Warning!

I signed up for the annual subscription to Equifax's Gold Credit Reporting Monitoring Program for about $130 (annually). They sent lots of emails and it was nice to have, but after a year, I decided it was not something I was interested in renewing.

When the emails reminding me to renew came flooding my in-box, I ignored them. They were asking me to renew, so I thought, don't respond and it won't renew. WRONG. They automatically renewed me based on the card I used to subscribe.

When I called about this, I was placed on hold for very long periods of time, only to be told that it was too late to cancel once they already received their money. I didn't like it, but what could I do?

The next year came around and so did the reminder emails. This time I contacted them numerous times because the reminders just kept coming. I was placed on eternal hold EACH time and given the run around. They also spent a long time trying to talk me out of canceling the service. Talk about building a doom and gloom story of identity theft and hazards that I would be subjecting myself to by not having this feature. Sheesh! Each time, they said, they had no record of my previous calls to cancel.

They hit me again with their annual fee.

I called my credit card comapny and told them it was a fraudulent charge and they had me send a written explanation. After about 90 days, my credit card responded that Equifax refused to refund the money.

To say that I was unhappy would be a severe understatement. The very people / agency that was claiming to protect consumers from fraud was scamming me.

The next renewal year came and the card they had on file expired. (drum roll) They began sending me the email notices to renew, but my card was expired and to contact them with updated card info so I wouldn't miss out on this great service. Not only was the card expired, but I canceled it. Wasn't going to take any chances this time.

They had the audacity to call me letting me know that their attempt to renew the membership failed and they needed updated card information. I explained that I did not want to renew this service and was transferred and placed on hold. I hung up.

They called again. Same thing.

They finally quit calling, but the email notices keep coming. I have them blocked and going straight to junk mail now. The turds!

Good luck to anyone trying to get out of this service. What a circus!