Make you jump through hoops and make u wait incessantly through all sorts of "processing" only to tell you at the end that there is a fee and what the fee is. Reasonable for one month but you have to cancel before the next cycle or your are automatically billed again! Who knows how difficult that process to cancel will be! When you finally download PDF (another fee!) they give you totally outdated information, and not neccessarily for the person you are looking for! You can get the information yourself from a basic internet check BECAUSE the information you really need and joined to get because you can not get on the internet is an additional fee!!!! Didn't even check to see what that fee was!!! Disgusted, and the site is totally misleading!!!
I want my money back this is supposed to help people and provide them with info they are requesting and this site did nothing for me that i couldnt do on my own. it kept acting real funny and i am very uynhappy and to think that i gave up my personal information.
I charged my credit card for a six (6) month membership. On the first attempt to utilize the service, I could not log in using the log in id and password I initially entered. The response was click here and you will recieve instructions on how to change your password via email. I followed instructions, multiple times, yet received nothing from instantcheckmate.com in response.
After reading media hype concerning background information available from Instantcheckmate.com I signed up for a one month subscription. After signing up and accessing the system I was frustrated and angry that the information was so outdated, inaccurate and incomplete that I was appalled. The site further tries to lure you to spemnd more money by promising premium accesss to mcuh more detailed information. I would suggest that Consumer Affairs investigate this RIPOFF and alert consumers before more of us are sucked by this scam.
I signed up for Instant Checkmate on the internet in September 2014. I specifically chose the one month rate (the highest) since I only needed to do a background check on possible renters for a house.
The background information of value was verifying the names that the applicants had used in the past and addresses they had previously been associated with. The report also showed traffic violations; I hope it would also show felony convictins but I did not encounter that. It does not show credit info but I knew that to begin.
My complaint stems from the Company continuing to charge me the high monthly rate in October and November when I specifically signed up for one month (or so I thought). The Instant Checkmate agent said that the agreement I automatically concurred with when applying stated that even the single monthly rate required me to cancel the service otherwise they would continue to charge. This does not make sense - if I wanted their service for more than a month, I would have selected a much lower rate.
My complaint was eventually satisfied but only after the agent tried to get me to agree to paying 3 months and then they would cancel my account. I told them I would cancel but dispute the charge, expaining that their policy did not make sense since the monthly rate is so much higher than 3 or 6 month rates - why would I need to cancel if I deliberately chose the high rate?
I also have seen an increase in the junk e-mail I get since signing up so the company must also be selling the e-mail addresses to spammers (or operating advertising firms themselves). I have now reached the limit of 500 on my Block Sender list so be prepered to change your e-mail if that bothers you.
Instant checkmate has a wonderful marketing presence, the problem is once your in you get screwed constantly, this site is a total ripoff, not only do they take you money and give you worthless information (you can learn more by asking a bum on skid row) , then theY sell your email address to the most unscruplous email spammers in the world, it gets so bad you have to cancel youR email and start fresh, the spam filters are bypassed, when you try to opt out of the spam they use your info to sell it to more spammers!
anyone who uses instant checkmate will get screwed - over and over again, then when you file a claim with the BBB, they give you a buNch of promises that they have no intention of keeping, if you file a claim make sure you hold out and do not listen to what the lies they tell you and say, they have no intentions of refunding your money or stopping the spam, they are the true "SCUM BAGS OF THE INTERNET" and they will hide behind the hidden internet wall and steal as much from you as they can, pass the word "INSTANT CHECKMATE DOT COM" IS A TOTAL INTERNET RIPPOFF AND RUN BY A PACK OF THIEVES!!!!!!
Checkmate uses classic bait and switch. They tease you with short descriptions of the types of information you will receive. After a long search process they inform you that the seaarch has found significant information about the person of interest. You are then provided with minimal information, but the opportunity to sign up for the full report at $22.95 a month. Once you proivide credit card information you then are provided with a few more morsels of infomation of little or no value, most of which could be found on the internet for free. However, for another additional fee you can receive the Premium Report which supposedly offers more important and essentional infomation. As a scam, it is well done. It sucks you and your money in, but never delivers what it advertises.
The site advertised an instant background check premium for $22.86 for a full month of unlimited background checks.
I paid the $22.86 and ordered my own background check to see if it was realistic. It seemed to be and I was offered an additional feature for $1.99 which I accepted.
I then ordered one check for my Son and one for my wife, and was charged for both checks even though the offer indicated unlimited for the one fee.
An advertisement came via email that led me to believe all and any data about me was contained in the files this company had compiled. Curious, I fell into their trap and was further lured when they had my mother's name included as part of this "vast" compilation of data.
When I paid the $22 and change via paypal, I was led to the website where I had difficulty navigating (on a smart phone). I assumed that the website was not mobile ready/friendly, so I tried again on the desktop when I got home.
Easily got on to the website at home, the pages moved much more smoothly on desktop. So much for the complimentary information.
As I perused my "data", the only information was my birthdate, where I'd lived, erroneously contending my astrological sign, and an opportunity to pay ANOTHER $19.99 if I wanted to find out more!
When I looked at my mother's data, it had a big red exclamation mark next to her name where "criminal files" was located. Knowing she's never had so much as a parking ticket, I attempted to see what was there as well. Only to find out it would take another $19.99 to find out anything about her!
I may not be the sharpest hoe in the shed, but I had figured out this was a racket, scam, whatever phrase you want to use that describes a game plan to take your money for NOTHING in return.
I called the number, 866-490-5980, and had a conversation with their phone rep. The young man was professional, curteous, polite, and based on my own aggravation, he was quite patient.
After explaining the site wasn't for me, and that I believed it had no viable information, I requested a cancellation and a refund.
In no time at all, the cancellation was granted. The refund wasn't possible if "requested data wasn't satisfactory". (rough translation, if "you don't like us taking your money and giving you nothing in return".)
I explained that I had no intention of paying $22 for a website to tell me my own name, where I live and that I go by Ken as well as Kenneth. Some day I may need someone to explain that to me, but today I damn sure know who I am and where I live!
After a used car salesman's "I've gotta check with my supervisor, can you hold for a minute", he returned as promised and offered the compromise of 50% refund. "Because we understand your situation".
I explained that he did not understand my situation, and that I could quickly and easily contact the Attorney General's office if I did not receive a full refund.
After a bit more discussion, paypal is suppose to be refunded.
I Never authorized the monthly withdrawals on my account. They won't refund my money but did SAY that they wouldn't continue to take the $22 every month.
Instant checkmate hides behind their clause that not all information is accurate. and that unfortunately is also the case with the premium charges they freely take out of your credit card. then they try to stand behind the small print when you want your money back my video proves the misuse of their customers credit information. after two hours online recording the whole conversation i got ALL my money back. and posted the best part of the video right here on youtube with instructions on how to get your money back if dissatisfied....
Buyer Beware. Instant Checkmate's supposed $1 Trial deal to test drive the service for 5 days is a complete sham. In the course of checking out their service, if you go to close your browser, a popup claims to offer the same $22 monthly service - and all of its same benefits - for a mere $1. They lie!
As soon as I allowed myself to be duped into it by registering my account and, presumably, paying the $1 fee, they said I would need to pay another $1.99 to download the report I had generated on somebody I'm suing (I'm trying to verify and document the person's past addresses and the dates he resided at those addresses). Okay, so I figured it was too good to be true and agreed to the extra fee for the download.
I was shocked when I open the "report" to see that it had next to no information. What it had is already available on the Internet, except for the fact that it figured out his astrological sign for me! No dates were provided for the addresses listed in the report, unless I wanted to sign up for a Premium Account! I immediate called and cancelled the transaction (I hope). It's probably a future credit card dispute. You would think these credit cards companies would get tired of processing chargebacks on comapnies like Instant Checkmate.
These p***** give legitimate businesses on the Internet a bad rap. Hopefully, an enterprising law firm will step up and file a class action lawsuit against this corrupt company. In the meantime, where are state attorneys' general? Instant Checkmate is willfully and with malice of forethought misrepresenting their service every day, in probably every state, and should be called to account in open court.
Does anyone know a truthful, legitimate background information service?
Once they get your email address, be prepared for a boat load of spam!!!
i began the sign-up process with this company but before completing it, i checked the net and found enough negative for me to cancel...not complete the process or give them any CC info. i used an email address that had not ever received even 1 piece of spam in the 4 years that i have used it but the minute i used it for the instant checkmate sign-up process, i immediately started receiving +/- 20 spam emails everyday!
Instant Checkmate unable to locate local address and continued to bill me for three months after canceled claimed i should have received notice via email
InstantCheckmate.com is a ripoff (read the disclaimers... you MAY not get the information for which you will have paid and the disclaimer is both wordy and the information is buried).
If you need information, use another service.
They are very facile at disallowing responsibility for what they say they will provide and then do NOT provide.
This company, (Instant Checkmate inc.), is a Rip-off organization operating through dishonest and fraudulent practices. They charged me $22.80 in September of 2014, for a service that I never signed up for. I will be cancelling my credit card so that they cannot charge me in the future.
Even though the charge applied to my bank account would permit me to use their service, I will refrain from doing so. I have read enough rip-off reports against them, and there are THOUSANDS, (including information through the Better Business Bureau), to kill my curiosity with regard to seeking any information.
The very negative reports that I have read, indicate that the information they supply, (for $22.80) is completely useless. The data they provide is broad range and inaccurate, data that is NOT related to the search names and addresses that the searcher provides; data that encompasses hundreds of like names to weed through.
This money-grabbing, dishonest, corporation, is a highly manipulative SCAM operation that should be avoided at all costs. I trust that rip-off reports like this one, submitted by dissatisfied and angry people, some like myself who never subscribed, will precurse legal action against Instant Checkmate Inc., so to prevent them further business.
I did nothing but request a supposed free background chk. Their site required you to enter a credit card number, whether or not you used the site. My card was charged twice $1.99 and $22.86. I did not receive any information of consequences. All information was already known.
I wanted information about my background. I also wanted information about family members. The cost was $22.86 per month. The payment was a renewal each month. I called their customer service number to cancel agreement. They said I won $100.00 Free gift voucher from Walmart. They ask for mailing address. I gave it to them. They then wanted $4.99 Credit card for shipping and handling for package. They would not transfer me to customer service. I hung up telephone. I purchased agreement on August 03, 2014. I do no want their services.
This company is a SCAm! They claim to charge $20, then charge another $22, for nothing but fraudulent information! I'm 62 never been arrested but somehow it listed I was! Had nothing but lies , refused a refund! Even when I did not authorize charges on my card! Worst company I've ever dealt with!
I used the service to check the background of contractors, before our company hired a company to provide the service. I think at most I looked up 3-5 people/companies and never logged back in to the site. I did not realize the company continued to charge my account. I was originally told they could only give me back half of this months charge. I hung up called my bank and cancelled the card. I called back asked for address and mentioned I was going to file a claim and contact BBB. The offered to give me an additional month return. I don't have all day to play games with them. They know I haven't logged into the system, but just want your money.
Requested a full report that I knew had a very old arrest record and a few traffic tickets. What was returned did not have any of this and also had no marriage record.
The only things returned were name address and phone number, which could be found in 10 % of the time at no charge.
I have cancelled to ensure that there are no more charges.
Instant Checkmate advertises that it will cost so much per month to get information on people. However, after they get your credit card money, they tell you that you will have to pay 19.99 each time you look someone up. This is a complete ripoff.
I tiried this by being referred from a AOL news story. I entered my name and it told me how much it would cost and I went to close the out the web page and a small box opened saying I could try it for $1 for 5 days. I ended up being charged $1 and an extra $1.99. I tried maybe 10 names and not one came with anything with law enforcement information which I think is illegal. I than found that after 5 days they charged my another $29.63 to my credit card. This they told me was in the terms agreement however I was not notifified in the usual manner of a box listing what I was buying. After a 30 minute phone call they said they will refund the the $29.63 we will see.
Needed background check on someone, got suckered into doing three separate reports only to find that none of them had any current information. after paying it tells you that you have to do a check with any aliases separately, what a joke! zero information that was of any use.
fine print says they can charge your card indefinitely until you call them to cancel so guess who just got nailed for $80 in worthless information after realizing i was signed up for a subscription? Beware, stay away from this company and find a legitamite background check service.
I had seen this company's advertisements for some time and decided to give them a try. Big mistake! Every step of the way they asked for more money. It is not just the one time fee they advertise. I went only far enough to realize that they were going to milk me of more and more money before calling their company and requesting that they cancel my account and then requested a refund. I was first told they would cancel the account but not refund. I told them that was not satisfactory and requested to speak to a supervisor. The customer service rep put me on hold briefly and then offered me a 50% refund. I told her that was not satisfactory and again requested a complete refund. Brief hold again and she came back on the line and told me that they would refund the entire amount. I again requested a supervisor because, frankly, I don't trust their word. Finally I was able to talk with a supervisor and took his name and contact info. I also received an immediate receipt from Pay Pal that the auto pays have been cancelled and my money refunded. Do not deal with these people. It is a total ripoff. Stand your ground if you do sign up and find out it's a ripoff. You just might get your money back.
When looking up sources for researching ancestors, this site came up. The initial search shows results for said relatives. Then when you pay and go on to do the research the relatives disappear. You also don't exist and neither do your sisters or brothers.
They tout being this exclusive service that has information, initially show you information then they have none. Don't waste your money here. Also don't think you will get a refund, they don't do that either.
I have been trying to reach someone I care about and the phone is disconnected. The things I already know helped me to research on the web for newspaper and or court reports.
A year and a half ago I was in the same situation and came across Instant Checkmate and found some information that wasn't a likely match but close enough to hook me in for $1 trail offer. I found out pretty quickly that they had nothing at all on my loved one. They didn't even have the criminal information I already knew about. I quickly cancelled the subscription so that the monthly fee wouldn't come up and surprise me.
After exhausting all my interest search trigger words I once again came across Instant Checkmate but this time my initial inquiry came spot on for name, town, state, date of birth and age. The inquiry went through all it's long drawn out search catagory countdowns and all the drama leading up to saving the report and having you agree to not use the information in any leagal situaltions, etc, etc. Then I come to the screen to pay and since I am thinking all I need is this one report I will have to settle for the one month unlimited searches for $22.?? and remind myself to cancel so I don't get charged for any future months.
The next screen explains that the report is printed in PDF and that is fine with me and then a popup want to charge me $1.99 for the report. Frustration sets in but I remind myself that the report is for the exact person I am looking for so I agree to pay. The report displays and it shows me the name, address, date of birth, astrological sign. I was interested if there was any recent court issues but the report indicated no arrests (I am aware of many over the last 12 years), in the area of relatives the report state that none were found.
The final kick in the shins is at the botom of the page it asked if I want to upgrade to a premium report to get additional information. Premium users sometimes get more than twice the information for an additional $19.99. I decided that two time nothing is nothing no matter wihich way you look at it.
This company is scam. They force you to pay about $30 a month, then as soon as you want to quit, they offer you $1 membership. I decided to use and see what's out there since had a prepaid card with only like $4 left, and the funny thing was that they gave all the wrong info.
I know my employee does have criminal record, that's why he cannot renew his license. I wanted to have the details, but there it shows as if he does not have criminal record. This is meanwhile I paid for his lifescan check!
I know as a fact that he is divorced with all that data given to me with proof, but here it shows as if he has never been married.
I know as a fact that he is licensed, since I do have that license in his file with copes of it and links to licencing website, but here it shows as if he does not have any license.
They just have the same info copied from whitepages.com, nothing else, but flashy and fraudulent buttons and tricks in their website for people to sign up for their stupid website and get something they can get it free from whitepages.com. They won't let you cancel unless you call them. WTF! How come you can sign up without calling them, but for cancelling you have to call them?
DO NOT USE THIS SITE. THEY WILL CHARGE YOU MONEY JUST TO GIVE YOU THE NAME OF A PERSON WITH NO DATA WHICH THEY PROMISE YOU WILL GET. THEY WANTED ANOTHER $20 FOR YOU TO GET THE REPORT. WHAT A MASSIVE RIP OFF. I CALLED THEM AND CHARGED THEM WITH FRAUD AND MISREPRESENTING THEIR SERVICES. STAY AWAY FROM THEM IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ANY CRIMINAL RECORDS OR PERSONAL INFO.. YOU WON'T GET IT. THEN THEY TOLD ME THAT NEW YORK STATE DOESN'T REPORT CRIMINAL RECORDS ANYWAY AND I WOULD HAVE TO MAKE A TRIP TO A COURT HOUSE. EVEN FURTHER MISREPRESENTATION OF WHAT THEY CLAIM THEY CAN GIVE YOU. IT'S A SCAM...STAY AWAY.
Checkmate gave me no more info than regular web search. I knew more than they did so knew was a ripoff and called wanting my money back. Please don't use them.
Signed up years ago for checking employees at hire. Used to give full info on address, prior address, and credit and criminal history....and it was accurate. There were no hidden fees, and we could search whenever, and as many times as we wanted. This year, I checked an employee, and received Google info, and was required to pay 19.99 more to get info that used to be part of the service. Am cancelling my subscription
I was pleasantly surprised when I contacted them about a recurring monthly bill on an account that I had forgotten that I set up, I spoke with a very professional and polite service representative named "CJ", who, after verifying with his supervisor, was able to credit me back with the majority of the fees they had taken out of my account over a 5 month period. What he said helped him was that I was calm, polite and professional with him, and he rewarded my behavior with excellent service. I figure these people get yelled at all day, so I think he was happy to have a calm person on the line. Good luck!
I talked with support, she then talked with her supervisor & he/she granted a 1/2 return on my account. They would not return the entire amount because I forgot ??? to cancel my account. This is a rip off company operating on the internet. Beware - Beware - Beware.
I kept getting turned down for jobs. It was puzzling. I finally went on line to see what a background check would show. InstantCheckmate.com popped up with my name when I typed it into the internet.
InstantCheckmate.com came back with "We found (name)! Arrest records! Shocking and graphic reports! Warning!!!" It stunned me. I have never been arrested and I am not a weirdo. Curious to see what InstantCheckmate.com was "reporting a about me that was so graphic and shocking" - it linked my name, my postal box and address to some prostitute from New York that had been arrested in the local area.
No wonder employers turned me down! These outright lies have made my life and finances a living hell! Insant Checkmates slanderous, deceitful and malicious reports need to be exposed for the fiction they are. These creepy liars are ruining lives and need to be sued in a Class Action to shut them down. Instant Checkmate and their employees need to be sued. When I called them & informed them I was NOT a prostitute, and their information was pure lies, the girl on the line practically yawned as she read a script. We apologize. Uh-they DID NOT remove the slanderous information. As of this report, I just lost job opportunity #14 after a background check.
They have a prominent ad on AOL advertising their services. This creates the misleading impressing that AOL has checked them out or is endorsing their services. If AOL is endorsing their services, they should be ashamed.
The information Instant Checkmate provided was completely false. I called customer services to request a refund minutes after the charges went through, and my request was denied. I don't know the quality of other background investigation services, but Instant Checkmate should be avoided at all costs
I was to be charged initially $1 for a free 30 day trial. They immediately charged me $ 22.86. They said they never received a cancelation call but yet they reversed the charge the next month, and then took it back out.
The next monthe they tried to put the charge through 5 different times. For the following 2 months they charged me again.
When i contacted them they said they would cancel it immediately, but would not refund any money. The gentleman got very rude with me and as did I in return, and told them I would be contacting my credit card company and turning them in for fraud.
I called my credit card company and then started a complaint with The Better Business Bureau. People like this need to be stopped.
I was trying to get public records on myself , i had a ticket expunged and i wanted to get the date on record.
after using my credit card to get this info it gave me verything but that. Also the info about myself was false also. Just one big rip off . Please put them down for good.
Claimed to provide services for an amount then required more money after initial amount was paid. Did not provide services for price advertised. Bait and switch.
Whated to see my background and so I searched it and it wanted to give me a free trial but then charge me so when I refussed 2 times iwas goung to go to a different website when it offerend $1.00 for only 24 hours and thats all nothing elseand then the f ollowing month it changes my debit card $29.99 with out my Authorization. So I will be calling to demand a full refund and if I still have problems then I will yave no choice but to call the Better Business Bureau.
For me, it never fails! No matter how many times I tell myself to check the complaints on a company first, I always forget!
These people are probably trying to provide a good service, but like everything else, they want more and more of your money. I passed two FBI background LiveScan checkes within the last three years, so I started with my own name only to find out there was bogus information.
Here is how they are getting you. They know the main thing you might want to know is about the criminal history of a person, so it looks like every search returns, "possible criminal history! They know you will pay more to find out when it's not revealed in the first report.
I got my full refund, I was VERY polite and asked for a supervisor. The woman who took my call was sweet, and really sounded like she could make a lot of money in another line of phone work, if you know what I mean, :D
This company does not have the right cerification to provide the info people are looking for as explained to me. I was lucky and got my money back but who knows what will happen in the furture?
$22.86 for what the deceptive advertising leads you to believe is a full background report. They entice you and drag you along to finally say you need to pay an additional $20 for the real background information such as arrest records. I called and complained and ended up getting charged about $11. I cancelled my membership immediately - not worth it - don't go there! Even the additional $20 got me no information!
The person I was checking was married 8 times. The report showed once. There was no info in report that could not be found on google. A waste of money.
I read the description on their website and it didn't seem that fat fetched so I bit on it. When I paid my money, I joined and did my search. I found NOTHING that I couldn't find from a free public records search, I was a little pissed. I called and demanded a full refund stating my reasons. The operator told me that the level I purchased had limited search features. When I read to her exactly what the ad stated she got quite, got her manager and then offered me a full refund.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS SITE IT'S ANOTHER INTERNET RIP OFF
I bought into their service after looking at their very nicly done wed page. Looked like exactly wh t i was looking for. Web sight promissed any information you might need for doing business with individual. After signing up and trying my first search i was offered information you could find in any phone book. If i wanted detailed information on thar person i would have to pay $19.95 more, which like a complete idiot i did. $20 later i was told that no additional information was avalable.
I tried another information sight that offered a free trial. Pages of information on the same person for free. This tells me beond a shadow of doubt that CheckMate is a total ripoff with no intention of providing service they sell.
I was researching online and came across a "free" service to help track down people for a high school reunion. I somehow inadvertently and apparently ended up on the Instant Checkmate website where they offered low cost or free trial research services. Now I discover that for a one-time effort of looking up two names on the same day for what I thought was a FREE service, I have been charged $22.86 monthly for SEVEN months. Moreover, Wells Fargo did not back me up on the fraudulent charges and said that I should have read some nondescript fine print or contract That I have no recollection of ever seeing. I NEVER received email confirmation because it undoubtedly was filtered as junk, being as how this company more than likely is marked as a source of a high volume of complaint activity. DO NOT USE THEIR SERVICES because they do not deliver as promised and hide behind sneaky hidden "auto-renewal" terms and will zap your account over and over again!!!
Saw misleading ad on AOL. Decided to try service. Charged me $22.95 for one month unlimited search. Paid fee using PayPal. I ran search on myself. To get a PDF download of info I was charged another $1.99 fee. When I finally got the download it contained material that could be gotten doing a generl google search. Of course they than offerd a "premium" membership for $19.99 offering more information to shocking to give in a general membership. "Fool me once......" I am in the process of trying to cancel my membership now.
I started a search on instantcheckmate to see if my daughter's stalker was still in jail. I used a variation of my name when I registered. In the end I decided to not give my credit card information and left the site. Immediately I got emails from loan companies which used the name variation I had given to instantcheckmate. It appears this site makes its money from data collection
Instant Checkmate is a fraudulent operation. They need to be put out of business. They have cheated thousands of people, I'm sorry to say I am one of them.
Info was old or wrong. So dumb me thought if I upgraded to premium I could get more...ha...what a crock! There was nothing newer than what I already knew from 3 years ago. I looked up my husband just to see what it said and I better not tell him we really didn't get married 28 yrs ago. When I looked me up it had the correct day and his name on it.
I will start looking at things like this before I use online sites again oh and no refund! Gee I really thought I would get one (sarcasm)
Instant Checkmate claims there are no hidden fees. I chose the one month option to get unlimited background checks and reports. When my report finally processed, it contained information I can get for free on Spokeo.com. The personal information I was looking for was not available but available if I upgraded to premium for an additional $19.95.
The whole point of paying my initial $20 was to recieve information not readily available. I called to complain and was told ""sometimes piblic records are not available to us. It all depends on the record.""
Waste of my money, not to mention I thought it was only a one time fee and found out it is a reoccuring monthly fee.
Instant Checkmate Reviews
Make you jump through hoops and make u wait incessantly through all sorts of "processing" only to tell you at the end that there is a fee and what the fee is. Reasonable for one month but you have to cancel before the next cycle or your are automatically billed again! Who knows how difficult that process to cancel will be! When you finally download PDF (another fee!) they give you totally outdated information, and not neccessarily for the person you are looking for! You can get the information yourself from a basic internet check BECAUSE the information you really need and joined to get because you can not get on the internet is an additional fee!!!! Didn't even check to see what that fee was!!! Disgusted, and the site is totally misleading!!!
I want my money back this is supposed to help people and provide them with info they are requesting and this site did nothing for me that i couldnt do on my own. it kept acting real funny and i am very uynhappy and to think that i gave up my personal information.
Instant checkmate is a total rip off. They give you the same infomation you can acess for free.
I charged my credit card for a six (6) month membership. On the first attempt to utilize the service, I could not log in using the log in id and password I initially entered. The response was click here and you will recieve instructions on how to change your password via email. I followed instructions, multiple times, yet received nothing from instantcheckmate.com in response.
After reading media hype concerning background information available from Instantcheckmate.com I signed up for a one month subscription. After signing up and accessing the system I was frustrated and angry that the information was so outdated, inaccurate and incomplete that I was appalled. The site further tries to lure you to spemnd more money by promising premium accesss to mcuh more detailed information. I would suggest that Consumer Affairs investigate this RIPOFF and alert consumers before more of us are sucked by this scam.
I signed up for Instant Checkmate on the internet in September 2014. I specifically chose the one month rate (the highest) since I only needed to do a background check on possible renters for a house.
The background information of value was verifying the names that the applicants had used in the past and addresses they had previously been associated with. The report also showed traffic violations; I hope it would also show felony convictins but I did not encounter that. It does not show credit info but I knew that to begin.
My complaint stems from the Company continuing to charge me the high monthly rate in October and November when I specifically signed up for one month (or so I thought). The Instant Checkmate agent said that the agreement I automatically concurred with when applying stated that even the single monthly rate required me to cancel the service otherwise they would continue to charge. This does not make sense - if I wanted their service for more than a month, I would have selected a much lower rate.
My complaint was eventually satisfied but only after the agent tried to get me to agree to paying 3 months and then they would cancel my account. I told them I would cancel but dispute the charge, expaining that their policy did not make sense since the monthly rate is so much higher than 3 or 6 month rates - why would I need to cancel if I deliberately chose the high rate?
I also have seen an increase in the junk e-mail I get since signing up so the company must also be selling the e-mail addresses to spammers (or operating advertising firms themselves). I have now reached the limit of 500 on my Block Sender list so be prepered to change your e-mail if that bothers you.
Instant checkmate has a wonderful marketing presence, the problem is once your in you get screwed constantly, this site is a total ripoff, not only do they take you money and give you worthless information (you can learn more by asking a bum on skid row) , then theY sell your email address to the most unscruplous email spammers in the world, it gets so bad you have to cancel youR email and start fresh, the spam filters are bypassed, when you try to opt out of the spam they use your info to sell it to more spammers!
anyone who uses instant checkmate will get screwed - over and over again, then when you file a claim with the BBB, they give you a buNch of promises that they have no intention of keeping, if you file a claim make sure you hold out and do not listen to what the lies they tell you and say, they have no intentions of refunding your money or stopping the spam, they are the true "SCUM BAGS OF THE INTERNET" and they will hide behind the hidden internet wall and steal as much from you as they can, pass the word "INSTANT CHECKMATE DOT COM" IS A TOTAL INTERNET RIPPOFF AND RUN BY A PACK OF THIEVES!!!!!!
Checkmate uses classic bait and switch. They tease you with short descriptions of the types of information you will receive. After a long search process they inform you that the seaarch has found significant information about the person of interest. You are then provided with minimal information, but the opportunity to sign up for the full report at $22.95 a month. Once you proivide credit card information you then are provided with a few more morsels of infomation of little or no value, most of which could be found on the internet for free. However, for another additional fee you can receive the Premium Report which supposedly offers more important and essentional infomation. As a scam, it is well done. It sucks you and your money in, but never delivers what it advertises.
The site advertised an instant background check premium for $22.86 for a full month of unlimited background checks.
I paid the $22.86 and ordered my own background check to see if it was realistic. It seemed to be and I was offered an additional feature for $1.99 which I accepted.
I then ordered one check for my Son and one for my wife, and was charged for both checks even though the offer indicated unlimited for the one fee.
An advertisement came via email that led me to believe all and any data about me was contained in the files this company had compiled. Curious, I fell into their trap and was further lured when they had my mother's name included as part of this "vast" compilation of data.
When I paid the $22 and change via paypal, I was led to the website where I had difficulty navigating (on a smart phone). I assumed that the website was not mobile ready/friendly, so I tried again on the desktop when I got home.
Easily got on to the website at home, the pages moved much more smoothly on desktop. So much for the complimentary information.
As I perused my "data", the only information was my birthdate, where I'd lived, erroneously contending my astrological sign, and an opportunity to pay ANOTHER $19.99 if I wanted to find out more!
When I looked at my mother's data, it had a big red exclamation mark next to her name where "criminal files" was located. Knowing she's never had so much as a parking ticket, I attempted to see what was there as well. Only to find out it would take another $19.99 to find out anything about her!
I may not be the sharpest hoe in the shed, but I had figured out this was a racket, scam, whatever phrase you want to use that describes a game plan to take your money for NOTHING in return.
I called the number, 866-490-5980, and had a conversation with their phone rep. The young man was professional, curteous, polite, and based on my own aggravation, he was quite patient.
After explaining the site wasn't for me, and that I believed it had no viable information, I requested a cancellation and a refund.
In no time at all, the cancellation was granted. The refund wasn't possible if "requested data wasn't satisfactory". (rough translation, if "you don't like us taking your money and giving you nothing in return".)
I explained that I had no intention of paying $22 for a website to tell me my own name, where I live and that I go by Ken as well as Kenneth. Some day I may need someone to explain that to me, but today I damn sure know who I am and where I live!
After a used car salesman's "I've gotta check with my supervisor, can you hold for a minute", he returned as promised and offered the compromise of 50% refund. "Because we understand your situation".
I explained that he did not understand my situation, and that I could quickly and easily contact the Attorney General's office if I did not receive a full refund.
After a bit more discussion, paypal is suppose to be refunded.
We'll see...
I Never authorized the monthly withdrawals on my account. They won't refund my money but did SAY that they wouldn't continue to take the $22 every month.
Instant checkmate hides behind their clause that not all information is accurate. and that unfortunately is also the case with the premium charges they freely take out of your credit card. then they try to stand behind the small print when you want your money back my video proves the misuse of their customers credit information. after two hours online recording the whole conversation i got ALL my money back. and posted the best part of the video right here on youtube with instructions on how to get your money back if dissatisfied....
Instant Checkmate $1 Trial is a Scam!!
Buyer Beware. Instant Checkmate's supposed $1 Trial deal to test drive the service for 5 days is a complete sham. In the course of checking out their service, if you go to close your browser, a popup claims to offer the same $22 monthly service - and all of its same benefits - for a mere $1. They lie!
As soon as I allowed myself to be duped into it by registering my account and, presumably, paying the $1 fee, they said I would need to pay another $1.99 to download the report I had generated on somebody I'm suing (I'm trying to verify and document the person's past addresses and the dates he resided at those addresses). Okay, so I figured it was too good to be true and agreed to the extra fee for the download.
I was shocked when I open the "report" to see that it had next to no information. What it had is already available on the Internet, except for the fact that it figured out his astrological sign for me! No dates were provided for the addresses listed in the report, unless I wanted to sign up for a Premium Account! I immediate called and cancelled the transaction (I hope). It's probably a future credit card dispute. You would think these credit cards companies would get tired of processing chargebacks on comapnies like Instant Checkmate.
These p***** give legitimate businesses on the Internet a bad rap. Hopefully, an enterprising law firm will step up and file a class action lawsuit against this corrupt company. In the meantime, where are state attorneys' general? Instant Checkmate is willfully and with malice of forethought misrepresenting their service every day, in probably every state, and should be called to account in open court.
Does anyone know a truthful, legitimate background information service?
Once they get your email address, be prepared for a boat load of spam!!!
i began the sign-up process with this company but before completing it, i checked the net and found enough negative for me to cancel...not complete the process or give them any CC info. i used an email address that had not ever received even 1 piece of spam in the 4 years that i have used it but the minute i used it for the instant checkmate sign-up process, i immediately started receiving +/- 20 spam emails everyday!
Instant Checkmate unable to locate local address and continued to bill me for three months after canceled claimed i should have received notice via email
InstantCheckmate.com is a ripoff (read the disclaimers... you MAY not get the information for which you will have paid and the disclaimer is both wordy and the information is buried).
If you need information, use another service.
They are very facile at disallowing responsibility for what they say they will provide and then do NOT provide.
Domain Name: INSTANTCHECKMATE.COM
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
4330 South Valley View Blvd
Suite 114
Las Vegas NV 89103
Website:http://www.instantcheckmate.com
Phone:(866) 490-5980
Email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Additional Employees:
Karla Danhieux Operations Manager
Gabriel Bristol CEO
This company, (Instant Checkmate inc.), is a Rip-off organization operating through dishonest and fraudulent practices. They charged me $22.80 in September of 2014, for a service that I never signed up for. I will be cancelling my credit card so that they cannot charge me in the future.
Even though the charge applied to my bank account would permit me to use their service, I will refrain from doing so. I have read enough rip-off reports against them, and there are THOUSANDS, (including information through the Better Business Bureau), to kill my curiosity with regard to seeking any information.
The very negative reports that I have read, indicate that the information they supply, (for $22.80) is completely useless. The data they provide is broad range and inaccurate, data that is NOT related to the search names and addresses that the searcher provides; data that encompasses hundreds of like names to weed through.
This money-grabbing, dishonest, corporation, is a highly manipulative SCAM operation that should be avoided at all costs. I trust that rip-off reports like this one, submitted by dissatisfied and angry people, some like myself who never subscribed, will precurse legal action against Instant Checkmate Inc., so to prevent them further business.
I did nothing but request a supposed free background chk. Their site required you to enter a credit card number, whether or not you used the site. My card was charged twice $1.99 and $22.86. I did not receive any information of consequences. All information was already known.
I wanted information about my background. I also wanted information about family members. The cost was $22.86 per month. The payment was a renewal each month. I called their customer service number to cancel agreement. They said I won $100.00 Free gift voucher from Walmart. They ask for mailing address. I gave it to them. They then wanted $4.99 Credit card for shipping and handling for package. They would not transfer me to customer service. I hung up telephone. I purchased agreement on August 03, 2014. I do no want their services.
This company is a SCAm! They claim to charge $20, then charge another $22, for nothing but fraudulent information! I'm 62 never been arrested but somehow it listed I was! Had nothing but lies , refused a refund! Even when I did not authorize charges on my card! Worst company I've ever dealt with!
I used the service to check the background of contractors, before our company hired a company to provide the service. I think at most I looked up 3-5 people/companies and never logged back in to the site. I did not realize the company continued to charge my account. I was originally told they could only give me back half of this months charge. I hung up called my bank and cancelled the card. I called back asked for address and mentioned I was going to file a claim and contact BBB. The offered to give me an additional month return. I don't have all day to play games with them. They know I haven't logged into the system, but just want your money.
Requested a full report that I knew had a very old arrest record and a few traffic tickets. What was returned did not have any of this and also had no marriage record.
The only things returned were name address and phone number, which could be found in 10 % of the time at no charge.
I have cancelled to ensure that there are no more charges.
Instant Checkmate advertises that it will cost so much per month to get information on people. However, after they get your credit card money, they tell you that you will have to pay 19.99 each time you look someone up. This is a complete ripoff.
I tiried this by being referred from a AOL news story. I entered my name and it told me how much it would cost and I went to close the out the web page and a small box opened saying I could try it for $1 for 5 days. I ended up being charged $1 and an extra $1.99. I tried maybe 10 names and not one came with anything with law enforcement information which I think is illegal. I than found that after 5 days they charged my another $29.63 to my credit card. This they told me was in the terms agreement however I was not notifified in the usual manner of a box listing what I was buying. After a 30 minute phone call they said they will refund the the $29.63 we will see.
Needed background check on someone, got suckered into doing three separate reports only to find that none of them had any current information. after paying it tells you that you have to do a check with any aliases separately, what a joke! zero information that was of any use.
fine print says they can charge your card indefinitely until you call them to cancel so guess who just got nailed for $80 in worthless information after realizing i was signed up for a subscription? Beware, stay away from this company and find a legitamite background check service.
I had seen this company's advertisements for some time and decided to give them a try. Big mistake! Every step of the way they asked for more money. It is not just the one time fee they advertise. I went only far enough to realize that they were going to milk me of more and more money before calling their company and requesting that they cancel my account and then requested a refund. I was first told they would cancel the account but not refund. I told them that was not satisfactory and requested to speak to a supervisor. The customer service rep put me on hold briefly and then offered me a 50% refund. I told her that was not satisfactory and again requested a complete refund. Brief hold again and she came back on the line and told me that they would refund the entire amount. I again requested a supervisor because, frankly, I don't trust their word. Finally I was able to talk with a supervisor and took his name and contact info. I also received an immediate receipt from Pay Pal that the auto pays have been cancelled and my money refunded. Do not deal with these people. It is a total ripoff. Stand your ground if you do sign up and find out it's a ripoff. You just might get your money back.
When looking up sources for researching ancestors, this site came up. The initial search shows results for said relatives. Then when you pay and go on to do the research the relatives disappear. You also don't exist and neither do your sisters or brothers.
They tout being this exclusive service that has information, initially show you information then they have none. Don't waste your money here. Also don't think you will get a refund, they don't do that either.
I have been trying to reach someone I care about and the phone is disconnected. The things I already know helped me to research on the web for newspaper and or court reports.
A year and a half ago I was in the same situation and came across Instant Checkmate and found some information that wasn't a likely match but close enough to hook me in for $1 trail offer. I found out pretty quickly that they had nothing at all on my loved one. They didn't even have the criminal information I already knew about. I quickly cancelled the subscription so that the monthly fee wouldn't come up and surprise me.
After exhausting all my interest search trigger words I once again came across Instant Checkmate but this time my initial inquiry came spot on for name, town, state, date of birth and age. The inquiry went through all it's long drawn out search catagory countdowns and all the drama leading up to saving the report and having you agree to not use the information in any leagal situaltions, etc, etc. Then I come to the screen to pay and since I am thinking all I need is this one report I will have to settle for the one month unlimited searches for $22.?? and remind myself to cancel so I don't get charged for any future months.
The next screen explains that the report is printed in PDF and that is fine with me and then a popup want to charge me $1.99 for the report. Frustration sets in but I remind myself that the report is for the exact person I am looking for so I agree to pay. The report displays and it shows me the name, address, date of birth, astrological sign. I was interested if there was any recent court issues but the report indicated no arrests (I am aware of many over the last 12 years), in the area of relatives the report state that none were found.
The final kick in the shins is at the botom of the page it asked if I want to upgrade to a premium report to get additional information. Premium users sometimes get more than twice the information for an additional $19.99. I decided that two time nothing is nothing no matter wihich way you look at it.
This company is scam. They force you to pay about $30 a month, then as soon as you want to quit, they offer you $1 membership. I decided to use and see what's out there since had a prepaid card with only like $4 left, and the funny thing was that they gave all the wrong info.
I know my employee does have criminal record, that's why he cannot renew his license. I wanted to have the details, but there it shows as if he does not have criminal record. This is meanwhile I paid for his lifescan check!
I know as a fact that he is divorced with all that data given to me with proof, but here it shows as if he has never been married.
I know as a fact that he is licensed, since I do have that license in his file with copes of it and links to licencing website, but here it shows as if he does not have any license.
They just have the same info copied from whitepages.com, nothing else, but flashy and fraudulent buttons and tricks in their website for people to sign up for their stupid website and get something they can get it free from whitepages.com. They won't let you cancel unless you call them. WTF! How come you can sign up without calling them, but for cancelling you have to call them?
DO NOT USE THIS SITE. THEY WILL CHARGE YOU MONEY JUST TO GIVE YOU THE NAME OF A PERSON WITH NO DATA WHICH THEY PROMISE YOU WILL GET. THEY WANTED ANOTHER $20 FOR YOU TO GET THE REPORT. WHAT A MASSIVE RIP OFF. I CALLED THEM AND CHARGED THEM WITH FRAUD AND MISREPRESENTING THEIR SERVICES. STAY AWAY FROM THEM IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ANY CRIMINAL RECORDS OR PERSONAL INFO.. YOU WON'T GET IT. THEN THEY TOLD ME THAT NEW YORK STATE DOESN'T REPORT CRIMINAL RECORDS ANYWAY AND I WOULD HAVE TO MAKE A TRIP TO A COURT HOUSE. EVEN FURTHER MISREPRESENTATION OF WHAT THEY CLAIM THEY CAN GIVE YOU. IT'S A SCAM...STAY AWAY.
Checkmate gave me no more info than regular web search. I knew more than they did so knew was a ripoff and called wanting my money back. Please don't use them.
Instant Checkmate has changed
Signed up years ago for checking employees at hire. Used to give full info on address, prior address, and credit and criminal history....and it was accurate. There were no hidden fees, and we could search whenever, and as many times as we wanted. This year, I checked an employee, and received Google info, and was required to pay 19.99 more to get info that used to be part of the service. Am cancelling my subscription
I was pleasantly surprised when I contacted them about a recurring monthly bill on an account that I had forgotten that I set up, I spoke with a very professional and polite service representative named "CJ", who, after verifying with his supervisor, was able to credit me back with the majority of the fees they had taken out of my account over a 5 month period. What he said helped him was that I was calm, polite and professional with him, and he rewarded my behavior with excellent service. I figure these people get yelled at all day, so I think he was happy to have a calm person on the line. Good luck!
I talked with support, she then talked with her supervisor & he/she granted a 1/2 return on my account. They would not return the entire amount because I forgot ??? to cancel my account. This is a rip off company operating on the internet. Beware - Beware - Beware.
I kept getting turned down for jobs. It was puzzling. I finally went on line to see what a background check would show. InstantCheckmate.com popped up with my name when I typed it into the internet.
InstantCheckmate.com came back with "We found (name)! Arrest records! Shocking and graphic reports! Warning!!!" It stunned me. I have never been arrested and I am not a weirdo. Curious to see what InstantCheckmate.com was "reporting a about me that was so graphic and shocking" - it linked my name, my postal box and address to some prostitute from New York that had been arrested in the local area.
No wonder employers turned me down! These outright lies have made my life and finances a living hell! Insant Checkmates slanderous, deceitful and malicious reports need to be exposed for the fiction they are. These creepy liars are ruining lives and need to be sued in a Class Action to shut them down. Instant Checkmate and their employees need to be sued. When I called them & informed them I was NOT a prostitute, and their information was pure lies, the girl on the line practically yawned as she read a script. We apologize. Uh-they DID NOT remove the slanderous information. As of this report, I just lost job opportunity #14 after a background check.
They have a prominent ad on AOL advertising their services. This creates the misleading impressing that AOL has checked them out or is endorsing their services. If AOL is endorsing their services, they should be ashamed.
The information Instant Checkmate provided was completely false. I called customer services to request a refund minutes after the charges went through, and my request was denied. I don't know the quality of other background investigation services, but Instant Checkmate should be avoided at all costs
I was to be charged initially $1 for a free 30 day trial. They immediately charged me $ 22.86. They said they never received a cancelation call but yet they reversed the charge the next month, and then took it back out.
The next monthe they tried to put the charge through 5 different times. For the following 2 months they charged me again.
When i contacted them they said they would cancel it immediately, but would not refund any money. The gentleman got very rude with me and as did I in return, and told them I would be contacting my credit card company and turning them in for fraud.
I called my credit card company and then started a complaint with The Better Business Bureau. People like this need to be stopped.
I was trying to get public records on myself , i had a ticket expunged and i wanted to get the date on record.
after using my credit card to get this info it gave me verything but that. Also the info about myself was false also. Just one big rip off . Please put them down for good.
Claimed to provide services for an amount then required more money after initial amount was paid. Did not provide services for price advertised. Bait and switch.
Whated to see my background and so I searched it and it wanted to give me a free trial but then charge me so when I refussed 2 times iwas goung to go to a different website when it offerend $1.00 for only 24 hours and thats all nothing elseand then the f ollowing month it changes my debit card $29.99 with out my Authorization. So I will be calling to demand a full refund and if I still have problems then I will yave no choice but to call the Better Business Bureau.
For me, it never fails! No matter how many times I tell myself to check the complaints on a company first, I always forget!
These people are probably trying to provide a good service, but like everything else, they want more and more of your money. I passed two FBI background LiveScan checkes within the last three years, so I started with my own name only to find out there was bogus information.
Here is how they are getting you. They know the main thing you might want to know is about the criminal history of a person, so it looks like every search returns, "possible criminal history! They know you will pay more to find out when it's not revealed in the first report.
I got my full refund, I was VERY polite and asked for a supervisor. The woman who took my call was sweet, and really sounded like she could make a lot of money in another line of phone work, if you know what I mean, :D
This company does not have the right cerification to provide the info people are looking for as explained to me. I was lucky and got my money back but who knows what will happen in the furture?
REV18
$22.86 for what the deceptive advertising leads you to believe is a full background report. They entice you and drag you along to finally say you need to pay an additional $20 for the real background information such as arrest records. I called and complained and ended up getting charged about $11. I cancelled my membership immediately - not worth it - don't go there! Even the additional $20 got me no information!
The person I was checking was married 8 times. The report showed once. There was no info in report that could not be found on google. A waste of money.
I read the description on their website and it didn't seem that fat fetched so I bit on it. When I paid my money, I joined and did my search. I found NOTHING that I couldn't find from a free public records search, I was a little pissed. I called and demanded a full refund stating my reasons. The operator told me that the level I purchased had limited search features. When I read to her exactly what the ad stated she got quite, got her manager and then offered me a full refund.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS SITE IT'S ANOTHER INTERNET RIP OFF
I bought into their service after looking at their very nicly done wed page. Looked like exactly wh t i was looking for. Web sight promissed any information you might need for doing business with individual. After signing up and trying my first search i was offered information you could find in any phone book. If i wanted detailed information on thar person i would have to pay $19.95 more, which like a complete idiot i did. $20 later i was told that no additional information was avalable.
I tried another information sight that offered a free trial. Pages of information on the same person for free. This tells me beond a shadow of doubt that CheckMate is a total ripoff with no intention of providing service they sell.
I was researching online and came across a "free" service to help track down people for a high school reunion. I somehow inadvertently and apparently ended up on the Instant Checkmate website where they offered low cost or free trial research services. Now I discover that for a one-time effort of looking up two names on the same day for what I thought was a FREE service, I have been charged $22.86 monthly for SEVEN months. Moreover, Wells Fargo did not back me up on the fraudulent charges and said that I should have read some nondescript fine print or contract That I have no recollection of ever seeing. I NEVER received email confirmation because it undoubtedly was filtered as junk, being as how this company more than likely is marked as a source of a high volume of complaint activity. DO NOT USE THEIR SERVICES because they do not deliver as promised and hide behind sneaky hidden "auto-renewal" terms and will zap your account over and over again!!!
Saw misleading ad on AOL. Decided to try service. Charged me $22.95 for one month unlimited search. Paid fee using PayPal. I ran search on myself. To get a PDF download of info I was charged another $1.99 fee. When I finally got the download it contained material that could be gotten doing a generl google search. Of course they than offerd a "premium" membership for $19.99 offering more information to shocking to give in a general membership. "Fool me once......" I am in the process of trying to cancel my membership now.
I started a search on instantcheckmate to see if my daughter's stalker was still in jail. I used a variation of my name when I registered. In the end I decided to not give my credit card information and left the site. Immediately I got emails from loan companies which used the name variation I had given to instantcheckmate. It appears this site makes its money from data collection
Instant Checkmate is a fraudulent operation. They need to be put out of business. They have cheated thousands of people, I'm sorry to say I am one of them.
Info was old or wrong. So dumb me thought if I upgraded to premium I could get more...ha...what a crock! There was nothing newer than what I already knew from 3 years ago. I looked up my husband just to see what it said and I better not tell him we really didn't get married 28 yrs ago. When I looked me up it had the correct day and his name on it.
I will start looking at things like this before I use online sites again oh and no refund! Gee I really thought I would get one (sarcasm)
Instant Checkmate claims there are no hidden fees. I chose the one month option to get unlimited background checks and reports. When my report finally processed, it contained information I can get for free on Spokeo.com. The personal information I was looking for was not available but available if I upgraded to premium for an additional $19.95.
The whole point of paying my initial $20 was to recieve information not readily available. I called to complain and was told ""sometimes piblic records are not available to us. It all depends on the record.""
Waste of my money, not to mention I thought it was only a one time fee and found out it is a reoccuring monthly fee.