I signed up for ScoreSense.com after my husband signed up. We wanted credit monitoring and alerts, we weren't so much interested in their identity theft protection services, just the monitoring and alerts. For the first few months, we really enjoyed the service. We got in on a free trial basis and then agreed to the whopping $29.95 per month. It was a very hefty fee, but we had the cash to spare at the time so we allowed it.
We were alerted when one of our credit cards was marked as overdue due to a flaw in the credit card company's mailing system and had we not known, we would still have that blemish on our report, but we were able to take care of it in a timely manner. We decided to keep it a little longer because of that handy feature.
When our finances tightened, however, and we found ourselves simply no longer using the service, we called to cancel. I was allowed to speak on my husband's behalf, which was convenient, but yet a little unnerving. My first clue that this service is bunk should have been when I read through the FAQ on the website. "You can cancel your membership at any time by contacting our Customer Care department at 1-800-972-7204." There is no way to cancel by email, no link or button, nothing. You HAVE to call their Customer Care department. I chalked it up to security. Other credit report websites have similar rules.
My first phone call with these people should have been my second clue that this service is bunk. I spoke to a very nice, friendly, Southern woman. I told her we needed to cancel and after about 30 minutes of trying to sell me on MORE services, she finally agreed to give my husband and I discounted rates. She offered me a rate of $9.95 because I had "logged in more often" than he did. He was offered a rate of $2.95, and only a very stripped down version of the service because he apparently didn't log in as much as I did. He wasn't able to get any of his credit scores and was only given the identity theft protection and alerts that a change had been made on his credit, but of course he couldn't receive details regarding that change.
A few short months later, we decided once and for all to actually cancel. I once again dialed the number, this time ready and armed for the sales pitch to begin. Sure enough, I got a hold of another friendly Southern woman who battled with me over the phone for 26 minutes about why I should keep the service. She fed me what I believe very much to be a false sales-driven story about how her identity was supposedly stolen and had it not been for this glorious service, she would have lost over $800,000. (Why are you answering phones for a fraudulent money-hungry Internet service if you had $800,000 to lose?) I very politely explained to her several times that we no longer wanted to pay for a service we just don't use. I also explained to her that I'd likely be returning once our finances allowed it because, admittedly, the alerts can be handy to have!
When she finally stopped trying to sell the service to me, I requested, with confidence, a refund for one of the months since she could look at the logs and she flat out told me that she could tell I had not logged in for a long time. It was clear to her that I was not using the service. She said she was putting in a request for a refund for me for just one of the months, $9.95. It wasn't like I was asking her to refund every month that I had not used the service... That amount would be much higher than $9.95! I only asked for one month.
I received an email this morning, less than 24 hours after the request, that my refund was not approved. They are holding on to every dime with a death grip. I sent one email, informing them that they had permanently lost me as a customer and that I would make sure to leave reviews everywhere I go in hopes of saving someone else from having to deal with this insanity. If we customers want to cancel, we should be allowed to cancel. If we don't use the service, we should be entitled to a refund within reason. (One month out of many is definitely within reason, is it not?) I hope that someone else will read this and steer very clear of ScoreSense. Go with someone else... Anyone else, really. These people only want your money, every last little dime of it that they can squeeze out of you.
Sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company. Plus, if you post a competitors name more than likely they will show up on search engines as a Rip-off! - - your comments on this policy are welcome.
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