Consumer complaint received 2024-05-22
Product: Debt or credit management — Credit repair services
Issue: Charged upfront or unexpected fees — 
Company: Self Financial Inc. (AR)

Between XXXX to the beginning of XXXX, I was part of a promotional program where you complete deals to get credit. The more deals/offers you sign up form the bigger the prize you can cashout on. The XXXX came from XXXX XXXX I had completed XXXX deals/offers, XXXX of them was for Self, a crediting monitoring and repair site. Most deals are you signing up for a week long trial for the company 's limited services. You sign-up with basic information, name, address, phone #, and your card to pay the {$1.00} fee for the trial. Self known as a credit builder online tool with XXXX feature being that you take out a virtual loan where you pay on a set balance to help your credit profile statistics. 
I began to fill out the application and input my payment information for the {$1.00} charge for the free trial for the week, I pressed submit and it load uptop in red that there was an error ( XXXX Required, no process ). I went in to see if it created a account, tried logging in on their front landing page and it reloaded the same page I was when first signing up for the offer. Indicating that there was not an account since it took me back to the sign up page. I went on to the next. I did come back time to time and tried again with it being the same result. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from Self about an approaching Payment date coming due. Within stating that my due date for a {$19.00} payment for this loan. I went and checked their site and there it was a full account with all my details and information, even a builder loan for {$710.00} dollars. Shocked, I emailed them about the signup/trial error I received when signing up and that to my understanding that the account never was finished being set up or open/active, let alone a full on XXXX XXXX XXXX. I told them I never signed a terms and conditions to open the account, I did not sign up for the loan and requested that they deactivate the loan and close the account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX they replied, ignoring what I had wrote to them about the problem and they ignored my requests ; they went on with their basic sign-up support verbiage. How to sign-up, log-in, and touting their services, not even a mention about my requests. Furious I left it alone, thinking they don't have my payment details so it will clear up. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I was getting emails from my credit report apps that a new account has been reported to the credit bureau. I checked XXXX and Self was showing up on my Credit Report as functioning with the {$710.00} loan. Enraged, I emailed Self same day describing the situation and that this was hands down and Unauthorized account and that I requested that they shut down the loan, deactivate the account, and to report the closure of both to XXXX. I went on to submitted a dispute with XXXX about the account saying it was an unauthorized account. I XX/XX/XXXX I received more emails from the same credit watch apps I have that a new account has been reported to XXXX, logged in and sure enough it was Self. I went ahead and submitted a dispute with them. 

I did not finish signing up to set the account up, I was not verified as they informed me that had to do, I did not sign a terms and conditions for the activation of the account or the loan. I did not sign my name to this {$710.00}. 

With this becoming a larger problem then I thought it would be with Self now affecting my credit profile with an unauthorized, illegal account/loan, an XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX from Self, I am now having to submit this report to the CFPB.