Public Service Announcement

Two months ago I was a victim of credit card fraud on the Internet. Chase Bank was fabulous in spotting it and shutting the card down before anything bad happened. They recommended that I check my credit report.

It hadn’t been much more than a year since I last checked it, but 12 months were certainly up. I went to Creditreport.com.

I filled out their online form and it asked for a credit card number. That made me suspicious, but it specifically said that it was for identification purposes only and the card would not be charged.

I got my report instantly and there were no surprises.

Until. My credit card was charged $11.95. I suspected such a thing would happen, and I am angry. I sent this e-mail:

Dear Creditreport.com:

I have just noticed that your company has charged my credit card. Your website assured me that the card number was only being requested for identification purposes. I did not intentionally purchase any additional services. I wish to have a refund of the $11.95 posted back to my credit card and to have my information removed from any mailing lists that you maintain. I feel tricked and offended by your practices. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

I got this response:

Thank you for contacting Creditreport.com:

We apologize for any inconvenience you may be experiencing. In order for us to make any changes to your Creditreport.com account or have questions regarding the website or services, we ask that you contact our customer service department at 866-365-6818. Our office hours are Monday -Friday 6:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. PST, Saturdays 8:00 a.m. -4:00 pm and Sundays 8:00 a.m. -4:00 pm PST.

Thank you,
Customer Service
CreditReport.com

O.K. – first? No freakin’ dot-com should be telling me to call customer service when I use the online contact information.

I call customer service. Someone whose first language is not English (sorry, but the outsourced call centers are starting to bother me) told me that I was enrolled in the monthly credit check service and I must not have read the web page carefully. And they have a “No refund” policy.

All I wanted was to make sure that no one had opened a new credit card in my name. I do not require monthly services. I realize that they are a business and have to make money somehow, but I feel deceived. Thank you, Internet, for your attention.