Inflection

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/04/17) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart. Customer service is our top priority and we are happy to address any issues. Once a report is processed it remains available to you for 1 year. Reports can be accessed by logging into your account...

on our web site. A customer log-in will continue to function even if the membership has been canceled. Once logged in the customer can click on their name in the upper right hand corner and select the My Account option. There just click on Order History to view any reports. The customer will see a list of all the reports purchased and can click on the report type link to view the report. We have checked the account and it appears the reports are still available.
If there is any other way we can assist the customer, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/10/13) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email the...

customer received on 4/18/13. The customer's original purchase was for a $0.95 Contact Information report which included a single report on the individual they searched for and a 7-day free trial on PeopleSmart.
In researching the request we've found the customer was charged on 4/25/13 and the 25th of each month there after until the membership was cancelled 9/26/13. We apologize but as outlined in our Terms of Use we're unable to refund charges more than 60 days old.
2.2 If you are not satisfied with your purchase of PeopleSmart Premium Content, you may be given Credits for future purchases of Premium Content. You may also request a refund by emailing [redacted]@peoplesmart.com or by calling X-XXX-XXX-XXXX. All refunds will be made to your original method of payment for the transaction. All sales are final after 60 days
If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/05/07) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our utmost priority and we are very diligent in ensuring that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email...

the customer received on 04/25/2014. The customer's original purchase was for a $0.95 Reverse Phone report which included a single report on the individual they searched for and a 7-day free trial on PeopleSmart, which is the reason they were charged. Out of courtesy, the customer's refund request has been processed for receipt number XXXXXXXXX for the amount of $19.95. If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/05/12) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I don't accept their response because they did not refund anything I had to put a stop payment on the 19.95 in order to stop it. I also had to get paypal to get rid of the billing agreement they set up in my paypal account they didn't do anything. I hope I never hear from them again. You can close this case as I did get my money back but not because they gave it back!
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2014/05/15) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our utmost priority and we are very diligent in ensuring that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email the customer received on 04/25/2014. The customer's original purchase was for a $0.95 reverse Phone report which included a single report on the individual they searched for and a 7-day free trial on PeopleSmart, which is the reason they were charged. Out of courtesy, PayPal had already a refund of $19.95 once they contacted them directly on 05/07/2014. If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2014/05/21) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/21) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email the customer...

received on 4/27/2014. The customer's original purchase was for a 7 day free trial of an unlimited search membership which came with a discounted report for $0.95. The free trial was not canceled within the 7 day time frame so it went into a monthly billing cycle for $19.95/mo. In an effort to reconcile this matter and satisfy the customer's request, we have issued four refunds for $19.95 for all charges which have occurred within the last 120 days. In our terms of use, we do state that all sales are final after 60 days. However, we have made an exception in this case and extended our policy. The membership has been canceled and will not bill again. If there is any other way we can further assist the customer, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/08/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I want a full refund. The terms of a so-called free trial are not clear on the website and I had no idea I was subscribing to a service. I never used it once other than to check that one phone number - for this it cost me nearly $300! This is deceptive advertising. I am not uneducated or young and I read the fine print and did not see that I signed up for any "free trial" or subscription. I am not the only one who has had this problem with PeopleSmart. They are patterned after PeopleFinder and the internet is plentiful with complaints about these two companies.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 22, 2015/10/01) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart. We have processed the following refunds for the customer:
refund #1
receipt # XXXXXXXXX
original date of charge: 5/15/15
refund amount and date: $19.95 refunded on 8/21/15
refund #2
receipt # XXXXXXXXX
original date of charge: 6/15/15
refund amount and date: $19.95 refunded on 8/21/15
refund #3
receipt # XXXXXXXXX
original date of charge: 7/15/15
refund amount and date: $19.95 refunded on 8/21/15
refund #4
receipt # XXXXXXXXX
original date of charge: 8/15/15
refund amount and date: $19.95 refunded on 8/21/15
We would recommend that the customer review their financial statement and or contact their financial company directly for additional assistance on the refunds. If there is any other way we can assist the customer, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 24, 2015/10/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I did not receive these refunds because the card which these unauthorized payments were made on was cancelled after I discovered they were being deducted from my account.
Additionally, I never authorized any of these payments. I paid for ONE search for a phone number for 95 cents and then started accruing these monthly charges. I want a FULL refund. I never used the service, never agreed to it, and never used it other than that one time, and I'm not even sure I got the information I was looking for when I did.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/08/19) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email the...

customer received on 6/27/2014. The customer's original purchase was for a $19.95 background report which included a single report on the individual they searched for and a 7-day free trial on PeopleSmart. In an attempt to maintain excellent customer service and reconcile this matter we had already processed a full refund once they contacted our service center directly on 08/16/2014. If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Thank you for contacting Inflection.  Customer service is our top priority and we are more than happy to resolve this issue.  The information provided is not associated with any of our accounts.  We will need some additional details to be able to...

locate the customer’s account.  To find an account, we will need the email address used to create the account. An email confirmation was sent to the email address of record given when their original order was placed. We would like to resolve the issue for the customer we will need to locate the account to do so. The customer is always welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at [redacted].

1. I paid a one-time $4.99 fee to People Smart (peoplesmart.[redacted]) on September 12, 2016 for a contact information search report. The peoplesmart.[redacted] website search description reads as follows:
"When you look up a name, we search for detailed contact information and public records about that person. Results may include:
phone number
current address
address history
email address
age
relatives
neighbors
public records"
2. There was no indication given that the $4.99 search results would not include any address information.
3. After I paid the $4.99 fee, the search results I received did not allow me to access actual address information, instead advising that I would need to pay more money to upgrade to a "Premium Report" or monthly membership in order to access any address information.
4. I emailed support@peoplesmart.[redacted],
and advised of the lack of address information, in spite of the fact that I had purchased a "detailed contact information and public records search." I advised that this was not acceptable, and further advised that as the telephone contact information (which the report had provided) was over 4 years out of date, I would likely be requesting a refund.
5. In their email response, support@peoplesmart.[redacted] advised that they would add 250 "credits" to my account, presumably to cover the cost of their "premium" search report. They also explained that my report contained no address information because of People Smart's concern for individuals' privacy: "To focus on a search individual's privacy, we have hidden street addresses for simple contact searches."
6. I responded by email, and noted my disbelief at their explanation for the absence of address information, especially since clicking on the "current address" link in search report had led me to a new page which advised that I would need to "upgrade" to more expensive "Premium" report / membership in order to access such address information.
8. I believe that People Smart is engaging in classic bait and switch practices.
9. I believe People Smart deliberately withholds address information after the customer spends $4.99 for a "detailed contact information and public records search", in order to con consumer out of significantly more money (Premium Report / monthly membership price), just to obtain the "detailed contact information" which site had already promised to provide consumer for $4.99.
10. In my opinion, peoplesmart.[redacted] offering "credits" to [redacted]pensate duped consumers for illegal bait and switch sales practices is simply inadequate. By explaining the failure to include basic address information in the $4.99 search report as simply an effort to "focus on a search individual's privacy," People Smart admitted that this failure was intentional. The same is also made clear by the fact that clicking on the address link(s) in said search report sends consumer to new page requiring purchase of more expensive "Premium" upgrade in order to access that information.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/08) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart. The customer had first visited our site on 4/16/2015 and a purchase was made for a seven day free trial of a monthly membership. We were contacted by phone on 4/20/2015 at which time the customer was...

offered another membership for $4.95 per month. This offer was accepted and the monthly membership fee was successfully processed for six months. However, starting on 11/20/2015, we were not able to successfully process the monthly membership fee. In situations like this, email notifications are sent to the customer. There was a situation with the customer's account, though, which prevented these messages from being sent. One of the services that we provide on our website is to allow customers to send emails through the site to individuals. If multiple emails sent are bounced by the recipients, the system automatically blocks sending and receiving of emails on an account.
When we cannot process payment, the membership is put into an inactive state until payment is received. We did attempt to bill the card seven times between 11/20/2015 and 1/1/2016 before the system canceled the membership for recurring decline. During this time period, the customer logged into her account numerous times. We were never contacted that there was a problem with her service until 1/4/2016 after the membership had been canceled. We do not have a way to reinstate a membership once it has been canceled. When the customer contacted us by phone on 1/4/2016, we offered her our lowest price membership available over the phone at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If we can assist the customer further, we can be reached at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2016/01/13) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
It is correct, I did not see any emails from them to notify me as I stated to them on the phone after I realized I tried to use their website 'assuming' I was still a member paying their monthly fee of $4.95 that I told them what happened to my card as I had someone hacking it and had to change to a new card. If this company had on their application when applying would ask for people's phone number as I mentioned to them and they thought was a good idea which I would have common sense thought of that before people applying, would make sense. Can't always trust electronic devices. Also, I asked to be charged same on the new card of $4.95, not their lowest price, WHICH was NOT mentioned the price is $7.95. I said forget it just because I did NOT get their notification on the email and they said they attempted numerous times to get a hold of me via 'email only,' that why pay same service for higher if I can still get that $4.95. I was validated that if my card did not change on me that it would still been $4.95 till this day and now their IT cannot change it. I called up 2-3 times to get this resolved to the corporate to speak to the head manager and they still can't help me so why are they saying they will be of assist customer any further if IT cannot change it back to $4.95 instead of $7.95? They know that themselves when it wasn't my fault on my card problem in the beginning?
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2016/01/19) */
We apologize for the inconvenience for the customer, but our Internet Technical team will not be able to reinstate the customer's canceled membership. The manager with whom the customer spoke did offer the customer a few other options beyond the $7.95/mo. membership which the customer declined. We would be happy to discuss these other options again with the customer to find a resolution to the problem. We have noted in the customer's account that if she calls, she will be transferred to a lead agent or supervisor to revisit these other options. The phone number is X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2016/01/22) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I just called to see what other options if $4.95 can still be in affect another way and still I get the same answer your company can't help me with this. You should know that is what I have been asking all along where I am wasting more time with your company to resolve this....pretty sad and misleading.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/01/12) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and electronic correspondence.
An Unlimited Membership with PeopleSmart.com...

entitles the customer access to the leading people search database, basic contact and land-line phone look-ups, email look-ups, vital records and court records. The membership also includes unlimited Reverse Phone Reports. Background Reports are not included with an Unlimited membership, but can be purchased individually.
The customer's membership was cancelled 1/5/15 and a refund of $19.95 has been issued.
If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/03/12) */
Thank you for contacting FreePhoneTracer. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email the...

customer received on 2/28/2015. The customer's original purchase was for an Unlimited Phone Search Access membership which started with a 7-day free trial on freephonetracer.com. The trial ended on 3/8/2015 resulting in the membership fee charge of $19.95. This membership would renew until canceled. We were contacted on 3/11/2015 at which time the membership was canceled as requested. In an effort to reconcile this matter and satisfy the customer's request, a refund has been processed for the 3/19/2015 charge in the amount of $19.95 for receipt number XXXXXXXXX. This $19.95 transaction and the $.49 report are the only transactions on the account. If the customer is seeing any additional transactions, they should contact us so we may investigate further. They are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/08/07) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email the...

customer received on 04/01/2014. The customer's original purchase was for a $0.95 Contact information report which included a single report on the individual they searched for and a 7-day free trial on PeopleSmart. In an attempt to maintain excellent customer service and reconcile this matter, the customer's refund request has been processed for receipt number XXXXXXXXX for the amount of $59.85. If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/20) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure our customers have a satisfactory experience on our web site.
After reviewing the account, we see a membership was created on...

6/16/2014. The membership came with a free background report offer (a $29.95 value if purchased independent of a membership). The membership fee of $19.95 renews on a monthly basis until canceled as stated in the terms of use and on the purchase confirmation sent to the email address on record. Our phone number is listed on each of the monthly charge statements for our customers.
The membership was canceled by the customer on 7/16/2015. On 7/18/2015, a total of 3 refunds were issued for $19.95 at the customer's request. This refunded any charges which occurred in the last 120 days which is beyond our normal 60 day policy.
If there is any other way we can assist the customer, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The only reason the membership was cancelled is because the credit card on file was lost and an email was automatically generated by the system to alert me of it. Without this unfortunate incident, the monthly billings would have continued until 2017 without my knowledge.
The vendor claims that "the phone number is listed on each of the monthly charge statement", but no statements were EVER sent in the 12 month period. The only communication received from the vendor over that period was the alert notification.
Every vendor in the US sends transaction records to customers for monthly charges that were processed, but this vendor clearly doesn't do so in the hopes that customer will never become aware of the ongoing charges. Last time I checked, this is illegal.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/07/29) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart. It is not our intention to make a customer feel like we have deceived them.
We want to apologize the customer must have misunderstood "monthly charge statements". We do notify they customer with a confirmation email that states the membership will renew until canceled. Our notification after that is on the customer's monthly credit card statement along with our number to contact us if there are any questions.
If there is anyway we can assist the customer, they are welcome to contact us at their XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/08/04) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I do not accept this resolution because to be quite honest there is no proposed resolution here. This is just an apology letter. The fact is I was charged one year's worth of service without knowledge of it.
A monthly credit card statement is not a notification as vendor claims. As mentioned in my earlier claim, the fact that the vendor purposefully omits to send invoices and/or confirmation of payment to customers after service was purchased each month is unethical and dishonest. If vendor wants customer to believe that "it is not our intention to make a customer feel like we have deceived them" then it must change billing practice. Anything short of that is dishonest.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/05/29) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our utmost priority and we are very diligent in ensuring that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email...

the customer received on 01/16/2014. The customer's original purchase was for a $0.95 Contact report which included a single report on the individual they searched for and a 7-day free trial on PeopleSmart and IdentitySmart, which is the reason they were charged. Out of courtesy, the customer's refund request has been processed for receipt number XXXXXXXXX for the amount of $19.95 and $19.95. If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/05/20) */
Thank you for contacting FreePhoneTracer.com. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email the...

customer received on 04/02/13. The customer's original purchase was for a $0.95 phone report which was discounted due to activating a 7 day free trial on FreePhoneTracer.com. The trial was not cancelled within the 7 days and became a recurring membership as stated in our terms of use and the email confirmation. In an effort to reconcile this matter and satisfy the customer's request, a refund has been processed for the 05/09/15 and 04/09/15 charges in the amount of $19.95 each for receipt number XXXXXXXXX. If there is any other way we can assist the customer, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX

I am trying to obtain a report, I went through all of the steps and paid the fee for a one time report. Apparently I have used this site before so it prompted me to update my password. After doing so, although the money came out of my account, I now do not have access to the report I was looking for. It is asking me to pay again. There seems to be no way to contact them except by email to which you get an automated reply that says they will get back to you in two days. RIP OFF

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/07/22) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our utmost priority and we are very diligent in ensuring that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email...

the customer received on 07/18/2014. The customer's original purchase was for a $0.95 Phone report which included a single report on the individual they searched for and a 7-day free trial on PeopleSmart, which is the reason they were charged. The $19.95 was refunded to the customer when we were contacted directly on 7/22/2014. If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/01/14) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email the...

customer received on 1/8/15. We apologize that the report did not include the information the customer had been expecting. In an attempt to maintain excellent customer service and reconcile this matter we had already processed a full refund for receipt number XXXXXXXXX for the amount of $19.95 when they contacted our service center directly on 1/9/15. If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/05/07) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our utmost priority and we are very diligent in ensuring that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email...

the customer received on 04/30/2014. The customer's original purchase was for a $7.95 Phone report which included a single report on the individual they searched for, which is the reason they were charged. We offer an online proicess to automaticlly refund nto found results. Out of courtesy, the customer's refund request has been processed for receipt number XXXXXXXXX for the amount of $7.95. If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/08/25) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email the...

customer received on 04/19/2014. The customer's original purchase was for a FREE background report which included a monthly search membership and a 7-day free trial for an IdentitySmart membership. We provided three different methods to cancel a membership including: calling us directly, emailing us at [redacted]@peoplesmart.com, or by using the contact form on the website. Neither the trial nor the membership was cancelled until 08/21/2014, when the customer visited our website, signed into their account, and cancelled the memberships themselves. This cancellation will prevent any future billing. As a courtesy, we also issued two refunds in the amounts of $19.95 for the most recent charges.
If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/10/06) */
Thank you for contacting PeopleSmart.com. Customer service is our top priority and we do our best to ensure that our terms are laid out clearly on our website and all electronic correspondence, including the confirmation email the...

customer received on 12/20/2012. The customer's original purchase was for a $0.95 contact report which included a single report on the individual they searched for and 2 7-day free trials on PeopleSmart.
The last charge on record was 10/3/14. We apologize but as outlined in our Terms of Use we're unable to refund charges more than 60 days old.
2.2 If you are not satisfied with your purchase of PeopleSmart Premium Content, you may be given Credits for future purchases of Premium Content. You may also request a refund by emailing [redacted]@peoplesmart.com or by calling X-XXX-XXX-XXXX. All refunds will be made to your original method of payment for the transaction. All sales are final after 60 days
If there is any other way we can assist them, they are welcomed to contact us at their earliest convenience at X-XXX-XXX-XXXX.