Free(not!)CreditReport.com

Thursday Jan 8, 2009 – By Arlice Nichole

Just about everyone knows about FreeCreditReport.com. They have a brilliant advertising campaign with funny commercials revealing a true picture of what life could be like with bad credit, and catchy jingles that you probably find yourself singing or humming under your breath from time to time. However, this company is currently under investigation and has even had to pay more than $1 million in settlements over allegations of deception and its liberal use of the word “free”. The way it works is first you must provide your credit card number, there’s your first clue that there might be a catch, and you do get your credit report. But, after that you must remember to cancel your membership or you’ll be billed $14.95. The problem is they’re making it very hard to cancel if they’re canceling at all, and there have been thousands of cancellation requests that have not been honored.

Avoid the drama. You can always get your credit reports free once a year from all three major credit bureaus with no strings attached at www.AnnualCreditReport.com. If you’d like to be updated on your reports more than once a year with FICO scores included www.MyFICO.com is a trusted source and has varying packages and reasonable rates.

Reecie says:

January 8, 2009 at 5:25 pm

yeah I got suckered by that too…found out later annualcreditreport.com is the right one!

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Denise says:

January 8, 2009 at 6:34 pm

I am so glad someone decided to feature this company for what they really are. Thank you!!!

Lish says:

January 8, 2009 at 7:43 pm

i did not want to shell out my info to the wrong site so when i need to check my report i use a link from suze orman’s website…hey it has to be correct on her website if not then Oprah needs to holla at her girl! lol.

Glennisha Morgan says:

January 8, 2009 at 8:16 pm

Good job on outing this company! I remember when I signed up and asking for my credit card # was the first catch. It was a hassle trying to cancel too.

Dionne says:

January 9, 2009 at 10:45 am

I got suckered into that one, too. After one phone call and being forwarded a couple of times I got all my money back. This is so deceptive. My first clue was that they wanted my credit card number!

Miss Concrete Jungle says:

January 9, 2009 at 1:36 pm

Happened to me too!! I hadn’t realized they were taken to court over this. I didn’t have much trouble canceling it thankfully, but won’t ever use them again. I too used annualcreditreport.com recently, but now I’m kind of scared to check my credit online at all.

Elle says:

January 9, 2009 at 2:39 pm

Thanks for the info, I do not understand for the life of me, why do WE have to pay for OUR credit score. ??????

Jay says:

January 9, 2009 at 7:46 pm

Did anyone watch Suze Orman on Oprah about how to pay off credit card debt? Really sound advice. I think her book is free to download, but only for a week @ Oprah!

Arlice Nichole says:

January 9, 2009 at 10:55 pm

@Jay, I watched and it was a great show. Her book is currently free to download on Oprah’s website until January 15th until 11:59 pm.

January 9, 2009 at 10:57 pm

@Elle, I often wonder why can’t we get all three of our credit scores free once a year also.

alex says:

May 1, 2009 at 9:46 am

Thanks for sharing. It is useful for me.