# Free Credit Report - Bullshit! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 6, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929 "2010-02-06T16:41:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/41 "2010-02-08T20:10:56Z")
I suppose the larger point is that it seems rather obvious that _everyone_ in the consumer sector would prefer more truth in advertising, regardless of political affiliation or lack thereof… ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/42 "2010-02-08T20:21:28Z")
You can get your credit score for free (well, you have to submit to advertising come-ons, some of which are deceptive) at [www.creditkarma.com](http://www.creditkarma.com) This gives you your actual score, and a credit summary. They do have decptive ads based on your existing lines of credit. I was offered a loan that would save me 20 bucks a month on my car payment. The ad said “same term, lower rate!” and I looked and the rate was actually HIGHER than mine. They got the lower payment because it was a 27 month term instead of a 24 month term. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/43 "2010-02-08T20:37:19Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > I don’t necessarily think you’re a “faux” republican/conservative-of-convenience if you have strong beliefs about government regulation/intervention/nannyism in regards to product labeling (and government regulation at large). They would tend to prefer “free market” solutions to this. This would be in contrast to your claim that they wouldn’t have any problems with “truth in advertising” laws/rules/regulations. There are those that do and those that don’t, depending on a bunch of definitions of course. Lets flip this around. You have two “pro weed, make it legal” populations. On one end you have the ones that smoke it all the time. At the other end you have folks that never or rarely have, would prefer that it WAS legal and still wouldnt use it even if it WAS legal. We can guess which ones (statistically speaking) are just trying to justify what they want to do and the ones that are operating on principle. IMO the same kind of dynamic can often be found in the “pro business/conservative” crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/44 "2010-02-08T20:44:32Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > We can guess which ones (statistically speaking) are just trying to justify what they want to do and the ones that are operating on principle. I really disagree with the notion that smoking pot correlates to the chance that your political position is an ex-post justification. Now, it’s certainly true that if there is anyone seeking an ex-post justification, they would be pot users. But that’s needlessly and unfairly lumping all the dope smokers into taking a political position for convenience. Same with these conservatives. Sure, any “conservative” who adopts conservative principles for convenience would be in the “screw product disclosure laws” group. But there are also going to be many bona-fide conservatives who disagree with product disclosure laws who aren’t doing so merely for convenience. Just like dope smokers. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/45 "2010-02-08T20:58:12Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > Same with these conservatives. Sure, any “conservative” who adopts conservative principles for convenience would be in the “screw product disclosure laws” group. But there are also going to be many bona-fide conservatives who disagree with product disclosure laws **who aren’t doing so merely for convenience.** Just like dope smokers. Bolding mine And there are plenty that ARE in my opinion. And IMO more than just random statistics would suggest (just like the pot smokers). And to be fair, that sorta dynamic is IMO prevalent in just about any “cause”. Don’t get me wrong. In many ways I could and would be labeled a pro business conservative. Hell, on this board I am probaby considered WAY right wing in many ways, even though many of my positions really don’t benifit me in any direct way. ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/46 "2010-02-08T22:16:50Z")
I’ll be the contrarian and say that I like their service. I have used them three times. Two of the times, I signed up got my report and cancelled immediately with no problem. The third time I decided to pay extra to see all three of my credit reports. Cancelling with them is like cancelling anything; they try to talk you out of it, but it is fairly easy to do. I am fully aware that they make most of their money off of either stupid or lazy people who either forget to cancel or can’t figure out how. For a responsible person that wants to see their credit report along with the score, it’s a pretty easy and convenient source. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/47 "2010-02-09T15:05:37Z")
> [@LonghornDave](#): > > I’ll be the contrarian and say that I like their service. I have used them three times. Two of the times, I signed up got my report and cancelled immediately with no problem. The third time I decided to pay extra to see all three of my credit reports. Cancelling with them is like cancelling anything; they try to talk you out of it, but it is fairly easy to do. Why would you pay extra to see all three of the credit reports you can get for free? [www.annualcreditreport.com](http://www.annualcreditreport.com) – You get all three for free. Trust me. Save your money. ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/48 "2010-02-09T15:34:08Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Why would you pay extra to see all three of the credit reports you can get for free? > > [www.annualcreditreport.com](http://www.annualcreditreport.com) – You get all three for free. Trust me. Save your money. Because I see value in getting my credit score and not just the report. That information is not free on [annualcreditreport.com](http://annualcreditreport.com). [[QUOTE=annualcreditreport.com](http://QUOTE=annualcreditreport.com)] How can I get my credit score? You can purchase a credit score by contacting one of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies. Equifax - [www.equifax.com](http://www.equifax.com) Experian - [www.experian.com](http://www.experian.com) TransUnion - [www.transunion.com](http://www.transunion.com) You can also purchase a credit score when you request your free annual credit report through this website. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/49 "2010-02-09T15:40:05Z")
\ Hello? You can get your credit score for free, without signing up for any ongoing payment service, at [www.creditkarma.com](http://www.creditkarma.com) Than you, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/50 "2010-02-09T16:28:36Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > \ Hello? You can get your credit score for free, without signing up for any ongoing payment service, at [www.creditkarma.com](http://www.creditkarma.com) > > Than you, that’s all. I looked briefly at their website and it looks like a pretty good deal. I will note that it also appears that they only provide the credit score from Transunion and not from the other credit reporting agencies. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/51 "2010-02-09T16:47:03Z")
> [@](#): > > The conservatives won’t be happy with this suggestion, but I’d love to see a law that anything that has “free” as part of the advertising must provide that good or service for free. Not “free with purchase” or even “free and you have to decline to sign up” but FREE, no strings attached. Anything labeled as free must actually be free. There can be restrictions such as “one per person” or “one per person per month”, for instance, but the good or service cannot be connected with any sort of charge or fee. > > I see advertisements that say that this or that product is “free with purchase”. That’s not free. It’s a bonus, it’s not free, the price of the product has been added to the price of the required purchase. Anyone who asked for the free product would not be able to get it without forking over some money for the purchase. It’s just a marketing ploy. The reform I’d like to see is putting some teeth into the promise of “cancel at any time”. A lot of these borderline companies seem to make it real difficult to cancel an ongoing service once they’ve got your credit card number. Maybe an independant company. Companies selling services would be required to provide you with an account number. If you want to cancel the service, you call the cancelling company and tell them you want to stop account number whatever. They inform the service company and your credit card company. The service company has two business days to close the account and your credit card company pays them nothing beyond that. None of this “we didn’t get your cancellation request so we kept charging you for our service.” ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/52 "2010-02-09T17:13:19Z")
> [@LonghornDave](#): > > Because I see value in getting my credit score and not just the report. That information is not free on [annualcreditreport.com](http://annualcreditreport.com). You did say you paid extra to see all three of your _reports_, which is not the same as a credit score. I’m just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/53 "2010-02-09T17:13:46Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The reform I’d like to see is putting some teeth into the promise of “cancel at any time”. A lot of these borderline companies seem to make it real difficult to cancel an ongoing service once they’ve got your credit card number. > > Maybe an independant company. Companies selling services would be required to provide you with an account number. If you want to cancel the service, you call the cancelling company and tell them you want to stop account number whatever. They inform the service company and your credit card company. The service company has two business days to close the account and your credit card company pays them nothing beyond that. None of this “we didn’t get your cancellation request so we kept charging you for our service.” I could totally get on board with this. If you read consumer websites like the Consumerist, you read stories about companies that make it really easy to sign up for things online, but that force you to speak to a human being to cancel. You spend hours navigating through extremely user-unfriendly systems of voice messages before you can get to a human being, and are then bombarded with questions about why you’re canceling and hard sell tactics to get you to stay. Then, they tell you you’ve canceled, and you still see another charge on your credit card the next month. I would add something else to your suggestion: consumers should be able to cancel using exactly the same process they use to sign up in the first place. So, if you allow users to sign up online using just their name, address, and credit card number, then you must also have a web page allowing them to cancel using their name, address, and credit card number. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/54 "2010-02-09T17:14:17Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Why would a conservative be against truth in advertising? Why even bring politics into it? > > FTR, I completely agree about the “free means free” logic. To clarify, I was talking about the sort of conservatives who hate ANY government legislation, and regard it as Taking Away Our Freedoms. I, on the other hand, am a goddamn pinko liberal, and I regard laws that require ads to use “free” to mean “no obligation, no pressure, we WILL give you this product without requiring you to sign up with us”, and to similarly block such companies from getting a credit card number upon sign-up of a free service. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/55 "2010-02-09T17:29:55Z")
Umm, **Lynn**? I’m on your side, and everything, but could you revisit that post and try it again, as a _sentence_ this time? ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/56 "2010-02-09T17:39:03Z")
> [@niblet\_head](#): > > You did say you paid extra to see all three of your _reports_, which is not the same as a credit score. I’m just sayin’. Two sentences later in the same post I said the following. [QUOTE=LonghornDave] For a responsible person that wants to see their credit report along with the score, it’s a pretty easy and convenient source. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/57 "2010-02-09T17:46:55Z")
Okay. But, technically, that’s not what you said. I’m not trying to nitpick (really, I’m not) but you didn’t say you paid extra for the score, you said you paid extra for the report. Causing Airman to question why you would pay for the report. Surely, you can see the cause of the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/58 "2010-02-09T18:08:14Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I would add something else to your suggestion: consumers should be able to cancel using exactly the same process they use to sign up in the first place. So, if you allow users to sign up online using just their name, address, and credit card number, then you must also have a web page allowing them to cancel using their name, address, and credit card number. I not only want to sign up for your newsletter, I want to give you all my money so you can make this happen. Here’s a dollar. ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/59 "2010-02-09T18:30:32Z")
> [@niblet\_head](#): > > Okay. But, technically, that’s not what you said. I’m not trying to nitpick (really, I’m not) but you didn’t say you paid extra for the score, you said you paid extra for the report. Causing Airman to question why you would pay for the report. Surely, you can see the cause of the confusion. I agree, I can see the confusion. I thought of the score as an essential part of the report. Clearly the report does exist on a standalone basis, so I should have made it more clear that I was paying for the reports with scores. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929/60 "2010-02-09T19:42:54Z")
That’s how they getcha!! 🙂 (I’m just being a smartass. Blame it on the coffee. Or Rio. Whichever.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-credit-report-bullshit/527929.md?page=4)