Spokeo.com
Complaint 270913 Details

I signed up for the Spokeo Premium service with a 3 day trial, which allowed me to get a friend's phone number. This is one of those services that continues until you cancel, so I cancelled the subscription the same day and have an email with the cancellation number. Unfortunately, when you sign up for the Spokeo service, you also (somehow) "automatically" are signed up for "Spokeo Identity Force" supposedly a "credit and identity theft monitoring service", offered by a company called "PrivPro" who is very closely associated with Spokeo (they even have the exact same voice prompt menu when you call!). It's a scam, because they don't make it at all clear when you are signing up for Spokeo that you are also signing up for "PrivPro". Besides, they cannot really monitor your credit report without your SS number, etc., which they don't have (and never even asked me for). This "PrivPro" charge begins on your credit card at $14.95 the month following your Spokeo trial subscription; in my case, on December 9, 2011. Once I noticed this charge on my card, I tried multiple times to call PrivPro at 18005114336 (the number listed on my CC bill). They are hard to get in touch with; I have tried to call them at least 6 times trying to cancel, but usually "all agents are busy" or the office is "closed - please call back during business hours". You cannot cancel via the website. When "all agents are busy", the system asks you to leave your number, but they never call you back (at least in my experience). I talked to agents at least 3 times, and have a written record of speaking to them on May 30, 2013, when I was told the charges would be cancelled. On August 30, 2013, I noticed that I am continuing to be billed. I called again, and after several attempts, finally got an agent. I spoke to "Brook" at PrivPro who said my subscription would be cancelled but they could not do anything about previous charges. They also don't provide any "cancellation number" as proof you have cancelled. She said I would receive an email within the next few minutes verifying cancellation. I waited over an hour but didn't get any email. I then found my emails from Spokeo, including the $14.85 charge for their Spokeo Premium service (dated Nov. 9, 2011), and the same day, an email for the cancellation of the Spokeo Premium service, which included a cancellation number. I called Spokeo customer service. After I explained the situation and expressed my extreme unhappiness, "David" agreed to refund 11 months of the $14.95 for the PrivPro service (4 months via credit card, and 7 months by check in 4-6 weeks), but no more. Even if I get the I am still out for 9 months of "service", or $134.55. And I have yet to receive any email confirmation of the cancellation or refund. In summary, the company is deceptive and fraudulent in their offerings and customer service practices.