Q: We went to your site, www.annualcreditreport.com, asked for our FREE credit bureau files, and paid $7.95 for our score, and when we went to view both the files and the score, it said they were sorry, but they were unable to give us either over the internet, and for us to contact each credit bureau separately. THEY TOOK MY $7.95 though.

They better not charge my credit card. I WILL REPORT YOU AND YOUR SITE REFERRAL TO my attorney, the Tampa Tribune Editor in Chief, and ALL THREE CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES.

RESPOND IMMEDIATELY.

A: I’m sorry that you’re having trouble with www.annualcreditreport.com, but this is not a website that I own or have any financial arrangement with. This website is owned and managed by the three credit reporting bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Trans-Union. They operate it jointly because of a federal law that went into effect several years ago requiring the three CRBs to give free credit reports to consumers.

If you’re having trouble with the site, you should contact the manager of the site plus the three CRBs individually. You can also contact the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) which oversees the site.

In addition, I would contact your credit card company to reverse the $7.95 charge. You shouldn’t pay for something that you didn’t receive.
Good luck, and thanks for reading the column.