UPDATE 1/14/11: Probably since I tweeted to @ProtectMyID for a second time, someone stopped by and left a comment. I responded with my phone number via email and someone called…just to check to see if everything had been resolved.
Hmm…no apology. No explanation as to how this happened. Just a sort of collective shrug of the shoulders from these Experian folks. My post headline and post content stand.
When I had my wallet stolen on a family trip in 2004, I was pleased to have the big three credit companies be there for me to protect my credit. Experian was the one I used to put my account on a “hold” so that any company issuing credit to someone in my name would first have to call me. I’ve always thought Experian was trustworthy and a top notch company…until this week.
On Sunday December 26th I received an email from Experian’s “ProtectMyID” service. It started off with,
“Thank you for ordering ProtectMyID.com.
For your security, additional information was required to confirm your personal information and activate your account. At this time, please call us so that we may provide you with immediate access to your membership. You will be asked to answer a few questions to confirm your identity before you are provided with access.“
Being pretty savvy when it comes to phishing scams—and always double and triple checking to make certain anyone emailing me is legitimate—I checked them out thoroughly. ProtectMyID was, in fact, an Experian company and I decided I’d check up on them when I returned from our holiday trip.
Then today I received an official looking letter whihc made it clear that there was SOME sort of account activity. I launched a call to customer service and it turns out they were “fishing” (vs. “phishing”) for new customers since they were following up on my 2004 connection with them! The woman on customer service clearly positioned this as, “Well, you were a former customer” and that “you must’ve signed up at some point” both of which are complete bullshit.
This is the worst, most egregious unethical and misleading marketing I’ve EVER SEEN DONE BY A MAJOR COMPANY! Of course, it’s impossible to connect with someone by phone (like “Doug Sash, VP of Customer Care”) since they have no voicemail system that’s obvious. Experian ought to be embarrassed and this is precisely the sort of thing that a State Attorney General should take up and stop…immediately.
Here is the email and letter. Read them and you tell me if this isn’t misleading:
About Steve Borsch
Strategist. Learner. Idea Guy. Salesman. Connector of Dots. Friend. Husband & Dad. CEO. Janitor. 
Podcasting
Dear Mr. Borsch,
We read your blog with interest. As you’d expect, we ran off to ask questions and try to piece together what happened. We’d like to talk to you and work to make you happy.
The contact information here on your blog site looks like it’s for business use. Would it be okay for us to call you at the office? Is there some other number you’d like us to dial? Please email: jo@consumerinfo.com to let us know how you’d like us to reach you. Thank you.
Thanks…I’ll email you. But also understand that you put in yet another domain name which makes me leery. That said, I did discover today that ConsumerInfo is, in fact, an Experian company so will email reply.
This same thing happened to me. Ended up with a Protect My ID account and they couldn’t tell me what happened either. If my husband hadn’t asked me what the charge was all about, I’d have never known.
Hey Experian
What’s up with your “freecreditreport”s (that cost $1) that do not issue the report number required to speak to a representative? I’d love to dispute the $50,000 credit card balance from cards that do not belong to me (apparently they belong to someone who shares my name), but I can’t do that online. I have to call. And I can’t get through to a representative without a report number. Which does not exist on my report. Great.
You are making me pay for a product, withholding information so that if I want to fix the report that you messed up, I have to buy the product again at 10x the cost. Gee, thanks for your help. I really feel like your company is looking out for me.
Dear BP -
We read your post and would like to put you on the path toward resolving your issues. Can you please let us know how to reach you? You can email your contact information to: jo@consumerinfo.com. Please note that I don’t have access to private consumer information, so I won’t be the person calling you back. I will, however, remain engaged to help make sure your needs are addressed. Thank you for posting, BP.
Experian is the most unethical, immoral and irresponsible company in the world. Their dispute resolution process is online only, they don’t do anything to ensure accuracy of information and they don’t take phone calls to resolve disputes. I ask this “When they are wrong” how do you fix it if their computer spits out a conclusion that is wrong, and you can’t speak to anybody who has the authority to intervene.
Experian are thefts!!!! They tell you that you are getting a $1 free credit report but then send you three and say “oh you looked at all three so now you owe us $30″. Someone should sue this company for stealing!! I guess they don’t really rely on customers to stay for $19.95 month because they’re already stealing $30 from you anyway, and if you don’t just happen to notice it on your bank statement (which is how I even found out I’d been charged) then they get you there AND you 19.95/mo. I’m not letting this go, that’s for sure!! They haven’t heard the last from me
I had the same problem…only I had overdraft fees from my bank after they charged me 29.95 TWICE …so I had 29.95, 29.95, 20.00 (overdraft fee), 20.00 (overfdraft fee), AND $1 debited from my account…totaling $101 when I only authorized the $1….when asked about refunding my money….they only agreed to refund 44.00 (one of the 29.95 charges plus 1/2 of the other 29.95 charge)….this is ridiculous
Experian robbed me today as well. $60. I asked yesterday if I would be charged anything and was told no, woke up this morning to a $60 charge on my account. They said they will refund me $17.95…ok what about the rest of the money you stole from me??? THIS IS THR WORST COMPANY EVER!!!!
Obviously I am not the only person who is upset with FreeCreditReport.com. I was billed for $31.95 for a FREE report. Their advertising is all over the TV which, as far as I am concerned, is false advertising. As I kept explaining to both a customer rep and her supervisor, $31.95 is not FREE. I have tried to contact Douglas Sash with no luck. Does he even exist? Does anyone know who in a position of power can be contacted. The FTC? As you can see, my red hair is standing on end!
The FTC complaint is always a great option. Most of these services are not necessarily a scam per se, but rather set up to take advantage of the less-than-tech-savvy among us.
There is exactly one Douglas Sash listed in the US white pages. He is in San Clemente, CA. The headquarters for Experian in in Costa Mesa, which is about 25 miles away. My guess is that is our Douglas Sash. Anyone who wants to pay $5 online can get Mr. Sash’s personal home address. Insofar as he runs roughshod over our personal information, I see no reason why he should not be paid the same respect.
I just got off the phone with Discover, where various agents told me they are having a flood of complaints about Experian charging people against their will, via various websites including creditscore.com.
Judging from the recent ‘break-up’ of FICO and Experian, it is clear Experian is a deeply….shadowy company. At this point, it is literally impossible to access one’s own formal Experian FICO score since they would not reach an agreement with FICO. That’s why if you go to myfico.com, you can only get your scores for Equifax or TransUnion. So even though your Experian FICO credit score effects all significant financial opportunities in your life, you cannot find out what that number is short of applying for a mortgage. Tne number you get from other sites for Experian is not a true FICO score. That’s how hyper-secretive Experian is.
@ab do you think there’s anyway to get a refund? I have VISA so they may be different, but do you think it’s even possible for me to get my money back? I just noticed tonight that I had been charged 12.95 by Experian for the past 7 months without using the service since the first time I checked the credit score.
Hi All,
Let me share my experience and some insight about Protect my ID.
1) There service might be good after you sign up. But the signup process is the most horrible by any industry standards.
– If you choose not to auto renew you account next year, the very next day you will get an email that you membership is CANCELLED.
- Once you sign up, All of a sudden the website goes blank page.
- If you try to call them to sign up again and tell the issue that you are facing, none of the customer representative really is clear with the Sign up process, and they all will keep charging you money.
- Their website, where you put in all your information is pathetic, all of a sudden one fine day you will find that all the information is erased
God know who is managing their IT Systems but I don’t feel secure by all of my above experience.
Regards,
Mayank