Carfax Inc

A Florida police department reported to CARFAX that the vehicle was involved in an accident.  The court papers only indicate that charges of careless driving against [redacted] were dismissed.  The court papers do not indicate that the vehicle was not involved in an accident....

 The police report is an official document and CARFAX cannot misrepresent it.  Only the issuing authority, the police department, has the authority to determine if the vehicle was not involved in the accident and police report lists the vehicle in error.  The customer must take this up with the police department.  Once the police department issues a corrected police report, supplement to the police report, or letter of correction, indicating that the vehicle was listed in error, only then can CARFAX remove it from the CARFAX Report.

The complaint states that "In the 2 lower priced options it limits VIN checks."  However, this is not correct.  The single CARFAX Report and the five CARFAX Report package are not limited to VINs.  These packages are simply for CARFAX Reports, whether run by VIN or license plate....

 In the product selection box on the order page, it states, "Unlimited Reports by U.S. License Plate" because the plan does not include unlimited VINs.  The complainant contacted CARFAX's customer support team, and on 11/13/15, our customer support team responded stating "I have added 25 more courtesy VIN searches for use until 01-10-16. If you run out and need more, just let us know and we can add more for you."

CARFAX resolved this matter directly with the customer on 6/17/2014.  CARFAX removed the incorrect details from the CARFAX Report and added that the windshield was hit by debris and added a Minor...

Damage flag.

On the CARFAX order page, the product selection box states:
Unlimited CARFAX Reports
only $54.99
Unlimited Reports by U.S. License Plate
Valid for 60 Days
On a mobile device, the product selection...

contains a blue link displayed as "Stuff to know" which also contains the details of the plan.
On both pages, these details are outlined in the Customer Agreement, to which the customer is required to read and accept before placing the order.  After the order process, this is again stated in the order confirmation page, the receipt email, and upon logging into the account.
In accordance with the customer agreement, the customer is not eligible for a refund if more than two CARFAX Reports have been run.

Sorry for any misunderstanding.  The source of the record was the collision repair facility that inspected the vehicle, and the CARFAX Vehicle History Report currently states:
Vehicle inspected after anaccident or other incidentInvolving right center impactVery minor damage reported

[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:  I was told by their rep that signed me up,that I could cancel after one month if I desired to,and he also told me that my service ran through June,not July..They claim they record conversations,I have asked them to play the recording to me between the rep and myself,and they won't do that,I only wish I had recorded my conversation with him,but I don't have that capability...I have never not paid a bill,or invoice that I owe,my credit score is perfect,this is a matter of what I was told by their company rep...They may have a contract that I signed,but I know what I was told by their rep...sounds to me like they need to train their reps better when they are calling customers and trying to sign them up on a contract that is different from what the rep explains to you....
Regards,
[redacted]

The CARFAX order page states that the Unlimited plan is unlimited using the U.S. license plate.  I am sorry if the customer thought that meant something else.  We do not offer or advertise an unlimited-by-VIN plan.  The Unlimited plan is by license plate because it...

is intended for looking for private-party vehicles, which have license plates.  Most dealers or other vehicle sellers will give you a CARFAX Report when asked.  
A license plate does not allow anyone access to personal information any more than a VIN does.  License plates are very publicly displayed, but VINs are difficult to see, as they can only be found publicly displayed in the corner of the windshield.  Both have the same restrictions at the DMV on what information can be accessed by the public.  Twenty years ago, people did not list VINs in their advertising, and where would we be today if we based our decisions on the availability of VINs in ads.  
Because the customer did run five CARFAX Reports, we cannot issue a refund.  To use the customer's analogy, no store would take back a pair of $50 pants that had been worn for five days.  
What we have done is added five VIN searches to the account.  We could instead close and refund the account down to the price of a 5-pack, which would be a $5.00 refund.  To accept this, please contact our customer support team through our Help Center.  http://support.carfax.com/

My problem with them wasn't stating...

that my mileage wasn't branded. My problem was them implying that I tampered with my odometer and stating that the value of my car was $2390 less because of it.  I am NOT ok with this response. 
[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:
Regards,
[redacted]

On 3/4/2015 2:01 PM, CARFAX sent the following email in response to the customer's request:
Good Afternoon [redacted], 
Thank you for contacting CARFAX. 
I apologize for any misunderstanding about our services. We...

are not currently offering or advertising unlimited VIN searches. The Order Page states: 
Unlimited CARFAX Reports only $54.99 
Unlimited Reports by U.S. License Plate 
Valid for 60 Days 
Selected 
We include five free CARFAX Reports by VIN when plates are not available and because some specialty license plates may not be in our database. As a one-time courtesy, I have added 5 more VINs to your account which will expire on 03-21-2015. 
Please let me know if I could be of any further service. I hope you have a wonderful day!

CARFAX worked directly with the customer on this matter.

The customer was contacted by CARFAX via email on December 4, 2014.  The customer does not need to make a purchase in order to dispute an entry on the CARFAX Report.  They can visit the CARFAX website, www.carfax.com, click "Help" at the top of the page, then submitted a research request...

form.  The CARFAX Vehicle History Report actually states that the vehicle is worth $600 more than book value, not $2,000 less.

From: Vince L[redacted] <[redacted]@carfax.com>Date: Tue, Mar 24, 2015 at 3:09 PMSubject: RE: You have a new message from the Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC & Eastern Pennsylvania complaint #[redacted].To: "[redacted]@myRevdex.com.org" <[redacted]@myRevdex.com.org>[redacted],We can...

only report the information reported to us by our sources, and we only guarantee DMV-issued branded titles.  If the customer has documentation they can provide to show the odometer rollback, we would be happy to include it in the CARFAX Report.  Please provide the documentation by completing a Data Research Request form here:http://support.carfax.com/c_datarequest The customer can also post a comment on the CARFAX Report using this link: http://www.carfax.com/notes/vehicle_r[redacted] Best regards, Vince L[redacted]Manager, Product Support and Data EscalationsCARFAX, Inc.

Our customer support team could not find a record of a purchase under the email address provided.  Please contact our customer support team directly so they can help locate the account, provide access instructions, or issue a refund.  http://support.carfax.com/c_contactus

On June 8, 2015, CARFAX sent the customer the following email.  
[redacted],  11.3599996566772px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">[redacted] has asked me to review your case. The vehicle was listed on a New York police report and the accident record was reported to us directly and electronically from New York State. CARFAX did not perform any data entry and did not introduce any errors into the data. After you contacted us about the accident, CARFAX performed extensive research and determined that NYS had reported the accident to your vehicle in error, and thus it was removed from the CARFAX Report. Every CARFAX Report states that it can only report the information reported to it by its sources, and therefore each CARFAX Report may contain errors or omissions. For this reason, every CARFAX Report recommends that it is used along with a pre-purchase vehicle inspection and thorough test drive to determine any prior repairs or hidden damage. Because CARFAX did not make an error, and was upfront about its limitations, we do not offer compensation when incorrect records are reported to us. Best regards, Vince L[redacted] Manager, Product Support and Data Escalations

CARFAX does not offer phone based customer service however we do offer e-mail and live chat customer service.
A person using the customers account contacted CARFAX on 03/11/2016 at 9:25 am via live chat concerning a password reset and the issue was resolved in 5 minutes 14 seconds.
The customer can contact CARFAX again via live chat to go over their account options or to request a refund.
http://support.carfax.com/ The live chat option is located at the bottom right of the page.

[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:This is what I was told by a CarFax rep over a week ago. I've heard nothing from them since then. Furthermore, I was also told that all they will do is verify that my vehicle is the one on the police report, we are then on our own to have it fixed.  It is unacceptable that CarFax can publish such damaging and broadly used data without either verifying its accuracy up front or at least proving good customer service to have it resolved quickly and completely. 
Their inaccurate report is costing me $3000 in lower trade in value on my vehicle. 
Regards,
[redacted]

The contract the customer filled out indicated the billing address was a PO box in MA, and further indicated the monthly price of $149.90.  There was no error on CARFAX's part, and the customer will have to bring their balance in full with the collections agency before their account can be...

returned to good standing.  Any further questions the customer should have must be directed to the collections agency or their CARFAX account manager.

CARFAX confirmed that the right apron for the vehicle was repaired, which is a structural repair.  This information was provided to the customer via email on 9/10/2015.

The customer emailed CARFAX customer support on 8/23/2014 and received a full refund.  In the product selection box on the CARFAX order page, it states clearly that the Unlimited plan is unlimited using the U.S. license plate.  This is also stated in the customer agreement on the order...

page.  CARFAX does not advertise an unlimited plan by VIN and has not offered such a plan if over five years.

The complaint indicates that the CARFAX Report stated "the electrical system and other components were in good working order."  That statement, or anything similar to it, does not appear anywhere on the CARFAX Report.  The CARFAX Report actually states that the electrical system had to be...

checked by a mechanic several times (7/03/2012, 1/21/2016), and suggested that the vehicle should be inspected by a professional prior to purchase.  The CARFAX Buyback Guarantee is mentioned in only one place on the CARFAX Report: in the Title History section.  The CARFAX Report states, in that section, "GUARANTEED - None of these major title problems were reported by a state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If you find that any of these title problems were reported by a DMV and not included in this report, CARFAX will buy this vehicle back."  Thus, if the customer believes CARFAX missed a one of the listed title problems reported by a DMV, we will buyback the vehicle.  However, as clearly stated on the CARFAX Report, other problems with the vehicle may not have been reported to CARFAX and are not covered by the Buyback Guarantee.