feckingmorons: But they don't want to hear that part, they just want the free credit report

...that they were told they would get. Yes, they put it in tiny print that you have to sign up for their service, but when they're running around hollering "FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE", a reasonable person would conclude that they are in fact free. Having to sign up for something makes them not-free.

"Helping other people is wrong!"

Jesus spelunking Christ. Where did these assholes go to school?

GaryPDX: People should do their own homework instead of expecting the government to hold their hand. I've been doing my own credit reporting agency monitoring for years. Equifax has the best service. Experian is moderately second best and Trans Union is a joke but they are out there.

If you're not proactive with your own credit history, you need to have your head examined.

Good thing these companies never withhold information or create massive, persistent examples of doublespeak.

GaryPDX: For FYI for anyone interested. Here are the three reporting agencies.

Equifax (new window)
Experian (new window)
Trans Union (new window)

Thanks.

/Dunno if I agree with your "the government shouldn't intervene" when predatory offers though.
//Control of information is important, and I would consider profit to be a good motivation to limit any information flow out of an industry/business?

The breathlessness of the headline seems a bit excessive.

/welcome to fark, etc.

GaryPDX: Anyone remember Cal Worthington (new window)?

I think he's still around, though older than fark. "Come to Cal Worthington! We're located in the car country mall in Carlsbad and we're open 'til 10 11 midnight"

Easy fix, make the three credit bureaus offer the consumers their credit reports at any time for free AND all three must have matching info.

I fail to see the problem here. The government isn't doing this because people can't find the free credit report site. They are doing it for two reasons:

1) The site was attempting to confuse people. They were attempting to get traffic by encouraging people to think this was a site for authorized free reports. You'll note they started it up after the government's site started up. It wasn't as though they offered free credit reports there and suddenly things changed. They did it to confuse people. In the private industry, that gets handled with trademark lawsuits (like if you tried to sell cars branded Toyola to confuse people in to buying them). In the public sector, this happens.

2) They are being deceptive about what they are really offering. They aren't offering a free, no strings attached credit report. They are trying to get you to sign up for a service in a sneaky fashion. You'll note the government is not going after their normal site, where they are totally up front about buying access to your credit report. The issue here is that they are trying to be deceptive about it.

The deceptive nature is what has caused the problem for them.

sycraft: The deceptive nature is what has caused the problem for them.

Ah, yes...but there is a significant portion of the electorate that has been convinced that corporations have a right to deceive in order to enhance profits.

Good god that's depressing.

I've gotten my credit report for free for years. No problem.

My mother, however, has a brain that is thoroughly shot after almost two solid years of chemotherapy. Tonight I watched her agree to something on the phone just so she could get the hell off the phone and go back to sleep. She had no idea who she was talking to or what she agreed to accept.

If she decides she needs her credit report and hears a commercial for a free credit report at freecreditreport.com, she's going for it hook, line, and sinker. It's free, they said so!

Subby, may you never know what that kind of confusion is like.

culebra: sycraft: The deceptive nature is what has caused the problem for them.

Ah, yes...but there is a significant portion of the electorate that has been convinced that corporations have a right to deceive in order to enhance profits.

Good god that's depressing.

Well if those CEO's couldnt afford a second yacht this year, can you imagine the disaster? it would be horrific. We can't have that.

culebra: sycraft: The deceptive nature is what has caused the problem for them.

Ah, yes...but there is a significant portion of the electorate that has been convinced that corporations have a right to deceive in order to enhance profits.

Good god that's depressing bootstrappy randian capitalist utopia.

GaryPDX:
In this day and age, with ID Theft risk as well, it's well worth a few bucks a month to watch your own shiat.

Translation: I got scammed by freecreditreport.com and didn't want to swallow my pride and call the bastards to cancel the service.

It is simply amazing that they charge you to access your own account, but thanks to our merciful banker masters we can take a peek every year, but you still have to pay to know what they think about your shiatty life.

If you could cancel the service via a mouse click, this wouldn't be a problem.

But you can't. You have to call them to cancel. And after they harass you for 5-10 minutes about canceling, they say they're "processing" the transaction and harass you for another 5-10 minutes about what a mistake you're making by canceling their service.

This is why my wife is no longer allowed to order services off the web. This applies especially to airline tickets.

marcre3363: This is why my wife is no longer allowed to order services off the web. This applies especially to airline tickets.

But she still supplies services over the web, right?

One of the other terms of a mortgage (beyond the variable rate interest) is that you can always walk away from it and default. It messes up your credit, but not forever -- maybe seven years. So you rent and live cheap for seven years, build up your credit, and try again. Lesson learned.

There's no moral obligation to pay a mortgage, only legal. If you owe more than your house is worth (taking both financial and emotional value together), you SHOULD walk away from it. The banks would like us to think that foreclosure is a sign of moral deficiency... but really, it's often just a sign that you understand the basics of finance.

GaryPDX: Three Crooked Squirrels: feckingmorons: You want government to hand hold people and it is not the role of government to tell people how to lead their lives. Some people just want to be ignorant and lazy, they deserve what they get.

And some corporations are purposefully exploiting innocent, albeit ignorant, people. But if their purposeful deceipt is brought to light, tou think their botom line should be protected.

Their are certain schemes that are outlawed. The Ponzi scheme comes to mind. When government realizes that there is no value to a service/scheme, and the only value is to the bottom line of a company exploiting the confused (ignorant), they can pass a law that basically says "Too many have been confused, you offer no legitimate service. Stop."

I simply don't see anything wrong with that.

Moreover, all this seems to do is take small print and make it large. Why do you have a problem with putting terms and conditions in the forefront?

Why is all of this such a surprise to people? Hasn't anyone seen Billy Bobs Used Car Get-Me-Done TV ads before? It's only been going on for decades.

Anyone remember Cal Worthington (new window)?

no but we had mel farr in detroit we used to be a detoit lion
Link

GaryPDX: lol, I remember when he was in Seattle as used car salesman before even moving to California. That was way back.

On a lark, I typed him into Wiki. Wow, he's been around the block about 100 times. Been selling cars since 1945 fresh from flying 29 missions over Germany.

BritneysSpeculum: GaryPDX: People should do their own homework instead of expecting the government to hold their hand. I've been doing my own credit reporting agency monitoring for years. Equifax has the best service. Experian is moderately second best and Trans Union is a joke but they are out there.

If you're not proactive with your own credit history, you need to have your head examined.

Gary how complex can a credit report be when your only assets are dehydrated food, bottled water and ammununition?

shows what you know, ammunition is largely useless without a gun to fire it with!!

starwolf256:
You don't get it. The Free Market will handle this. After all, when enough customers realize they've been swindled (or died from tainted food, or been made sick by medicine show elixirs, or been poisoned by lead paint) people will Vote With Their Wallets. Therefore it is impossible for a successful corporation to have done any wrong...caveat emptor!

Please tell me you're just trolling with Caveat Emptor

SuperCatBarf: Parents should, but don't. Whine as you like, but it won't happen. Get a clue and get basic living skills taught in public schools.

You'll have to convince the standardized test companies that there is money in this. And then somehow overcome the lobbying from those whose business model is premised on people being uneducated.

lobootomy: I have no moral imperative to keep a mortgage payment

If you borrow something, you have a moral imperative to return it.

If you voluntarily agree to something (like, I don't know, a mortgage payment), you have a moral imperative to stick to your word.

The problem I have with this is that freecreditreport.com and others like them advertise a service that is different from just the report, it also includes most prominently the FICO score. While this may not matter to many people, they are offering a value added service (at least in their minds) but are now forced to give free advertising to a government authorized group to do the reporting.

Should UPS and FEDEX be forced to have a disclaimer that the USPS can deliver letters cheaper (first class vs overnight)? USPS is the only one authorized under federal law to deliver first class mail, so the analogy seems to be quite similar. Where does this end?

not sure who free credit report is, but i love their songs

/derp

what_now: THEY USE CHECKS IN THE $#@$ GROCERY STORE!!

Do they live in Seattle? Could you ask them how they know when to go to the store at the exact right time to always get in line in front of me?

AntiNorm: If you voluntarily agree to something (like, I don't know, a mortgage payment), you have a moral imperative to stick to your word.

Imperatives go both ways. Isn't all on the consumer.

jingks: marcre3363: This is why my wife is no longer allowed to order services off the web. This applies especially to airline tickets.

But she still supplies services over the web, right?

No. My girlfriend in......Canada, yeah, Canada, she takes care of that.

what_now: RobertBruce: Free with enrollment in triple advantage. That message has been at the end of every one of their ads.

/subby

Yeah, it's more like, Freewithenrollmentintripleadvantage.

And not enough people know about www.annualcreditreport.com which is indeed, your free credit report.

Why doesn't the government...I don't know, run an ad on the tee-vee to create some awareness? You know like that completely non-confusing census ad that I saw on the Superbowl?

On a side note, I'm all for people taking some personal responsibility, but it is pretty bait-and-switch that they can call themselves "freecreditreport"

nmbottlecap: starwolf256:
You don't get it. The Free Market will handle this. After all, when enough customers realize they've been swindled (or died from tainted food, or been made sick by medicine show elixirs, or been poisoned by lead paint) people will Vote With Their Wallets. Therefore it is impossible for a successful corporation to have done any wrong...caveat emptor!

Please tell me you're just trolling with Caveat Emptor

Naa, he's trolling with a false dilemma logical fallacy