to contact them. I left a message asking about the charge and sent an email. I did not get a response from either. I disputed the charge with my credit union. I eventually received an email response from CWS promising a refund, but one never came. My credit union did credit my account and charged an additional $4.95 back to CWS.
A week or so ago, there was another charge for $4.95. I tried calling again, and received the same answering machine message. I called my credit union and they have started the credit/chargeback process.
I have searched the web and found NUMEROUS complaints against this company. Most charges are between $2.95 and $6.95. After searching through quite a few threads, I found a number of individuals who have subscribed to Equifax for various services. These charges from CWS appeared within a few weeks of requesting credit reports related to their Equifax services. Calls to Equifax confirm that CWS is not a billing service and most of these reports were free with their Equifax services.
I called Equifax and they had heard about the complaints regarding Coastal Web Solution charges. I was told CWS does not bill for any Equifax services and was referred to the Security division. I did not get a definitive answer on why a notice did not go out from Equifax addressing the concerns, whether unfounded or not, about the CWS tie-in.
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