Comments (scroll down to add your own):

1. Once again, the playing field is tilted against the consumer . . .

   Thanks for the warning.

   Comment by DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Feb 6th 2009 @ 7:24 am

2. The trial will only get you an Equifax score… but I think that’s good enough.

   Comment by jim — Feb 6th 2009 @ 9:41 am

3. Does anyone know if you can cancel online?
   If it requires a phone call I’m out.

   Learned my lesson on that already with the freecreditreport.com jerks…

   Comment by Doug — Feb 6th 2009 @ 11:07 am

4. Thanks for the tip on the free trial. These are great to do but you should always remember to cancel!

   Comment by thomas — Feb 6th 2009 @ 12:03 pm

5. Jim: Good catch, and duly noted. I can’t actually find a way to get Experian for free, so it’s either free Equifax or pony up for Experian.

   Comment by nickel — Feb 6th 2009 @ 12:45 pm

6. Foes anyone know if this will affect the scores I get through my Amex credit program? I think it is Credit Secure? My experian is the one that is hurting right now, so I really want to watch it.

   Comment by Melane — Feb 6th 2009 @ 7:25 pm

7. I think it’s actually a good thing, not really bad as you described. FICO has been way too much a rip-offs. They made you think only they can create the ‘best’ formula. However, it’s not true. It’s only because they dominated the market in the past. Now if they can’t dominate the market anymore and suffer some competition, the consumer would get more overall benefits in the end.

   Comment by Justin — Feb 8th 2009 @ 11:38 am

8. The whole paying for YOUR OWN data is ridiculous anyways. MY credit score and MY credit report should be available for me to access anytime I want to for FREE.

   If the credit bureaus want to collect information, go ahead, but then to basically hold it hostage and ask for a ransom is crazy.

   Comment by Ryan — Feb 8th 2009 @ 11:51 am

9. With the new scoring system about to come online it will be even harder to receive and translate your credit score into something usable to the consumer.

   Comment by Chris — Feb 8th 2009 @ 3:06 pm

10. Thanks for the heads-up. I hadn’t checked ours in a while and the service was quick and easy to set up and, even more importantly, easy to cancel.

    Comment by Sylvia — Feb 9th 2009 @ 1:09 pm

11. Wow, that sucks. Especially with it being harder than ever for people to get credit and finance with the global economic crisis it’s more important than ever to have access to your score. Hopefully tehy will review this decision. Thanks for sharing this information.

    Comment by Richard Greenwood — Feb 9th 2009 @ 5:12 pm

12. Unless I am misinformed, this isn’t as big a deal as it seems. My understanding is that Experian will no longer sell you a FICO score… but they will still sell you a score – it’s just that the score they are now selling is their made-up score… which they also sell to lenders, but no (or extremely few) lenders use anyway.

    The only one of the 3 still selling an actual FICO score is Equifax.

    Comment by Daniel — Feb 11th 2009 @ 7:44 am

13. Daniel: From what I’ve read, that’s not entirely true. Yes, they will continue producing their own scores, but no they will not make them available to consumers. This seems odd to me, though, because that’s a pretty large profit center that they’d be walking away from. Perhaps you are right.

    Comment by nickel — Feb 11th 2009 @ 9:21 am

14. Nickel, I agree – it’s crazy that they would walk away from all that profit, but I’ll never buy that fake score – I’ll only buy the real FICO score. We’ll have to see what other consumers will do – if they continue to make that fake score available for purchase.

    I know that Experian and TransUnion are really frustrated about the scoring thing, so it’s not surprising that they’re no longer selling the FICO score. They want their fake score to gain ground. Good luck.

    Comment by Daniel — Feb 11th 2009 @ 9:31 am

15. Hi Daniel, there no any “real” or “fake” score. You like FICO score just because it was so widely used by the lender. If start from now, some lenders used to access Experian will start to read the score generated by Experian, then that score is the one you have to check by yourself if you happen need a loan. To insist to buy “real FICO” score at this point is meaningless. That’s why I said FICO did such a great job to make you believe that they are the only one can generate a legit score. When lenders have other options with maybe lower cost or better service that fit their need to review borrowers’ credit stats, what’s the point that you get a FICO score which they are not looking at?

    Comment by Justin — Feb 13th 2009 @ 12:17 am

16. Justin, until lenders start using this other score, it is pointless to worry about it. Every lender I’ve ever dealt with has only considered the FICO score. That may eventually change, but I don’t expect it – at least not anytime soon.

    Comment by Daniel — Feb 13th 2009 @ 7:21 am

17. Well… obviously,… it’s going to change very soon. Unless lenders decide not to use Experian anymore. We will have to see.

    Comment by Justin — Feb 13th 2009 @ 9:03 am

Leave a comment