The unbearable catchiness of FreeCreditReport.com

It is not a scam. A friend of mine used FreeCreditReport.com to get his credit report for free (curiously he had problems getting his report from the preferred AnnualCreditReport.com). He did have to cancel the credit monitoring service two days later, but he knew that going in and didn't have a problem.

The ads are so obnoxious and pervasive............I will never do business with FreeCreditReport.com.

I agree it's a scam. Look up the word Free people. Why would you have to give a credit card number if it were free?????

Not saying that I support the commercials or not, I'm just deffending their use of the word free. It is free......so long as you cancel it in time. You can get it free, but you have to remember to go back in a set amount of time to cancel. They do it that way so they get all those people that forget to cancel. They do things like that with free trials too. I remember when I got my cell phone two years ago they gave me a free trial of vcast. The catch was I had to go in and cancel it myself after the first month or they would charge me $15 a month for it until I did. They wouldn't cancel it because they wanted my money. So FreeCreditReport.com is doing the same thing. It is free..... but there is a catch. They just don't tell you that in the commercial.

Sure it's a scam! Once you sign up for the service it is like trying to cancel AOL Once these guys get their hooks into you they are NOT going to make it easy to get loose. The service is VERY profitable, how do you think they can justify the huge advertising budget. These commercials don't come cheap nor does the air time.

I don't understand why anybody is upset about this. Who is retarded enough to believe anything they see in a commercial anymore? All political incorrectness aside, you probably won't regrow your hair, that televangelist has his own private plane, and the girls have not really gone wild. If you didn't know that already, you probably have bad credit because you are a moron.

Amen to you....This is just a commercial people!!!! Put your big girl panties on and get over it. I think that these commercials are funny as h*ll. Very catchy!!!!!
Whats ever 'free' anymore anyways????

Is this serioulsy the demise of the human psyche? Sitting around listening to everyone complain about the COMMERCIALS! on TV? That's low. I've seen one of the FreeCreditReport.com (baby!) commercials before. I thought it was catchy, but to sit and debate about it is friviless. I feel guilty even sitting here wasting more time giving my opinion. There fine, it's just a market for this kind of thing. Get a life.

The songs are good, the rationale SUCKS. Dorkboy marries a girl with bad credit and whines about living at her parents. A job might just fix that. And a plan might have prevented it. The other one I've seen says he can't get a good job cause of his credit score...........well, if he applied for a job where you actually work for a living, and don't wear a badge so they know what number you are, that wouldn't have happened, now would it?

In the last couple of decades, our education system has told our kids that if you don't sit at a desk and do a computer, you're a loser. Gee, I wonder why none of our young people want to have jobs where they actually PRODUCE SOMETHING, instead of keeping track of other people producing something.

Allowing MegaCorp and ACME Inc to define our credit scores and then link everything in our lives to that is probably not what our founding fathers had in mind. If we don't unlink our government to the large corporations, we're screwed.

I'm thinking it's time for an actual 3rd party, internet based, starting with local elections, and then working it's way up to kicking out the Dumbocrats and Repukeicans out of office and maybe have a chance at taking our country back. The other option would be armed revolution, which Tom Jefferson said we would probably have to do on a regular basis, and kinda sounds fun too.

Ooooops, went on a rant again. On topic, the commercials are very catchy, I'd never use the service. You can get your credit report from each of the services once a year federal law says so, internet search free credit report, and you'll find the right link eventually after you weed out the google ads.

I'm a little more old school. I remember having "freeeeeeee credit report dot com" stuck in my head before any of these aired. They just sung those words at the end of the commercial.

I'm a little more old school. I remember having "freeeeeeee credit report dot com" stuck in my head before any of these aired. They just sung those words at the end of the commercial.

That's old school? I think those ads are still on the radio...

I so agree with you!!! HOW DO YOU GET THEM OFF THE AIR?!!! I have thyroid disease and my meds aren't working properly! Therefore, everything affects me 10 times more than the average person! I'm hypersensitive! In other words... these commercials are driving me insane to the point of rage. EVERY TIME I HEAR THEM, I WANT TO THROW UP!!! Literally! My stomach turns. My husband even says, "chill out, it's just a commercial..." He's even witness me gag a couple of times. Now he's realizing too that this is real. NO IT'S NOT JUST A COMMERCIAL! It slams my ears every time I hear them. All of them! I have to turn down the TV or turn it off every time I hear it. This is no joke. And yes I know the jingles too word for word. It's embarrassing. I think their music sucks. That horrible, monotone voice, commercial after commercial, moment after moment, all day long. Anybody who thinks their music is good has ZERO taste at all! And as far as it being free, read the fine print! Duh! Also, how can you change the channel when these commercials are on EVERY CHANNEL? Even when I turned on the TV this morning, there it was, the idiots in tights who can't sing! Now it's in my head again and I feel nauseated. MAKE IT STOP!

Exactly!!! You'll just be sitting there and then out of nowhere you will sing the jingle. The first time you sing it you think, "aw... funny commercial." But then it never gets out of your head and you can't help but sing it over and over and over and over and over and then.... not so fun anymore.

But you still sing along with the commercials when they come on and it makes you happy when there's a new one.

Haha.... They are fun.

Wow, I didn't know this, you're a god, I'm not worthy. Thanks for posting.

I agree with the sitcom idea..have been thinking it for months. The past has shown us that the public likes sitcoms about adorable losers trying not to be losers.

Oh please don't associate anything with those horrible caveman commercials! I admit the product is a scam, but the jingles are wond3rful. Maybe they should say F R E E nothing is free anymore baby!

While, in a way it is a scam to get people to visit the website.. it's not at all. Not only in the commercial it says that it's only free with enrollment in Triple Advantage, it says right on their website:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don't cancel your membership within the 7-day trial period**, you will be billed $14.95 for each month that you continue your membership.

Sorry, it would be difficult for them to star in a sitcom in the US. That man's name is something like Erik Voilette. He's a French speaking Canadian. He is not the one singing on the commercials. He's just the super cherubicly handsome face man. There are some bets going around that it's actually Weird Al doing the voice over. When you listen carefully to Dream Girl, you can't deny that the singer sounds JUST like Weird Al.

And yes, if I were younger, I would want to have his babies, heheheh.

I agree with Mary-410412. Who is dumb enough to think that what they see on tv is REAL. Duh

These commercials absolutely drive me insane! I don't care whether or not it's free, because I am not stupid enough to fall for it. My point is, the songs are annoying, the way they are sung is even more annoying, and when you hear them, they get into your head and you contemplate hurting yourself...who the heck is this dude to sing about his "posse" and his "ride" anyway!!!!
Bottom line...they bug me, and I despise hearing them in the morning when I am getting ready for work....

For the record, and contrary to what's stated in this article, most Canadians get plenty of U.S. television feed including all of the major U.S. netowrks, so love it or hate it these jingles are bouncing around our Canuck heads just as vigorously as they are in the noggins of our southern friends.

I agree, Mary-410412. When I saw those commercials, I took them for what they are: commercials. Who was actually silly enough to believe that all of these things happened to the same guy?

Actually, I think the thrust is 'not his fault ... his identity was stolen and he didn't know because he didn't monitor weird entries appearing on his credit report so he could fix it before it got out of control' -- although his "dream girl" apparently wasn't so innocent.

They had to make it rhyme.

Maybe what they are referring to is the explosion and shock wave of an atom bomb. You wouldn't miss that.

The bomb itself, of course, pretty much nobody would ever see.

Hey BillDarry. That's the point. You don't see ID theft coming. Just like an atom bomb that you won't see coming.

LOL your post made me laugh, BillDarryl.....

BillDaryl..........evidently somebody else in the family got the sense of humor, huh?

Where is this happening w/in the thread?

On another note, couldn't this have just as simply been a poll? Love them, hate them, don't know, don't care, etc.

these commercials are awesome! love the catchy jingles. hey, even my 3 year old knows how to spell 'free' now. :)

victor: bad form

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO to VICTOR, not nice, you need a major time out with a blood curdling screaming kickong 2 year old for company!

Oh get over yourselves you haters- lighten up a bit, have a little fun, these commercials are great! And you Stu are a prime example of how rude the general public is.

I totally love the Geico commercials, the gecco is adorable. Mostly I love the Australian accent! Really loved the one where he drove the little red sports car! It really is a tie for me between Geico and the free credit fools! The jingles are great the accent for the gecco is great. Like everyone says "take what you see on tv with a grain (or in some cases a box of salt)!

You are confusing fraud alerts with the credit freeze. LifeLock issues fraud alerts for you, but only you can freeze your credit.

from the TransUnion website security freeze page:

How long will my file remain frozen?
In general, the Security Freeze will remain on your file until you request its removal in writing. Security Freeze for some states remain in effect for seven years from the date the file is frozen.

I hate them, too! It is nice to find a kindred spirit!

I absolutely detest these ads. Hate isn't a strong enough word to describe it. When that one about the beater car comes on I feel this explosion of maniacal rage well up within me and it's all I can do to not attack the TV. Yes, I know that makes me out to be kind of like Pavlov's dog but who gives a crap. The bass player is the worst by far; he's definitely the most irritating person of the bunch. If I see him on the street I'll destroy him.

CAN NOT STAND THESE ADS.

I might add..... there are three companies that have the goods...all give the same info. It'd be the wise and thrifty man who, because he is allowed one free report per year, makes his request for that info from one company at a time, thus giving himself 3 free reports at different times during the year..... I noticed that one the 'netscape' home page that they'll bundle all three into one link, so that when you decide to give your credit a 'check' you potentially waste two future chances at free credit checks during the year. So, obviously, my advice is to choose one of the three credit reporting companies at a time. Got me?