Realtytrac.com

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
Although this refund was received the terms and comments that accompany it show that this is much bigger issue that will remain unresolved unless some sort of action is taken by you and or the government. This is scamI recently retraced my steps and encourage any of your staff to follow the same route hundreds - thousands- of others have followed: search for realty properties in a specific area - Realtytrac pops up in a number of different places and offers you information- AS YOU FOLLOW A LINK something pops up saying by clicking the link you agree to the terms of service, which are not present but are actually found in another link. Once they draw you into the "free trial" screen it appears to be something that would be easy to cancel. But, even though you sign up with a couple of clicks, it turns out as I learned too late, you have to call during business hours and speak to someone to cancelThis is something I could not doI sent an email that was not acknowledgedAn internet search demonstrates that this is a common problem with Realty trac and their lack of effort after years of complaints (do an
internet search to see the many complaints over the years - NOT given to
Revdex.com) might indicate this first $charge is a major portion of Realtytrac's profit marginONLY after the charge was made against my *** account was there an option via *** to cancel this "membership" thus the recorded cancellation they reference in response to my complaintFurthermore the email provided in their *** profile shown in the records of the charges leads to someone who "doesn't have the authority" to do anything about charges and tells you a call during business hours is requiredThis is a *** issue, as it violates their TOSIn addition to all of this, the actual information obtained via the actual "free trial" is the same as
information available elsewhere for free, and most of Realtytrac's information
was out-of-dateA survey of complaints appears to show this is a common complaint by users, including RE agentsThe options that would remedy this situation would put their many successful charges of $at risk. There should be a policy or law that requires a company that perverts the "free trial" option like this to contact the potential customer via email address given before charging following a "free trial." Require that any company who allows "free trial" sign-ups via the internet also provide a cancellation option in the same manner. Or like other legitimate services, cut access to the service after a free trial; if people are actually using the service they will pay!I filed a complaint with the FTC that will be copied to my AG's consumer protection bureau and will do the same to the San Diego AG and will file a complaint with the CFPB. Again, whether it is at state or federal level, consumer protection must be in place to prevent these unwanted charges that are so difficult to removeIn the mean time, statistically, how many people who have been taken advantage of via business like this actually complaint to you? I would guess only a small percentage of people actually file complaints with you, it seems from research that most contact their credit card co's or banks and Realtytrac has a system in place to fight charge-backsAnd, many simply post complaints on online review sites. Would it not seem that despite the refunds that have been successful because of your intervention, the complaints themselves indicate there is clearly a pattern of abuse? Many others don't know who or how to complain, feel like they've been scammed, and see your logo. Do associations like that mean anything to you?I recognize that it is the business who pays you for membership, but it's the customers who decide if that really means anything
Regards,
*** ***

Member registered for a 7-day free trial of RealtyTrac on 8/17/
The terms of
the trial are clearly stated on the registration page prior to
submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription feeThe terms state
that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial period, the account
automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the monthly fee of $
will be charged to the account information supplied by the new memberThese
terms must be agreed to by the registrant prior to continuing with
registrationThe member’s account was not cancelled within the day trial
period, and the account was charged
the first monthly subscription fee on 8/24/
The member called to request cancellation on 9/30/2015,
after the trial period had endedThe representative processed the cancellation
and sent an email containing the confirmation number *** to the
email address *** at 11:03am Pacific timeThe customer was offered months of complimentary
access as a courtesy but the offer was declined. The customer placed a second call on
9/30/at 6:23pm to request refundsThe representative confirmed the
account was cancelled during the previous call and explained the terms of use
that the customer agreed to during registration including that the membership
fees are considered nonrefundableAs a onetime courtesy a refund request was
submitted for the September charge
Although no refund was due, we processed a
credit of $on 10/1/Based on the terms of use, no further refund is
due at this time

RealtyTrac is the nation’s leading provider of foreclosure and housing information and has been in business since The terms of the trial are clearly displayed on the registration page and all users are sent an email welcoming them to the service upon registration which includes a reminder of the terms, the date the account must be cancelled, cancellation instructions and our hours of operationThe cancellation instructions can also be found in the help section and the Account Details pageAs all accounts are created online by the user, it is the responsibility of the user to terminate their account in a timely manner should they choose not to continue. The Membership Services team is available days a week AM to 6:PM Pacific Time Monday through Friday and AM to PM Pacific Time Saturday and SundayThey assist over one thousand customers per day with membership upgrades, modifications, property inquiries and technical support. As previously stated, there are no records of attempted cancellation by the customer prior to 5/5/and by the customer’s own admission in a recorded phone conversation, they do not review their monthly credit card statement where all charges from RealtyTrac are clearly labeled and include a phone number to contact RealtyTrac should they need to inquire about the subscription fee. The customer’s account has been terminated and they received a credit of $as a one-time courtesy on 5/5/

The Member registered for a 7-day free trial of
RealtyTrac on 10/9/The terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration
page prior to submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription fee
The terms state that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial
period,
the account automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the
monthly fee of $will be charged to the account information supplied by
the new memberThis account was not cancelled within the day trial period, and the account was charged
the monthly subscription fee beginning on 10/16/
The member called to inquire about the
charges on 1/7/The Representative explained that there was no previous
record of cancellation madeThe Representative proceeded to cancel the
membership and sent an email confirming the cancellation to the email address
provided by the member during registration which also included the confirmation
number ***The member threatened to harass the call center unless
all funds were returnedThe representative explained the Terms of Use agreed
upon at the time of registration and offered to submit a refund request for
further review
Although no refund was due,
RealtyTrac issued a refund of $on 1/7/as a one-time courtesyBased
on the Terms of Use, the charges are considered valid and no further refund is
due at this time

Member registered for a 7-day free trial of
RealtyTrac on
11/22/The terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration
page prior to submitting a form of payment, and must be accepted by the member
in order to continue with the registrationThe terms state that if the trial
account is not cancelled during the trial period, the account automatically converts
to a monthly subscription and the monthly fee of $will be charged to the account
until canceledThis account was not cancelled within the day trial period, and the member was charged
the recurring monthly subscription fee per the terms she agreed to
upon signupAt the time of registration the member
also signed up for a day trial with the Foreclosure News ReportThis offer
involves a 30-day trial subscription to the Foreclosure News Report, an
investor magazineThe offer page for the Foreclosure News Report clearly
states “By clicking CONTINUE you authorize RTI Publishing, Incto send you a
FREE issue of The Foreclosure News ReportIf you do not cancel within days
of ordering this issue, you authorize RTI Publishing, Incto charge your
credit card $for a one year subscription to The Foreclosure News Report”
Members must click “Yes, Continue”, or “No thanks, complete my registration” in
order to complete the signup processThe Member accepted the terms and was
subscribed to the Foreclosure News Report free trial offer
On 1/4/the member requested a
cancellation and refund with the Foreclosure News Report by leaving a voicemail
for RTI publishing but did not mention her RealtyTrac membershipOur records
indicate the member was also sent an email offering promotional discounts on
their RealtyTrac subscription on 1/4/
The member contacted us via
email on 3/1/claiming they had previously cancelled the membership and to
inquire about the chargesOur response advised the member that we were unable
to locate a record of cancellation with RealtyTrac and provided the member with
her confirmation number as proof of their cancellation dated 3/2/The
member forwarded a copy of a cancellation email from the Foreclosure News
Report, which is a separate service, demanding a refundThe member was then
advised to call Customer Service for further assistance
The member next contacted us by phone on 3/5/to inquire about the chargesAn account representative explained
the charges and the terms of use that she agreed to upon signup, including the
agreement that charges are non-refundableHowever, in an effort to resolve
this issue to the member’s satisfaction, RealtyTrac issued a refund of $for
the monthly fees as a one-time courtesy before the filing of this complaint

The member registered for a 7-day free trial of RealtyTrac on 9/11/The terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration page prior to submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription feeThe terms state that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial period, the
account automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the monthly fee of $will be charged to the account information supplied by the new memberThis account was not cancelled within the day trial period, and the account was charged the monthly subscription fee beginning on 9/18/As this account was created online by the customer, it is the responsibility of the member to cancel the account if they do not intend to use the serviceAll members must agree to the Terms of Use prior to entering payment information and upon successfully activating a trial they are sent an email welcoming them to the service and reminding the customer of the date the trial would need to be cancelled in order to avoid any fees.The member spoke to a representative on 11/21/to inquire about the chargesA representative explained that the account was active, and RealtyTrac had no record of any cancellation request from the memberThe caller was unable to provide any confirmation as proof of a previous cancellation at the time of their callThe representative explained the terms that were agreed to upon signup, which states that charges on accounts are non-refundable RealtyTrac was running a special Thanksgiving Holiday promotion of 50% off one month of serviceAs a courtesy the representative advised the caller a prorated refund request would be submitted for the last charge to the account, the refund request was approved on 11/21/for $25.00.We regret that we are unable to process any further credits to the accountHowever, we can accommodate the member with complimentary exclusive website access for up to monthsThis offer has been noted on the account; please contact our customer service department at 800-550-or [email protected] to take advantage of this offer

*** *** signed up for a 7-day free trial of RealtyTrac on 12/31/His account was not canceled within the day trial periodThe terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration page prior to submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription feeThe terms state that if
the trial account is not cancelled during the trial period, the account automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the monthly fee of $will be charged to the account information supplied by the new memberThese terms must be agreed to by the registrant prior to continuing with registrationThe member’s account was not cancelled within the day trial period, and the account was charged the first monthly subscription fee on 1/7/ Our offices were contacted by a representative from *** bank on 12/30/to inquire about the account statusThe representative confirmed the information on his account was valid and that he did not request a cancellationOur representative explained the registration process, the Terms of Use agreed to by the customer and the methods of cancellation available to the customerThe bank’s representative agreed that the charges were valid and requested we cancel the membership and requested a refund of the last charge in the amount of $as a one-time courtesyAlthough no refund was due to the account, RealtyTrac issued a refund of $on 12/30/ Mrand Mrs*** contacted our offices directly on 1/5/to confirm the account was cancelled and a refund had been issued in the amount of $At no time during this recorded phone conversation did the ***s request additional disputes or express dissatisfaction with the serviceBased on the terms of use and factual evidence, no further refunds are due

Member registered for a 7-day free trial of RealtyTrac on 8/17/
The terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration page prior to
submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription feeThe terms state
that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial period, the
account
automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the monthly fee of $
will be charged to the account information supplied by the new memberThese
terms must be agreed to by the registrant prior to continuing with
registrationThe member’s account was not cancelled within the day trial
period, and the account was charged
the first monthly subscription fee on 8/24/
The member called to request cancellation on 9/30/2015,
after the trial period had endedThe representative processed the cancellation
and sent an email containing the confirmation number *** to the
email address *** at 11:03am Pacific timeThe customer was offered months of complimentary
access as a courtesy but the offer was declined. The customer placed a second call on
9/30/at 6:23pm to request refundsThe representative confirmed the
account was cancelled during the previous call and explained the terms of use
that the customer agreed to during registration including that the membership
fees are considered nonrefundableAs a onetime courtesy a refund request was
submitted for the September charge
Although no refund was due, we processed a
credit of $on 10/1/Based on the terms of use, no further refund is
due at this time

The account was billed in accordance with the Terms of Use
All members agree that the membership fee is nonrefundable regardless of usage
This is akin to a cable subscription in that the user is responsible for the monthly
payment whether or not they choose to utilize the serviceCustomers are paying
for uninterrupted access to the data and web service
The account is not eligible for further refunds based on the
Terms of Use agreed to by the memberHowever, we can accommodate the member
with complimentary exclusive website access for up to monthsThis offer has
been noted on the account; please contact our customer service department at 800-550-
or [email protected] to
take advantage of this offer

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.All the things that they stated are correct except that I "threatened to harass the call center"I did let them know that they should pay attention to my complaint because I was not ready to let it go and I did tell them that I would keep contacting them if I was not issued a full refundThe cancellations or call center rep that spoke to me changed my words into "threatened to harass"The second time I called, I asked to speak to somebody else in the company so that I could escalate my complaintI was not given any names, so I told them I would contact the Revdex.comMy point is that this business makes money out of customers that do not use the service and I want a response to thatWhy are they not refunding me in full if I did not use the service? Of course it's what the contract says, but if they are not indeed making quite a bit of money from people that forget to cancel, they should refund me in full as a sign of good faith
Regards,
*** ***

RealtyTrac is the nation’s leading provider of foreclosure and housing information and has been in business since The terms of the trial are clearly displayed on the registration page and all users are sent an email welcoming them to the service upon registration which includes a reminder of the terms, the date the account must be cancelled, cancellation instructions and our hours of operationThe cancellation instructions can also be found in the help section and the Account Details pageAs all accounts are created online by the user, it is the responsibility of the user to terminate their account in a timely manner should they choose not to continue. The Membership Services team is available days a week AM to 6:PM Pacific Time Monday through Friday and AM to PM Pacific Time Saturday and SundayThey assist over one thousand customers per day with membership upgrades, modifications, property inquiries and technical support.
As previously stated, there are no records of attempted cancellation by the customer prior to 5/5/and by the customer’s own admission in a recorded phone conversation, they do not review their monthly credit card statement where all charges from RealtyTrac are clearly labeled and include a phone number to contact RealtyTrac should they need to inquire about the subscription fee.
The customer’s account has been terminated and they received a credit of $as a one-time courtesy on 5/5/

Member registered for a 7-day free trial of RealtyTrac on 1/9/
The terms of
the trial are clearly stated on the registration page prior to
submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription feeThe terms state
that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial period, the account
automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the monthly fee of $
will be charged to the account information supplied by the new memberThese
terms must be agreed to by the registrant prior to continuing with
registrationThe member’s account was not cancelled within the day trial
period, and the account was to be charged
the first monthly subscription fee on 1/16/
The customer sent an email to the Technical Support team on
6/27/requesting a refund of all chargesThe email was responded to on the
following business day advising the customer that the department they are
emailing does not have access to make changes to account billing information
and was instructed to call the Membership Services Team along with their phone
number and hours of operation
Our call records show the customer attempted to call on
6/28/at 10:AM Pacific Time, listened to the phone menu for seconds
and disconnected the call without speaking to a representativeAll calls are
monitored and recorded
There was no further contact from the customer until
2/11/when they called and spoke with a sales representativeThe
representative explained why the account had been charged, the Terms of Use
agreed to by the customer and offered to submit a refund request for further
reviewThe customer was transferred to Customer Service for further
explanation of the Terms of Use and the refund policy which states that the
monthly fees are nonrefundableThe customer service representative explained
that the previous sales representative had cancelled the account, sent an email
containing a confirmation number, and submitted refund requests for charges
that fell within days of disputing the chargesIn the case of billing disputes, members must contact the
billing department within days of the disputed charge in order to receive
consideration for a refund:
“…In no event may Member dispute any charge or account
billing hereunder later than ninety (90) days after such questionable account
billing or other discrepancy should have been or could have been reasonably
discovered by MemberOtherwise, except as required by applicable law, any and
all such Member complaints are waived by Member.”
After reviewing the account, although no refund was due,
RealtyTrac issued a refund for the last charge to the account of $as a one-time
courtesy on 2/11/

During the
RealtyTrac signup, members must read the terms of use before entering their
credit card informationThe terms state:
Member agrees that if Member applies for a seven (7) day free trial
membership ("Trial Membership") and does not cancel such Trial
Membership, Member authorizes RealtyTrac to convert the Member's Trial
Membership into a regular paid membership for the term selected, effective
seven (7) days, or one hundred sixty-eight (168) hours following Member's
initiation of the Trial MembershipMember hereby authorizes RealtyTrac to
charge Member's credit card, debit card or bank account, in advance, for the
amount of Member's regular membership fee for each agreed term of the Member's
selected membership term… The membership fee, when paid, is non-refundable and
accrues on the first day of each term or successive renewal term until
canceled, regardless of whether or not the Member actually uses the Site, the
Services or the Content.”
The terms of the
trial are also summarized on the signup page: “You will not be charged if you cancel before your trial endsYour price
after the trial period is $per month until you cancel.”
It is unfortunate that
the member chose not to cancel the trial membership in a timely mannerThe
member has been issued a refund for the charge dated 10/3/As our initial
response indicated, this account is not eligible for any additional credits due
to the Terms of Use agreed upon and continuing to access the service following
the free trial period

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
After reviewing their response, I don't believe it was ever used and my husband quite obviously was wrong in believing his credit card did not go through I thank you for attempting to assist I will try other avenues to try to get them to refund.After checking on line comments, it appears the info they provide is outdated and they don't cancel even when requested. Regards,
*** & *** ***

I am very disappointed with Realtytrac for several reasonsTheir marketing and advertising practices are aggressive and designed to trap the average consumerI am just an citizen looking for a new home, and every time I look for information on a foreclosure property online, Realtytrac would be listed as the top hitI decided to check it out and warily signed up for their 7-day "risk free" trialThe property of interest had been purchased out of foreclosure several years ago, so Realtytrac's info was very out of date I only discovered the error after excitedly calling my real estate agent for more info on the propertyThis was very disappointingI no longer trust Realtytrac and find their aggressive marketing to be annoyingThen to add injury to insult, they have no record of me canceling the 7-day free trial, so I was charged $49.95/mo for several months before finding the charge on my bank statementThey never send alerts or receipts when they charge their monthly feeThis is sneaky and unethical

day free trialIf you call them on day out of luckNo satisfactory resolution with phone clerkOnly explains that the deal was free for days and you have to call them within that time or too badInformation they provide is uselessMuch better off with any free service

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.RealtyTrac can explain away everything they claim on the website but that still does not "fix" or stop the misleading informationRead the reviews of this companyHorrible! These "customers" believed the information from the website and did not get anything from this company except a pushy realtorThe realtors on the site get you to call them to get more informationIf I wanted a realtor I would have gone to one in the first placeThis is fraudThey offer something they can't deliver! They take no responsibilty for the content of the website!
I am not done
*** ***

The member registered for a 7-day free trial of RealtyTrac on 4/10/The terms of the trial are clearly stated on the registration page prior to submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription feeThe terms state that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial period,
the account automatically converts to a monthly subscription and the monthly fee of $will be charged to the account information supplied by the new memberAll members receive an email welcoming them to the service and explain the date the trial will convert to a monthly subscription as well as cancellation directions should the member choose not to continue past the day trial periodThis account was not cancelled within the day trial period, and the account was charged the monthly subscription fee beginning on 4/17/2016.
RealtyTrac provides cancellation directions in several locationsThey are located within the dashboard under the Account Information section, within the body of the welcome email sent to all new members, and within the RealtyTrac Support portal located at https://support.realtytrac.comThe customer sent an email to Technical Support on 4/17/at 12:AM Pacific TimeThis was well outside RealtyTrac’s posted business hoursBecause no phone call was received requesting cancellation during the trial, the account converted to a paid subscription per the Terms of Use agreed to at the time of registration.
The member spoke to a representative on 4/17/at 12:PM Pacific Time to request cancellation and inquire about the chargeThe representative explained the Terms of Use that were agreed to upon registration, which states that charges on accounts are non-refundable but a refund request would be submitted for further reviewOur records show that the customer continued to access property information until 11:AM Pacific Time on 4/17/after converting to a paid membership Based on usage and the Terms of Use, the refund request was initially denied.
The customer began calling the Membership Services team to make legal threats, threaten charge backs and to demand a refund “within two hours” or his team of lawyers would file a class action suitAn appeal was submitted on behalf of the customer and although no refund was due, it was approved the following day as a one-time courtesy

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
I did not accept the offer at the time I was billedAt the time this vendor bills a customer they must get a "Confirm" from the customer verifying the purchase.
This day bait, wait, and secretly charge a credit card without getting a "confirm" at the time of purchase is suspect and should be scrutinized by the Attorney GeneralI will continue to demand that this vendor must offer consumers an honest transaction.
Regards,
*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Member
registered for a 7-day free trial of RealtyTrac on 6/14/The terms
of the trial are clearly stated on the registration page prior to
submitting a form of payment for the monthly subscription feeThe terms
state that if the trial account is not cancelled during the trial
period, the account automatically converts to a monthly subscription and
the monthly fee of $will be charged to the account information
supplied by the new memberThese terms must be agreed to by
the registrant prior to continuing with registration
The member’s account was cancelled 6/23/2014, after the day trial
period, and the account was charged the monthly subscriptionThe member
was issued a refund of $as a one-time courtesy on 6/23/
There are no items available to purchase on the site and the user will
not be charged unless they choose to reactivate a paid subscription
The information entered by the member at the time of registration is
considered a business record and may not be removed from the systemThe
free trial is intended as a one-time offer and we want to prevent
people abusing that and signing up for the free trial multiple
times with different names and e-mail addressesThe information is
stored in an encrypted server as RealtyTrac meets the encryption
requirements set by the P.C.Icouncil.*** *** states:I want my personal credit card information removed from the site. Realty Trac did not get my permission to keep my personal credit card on file. It is my personal information and I do not want my information left on file regardless how secure the site may beTarget, Sony, Global Payment Systems, Zappos Adobe Systems, Neiman Marcus, and Yahoo just to name a few companies, all those companies thought they had secure encrypted sites that protected their customers' information. Yet they were hacked and their customers personal information compromise. Most security breaches come from with the company
There is no verbiage in the terms and conditions or privacy policy that states that my credit card information will be kept forever in their filesI was careful to look for that specific verbiage about whether my credit card would be kept on fileBusinesses that require auto renewal or keep a credit card on file do not get my business at all. The seven day trial did not provide me accurate information and found the service of no value to me. I signed up for the service on the 14th of June, my credit card was charged the full amount of $on the 15th of June ( credit hold for the whole amount) and I called and cancel on Friday the 20th June at 10:am CST one day before the day trial was up. The agent confirmed that I had been already charged and I would received a refund. Because Realty Trac did not honor it's word in regarding how you would be charged you can understand why I do not want my credit card on fileEven though I cancel via telephone at 10:am on the 20th of June my credit card was already charged and I was provided a refund on June 23, because I cancel before the trial was up on June 20, 2014. Other than verify the legitimacy of my credit card I should not have been charged until the 21st of June at the earliest. I would not have needed a refund if you had honored your word from the beginning as I cancelled in time and all you need to do was release the hold. You choose to charge me anyway to leverage the credit for a couple days before you refunded my money. Realty Trac does not need my credit card information to prevent abuse, as I will never do business with them again or recommend their service there is no reason to keep my information on file and I ask them respectfully to remove my credit card information from their website
*** ***