Deceptive fees charged on credit card for "free" credit report
Complaint
Norman Cigar
Country: United States
My wife and I sought a free credit report online from MNI Credit Reporting Services on 18 January 2008, as she was preparing to go to Iraq to serve with the U.S. Army. Unknown to me at the time, as a condition for receiving such a report, I had to accept as a condition (buried in an 8-page online statement) that I would thereby sign on to receive future online reports, after a 30-day “trial” period. MNI then started to charge my credit card for these unwanted reports for me and my wife, at $11.95 each per month. At first, I did not even notice these charges on my credit card. When I did, and realized what was happening, I tried to cancel immediately and to get a refund for what I considered fraudulent charges for a service I did not want, which had been instituted deceptively. Despite arguing up the chain of command within MNI, they refused to give me a refund. And, they insisted that my wife would have to cancel “personally,” despite the fact that the charge for her, too, was on my credit card, and despite the fact that I explained to them that she was serving in Iraq. MNI’s representative finally relented and allowed me to cancel for my wife. However, he insisted that “There is no refund,” and despite a prolonged conversation, eventually only agreed to give me a partial refund for the unwanted service.
I believe that MNI Credit Reporting Services takes advantage of purportedly providing a “free” service to force people into a position where they are duped into accepting an “contract” which is neither clear nor desired as a precondition for receiving a “free” credit report. Their business practices are deceptive, fraudulent, harmful to the public, and this is especially worrisome, given the sensitive personal data to which such businesses have access. As I found out subsequently, there have been many similar complaints (available on the internet) by people who have been cheated by MNI. Their mailing address is P.O. Box 9153, Canoga Pak, CA 91304; their phone is 1-800-720-4420. The top manager (4th tier) I was able to reach was “Adam” (no last names allowed).
I believe that MNI Credit Reporting Services takes advantage of purportedly providing a “free” service to force people into a position where they are duped into accepting an “contract” which is neither clear nor desired as a precondition for receiving a “free” credit report. Their business practices are deceptive, fraudulent, harmful to the public, and this is especially worrisome, given the sensitive personal data to which such businesses have access. As I found out subsequently, there have been many similar complaints (available on the internet) by people who have been cheated by MNI. Their mailing address is P.O. Box 9153, Canoga Pak, CA 91304; their phone is 1-800-720-4420. The top manager (4th tier) I was able to reach was “Adam” (no last names allowed).
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