Experian - Be Warned

whiskymiller

This is all obviously still going on...
I signed up for a free trial and make sure I notified them well in advance of that 30 day trial ending that I wished to cancel it.

I emailed them on the 1st October 2009 and on the 20th October 2009 the money came out my account surprise surprise.

I called them to be told that the only way to cancel is by telephoning them which it states in the FAQ section. However it does NOT specify this is the only way to cancel a membership!

I made a complaint by email to which I attached my cancellation email. I got a response saying they had no record of my correspondence and that I should have read the terms and conditions which stated I had to notify them within the 30 day free trial if I wished to cancel my membership. This was unacceptable as thats exactly what I did!!!!!

I emailed again yesterday to again, request a full refund.

As a consumer I have followed the rules stated in the Terms and Conditions how can they refuse a refund????????

Anyone had this trouble recently?

heloid

What irked me about my 30 free trial with Experian was:
No where on the credit expert website after you have signed up does it tell you the charge. If someone shows me a screenshot I'll eat my words.
It doesn't tell you when you will be charged, or when your free trial ends
They send the welcome email a day after you join so you don't have the exact start time of your trial - I called and complained as I used the email as a reference for the start date, big mistake. Thankfully as a goodwill gesture they refunded the first month charge. Damn sneaky though.

vaporate

I had a small dispute with Experian once, albeit nothing major.

I checked then wanted to close my experian account. Phoned them up and got a load of cobblers about not caring about my credit rating. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

They do try it on that's for sure.

Killster_27

Hi,

Unlike most people I know the ins and outs of the Credit Expert site and the reports very very well.

I would just like to say, as some people have already, that upon registering it does state that you will be charged after the 30 day trial.

I have also read the wording of the credit card information statement and can understand how that may be miss leading. I actually went so far to read the T's & C's as asked whilst registering for my membership. It does clearly state that if you don't cancel with in the 30 day free trial that you will be charged £6.99 on a monthly basis.

I understand that lots of people DON'T read the T's & C's as majority of it is assumed to be standard stuff but if your being asked for your card details why would you NOT read them.

I am happy to read that not everyone is confussed by the 30 day free trial as to myself it seemed rather straight forward.

I have now been a member of Credit Expert since September 2009 and find it a very good service. If I ever have any problems with any of the information I am viewing within my report or am unsure on what to do to try and improve my current financial state, their staff are always friendly and willing to assist.

Thanks

K27

Killster_27

heloid wrote: »

What irked me about my 30 free trial with Experian was:
No where on the credit expert website after you have signed up does it tell you the charge. If someone shows me a screenshot I'll eat my words.
It doesn't tell you when you will be charged, or when your free trial ends
They send the welcome email a day after you join so you don't have the exact start time of your trial - I called and complained as I used the email as a reference for the start date, big mistake. Thankfully as a goodwill gesture they refunded the first month charge. Damn sneaky though.

Hi

Hope this clears up a bit of that.

As clearly shown in clausse "E" of the T'c & C's


E.

1. The Fees for the Credit Report Service will be debited from the Payment Card on the following occasions:
2. For a Yearly subscription, on the first day of the first Year and each subsequent Year, for as long as this Agreement continues. Renewal membership fees will conveniently and automatically be charged, at the then current rate, to the Payment Card until you cancel this Agreement; or

• For a Monthly subscription, on the first day of the first Month and at the beginning of each subsequent Month, for as long as this Agreement continues. Renewal membership fees will conveniently and automatically be charged, at the then current rate, to the Payment Card until you cancel this Agreement.

• 
  By way of example only:
• Example 1: Where the Trial Period is free of charge, if successful completion of Registration is on the 1st March and the Trial Period is 30 days, then the first payment of the Monthly subscription Fee is on the 31st March, the second payment of the Monthly subscription Fee is on the 30th April, the third payment of the Monthly subscription Fee is on 30th May and so on.
• Example 2: Where the Trial Period is free of charge, if successful completion of Registration is on the 1st January and the Trial Period is 15 days, then the first payment of the Monthly subscription Fee is on the 16th January, the second payment of the Monthly subscription Fee is on the 15th February, the third payment of the Monthly subscription Fee is on the 17th March (assuming there are 28 days in February) and so on.

Thanks

K27

Killster_27

Hi Again,

I wondered, have any of you ever actually been charged during the actual free 30 day trial period for membership?

Please reply.

Thanks

K27

pooska

Ok, I'm a newbie on the Forums, but a regular on MSE. Just wanted to give a warning about Experian tactics.

I signed up for the 30 free trial & was aware of the expiry date of the free trial & when I had to cancel. Did that by phone - no problems, nice lady who told me I'd still be able to access my account right up till the 30 day expiry date, which she told me.

HOWEVER - the day before the expiry date, I got an alert email, saying there had been a change on my report that I should check as it might be evidence of identity fraud.

Knowing I still had a day of my free trial, I went to log in - the log-in process & screen layout was identical to when you log in & I was just about to click what is usually the "Log In" icon, when I noticed it was instead "Renew Your Membership" - I had almost clicked it, which presumably would have charged my credit card.

According to the lady on the phone, I still had 1 day's free trial, yet I was unable to access my account without renewing. Do they send out this "alert email" as a matter of course to worry people into trying to log in but in doing so, inadvertently renewing their membership when they don't actually want to?

That would be one way of making money I guess...

Esoog

Killster_27 wrote: »

Hi Again,

I wondered, have any of you ever actually been charged during the actual free 30 day trial period for membership?

Please reply.

Thanks

K27

Do you by any chance work for Experian?.....

ElkyElky

What annoys me about Experian is the fact that ALL of their advertisements state "Check your credit report for free", they should make it somewhat clearer on the advertisements that you can only check your credit report by signing up to a 30 day trial.

Dirty robbing, worthless people in my opinion. We shouldn't have to pay to access our own data. CRA's make money from our data so really, we should be getting a cut of their profits.

lisyloo

I always advise people to pay £2 for a statutory report.
Simples !!