Consumer complaint received 2016-04-19
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: VA
Product: Credit reporting
Issue: Credit monitoring or identity protection
Sub-issue: Billing dispute

Complaint:
Overall : Manipulation of me as a consumer ( resulting in Experian 's taking {$130.00} from my credit card account and refusing to return it ) ; failing to address my actual complaint ( regarding the money that is in dispute ) ; lying to me about what is / is not in the power of the company ( again, regarding that money that is in dispute ). 

Details : A while back I signed up for a free trial at Experian in order to check my credit. I intended for this to be a one-time thing. I assumed that -- since this was presented as a free trial -- I would not be automatically enrolled as a paying costumer at the end of the trial period. I did not pay close enough attention to the website, which did make note of this. I was enrolled as a paying costumer without my knowing, and I did not discover this until several months later. I called Experian to cancel my account and explained the situation, but Experian was unwilling to refund the amount. So Experian currently has taken {$130.00} from my credit card account, without my knowledge and authorization. ( Experian did return {$21.00}, the payment for a single month. ) I am aware that Experian said on its website that this would happen. I should have been more careful. But, in having this " opt out '' policy, Experian is acting in bad faith toward me as a consumer. The only reason to have a policy like this ( as opposed to an " opt in '' policy ) is to take advantage of negligent consumers like myself ( or consumers who find the process of cancellation too onerous to be worth their time ). 

An even more serious issue is this : Experian has willfully ignored the substance of my complaint surrounding this issue and has lied to me about it. After speaking over the phone with a representative of Experian, I was given an email address for the billing department. Upon emailing that department, I was told that Experian was unable to refund me the money. In response, I made clear what the nature of my complaint was, and I explicitly asked to be put in touch with whomever did have the authority to refund my money. I was then given instructions for soliciting a refund through Experian 's Consumer Relations Group, via fax or letter. I did so, and I made it clear that I had already been made aware that the " free trial '' needed to be cancelled to avoid being charged but that the substance of my complaint was that this sort of practice was purposefully manipulative to me as a consumer and - so I argued - illegitimate. In response, Experian 's Consumer Relations Group simply refused to address my actual complaint and instead just repeated what I already knew ( and had already made clear that I knew in my message ). Furthermore, Experian said it was unable to refund my money. This is an outright lie. The company is able to, but the individuals whom I contacted ( the officers of Experian 's Consumer Relations Group ) simply are refusing to do so. ( Perhaps the company will argue that saying one is " unable '' to process a refund is simply a polite way of refusing to do so. But, again, I made it clear in my previous e-mail exchange -- in response to the same line -- that obviously somebody in the company was able ( even if unwilling ) to refund me the {$130.00} and that I wanted to be put in touch with whomever could do that. ) The amount of double speak I 've encountered in my attempts to get Experian simply to address my issue is astounding. I also wonder about the legality of lying to a consumer in response to that consumer 's soliciting a refund. 

Along with this message I am uploading copies of my e-mail exchange with Experian 's billing department and my exchange with Experian 's Consumer Relations Group.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief