I went to freecreditreport.com. They advertised a free credit report with no strings attached & no plans to be mandatorialy signed up for. They required an active credit card # as part of the set up information. They clearly state that you may choose to get their service, or not. It is further stated that there would be no charges placed bt rhem to the credit card. I work for a major Visa company & know that companies someimes run a $1 test of accts. & that it falls off the acct. When not followed up by the merchant. They presented it as such a test.
I began to get Emails from them, pestering me to join their program, I assumed. I never opened any of them & just deleted them as junk mail.
One day about 3 months later I noticed a charge on my card for $14.95 & assumed I bought something & didn't recognize it. I forgot about it & one day about 3 months later I decided to pay the credit card online & noticed the same charge was there again from the same company in California, for the same amount. The credit card site offered a search engine that could isolate all charges at the exact same price. The search produced 5 charges of $14.95 for $75. The next day I called the phone # that was on the charge and the phone was answered by identifying the company as Freecreditreport.com. I was put on intermal hold, but hung in there & eventually as customer service rep from overseas came on & asured me that I had failed to respond to the email they had sent me stating that if I didn't say NO in no uncertain terms by X amont of days/hours that I was agreeing to some contractual relationship.
I am not a lawer, but I know enough law 101 to know that they can't unilaterally bind me to a contract in that way without my consent, or without any input from me that I had recieved the comunication.
I disputed the charges with my credit card company. My work with a major Visa Card Company helped me to proceed correctly with the dispute proceedure.
I went to Google & searched for complaints about freecreditreport.com & found pages & pages of the same story, over & over again. Freecredit report said that they wouldn't charge me anymore & so far they haven't, but many of the complaints I found on the Web said that they began charging people's accounts again later. I have no evidence to substanciate that, but I am keeping a close eye on my acct.
I urge you to avoid Freecreditreport.com, and if you are also burned by this scam, call them up & don't hang up no matter how long they kep you on hold.
Call your credit card company & put the charges into formal dispute.
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