Safest place to order my credit report from all three bureaus (not free)?
May 15, 2012 1:41 PM Subscribe
Best and cheapest place to get credit scores from all three credit bureaus without getting on some crazy subscription that makes it difficult to cancel?
It's been less than a year since I got my free report, but I need to get an updated one now.
I last got my credit report August 2011. I need a new one from all three bureaus. Last time I tried purchasing something from Experian, I accidentally signed up for a reoccurring subscription. Actually, didn't really, it was very scammy and they didn't inform me of reoccurring billing until after the transaction was complete, and it was in fine print of the confirmation email (I know this, because I re did the order process later on just to make sure I wasn't remembering wrong and nothing in the order process indicated there would be reoccurring billing.) Canceling was extremely difficult, and I only got my money from the additional billing refunded after I threatened to do a charge back.
I've heard this happens at the credit bureaus all the time, so is there a safe way I can get my report and NOT get scammed into some "monitoring" service? I really need it as a one time thing and that's it.
I last got my credit report August 2011. I need a new one from all three bureaus. Last time I tried purchasing something from Experian, I accidentally signed up for a reoccurring subscription. Actually, didn't really, it was very scammy and they didn't inform me of reoccurring billing until after the transaction was complete, and it was in fine print of the confirmation email (I know this, because I re did the order process later on just to make sure I wasn't remembering wrong and nothing in the order process indicated there would be reoccurring billing.) Canceling was extremely difficult, and I only got my money from the additional billing refunded after I threatened to do a charge back.
I've heard this happens at the credit bureaus all the time, so is there a safe way I can get my report and NOT get scammed into some "monitoring" service? I really need it as a one time thing and that's it.
OK, here's the current 20% off code: BDAYMAY2012FS
And it looks like the prices have gone up since I last pulled FICO scores -- the price for each bureau is $15.96 with the 20% off code. Steep. Hopefully you actually only need (free) reports.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:48 PM on May 15, 2012
And it looks like the prices have gone up since I last pulled FICO scores -- the price for each bureau is $15.96 with the 20% off code. Steep. Hopefully you actually only need (free) reports.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:48 PM on May 15, 2012
rabbitrabbit, you only get free reports once a year. Once per bureau per year.
posted by nat at 1:50 PM on May 15, 2012
posted by nat at 1:50 PM on May 15, 2012
Seconding rabbitrabbit: your reports are free (one per agency per year, unless you report fraud), but your scores are not free. The only reason I can see to ask for scores is if you're planning to apply for a major loan and want to know the interest rates for which you're likely to qualify. If you think something is odd, and you want to check for possible fraud or errors, the report is all you need.
posted by brianogilvie at 1:50 PM on May 15, 2012
posted by brianogilvie at 1:50 PM on May 15, 2012
Ok, perhaps I need to be more clear; the OP has gotten their reports too recently to use annualcreditreport.com again.
So, myfico.com looks useful; but is there a version of that which is cheaper and doesn't give you scores (assuming the OP only needs the reports)?
posted by nat at 1:54 PM on May 15, 2012
So, myfico.com looks useful; but is there a version of that which is cheaper and doesn't give you scores (assuming the OP only needs the reports)?
posted by nat at 1:54 PM on May 15, 2012
OK, yeah, whoops, I am bad at math and dates, I totally read that and though, hey! It's been more than a year! Sill me. You should still be able to get the two you didn't buy in 8/2011 via annualcreditreport.com if I read you correctly and you only purchased from Experian last August. But if you need scores, those come with reports anyway and there's no way to get free scores so you're probably looking at myfico.com and about $48 for all three. And myfico will not rope you into a subscription -- it's very straightforward to just buy one-time scores.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:01 PM on May 15, 2012
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:01 PM on May 15, 2012
Creditkarma.com. Just gives you your score, no other info. But it's totally free.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 2:02 PM on May 15, 2012
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 2:02 PM on May 15, 2012
Response by poster: That is correct, I only need the reports. But because I got them 9 months ago, I can't get them free again.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 2:02 PM on May 15, 2012
posted by [insert clever name here] at 2:02 PM on May 15, 2012
On reviewing the OP's post, I think both rabbitrabbit and I were thrown by the OP's opening sentence: "Best and cheapest place to get credit scores from all three credit bureaus..." (emphasis added).
When I wanted to get my credit scores before applying for a mortgage, I used MyFico.com. I thought it was straightforward and I didn't end up being billed for any services I didn't want. However, as with any online transaction, it's best to read all the fine print carefully, especially connected with any radio buttons or checkboxes that may be preselected.
posted by brianogilvie at 2:02 PM on May 15, 2012
When I wanted to get my credit scores before applying for a mortgage, I used MyFico.com. I thought it was straightforward and I didn't end up being billed for any services I didn't want. However, as with any online transaction, it's best to read all the fine print carefully, especially connected with any radio buttons or checkboxes that may be preselected.
posted by brianogilvie at 2:02 PM on May 15, 2012
One other thing worth mentioning. If you get scores, keep in mind that depending on what loan product you're looking to get, the scores your lender pulls may be different, because auto loan people get "auto-enhanced" scores, mortgage folks get "mortgage-enhanced" scores, etc. The FICO scores you get at myfico are general credit scores.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:02 PM on May 15, 2012
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:02 PM on May 15, 2012
Response by poster: I got all three reports in August of 2011, and paid Experian because I wanted to see my credit scores. Now I do not need the score, just reports
posted by [insert clever name here] at 2:03 PM on May 15, 2012
posted by [insert clever name here] at 2:03 PM on May 15, 2012
Response by poster: As for being careful, through experian, I actually took screen caps of their ordering process and no where in it did it indicate that there would be a reoccurring fee. In fact, it actually had find print suggesting the only fee was for the initial reports. I just looked at the screen caps again, because this whole process reminded me of just how dishonest they were. That is why I am paranoid about where to buy from.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 2:09 PM on May 15, 2012
posted by [insert clever name here] at 2:09 PM on May 15, 2012
Looks like Equifax has all three bureaus for $29.95 and it's explicitly stated that they're one-time reports. This seems like your best bet, since you had problems with Experian and TransUnion doesn't seem to offer one-time reports (or if they do, the obfuscate it way too much).
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:13 PM on May 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:13 PM on May 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
annualcreditreport.com will be happy to sell you your scores to go along with the 1/year free report. Also keep in mind that is 1/year per bureau. If you want you could pull your credit every 4 months by switching bureaus.
However, rabbitrabbit makes a good point. The scores you pay for are basically useless. They will usually be completely different than the one the lender will pull. They can be higher or lower. You can get a good feel for your credit report by looking at your report.
posted by 2manyusernames at 3:08 PM on May 15, 2012
However, rabbitrabbit makes a good point. The scores you pay for are basically useless. They will usually be completely different than the one the lender will pull. They can be higher or lower. You can get a good feel for your credit report by looking at your report.
posted by 2manyusernames at 3:08 PM on May 15, 2012
Do you happen to live in Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey or Vermont? If so, you're entitled to two free reports per year from each credit bureau.
You can also get a free report if you're unemployed, or on welfare, or you know there's an inaccuracy on it.
Otherwise, I suspect your best bet is to go directly to the credit report agency using the numbers on this FTC page; note that they can't charge you more than $11 for a copy of your report.
For what it's worth, my suspicion is that most of the really scummy means of signing people up for hard-to-cancel service require an additional service like "credit monitoring" or credit scores, because of the FTC rules around maximum charges for a copy of your credit report. I wouldn't necessarily assume that you'll run into the same issue with Experian as long as you're very careful about making sure you're only purchasing a copy of your credit report, and no other services.
posted by iminurmefi at 1:36 PM on May 16, 2012
You can also get a free report if you're unemployed, or on welfare, or you know there's an inaccuracy on it.
Otherwise, I suspect your best bet is to go directly to the credit report agency using the numbers on this FTC page; note that they can't charge you more than $11 for a copy of your report.
For what it's worth, my suspicion is that most of the really scummy means of signing people up for hard-to-cancel service require an additional service like "credit monitoring" or credit scores, because of the FTC rules around maximum charges for a copy of your credit report. I wouldn't necessarily assume that you'll run into the same issue with Experian as long as you're very careful about making sure you're only purchasing a copy of your credit report, and no other services.
posted by iminurmefi at 1:36 PM on May 16, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
You can get free reports at annualcreditreport.com (this is the official government-sanctioned free credit report site).
If you need scores, the only official way to get them is at myfico.com. This gets you BOTH scores and reports and they're $14.95 each (so $14.95 x 3 if you want to get all three bureaus). There is usually a discount code floating around, I'll see if I can get a current one for you.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:46 PM on May 15, 2012