I received a letter from Adobe Systems signed by their Chief Security Officer, informing me " an authorized third party illegally accessed certain customer order information". Adobe offered me ProtectMyID credit monitoring services for one year at no charge. I only needed to create an account at protectmyid.com/adobe using the provided activation code. I followed their instructions and proceeded to setup my account online only to receive a message to call ProtectMyID. The phone agent informed me that Experian was unable to release a credit report (red flag) and I should contact them. I later found out that ProtectMyID is an Experian subsidiary. In order to obtain a credit report, I would need an Experian membership at $19.95 per month, but offered a $1.00 seven-day trial. Thinking that something was drastically wrong with my credit information, I opted for the trial membership.
Two days later, I called to cancel my trial membership. The Experian asked why I was cancelling so soon, and I explained the whole story: Adobe, ProtectMyID, unable to pull report, etc. She then asked if all the information on my report was correct. I told her that everything was as expected but there was an incorrect previous address showing. She proceeded to read from a script that was masterfully crafted to convince me that I needed to speak with the dispute department. She transferred the call and was placed on hold for twenty minutes. I immediately called back and spoke to a different Experian agent, explained how exasperated was and demanded he cancel my trial membership and provide me confirmation of the cancellation.
The Experian agent said a cancellation notice would be emailed immediately and yes, I have yet to receive it.
My advice is to avoid Experian and all the companies operating under their umbrella. This is a moneymaking enterprise that presents itself as a consumer service oriented business. Nothing could be further from the truth.
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Caveat_Emptor
San Francisco,#2Author of original report
Sat, October 26, 2013
Generators, wool rugs and Christmas tree light. The top three items that are returned right after the big storm, the big dinner party and Christmas. Yes, there are people in this world who actually buy tree lights, use them for three weeks and return them. I once made a $10,000 sale in beautiful wool rugs that were delivered to the customer's home on a Friday afternoon. Our tenured delivery driver warned me that the rugs woukld be returned on Monday after being used for a big party. He was absolutely correct. Dirty, stained and unsellable rugs, all returned and cash refunded. Home Depot and/or their vendors lost money and nearly half of the generators sold during winter storm season.
If you buy an item, take it home and check it for defects immediately. Make sure you are aware of the return date restrictions.
Remember you're buying and not renting. There's a separate rental department for the express purpose.
BTW company management will override policy and accept a return when a sharp and informed customer knows what buttons to push. Hint: drop the word 'fraud' and 'deception' a couple of times. Scares the bejezzes out of them.