InstantCheckmateReviews 346

I accessed Instant Checkmate, was charged $22.86 for a month's subscription. The information they provided was minimal and they kept trying to sucker me into paying additional money in order to download the skimpy information they provided and they also kept trying to steer me into paying even more money to access their "Premium Database" service. This is a real crock of $#*!, and I really should have known better. I cancelled the subscription effective the end of the month I already got suckered into paying for. We'll see if they continue to automatically charge me for additional months. I just hope this SiteJabber site will not try to charge for posting this review.

I cancelled this service after getting first report and finding it useless. 4 months later and 4 more charges for $27.85 per month later, i reported again that i had cancelled and wanted those 4 months refunded. Because i didn't write down the original cancellation confirmation number they only refunded the most recent month's charge. What a scam. Customer service just wants to point you to the fine print page you originally agreed to. Instant checkmate is the perfect name for this scam - i felt like they backed me into a corner and did a checkmate on me. Use at your own risk!

For all the folks on here complaining about the quality of the data provided by InstantCheckMate.com... I've got news for you.

YOU are the problem. If folks didn't PAY for these services... they wouldn't keep bubbling up like boils. Just take a look online and tell me WHO owns this company? The answer: UNKNOWN.

That should tell you something right there. They claim it is some sort of 'do good' operation, when really it is more about stalking others or co-opting private data. You have no valid reason to be seeking out this data. None.

You can determine if someone is a sex offender just by calling the police or going online. You can determine if someone has declared bankruptcy by checking court records. And if someone has been arrested? Ask them on the job app. Basic stuff.

And for the guy who is "an investigator" and doesn't check his credit card statements (to the tune of $25 a month for THREE years)... you shouldn't be investigating anything. It's called attention to detail.

You people got EXACTLY what you deserved.

Instant Checkmate is a terrible company to try to do business with. If you have used it once, then try to use it again they will not allow this UNLESS you use a new email address. I needed a one time background check, and because I used the service over a year ago I was told I needed a different email address to use it again. When I tried to get a explanation for this the idiot on the customer service line kept repeating the canned sentence over and over. When I asked for a manager I was put on hold for 20 min and was again told the same canned explanation. When I said I only wanted a single background check I was asked why I needed it. I said to check on a employee and was told the checks are not reliable and should not be used under any circumstances for this purpose. What purpose does one need to get a background check? I will go elsewhere.

I am a security professional who uses a number of sites for information regarding cases I am working. Three years ago I used this website once (without any meaningful result). I recently found that they'd been billing me $22.86 a month for the last 3 years. Clearly I should review credit card statements in detail. And I should choose reputable vendors to do business with. I made a mistake, but will ensure that my colleagues in the industry don't make the same one.

Used it for a background check. Cancelled immediately because it is lame and provides the same information that one can do on their own. Cancelled immediately, and big surprise, they continue to take a monthly fee. The experience with customer service is awful the act like collection agents. My account was finally cancelled but I had to go NUCLEAR and threaten legal action. I have succeeded in getting a cancellation but I bet that next month they will dip into my account again. I used PayPal and will be writing to them also to ensure they no longer send payments. DO NOT BE STUPID STAY FAR AWAY THIS IS A SCAM, THEY ARE PROBABLY MAKING TONS OF MONEY TO RIP PEOPLE OFF 25 BUCKS AT A TIME.

I have tried for 2 weeks now to set up an account for one month via paypal. I suspect they are trying to force me to use credit card because there is NOTHING wrong with my Paypal -- and I called Paypal and they agreed that they WOULD pay instant checkmate but checkmate has NOT REQUESTED a payment. Two weeks and several hours on the phone later, and instant checkmate refuses to call paypal - who said they will set up an email payment confirmation at checkmate's request, for me to confirm - so why won't instant checkmate make this call? Because they are FULL OF IT - they keep stringing me lies - "they have an IT glitch that will be fixed in 24 hours" (so what happened in the 13 days since they first said that?); or "paypal is having an issue and it should be fixed in 24 hours" -- same sort of lie.
DO NOT TRUST THEM!

I foolishly paid to do a background check on myself, just to see what was there. I've had a couple of marriages in addition to my single name, and the checkmate program picked one of the names for me that I haven't used in over 20 years and gave me info on that. I tried to select another more current name (which was shown) but unless I paid MORE money, in addition to the original cost AND $$ for a PDF copy, I wasn't able to. A complete scam and waste of time!

This is a terrible product. Their come ons indicate all kinds of info for a monthly fee, but all you get is info you could easily access yourself. They also try to lure you further in, promising premium info for just twenty bucks more. Ha! If you fell for the first, you're probably as hopping mad as I am and are certainly not going to agree to additional fees. In addition, the site actually timed out on me. That hasn't happened in years with internet speeds what they are today. Instant, they are not! When you call, they will try to settle with you such that they get a few bucks outta you, but be firm. They will refund if you stick to your guns, mention the 72 hour rule and how the product was not as represented. Interestingly, as soon as this charge hit my credit card, Chase notified me of a questionable transaction. I don't know how they stay in business.