The November issue of Consumer Reports cautions that a much-advertised “free” credit report will cost you --- a revelation Grumpy Editor covered early last year.
The focus is on FreeCreditReport.com that is heavily pitched.
(Grumpy Editor reported on Jan. 11, 2008 that the site is “getting heavy play on radio and TV these days” with catchy, toe-tapping commercials touting free credit reports, adding, “What’s interesting about the pitches is that the ‘free’ credit report service requires membership in Triple Advantage credit monitoring that costs $14.95 a month." There also was reference to a Better Business Bureau site for interesting, mostly negative, “reviews” by users of the service.)
Consumer Reports mentions that when going to the FreeCreditReport.com site, “you might miss the smaller print to the left that says when you order your free report, you are automatically enrolled in the site’s credit-monitoring service. The fee: $179 per year. In other words, your report isn’t free unless you cancel the monitoring service within seven days.”
The Better Business Bureau through early September “received 10,344 complaints about FreeCreditReport.com, a site run by ConsumerInfo.com, which is owned by Experian, one of the big three credit-reporting bureaus,” points out Consumer Reports.
Confusion on “free” credit reports stems from the similarity in Web site titles.
Truly free credit reports are available via AnnualCreditReport.com. It is a centralized service that provides consumers with a no-cost credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies --- TransUnion, Equifax and Experian --- in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.
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