Experian-has anyone else been conned?

lucychapman2006

I recently signed up for the 30 day free trial, but was charged £4.99 anyway so i emailed asking for it back and they said that this was for my national credit score, which i must have clicked on. However it was not made at all clear that i would be charged at any point and i did not give any of my bank details to the web-site, just the the one credit card details that they ask for when signing up for the free trial. I am guessing they used the confidential information in the credit report to access my main bank account details. Does anyone know if they are actually allowed to do this?
I was also wondering if this has happened to anyone else or just dumb me?
:mad:
I know its only £4.99 but thats a lot of money to a poor student like me!!!!
So if anyone could help i would be very grateful!

Zebedee69

Ah see you have to be careful with that one. The free months trial is free but if your not careful you will click on the button for your credit score which costs £4.99

Anyway, not much can be done about it now... whats your score then lol? Mine was 823 (-:

tom188

And both completely meaningless....

tom188

I am guessing they used the confidential information in the credit report to access my main bank account details. Does anyone know if they are actually allowed to do this?

1. They use the data that they hold, they dont request anything else.
2. Collating the confidential information the banks give them is what a CRA is for.

Experian_company_representative

When you sign up to the CreditExpert service you are asked for your credit card details 1) to help check your identity and 2) to pay for any future charges. The details on your actual credit report are not used to claim charges - this would be illegal.

I'm sorry to hear about the confusion over your National Credit Score. The £4.99 charge for the score is made very clear whenever you are given the opportunity to order it. The FAQs and the Terms and Conditions (which you are encouraged to read) both make it very clear that the £4.99 charge applies to everyone ordering a score, including free trialists.

We think the National Credit Score is a very useful to guide to how lenders might assess your Experian credit report. Of course, lenders’ scores will usually incorporate other information we don’t have, such as the information you give them when you apply, and we do make this quite clear.

I hope this clarifies things.

James

tom188

I take it you work for experian. I stand by my original point, the idea of a putting a spuriously accurate numerical value to something so artificial does nothing but massage the purchasers ego or give them false hope. You should be able to ascertain the likelihood of obtaining credit merely from looking at the report, without paying £5 for a "score" that will not factor in the many factors a credit provider will be looking for besides repayment history. A cynical marketing ploy to profit from the insecure.

JohalaReewi

JamesJones wrote:

....
We think the National Credit Score is a very useful to guide to how lenders might assess your Experian credit report.

...

James

It's not really a "National Credit Score", it is an "Experian Credit Score" and as you say, lenders have thier own scoring systems so the score you ask people to pay £4.99 for is effectively meaningless (and a good way to make money).

lwt2006

You are not alone. Unfortunately we fell for this too and got the same answer when I phoned to complain. I was told it was quite clear. Debateable. Charged £4.99 each for mine and my husband's.:mad:

thesaint

Anybody thinking of getting their 'score' should please read this thread.

The OP has £38k of debt

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=368754

ohmsoft

Hi

I got "stung" with this (stupidy twice as I double clicked the button!).

To be honest they are right that it is stated in the terms etc but, I kept on, and on at them by email - a total of 17 emails! And the eventually caved in once I managed to get hold of a Team Supervisor in their Membership department...

So yey I got my money back - but £9.98 for 17 emails?! I could have done an hours overtime at work!!

YAZZA_3

ohmsoft wrote:

Hi

I got "stung" with this (stupidy twice as I double clicked the button!).

To be honest they are right that it is stated in the terms etc but, I kept on, and on at them by email - a total of 17 emails! And the eventually caved in once I managed to get hold of a Team Supervisor in their Membership department...

So yey I got my money back - but £9.98 for 17 emails?! I could have done an hours overtime at work!!

i accidently pressed it 3 times and got charged £15!! How did you argue your point? Its alot of money for a skint student!