I, like hundreds of others posting complaints, ordered a $.99 lookup of a phone number for an individual and then started getting charged for a $19.95 a month subscription to an ID protect service that I did not knowingly order. I didn't catch this until the second month.
I first cancelled the bogus subscription online, and then called Intelius. The first customer service rep I talked to told me that I had definitely ordered the service, though I know I would never have done so knowingly, and that since the service had been active for the two months it was non-refundable. I immediately asked to speak with a supervisor.
When the supervisor came on I asked for the spelling of his first and last name. He would not give me his last name - only Brian and operator #8059. He began to tell me the same thing that the previous rep had; that I had ordered the monthly service and that he could cancel the account but couldn't refund for the months that I had "ordered". I again stated that I would not have knowingly ordered the service and that it must be deceptively worded for me and hundreds of other complainants on Ripoffreport.com to have misunderstood. He told me that there was no possible way that I could have completed the order without understanding that I was purchasing a monthly subscription. Again, I told him, "yeah, me and hundreds of others posting complaints on the internet about these bogus charges.
The supervisor seemed unwilling to back down on his no-refund policy until I asked him to again confirm his operator ID# so that I would have it correct in my correspondence with the FTC, my State Attorney General, and the BBB, as well as my complaint on Ripoffreport.com.
Suddenly he was able to look up my account and verify that I had not accessed it in the 2 months that I paid for it. I responded that I of course hadn't used it because I didn't know that I had ordered it. Because I hadn't used it he said he could give me a "one-time courtesy refund" for the 2 months.
He gave me a confirmation # for the refund. I will have to keep an eye on this to make sure they actually do credit my account. If not, it will move forward to the proper authorities.
So if you have been ripped off by these scamming thieves as well:
1. Stand your ground
2. Get a supervisor on the phone
3. Get them to identify themself
4. Let them know you will take it to the authorities with a personal reference to them
5. Follow up and don't drop it until they give back your money that they STOLE!
I'll post a follow up whether I get my credit or not.
Mike
Slingerlands,#2Consumer Comment
Tue, February 09, 2010
I received a refund for all 3 months........thanks to Jon.............to all who have been victimized, stick to it and, like has been said don't take NO for an answer!!!!
tawn
seguin,#3Consumer Comment
Mon, February 08, 2010
My $.95 one time fee,for a person search, has cost me $60.00 of unauthorized charges to my account. I cancelled my "subscription" on line on 02/07/10. The cancellation would not be put into effect until 02/28/10. Thus, the end of the billing cycle and another $19.95 fee for a service I did not want, and did not order. This "company" was not available by phone over the weekend. I called this morning. Crystal, Agent #5150, told me I did subscribe to this service? Further inquiry led to her telling me, "when I ordered the person search for $.95, I was automatically signed up for a "free" trial of ID PROTECT". Logic would imply, if it's free, where's my $60.00? I was then informed, I failed to "unsubscribe" to this "free" trial, thus my automatic enrollment and fees. I was told they would only refund $19.95. Like Jon, I have never used this service. Now that I have read his posting, I am calling these scammers back for a full refund.
EDitor's Suggestions on how to get your money back!
Mike
Slingerlands,#4Consumer Comment
Thu, December 31, 2009
I too, like Jon from Arvada, CO, experienced the exact same transaction as he did with the Intelius ID Protect product. The only thing that was different was that I was in to them for 3 months worth of charges. I followed the protocol that Jon had described in his report.
The representative said she would cancel my account and give me back one month. I said that wasn't good enough and I wanted to speak to her supervisor. A women named Barb Embree, badge number 874675, spoke with me and after I told her that I was going to report this as Jon was going to do she said that the best she could do was give me back 2 months. I told her that I still wanted the 3 months and that I would follow through with reporting the incident. I also told her that I expected to have my account closed and the 2 month refund anyway.
This is definitely a scam and something should be done. Everytime you go to a people search and don't get all the info you want, this company pops up as the way to go. If you only need info infrequently 95 cents seems harmless enough but not when you are dealing with people like this.
I appreciate finding Jon's report, it was extremely helpful.
Jon
Arvada,#5Author of original report
Mon, October 19, 2009
Here's a link to a good expose that the Seattle Weekly did on Intelius. They are already in trouble with the FTC, the Washington State Attorney's Office, and the BBB. I wish I had read this before giving them my credit card #!