Carfax Inc

CARFAX offers a variety of free reports, including:
Record Check: http://www.carfax.com/cfm/general_check.cfm?partner=car_q
Recall Check: http://recall.carfax.com/
Problem Car...

Check: http://www.carfax.com/cfm/general_check.cfm?partner=cfx_k
Airbag Check: http://www.carfax.com/cfm/general_check.cfm?partner=PRL_M
Lemon Check: http://lemon.carfax.com/
The CARFAX Vehicle History Report retails for $39.99 each and is not advertised to be free.  However, many consumers can get a free CARFAX Vehicle History Report from a vehicle they are considering purchasing by asking the seller.  Consumers can also browse online listings, many of which include free CARFAX Vehicle History Reports.

CARFAX is happy to research the dispute of structural damage displaying on the CARFAX Vehicle History Report.  In order to so, the vehicle owner must submit a data research request form located here.  Don't worry, there is no charge for this and no one will attempt to sell the vehicle...

owner anything.  The customer had contacted our Consumer Affairs department about this issue, but they cannot assist with research issues.  The Data Research Request form is located here: http://support.carfax.com/c_datarequest.

CARFAX does disclose the limitations of its service prior to sale in the Customer Agreement posted direclty on the order page, to which each customer must check the box certifying that they have read and accept.

If the vehicle owner truly believes these records are incorrect, they must contact the shop that reported the records to have them corrected.  Once corrected, the customer can submit a Data Research Request form (http://[redacted]) and submit to us a letter from the shop explaining how the incorrect records came to be reported on this vehicle.  Otherwise, the vehicle owner should contact their local police authorities.

[redacted]




1:53 PM (26 minutes ago)










tome




 
 
 
 
In response to complaint [redacted], the reason why the FL DMV does not see the odometer discrepancy is because they are not reviewing the service and inspection station odometer readings.  If the customer believes there is an error, they have the responsibility to convince the DMV that the DMV’s record is in error.  If it is not in error, then there is sufficient evidence to suggest odometer tampering on this vehicle.

The customer was already issued a full refund on 1/28/2016 and was notified of this via email the same day.  Our office was closed due to a winter blizzard, and that is why our response to the customer took two business days.  The order page does not list unlimited by license plate as an...

additional option, nor is it in the fine print.  The order page states that the plan is unlimited using the US. license plate, and this is also mention on the purchase confrontation page, the receipt email, and within the account after purchase.  We are sorry the customer misunderstood the plan he purchased, and we offered the additional VINs because he stated he was expecting to run more than five CARFAX Reports by VIN.

I've used CarFax many times, but this is the first time that I recall what I'll call a borderline shady business practice. They offer three report services for vehicle look ups. However, their largest tier is rather deceptive. You do not get unlimited reports as advertised... you get unlimited reports only if you have a license plate. Most people don't give out their tag information when selling a car, which makes the service pretty useless. Instead, you're basically paying for nine VIN look ups. They really should consider offering unlimited VIN look ups for their largest tier. Not doing so and calling it unlimited reports is deceptive. Consider other vendors if possible. While CarFax's data is good, their marketing and sales practice is a bit shady. Long story short, read their fine print, be disappointed, or find another vendor.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:  1) I contacted the CAR FAX help desk via filing out a form since there wasn't a phone number to contact.  The response did not answer my questions pertaining to what appeared on the CAR FAX report regarding my car, nor did it allow me to view the report for free.  How can I claim an error if I have to pay to review a report?   2)  I had 4 interested parties in the car I had for sale, however when they reviewed the CAR FAX report they had to use what little information was contained in the report and make an "uneducated guess" as to  what the report indicated.  They then in turn decided there wasn't enough information to consider buying my car.  I know for a fact the car had been in a MINOR accident, with very little damage to the car and that the repair was an easy fix.  However I couldn't convince the interested parties of this, and therefore they all told me they would not buy my car.  One party said the CAR FAX report verified an accident and as a result not recommend buying my car.  3)  I find it a "conflict of interest" that CAR FAX sells cars on their web site yet freely can describe my car as being in a serous accident and therefore not recommend buying my car.  It is clear that CAR FAX will promote cars on their web site if a person pays to run an ad, however freely report accidents, no matter how minor, on ads that are not published on the CAR FAX web site.  Also, I never gave CAR FAX permission to report ANY and ALL information on my car.  My car was being sold privately and not at a sales lot and therefore CAR FAX should have received my permission to release any information from insurance companies, collision businesses, or any company that retains car accident information on my car.  4)  CAR FAX's response regarding my complaint stated that my car was worth $600 more than *BB.  This was false considering I ended up selling my car for $8300, which is $3000 less than *BB.  Therefore I am requesting CAR FAX reimburse me $3000 for losses due to lack of specific information in the CAR FAX report regarding my car and the minor accident that occurred. 
Regards,
[redacted]

The information on the CARFAX Report has not been found to be incorrect.  To the contrary, it has been verified by the source.  As CARFAX suggested in an email on 10/14/2014, the customer can provide a letter from the insurance company who insured the vehicle during the date in question along with a copy of the repair invoice for repairs that were performed.  That will help us research this further.

Our customer support team would
be happy to assist the...

customer with his account.  He can contact our
customer support team through our Help Center using the link below.
 
http://support.carfax.com/c_contactus
 
The customer purchased the 5
CARFAX Reports plan. The production selection box on the order page lists the
plan as "5 CARFAX Reports / $49.99 / 5 Reports / Valid for 60 Days.” 
The 60 day expiration information is also located on the order page under the
Customer Agreement, to which the customer read and accepted before placing
their order.

CARFAX received the customer's email on a Friday at 9:46 PM after our office was closed.  CARFAX responded via the below email first thing the following Monday morning at 8:34 AM:
255);">Hello, We apologize for any misunderstanding caused by our free Record Check. The Record Check reports how many vehicle history records we have in our database for the VIN in question. The key thing to remember is that this is a number of historical events of all types and are not necessarily problem listings. Thank you, XXXXConsumer Affairs

I have provided a timeline of events below to show that CARFAX was indeed responsive to the customer via email, explaining that we did research this as diligently as we could considering the restrictions placed on us by Hawaii, explaining the reason for the multiple case numbers, and lastly to show...

that this issue has been resolved.
Date
Case Number
Description

3/9/2015
[redacted]
Customer
initiated a live chat session with our Consumer Affairs department.  He was told that he needs to contact the
research department, that we do not have phone support, and that the research
department was currently working through a five day backlog.

3/9/2015
[redacted]
Customer
submitted a Data Research Request form and provided a letter form the county
DMV stating they did not consider the vehicle to have a salvage brand.  

3/13/2015
[redacted]
The
case was picked up by the research department and research began.  Because the salvage was provided to us by
the state and not the county, we sent a request to the state of Hawaii to
verify the status of the title.

3/17/2015
[redacted]
The
customer emailed us asking for a status.

3/18/2015
[redacted]
CARFAX
provided a status on his case within 2 business hours.

3/18/2015
[redacted]
Hawaii
responded back to us saying they had no record of the vehicle.  We sent the request back to Hawaii to
double check

3/20/2015
[redacted]
Customer
emailed us again asking for a status update on Friday evening.

3/23/2015
[redacted]
CARFAX
provided a status on his case in 3 business hours, on Monday.

3/23/2015
[redacted]
The
customer left a voicemail for our Consumer Affairs team.  

3/23/2015
[redacted]
The
customer sent in a few more emails, one of which "crossed in the
mail" as it was sent around the same time we had sent one to him.

3/23/2015
[redacted]
The
customer provided more documents, but CARFAX still had to wait for Hawaii to
respond to us.

3/24/2015
[redacted]
The
customer submitted a second, duplicate Data Research Request form.

3/25/2015
[redacted]
Hawaii
responded back to us confirming that the salvage brand was sent to us by the
state in error, it was removed from the CARFAX Report, and the customer was
notified via email.

On September 4, 2015, CARFAX emailed the customer the following:
CARFAX receives information from tens of thousands of sources and loads that information directly...

into CARFAX's database. The CARFAX Vehicle History Report searches that database for vehicle history records available to be displayed. Since not all sources report information to us, not all information, including problems, is can be reported when a CARFAX Report is run. In this case, those service facilities had not yet agreed to report their records to us when you ran the CARFAX Report before buying the vehicle. Those records were not reported to us until 2014 and 2015. Because CARFAX is aware that not all sources report to us, we state on every CARFAX Report that not all information, including problems, is reported to us; that we can only report what is reported to us by our sources at the moment a CARFAX Report is run; and therefore that the CARFAX Report is one of many available tools, including a pre-purchase vehicle inspection and test drive. CARFAX does receive all DMV-issued branded titles. Branded titles may include the Not Actual Mileage title brand, and we guarantee that this vehicle has never been issued a Not Actual Mileage title brand by a DMV. However, this case does not involved a DMV-issued branded title, and therefore your situation is not eligible for the CARFAX Buyback Guarantee. With billions of vehicle history records reported from over 92,000 sources, a CARFAX Report is a great resource in the used car buying process - but as every CARFAX Report states, not everything is reported to us at that moment.

CARFAX has no record of receiving any prior correspondence from this customer.  Contrary to the customer’s statement, CARFAX does not certify that any vehicle has no...

accidents.  The CARFAX Vehicle History Report would have stated that no accidents were reported to CARFAX, and further stated that since not all information, including accidents, is reported to CARFAX, the vehicle should be taken for a thorough pre-purchase vehicle inspection to check for any hidden damage or prior repairs.  Therefore, CARFAX will not offer compensation in this matter.

The CARFAX order page states that the unlimited package is unlimited using the U.S. license plate.  This is also stated in the Customer Agreement, the purchase confirmation page, the receipt email, and within the CARFAX account.  The customer contacted our customer support team and we...

offered to either add more VINs or issue the refund.  The customer requested a refund, which was promptly issued in full.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:The Revdex.com seems to be complicit in letting Carfax get away with deceptive advertising.  Carfax boldly promotes "100% satisfaction guarantee, no risk!" on the sales page, no asterisk or footnotes or other disclaimers and buries in small print on a sub menu that running more than 2 reports negates the satisfaction guarantee no matter how dissatisfied you are.  I am 100% dissatisfied and want a refund as promised.  
It appears to me in reading through the many complaints against Carfax on the Revdex.com site that Carfax consistently wears down their dissatisfied customers by replaying the same story in reply until the customer gives up.  
To the Revdex.com:  Carfax does not deserve your A+ rating they use to for promoting trust in their brand.  Look at the complaints and how they promote their products.  Then draw your own conclusion regarding deceptive advertising.  The Revdex.com is being used to support their deceptive behavior.
To Carfax:  you are spending significant money on trying to expand your business in the used car market.  Brand trust and loyalty is important to your future plans.  Treating customers who are unsatisfied with your service so poorly creates a growing legion of anti-Carfax consumers.  This is going to undermine efforts to grow the brand.  I know that I will start visiting the used car forums and blogs to share my experience with Carfax if you continue to refuse to honor your 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Regards,
[redacted]

An accident was reported to CARFAX by the police department for the customer's vehicle.  The customer provided a copy of the police report verifying that CARFAX's record was correct.

CARFAX is not making any assumptions.  The police department reported to CARFAX that the VIN of the 2005 [redacted] was involved in an accident.  Whether or not there was any damage is irrelevant, nor does CARFAX state whether or not there was any damage.  When CARFAX contacted the police department to verify if the VIN was involved in the accident, the police department stated, "This VIN was involved in the crash in question, per the crash report."  Therefore, if the police department is reporting this information incorrectly, the customer must get this corrected with the police department.  If the police department is unwilling to make any changes, neither can CARFAX.

CARFAX does not offer or advertise an unlimited by VIN plan.  The order page states that the plan is unlimited using the U.S. license plate.  The Customer Agreement, to which the customer must check the box indicating they have read and accepted on the order page, also states that a...

license plate is required to run each CARFAX Report.  These details are also listed on the purchase confirmation screen, the receipt email, and outlined in the account once logged in.  The refund policy, also outlined on the order page, states that the account is not eligible for a refund because of the number of CARFAX Reports that have been run.

The account is not eligible for a refund.