Peoplefinders.com

Review: I chose to purchase a single phone look-up report, repeatedly opting OUT of a 1 year membership. I was immediately charged for both the single report AND $14.98 for a membership. I immediately emailed them and they have flatly refused to refund the membership fee.

There are numerous other complaints here about the exact same issue with this company.Desired Settlement: I want the $14.98 membership fee credited back to the original credit card that was charged.

Business

Response:

The customer called in to customer care for assistance. During that call they were reminded of the Terms of Use they agreed to at the time of sign up. The $14.95 was for 1 month of service and will not renew as the membership has been canceled per request. The product is not refundable per the Terms of Use.

Business

Response:

Our customers do not have to purchase a membership to view their reports. When the membership is offered, there is an option to decline it. As a courtesy we will refund half of the membership. We've issues a refund of $7.49. There will be no further membership renewals.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my concern, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

I will let this particular complain rest HOWEVER, THIS BUSINESSES PRACTICES NEED TO BE REVIEWED. THEY HAVE DUPED TOO MANY PEOPLE AND MADE TO MUCH MONEY THIS WAY.

Review: I used Peoplefinder.com services, and the advertised that if I canceled before 3 days, the charge would be 2.95. I don't have a 2.95 charge on my account but I have an account charge of 19.95. I sent 2 emails and called them twice. the best I could get was I owed them 2.95 + 19.95. I hope you can help me in this matter. I have kept the e-mails for record. i'm sure they kept the phone call, as I became angry during it.Desired Settlement: pay me back the 19.95 and draw the 2.95 as advertised.

Business

Response:

We have reviewed your account and found that you purchased a Background Check Report at a discounted price of $19.95. The reason this is discounted is because it comes with a three day trial membership. If cancelled within three days you will be billed $2.95 for the trial. If allowed to renew you will be billed $29.95 for the membership. We received your cancellation via email on 6/4/2015 therefore you were billed $2.95 for the trial on the fourth day. This does not negate your initial purchase of $19.95 for the Background Check Report. The charges are non-refundable per the Terms you agreed to on PeopleFinders.com

Review: I purchased a report from PeopleFinders on November 4, 2014. I thought I was buying one report regarding one person for $19.95. I did not realize I was signing up for a monthly service. I feel their website does not make it clear. In small print there is mention of a 3-day trial, but I did not understand. I feel they should make it clear by stating "$19.95 per month". I just discovered that PeopleFinders has been charging me $19.95 each month on my credit card since then, and immediately closed the account on March 26, 2015. I called the company to explain the situation and inqiuired if they would refund for the 4 unused months. I was initially told they cannot credit me for unused service since I had signed up for a monthly service, then I was told the best they can do is credit me for the last unused month.Desired Settlement: I hope PeopleFinders would consider refunding me 4 unused months in the amount of $79.80. I would also like to request that they redesign the page which contains the purchase button to make it very clear to customers what they are signing up for. Thank you for your consideration.

Business

Response:

We have reviewed our account and found that an order for a search was placed by you on 11/4/2014. At that time you were given the option of choosing between three products. These were labeled "1 Month of UNLIMITED Reports $19.95/mo ($19.95 Today)" "3 Months of UNLIMITED Reports $12.95/mo ($38.95 Today)" and "6 Months of UNLIMITED Reports $9.95/mo ($59.70 Today)." Our records show you selected the 1 Month Membership for $19.95 per month and proceeded through checkout. You were required to affirmatively check a box that states "I also understand that my card will be automatically billed monthly until I cancel." Therefore, you were billed $19.95 per month. You failed to contact us to cancel for four months. Per your request on 3/26/2015 we cancelled the membership. The representative then offered you a refund of the most current month at $19.95 as a courtesy. You declined the refund the representative had offered and ended the call. Directly after this call, you logged into the account online and closed it completely via the Account Manager. Since this would restrict your access to the membership, the system automatically granted a $19.95 refund for the most current month of membership. You should have seen this refund reflect on your personal account in the next few business days. Given that members have the ability to run unlimited searches and other features for a monthly fee, our Terms do not allow for refunds but simply allow users to cancel anytime to avoid further billing. There are no further courtesy refunds available on your account. In conclusion, you have been granted one refund of $19.95, your account is closed and there will be no further automatic billing.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: People Finders' response repeated what I said, that I had not accepted their representative's offer of credit for the most recent month. If I had done that it would have rendered any further complaint null and void. As I go back to their website and repeat the steps I took to purchase a report on a single person, I still see that the wording of the monthly service and charges is in very small, faded print. My argument is that it is intentionally misleading for some people. Unfortunately I was one of those people, roped into a monthly service when all I wanted to do was purchase one report. I sincerely thought I was buying one report for $19.95. While I thank People Finder's for refunding me the most recent month, I would like to request 1 month additional refund based on their misleading display of policies.

Review: I did a 1 time look up for $1.95 and was charged $24.95 twice before I realized it.

I did a one time look up for $1.95. I never signed up for a trial period, if I had wanted a trial period I would have signed up for that. I noticed on my credit card that I had been charged $24.95 twice. I disputed these charges with Discover and was told by Discover they were legitimate charges. Called Peoplefinders and they told me they would not refund due to the fact that I had not contacted them before the dispute. I believe they led people to make an account and then somewhere in fine print I agreed to a trial period. I honestly did not pay close attention to the info because I had clicked the one time offer. There is a button for a $.95 look up with a free trial period and that is why I did the $1.95 because I did not want the free trial. I believe they mislead and take advantage of the consumer. It doesn't matter if I disputed with my credit card or not. I deserve to have my money refunded.Desired Settlement: I am requesting to be refunded the two charges for $24.95 for a total of $49.90

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

On 7/12/2013 an order for a search was conducted online by [redacted]. At that time, you affirmatively selected to enroll in a trial membership through a full page advertisement after your purchase. The membership coverage and automatic monthly renewal at $24.95 is clearly and conspicuously disclosed in standard text on this advertisement. The consumer may accept or decline the offer. You failed to contact us to cancel this membership or discuss the charges. Rather, your credit card company contacted us on 9/18/2013 asking for information on the charges and advising us on the dispute case being opened with them by you. We complied and provided your card company the circumstances of your enrollment and explanation of the charges as requested. They then made a decision on the validity of the charges and notified you that the case was closed. On 10/5/2013 we received a phone call from you and attempted to advise you why the charges came to be. According to our records the representative confirmed the dispute process had been started through your card company and advised that you would have to follow their policies regarding the charges. In conclusion we did not receive a cancellation of your membership therefore it renewed monthly, the charges are non-refundable per the terms you agreed to, your account is closed and there will be no further automatic billing.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

I did a one time look up. Why would I agree to a trial membership? I only needed to use this site one time. I realize I will not get my money back but something needs to be done with the company. Check out how many complaints this company has had.

Final Business Response

If your intention was to run only one search on 7/12/2013 then the wrong option was selected. On the membership offer page the option labeled "Yes, Sign me up" was selected instead of "No, don't sign me up" on 7/12/2013. If you do not want membership for unlimited searching you needed to decline the offer. Again your account is closed and there are no further refunds available.

Review: I signed up to pay $2.94 for 1 persons information was charged $24.95 per month for 6 months. I was charged $24.95 from March till Aug 2013

I signed up to pay $2.94 for 1 phone number and was charged $24.95 per month for 6 months.

I was charged $24.95 form March till Aug before I realized they were charging my credit card. I did not use the service and was not aware that I was paying for it.

I also called the peoplefinders company and when they did not register the complain, I had no choice but to inform my bank and cancel the debit card.Desired Settlement: The amount they automatically deducted from my account amounts to around $125, this is a bad practice and should be stopped, automatic membership should not be allowed to take place by the Revdex.com, a lot of people are being troubled because of it

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response

We have reviewed our files and our records show that a search was conducted by [redacted] on 3/25/2013. At that time Ms. [redacted] had a choice to accept a special discounted price available with a monthly membership which allowed unlimited searches or the full price for each individual search without membership. The membership option was affirmatively selected by Ms. [redacted] on 03/25/2013. That membership provided a 3 day trial to try our services. Our membership service provides unlimited searches and other features for a monthly fee. This is clearly and conspicuously disclosed on the initial order selection page. Then the consumer is provided with an entire page outlining the terms of the membership which clearly and conspicuously states that after the initial trial, unless the consumer cancels the service the service will continue monthly and the card they provided will be charged until they tell us to cancel their membership to avoid future charges. The membership is mentioned no less than three times on three pages before the order is complete.

Given that members can conduct unlimited searches for a monthly membership fee our terms do not allow for any refunds and simply allow members to cancel anytime to avoid future charges. For the period of her membership Ms. [redacted] was charged each month and our customer service was available to take her cancelation at any time. She did not request contact us until 8/20/2013 through a phone call with a representative, five months after the membership had been activated. In addition, our records show that we received a chargeback, filed with Master Card, on 8/16/2013. This automatically closed her account prior to receiving any contact from her directly. Because the chargeback process has been started we will not provide any refunds for these transactions.

My uncle had a Peoplefinders.com account and died. Once I was awarded administration of his estate, I contacted peoplefinders to discontinue his account and ask for a refund of the fees since the date of his death. I have all of the supportive paperwork including my rights for administration and the death certificate proving his date of death. Despite talking to multiple supervisors, my requests were denied. They kept my uncle's money. The contract to which he agreed should have been null and void with his death and his money should have gone to his beneficiaries instead of being kept by this company.

Review: This company is a fraud. I looked up one profile and it was advertised as only a few cents. One month later I got charged 25$ membership fee. When I called back to cancel my membership I was offered a refund. One month later I got charged 25$ again when I called they said they didnt know what I was talking about and that I had never called them in the past but once again they offered me a refund but only for the second month. When I complained and said I did call they basically called me a liar. I told them I was going to call my credit card company about and she told me if I did I wasnt going to get anything and that for saying that I wasnt going to get a refund now. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she said that supervisors were not available and hang up on me sending me to an answer machine. This is not only a horrible treatment but also a scam. This website is horrible stay away from it.Desired Settlement: 2 charges of 24.99

Business

Response:

At the time of purchase you chose to receive a discounted price for signing up for a 3 day trial to our Membership.You had the option to cancel this membership trial at anytime via your account manager on the website, via email, or via phone. We did not receive any notification that you wished to cancel this trial. The 3 day trial had ended; therefore, you were charged the membership fee on the fourth day, and for every month thereafter.

Often, due to a dispute, you are given a conditional refund by your bank; therefore we could not offer you a refund. Our records show that on 9/15/2014 we received communication from your bank and refunded two charges of $24.95 each. We trust this resolves any concerns you might have. If you need anything further feel free to let us know.

Review: A few months ago, I purchased a phone record lookup for $1.95 from peoplefinder.com. In very fine print they have it set up as a trial where they will attempt to automatically charge your credit card $24.95 at the end of the trial

I only wanted the one time service so I cancelled the trial immediately after placing my purchase for $1.95. Peoplefinder.com charged me any way. I didn't realize they were charging my credit card until 4 months later. They charged it 4 times in the amount of $24.95.

I asked peoplefinder.com repeatedly to refund these charges as I didn't authorize them. They were only willing to refund $24.95 of the $99.80 they stole. That is insane. They can steal my hard earned money and simply say sorry, you can have a small amount of what we stole back, be happy with that. They gave me absolutely nothing in return for the money they took, it is pure profit for them, and they are so greedy, that when someone calls them out on their scam they refuse to refund the money they stole.

I have a newborn son who has been in the NICU for over a month now and my wife and I have been in the hospital everyday with him. We have enough bills as it is, and for a company to just help themselves and steal our hard earned money without repercussion is grossly wrong. It is clear that this company is scamming people. You can find hundreds of complaints regarding the exact same issue with this company's billing practices.

It is amazing that I have to file complaints with the Revdex.com, CA Attorney General's Office, and the AZ Attorney General's office, and have to waste time asking my lawyer to help me file paper work for a lawsuit just to get a refund for money that was stolen by a slime ball company.Desired Settlement: I want a refund for the money that was stolen from my family.

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response

Hello,

At the time of purchase you chose to receive a discounted price for signing up for a 3 day free trial to our 3-in-1 Membership. This membership allowed you to receive an unlimited number of:

*People Searches - Get the facts you need to find anyone, anywhere

*Email Searches - Obtain email addresses, or learn about the owner of any address

*Social Profile Searches - See updates on all of your friend's social profiles in one spot

*Marriage Searches - Find out if a man or woman has ever been married

*Divorce Searches - Check the divorce status of any man or woman

*Property Searches - Learn about any piece of property, including the current owner and value

You had the option to cancel this membership trial at anytime via your account manager on the website, via email, or via phone.

We did not receive any notification that you wished to cancel this trial. The 3 day trial has ended; therefore, you were billed $24.95 on the fourth day, and for every month thereafter.

Per your written request and as a onetime courtesy, we have granted the refund of $24.95 for one month.

Our hours of operation are:

Monday-Friday-7:00AM-6:00PM (PST)

Saturday-Sunday7:00AM-11:30AM and 12:30PM-3:30PM (PST)

Thank you for contacting PeopleFinders.com.

Best regards,

PeopleFinders Customer Care

[redacted]@Peoplefinders.com

(800) XXX-XXXX

Consumer's Final Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

That is poor justification for taking my money without my knowledge as I used your services exactly ZERO times the entire time you were charging my credit card. I didn't use any system resources and cost your company exactly $0 in expenses. The only system resources I used were the few table rows in your applications database that stored my contact information and credit card information so you can automatically process my credit card without me knowing it. You guys act as if you clearly placed information that you were going to bill me these charges in big bold letters on your site. The fact of the matter is that you make it hard to see these terms and that is why you receive hundreds of these complaints all over the web. I donate to charities such as March of Dimes and St. Judes, not to the wallets of people like [redacted].

After contacting several other individuals that were ripped off by your company in the same manner, my attorney has helped me find compliance issues with current FTC regulations with your companies slime ball billing practices. He has advised me to focus my complaints with the FTC and Attorney Generals offices for the various states you operate in. I will do everything I can to share this information with as many of the customers you have ripped off as possible. You should be receiving my complaint from the CA Attorney General's office, Arizona Attorney General's Office, as well as the FTC. It wouldn't surprise me if you received several more from those agencies.

Business' Final Response

Given that members can conduct unlimited searches for a monthly membership fee our terms do not allow for any refunds and simply allow members to cancel anytime to avoid future charges.

The rest of this complaint does not pertain to Peoplefinders.com

peoplefinders offered "free trail 7 days" but by the very next day I cancelled the membership, they refused to refund the charge on my credit card. on their web,there is no information besides a bunch of old adresses. Big rip off company.

Review: This is a fraudulent company that provides inaccurate or out of date information and continually bills under different names even when cancelled.Desired Settlement: please refund one charge of 14.992 charges 24.992 charges 24.95

Business

Response:

Our records show the person who submitted this complaint contacted our company by phone on 4/1/2014 and by email on 4/2/2014. She provided the card number and stated at that time that she had cancelled the service with us previously. Her name and the email she used to contact us is different from the information on the account. She has not been added as an authorized user by the card holder so when contacting us she was not permitted to go over the charges or make changes to the account. In order to answer the question about billing under different names posed in this complaint we will disclose that two memberships, which provide separate coverage, were selected at the time of registration. Some of the line items may look slightly different on the billing statement because they are in fact two separate products. However, they will all have our name (PeopleFinders is sometimes abbreviated by financial institutions as PF) and our phone number listed next to the charge. We will also disclose given the situation that the memberships were cancelled online by the user on 3/19/2014.

On the evening of 4/2/2014 we received notification from the card issuer that there was a possibility of unauthorized use. We have fully refunded the charges and closed out the account per that notification.

Although we provide public records which are updated daily, we do not create or modify them in any way. We are only able to display the information provided in each record, so we cannot guarantee their accuracy. New public records are created every day, so we are always able to offer the most up-to-date and accurate information possible; however, this information must be publicly reported by the person.

Review: I used this company to run a report for my law firm on a client on whether or he was married (as he was inquiring) and it gave me no results. When I called I spoke with an extremely rude woman "[redacted]" who hung up on me when I asked her to hold to get the person to authorize her to speak with me on the account. Then I called back and spoke with a manager and explained the that report didn't give me the results I asked for and I wanted a refund. She said no refunds and the report came back as "no data found". That is what she is telling me I should pay for. NO DATA FOUND. This company is an unethical scam and I want a refund.Desired Settlement: $2.35 refund immediately on principal.

Business

Response:

We were not able to find an account using the e-mail address you supplied. Feel free to provide the e-mail you used to create your account at PeopleFinders.com if you would like us to review it. Unfortunately, we do not have access to information about marriages and divorces in every state. Several states do not post that information online, so our system is unable to retrieve those records. The coverage is available to you prior to purchase in the Public Records section of PeopleFinders.com. We are including the marriage and divorce coverage below for your convenience. To obtain records from states that are not listed below, you may contact the county office where the marriage or divorce was filed. Marriage Searches:Results may include bride and groom's name, bride and groom's age at time of marriage, county and/or state, and filing number. California (1960-1985) Colorado (1975-2004) Connecticut (1966-2002) Florida (1970-1999) Iowa (1835-1926) Illinois (1793-1920) Kentucky (1973-1999) Maine (1892-1996) Minnesota (1976-2003) Nevada (1968-2000) Ohio (1970-2004) Texas (1968-1998) Utah (1800-1999)Divorce Searches:Results may include petitioner, respondent, file number, marriage date, and county and/or state of filing. Colorado (1975-2000)Florida (1970-1999)Minnesota (1970-2003)Nevada (1968-2000)Texas (1968-1998) When you order a report, our system searches through billions of public records and collects every piece of relevant information. PeopleFinders pays for access to this data, so the charge is for us to conduct a search on your behalf, not to return a specific result. Please review the Terms of Use on PeopleFinders.com if you would like more information about refunds or other policies.

Review: Continues to collected charges unauthorized.The amount charged $24.95 ea. transaction #XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX,XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX,XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

REFUND NOW!

This company will not stop collecting from my account which are unauthorized. The amount charged to my CME bank account is $24.95 ea. transaction is listed date of transaction Nov. 24th #XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, Oct. Oct. 20th XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, Sept. 13th XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Payment method VISA DEBIT.

Refund requested for the above transactions.

Desired Settlement: FULL REFUND OF ALL CHARGES AND OVERDRAFT FEES WHICH ARE $30 FOR EACH TRANSACTION.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

At the time of purchase (9/15/2013) you chose to receive a discounted price for signing up for a 3 day free trial to our 3-in-1 Membership. This membership allowed you to receive an unlimited number of:

*People Searches - Get the facts you need to find anyone, anywhere

*Email Searches - Obtain email addresses, or learn about the owner of any address

*Social Profile Searches - See updates on all of your friend's social profiles in one spot

*Marriage Searches - Find out if a man or woman has ever been married

*Divorce Searches - Check the divorce status of any man or woman

*Property Searches - Learn about any piece of property, including the current owner and value

You had the option to cancel this membership trial at anytime via your account manager on the website, via email, or via phone.

Our records show that we have never received any communications from you and did not receive any notification that you wished to cancel this trial. The 3 day trial has ended; therefore, you were billed $24.95 on the fourth day, and for every month thereafter.

Per your written request and as a onetime courtesy, we will grant the refund of $24.95 for one month. Please allow 2-5 business days for the refund to process back into your credit or debit card.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Final Business Response

The remaining charges on your account are non-refundable per the terms you agreed to. There will be one refund of $24.95 for the most recent membership fee as a courtesy. Your account with PeopleFinders.com is closed.

Review: On 12/17/2014 I went on line to do a people search for a brother I have not seen since I was approximately 10 years old due to a divorce and custody agreement. I searched for [redacted]. I apparently searched on both Peoplefinders.com and [redacted].com I was charged on my Visa card for 3 different charges for $.95, $.47, & $.48 which is what I thought I was being charged for this look up, and if you add up the last two charges, which for some reason are divided, it does add up to the correct total. By the way, all the charges just say peoplefinders.com on my bill, there is no mention of [redacted] at all. (They told me [redacted] was their sister site, and had I know they were the same company and used the same data base, I would have never searched on [redacted]!) I did not find what iw anted because maybe 9 names appeared and I did not know which state he was now living in and I decided not to search any further. However, I was again charged on 12/21 and 12/22 on my December 2014 visa bill and again on 1/21/2015 and again on 1/22/2015 on my January Visa bill for $24.95 each for a total of $99.80.

I thought I'd signed up for a temporary 3 day membership on to search his name and I did not realize I had yo cancel anything that was just for a 3 day membership. They told me that there was information concerning this on the web site which I did not reach because after I decided to abandon the search I did not read anything else on the screen to see what else it said. I'm 70 years old and admit I do not thave the patience when I decide not to do something to read any further. I just think, okay that's it, and I thought that really was it. because of that thought process I did not realize i'd signed up for a never ending membership!

I did not realize this because I forgot to pay my december visa bill until I got my January bill and saw the balance from December. I checked my records and discovered I had filed the bill as paid without any notations indicating the date paid, check number, or amount paid. By the way, I discovered this on Sunday, February, 1st, 2015 and could not call the company until Monday, February, 2nd. I did check though my check book for December to see if I just forgot to note the bill while I was waiting to call California Monday morning Eastern Time zone and realized I really had not paid it.

I called People Finders this morning and the young lady I talked to agreed to adjust the charges for January but when I asked about the December charges she turned me over to her supervisor, [redacted]. I explained everything to [redacted] and she said she could adjust the January amounts but not the December amounts. I told her I'd been a supervisor for a phone company and I had the ability to adjust more than just the current charges but she said that all she could do was the January charges. I asked her if that was all she really could or was that all she was willing to do, and she just repeated she would adjust January charges. She then asked if there was anything else she could do for me and I said, "Yes, you can adjust the December charge," and she hung up on me. Desired Settlement: I really believe that the web site is set up to purposely entice people to search and not realize this is a never ending forever and ever scam to get more money from people and that is why [redacted] hung up on me. I also really believe in order to avoid mistakes like this you should opt IN to agree to pay a membership fee instead of automatically being opted in on a one time search and that is why I think of this as a scam. I also admit to my own stupidity for not reading everything I should have. However, I would like to have all of 4 of the $24.95 charges taken off my bill. I agree to pay the three charges I thought I was going to be charged but would like you to advocate and have th other charges which I truly believe are not legitimate from people finders.com taken off my Visa bill.

I can be reached at the above address by mail, or at: [redacted] or my telephone number is ###-###-####. I tried to cut this to make it not so long, but I believe you needed to see hear/ all the facts. I apologize for the length.

Thank You, [redacted] CC: California State Attorney General

5 Enclosure

Business

Response:

We have reviewed our files and our records show that an order for a search was conducted by [redacted] on 12/17/2014 at 9:37am on PeopleFinders.com. Then, at 10:27am the same subject was searched on [redacted], a separate but sister website of PeopleFinders.com. At that time, on both websites, [redacted] had a choice to accept a special discounted price available with a monthly membership ($0.95) or the full price for the search without membership ($1.95). The membership option was affirmatively selected by [redacted] on 12/17/2014, on both websites through entirely separate checkout and registration processes. That membership provided a three day trial to try our services. Our membership service provides unlimited searches and other features for a monthly fee. This is clearly and conspicuously disclosed on the initial order selection page. The consumer is provided with an entire section outlining the terms of the membership which clearly and conspicuously states that after the initial trial, unless the consumer cancels the service the service will continue monthly and the card they provided will be charged until they indicate to cancel their membership to avoid future charges. The membership is mentioned no less than three times on two pages before the order is complete. If their intention was to run only one search, then they had in fact selected the wrong product.Given that members can conduct unlimited searches for a monthly membership fee our terms do not allow for any refunds and simply allow members to cancel anytime to avoid future charges. For the period of their membership [redacted] was charged each month. During that time, our customer service was available to take their cancellation at any time. They failed to contact us to cancel until a phone call to a representative two months after the membership had been activated. Per their request on 2/2/2015 we agreed to refund the January membership fees of $24.95 as a courtesy. The remaining charges [redacted] is responsible for are the initial cost of $0.95 for the discounted reports plus trial memberships and the December membership fees ($24.95 each). In conclusion, [redacted] has received credit for one month of service for both websites totaling $49.90 as a courtesy, the account is closed and there will be no further automatic billing.

Review: Tried the 3 days free trial I cancelled within one hour but they still charged me 39.95 Very confusing !

My understanding was I can see my report for free if I cancel within 3 days (wich I did within the hour).I have been charged 39.95 anyway ... When I called [redacted] (the representative) will not refund my money If I knew that I will be charged I would've not try it! Their website is very confusing But I'm sure I'm not the only one who fall in their trap.Desired Settlement: A refund of 39.95 and please close my account and remove me from peoplefinder website. Thank you.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

At the time of purchase you chose to receive a discounted price for the service you selected. You received a discount because you signed up for a 3 day free trial to our 3-in-1 Membership. The trial refers to the 3-in-1 Membership only. You have 3 days to cancel the trial to the 3-in-1 Membership which is $24.95 a month. Your original purchase is not affected.

We have cancelled your account per your request. You will not be billed $24.95 for the 3-in-1 Membership because you cancelled within 3 days. Charges are non-refundable per our terms of use. Please review the Terms of Use on PeopleFinders.com if you would like more information about refunds or other policies.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

(3 day free trial) if it is free I should not be billed $39.95 within minutes...

I cancelled the free trial within the hour. I wasn't satisfied with the search. What was my surprise when I checked my bank account peoplefinder debited $39.95 right away not after 3 days and yes I did call to ask for my money back and the representative would not hear it. Your offer is confusing it make it sound that it is free for 3 days otherwise I wouldn't try it in the first place.

Final Business Response

Comprehensive Background Reports are sold on a per-report basis, and are not included in any membership. You received a discounted price for the background report for enrolling in our 3 day trial. As stated before, your original purchase is not affected. This is the reason we require your credit card information at the time of purchase and display a total of $39.95 before clicking a button that reads "Complete my Purchase."

As stated in our Terms of Use, we do not offer refunds for the product you ordered. While we are unable to offer you a refund at this time, we would like to provide you with a free courtesy search.

The free courtesy search will remain on your account until it is used. You may elect to have that free exchange search ran at any time. Just call our number below and a representative will run your search for you, free of charge.

Review: I made one legitimate purchase on June 30, 2013 but was overcharged and then charged repeatedly for services I did purchase.

On June 30, 2013 I made a legitimate charge from PeopleFinder.com for $10.00 (or less) to perform one search to get a person's phone number. My statement shows they charged me $24.95 instead of $10.00 and also that they have continued to charge me $24.95 every month since then for 4 months. There were 4 additional unauthorized charges to my credit card for a total of $99.80. I did NOT make these purchases. I did NOT do any more searches, and I did NOT sign up for any kind of service. The initial overcharge of $14.95 plus the additional unauthorized charges of 99.80 equals a total of $114.75 unauthorized charges.

The dates and amounts of the unauthorized changes are as follows: June 30: $14.95, July 31: $24.95, Aug 31: $24.95, Oct 1: $24.95, Nov 1: $24.95

I went to the website last night and saw that they had an "account" for me that I had to close. I never signed up for an account. They used my email address and had me make up a password in order to perform the one search I did, but I did NOT sign up for an account, no matter what this company tries to tell you.

Thank you for looking into this. Feel free to contact me any time.

Desired Settlement: A full refund of the unauthorized charges ($114.75)

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

A user account is required to make a purchase on PeopleFinders.com. There is no way for us to process a transaction without the consumer registering and entering thier credit card information. Unfortunately, we were not able to find an account using the e-mail address or name you supplied. Please send us your full name and/or e-mail you used to create your account at PeopleFinders.com.

We do offer a membership at $14.95 like the one you are describing. Feel free to review how the $14.95 Monthly Membership is offered on our site at the URL below-

http://www.peoplefinders.com/checkout/reportoffer.aspx?type=people-name&item-id=...⇄ />
As advertised, this Monthly Membership is usually $24.95 per month but is discounted for the first 30 days at $14.95.

Because we cannot find an account with the information provided in this complaint make sure you are referencing the correct company and provide your account information. We can also search for the charges by your full or partial card number over the phone at (XXX) XXX-XXXX.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

This is satisfactory, and I really appreciate it. Just to let you know, it is not clear at all on your website that a customer is signing up for an account and an ongoing service. It appeared that I was simply paying for a single people search just like on the numerous other people searches. I thought I was having to create the username/password in order to perform that one, single search. I'm telling you this because you might want to consider making it very clear on your website that your customers are creating an account for an ongoing service rather than paying for a single search.

Again, thank you very much. You have shown integrity in your response, and I appreciate this so much.

Kind regards,

Final Business Response

Thank you for the additional information we were able to find your account. We do not show any charge of $14.95. Rather, our records show at the time of purchase you chose to receive a discounted price ($0.95) for signing up for a 3 day free trial to our 3-in-1 Membership.

You had the option to cancel this membership trial at anytime via your account manager on the website, via email, or via phone.

We did not receive any notification that you wished to cancel this trial. The 3 day trial has ended; therefore, you were billed $24.95 on the fourth day, and for every month thereafter.

Our records show that you closed this account via your online Account Manager on 11/24/2013. At that time we automatically granted a refund of $24.95 for the most current month.

Charges are normally non-refundable per our Terms of Use but we will also grant three additional refunds of $24.95 each per this complaint.

In conclusion, we have granted a total of four refunds of $24.95 each (total $99.80) your account is closed and there will be no further automatic billings.

The only remaining charges($24.95 and $0.95) are non-refundable per the terms you agreed to.

Review: I purchased a single address report for $1.95 through their website. I got an email saying that it was 50% off and that I was only charged $0.98 for it. I selected an option to have the report emailed to me for $0.50. I received the report in an email. Next they charged me 3 additional charges: $0.97 which I received no email about and don't know why I was charged; $12.48 for a membership that I did not enroll in; $5.50 for a membership upgraded to premium service that I did not enroll in. The website did not give me the options to enroll in these things after I received my report and before I received it I was sure to click the link that said No membership, just the single report. The website is deceptive in that regardless of what option you select they enroll you in the monthly membership & charge you fees that they don't explain or make you aware of. I still don't know what the $0.97 fee was for. I tried calling their customer service number & they were extremely rude to me, telling me that I don't know what I saw on their website & insisting that I got a pop up window asking me to join the membership but I got no such pop up window. They kept insisting that I did. They hung up on me both times that I tried to call. The third time I called & asked for a supervisor they said they don't have supervisors & transferred me to a "supervisor voicemail" without allowing me to speak. When I tried to call back again, repeatedly (about a dozen times) they picked the phone up & hung up instantly without saying anything, in a split second-they've blacklisted my phone number now so I can't even speak to anyone for help. On my last attempt to call them they picked up the phone but said nothing, it was just dead air. I said that I want them to remove my debit card information from their records, I wanted to speak to someone about doing so. They hung up on me again. They're a fraud & a scam with disceptive links & charges without permission & by retaining my debit card info without my permissionDesired Settlement: I am willing to pay the $0.97 and $0.98 charges because they equal $1.95-the amount that I agreed to for the report, but I want the $12.48 and $5.50 refunded because I never agreed to a membership or these fees. I also want my debit card information and all of my other personal information that they have removed from their records and databases.

Business

Response:

We have refunded the customer for the membership in the amount of $12.48. However the $5.50 was for a PDF Document on a background report on [redacted], that service was rendered and per the Terms of Use not refundable.

Review: peoplefinder.com they advertise one free search and that after that you pay however they do ask for credit card number for the first search and say you wont be charged unless you continue using the service I have Not over 6 months they have taken $149.70 from my bank account. The Phone number for them that your site has provided is know longer in service. I have emailed my bank tonight and will call them first thing in the morning.I will also request my bank look into this. Its to bad I never go over my banking like I should however if I did I would have caught it before this I'm a contractor and I work 12 to 16 hours daily I don't much time daily however I have been in the hospital the last 2 days so I have had time in the future I will make time a lesson well learned.Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Other (requires explanation)

I would like my money back and I would like others to know about company. Refund.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

Our site requires payment and is not advertised as free. At the time of purchase you chose to receive a discounted price for signing up for a 3 day trial to our 3-in-1 Membership.

You had the option to cancel this membership trial at anytime via your account manager on the website, via email, or via phone.

We did not receive any notification that you wished to cancel this trial. The 3 day trial has ended; therefore, you were billed $24.95 on the fourth day, and for every month thereafter.

The charge for $24.99 is for PeopleFinders Rewards program. This allows you to get discounts on the different reports offered on our website. We did not receive notification that you wished to cancel this within your 7 day trial period, therefore you were billed $24.99.

Our phone number is displayed next to the transaction on your billing statement and can also be found from any page of our website.

Monday-Friday 7:00AM-6:00PM (PST)

Saturday-Sunday 7:00AM-11:30AM and 12:30PM-3:30PM (PST)

(XXX) XXX-XXXX

Our records show on 8/14/2013 we received notice that the charges were under dispute from your credit card company. Prior to this, we have had no contact from you via mail, email, or through your online Account Manager that you wished to discontinue your membership with us. Because of this dispute your PeopleFinders.com account is completely closed and there will be no further automatic billing.

Review: My credit card statement had 4 unauthorized charges from People Finders with an address of [redacted]. No city listed. These charges were not made by anyone in my family.

I explained to the person ([redacted] at least twice) that I had unauthorized charges. She was not willing to address this issue unless I provided my email address. I had not done any business with this organization, so I felt for privacy issues that there was no reason to provide an email address. I also felt like that an organization that does "people searches" does not need any of my contact info. They already had my credit card. In a previous call, they wanted my full credit card number, the last 4 digits should have been enough to locate it, if they were following standard security practices for usage of credit cards. Before I called, my wife called (she takes care of paying our bills)and they wouldn't speak to her because they said the bill was in my name. So, they seem to have had my credit card and my name, yet were unwilling to look in their records.

I was hung up on 3 separate times because I was not willing to divulge my personal information.

I have protested these charges with my credit card issuer.Desired Settlement: The coompany should:

reverse the charges.

Change their policies and process. No one should have to reveal private info to have unauthorized charges reversed from their credit card.

Be proactive when people report unauthorized charges and try to find out how there clients are stealing and defrauding other.

Write a letter of apology for hanging up on me.

Business

Response:

Standard procedure is to pull up a customer's account using the email address they provided at the time of their purchase. We cannot assist a customer's issues unless we have the account in front of us. We understand that the customer is stating fraud, however we asked for their email address to see if there was an account created using that address. We provide public records via public record databases. However, when someone calls in, we cannot find their account info by using our public record data bases, because when you create an account with us it is not public record. We cannot assist the customer if they are not willing to provide us with the information needed to pull up the charges in our system. We are not able to pull up any accounts using this email address that the customer has provided on this complaint. We are also not able to find the account only using first and last name. We will need either the email address used at the time of sign up, or the first 4 and last 4 digits of the card charged.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:i was not provided the opportunity to provide my credit card number. She simply said that if I would not provide my email address she would not help me. why should I have to provide additional personal information to an organization that specializes in finding people. Why hey would I want to provide any additional info to an organization who may be responsible for the fraud? I have run run a business and I know I can find transactions by people's names, transaction dates, etc.. my alternative is to protest the charges with my credit card issuer. Businesses that run too many fraudulent transactions will be charged higher credit card rates or being cut off but the credit card processors. I was doing the company a favor by calling them only to be hung up on 3 times by the same person. Please check your recorded messages

Review: To whom it may Concern:

I recently used the service of PeopleFinders.com for a one-time charge of .95 on 12/12/15, and on 12/16/15 PeopleFinders.com billed me for $24.95. I specifically indicated to a customer service representative, by the name of [redacted] I did not request to have a trail membership, I just wanted the one-time charge of .95 for that one request. I asked for a reimbursement of $24.95. She refused, and she refused to listen, and kept reading from dialogue, and did not transfer me to a supervisor, and hung up on me; after I said numerous times to transfer me to a supervisor. I called back a second time, and spoke with customer service representative [redacted] to confirm that my information and membership had been canceled. She pointed out an email had been sent informing me of the cancellation. When I asked to speak to a supervisor, she indicated there were no supervisors to take my call, only a voicemail box, and she wasn't kidding about just a "voicemail box" for a complaint-when I asked.

Personally, the set-up of the website PeopleFinders.com is a bit tricky, and if you are not careful you “could” by accident click on for a trial membership; however, I was careful. This is the reason I am so alerted. When I checked my bank statement for their .95 charge, I was OK with. Then when I was balancing for mid-month a few days later I saw PeopleFinders.com charged me for a trail membership. I just want to address this matter with the Revdex.com, in case you should have another complaint regarding this company, and their dishonest, unfair way of doing business.

Truly,

[redacted]Desired Settlement: Would appreciate a reimbursement of $24.95 and a written apology from [redacted]/Customer Service Representative for her impatient, unkind service.

Business

Response:

We apologize for your experience. We see you contacted customer care on 12/18/15 and you were refunded for the $24.95. There will be no further billings.

Terrible billing collection system for Peoplefinders. When you get information on a person you are automatically enrolled as a member with monthly deductions taken out of your credit card account WHETHER YOU WANT TO BE A MEMBER OR NOT. They should be convicted of fraud.