Complaint Review: Intelius - People Finder - U.S. Search

It all began in April 2009, I decided to search for a lost family member and I used Intelius because it appeared to be a legitimate website, and appeared at the top of the search results which to me it also indicated it was trustworthy. I decided to go through with a person search in Intelius.com I agreed to the charge of $6.90 for a one time charge, I read the term and agreement link at the bottom and continued to the checkout. I provided my credit card info and never received a pop up or was offered any additional product to purchase.

Five months later I logged into my online credit card account and as I was reviewing my credit card statement, I noticed two different charges for $19.99 that I did not recognize. One of them was from Intelius Identity Protect and the other was 3rd party company Intelius gave my information to bill me and sign me up their service. Immediately I went through all my statements and realized I've been getting billed for both companies for 5 months, a total of $100.00 each.

This was so upsetting, I work for a credit card company so I know we have to first call the merchant, I called the numbers listed on my statement for Intelius and the 3rd paty company. Intelius has a hold time of more than 30 minutes, it is a fact, because my credit card company called them and verified this information for themselves. The 3rd party company cancelled their services verified I never used them, so they refunded everything back. Even though it took some talking and pushing them towards that.

My credit card company agreed to refund me only two charges of $19.99 but said that's all they can do even though I explained to them everything, and they went through Intelius.com to verify what I was telling them. The reason why it took me about 5 months to realize I was getting billed was because I am a college student, I make so many purchases I never bothered to check.

Later I finally spoke with Intelius customer service, and they were so rude they wouldn't even listen to a word I said. They insisted I agreed to their services and its all in their terms and agreement. I was so upset because I needed money and couldn't believe they've been taking my money away when I really needed it I cried on the phone. I was never rude and explained to them I never used their services for Identity Protect so I should get a refund, they did not care and said I should have cancelled within the 30 day free trial. They were talking to me as if I agreed to something, when I never did, this company should no longer be on the internet. I would want to be part of a class action lawsuit.