If you really love those Freecreditreport.com commercials just the way they are, take this next half year to pause and reflect on what they mean to you, because in September, the Huffington Post reports, owner Experian will have to start telling people their side business isn’t the real way to get free annual credit reports from the government. We had this story last year, but in the wake of CARD act reforms, it bears repeating.

From that Huffington post:

While credit card companies have had nine months — from May 2009 until February 22 — to come up with a business model less reliant on abusing customers, Experian, the credit reporting company behind FreeCreditReport.com, will have until September before it has to inject some honesty into its ubiquitous TV spots.

The ads, in case you somehow haven’t seen them, say you can get a free credit report if you go to FreeCreditReport.com. You can, but only if you enroll in a $14.95-a-month credit-monitoring service and then cancel it within a week. The site for truly free credit reports is www.AnnualCreditReport.com.

Let’s see Experian’s ad wizards work a disclaimer into that not-so-catchy jingle of theirs.

FreeCreditReport.com Commercials To Be Curbed, But Not Till September [Huffington Post]
(Thanks, Jorge!)

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