I’ve sung the praises recently about Credit Sesame ^[2] and their free credit score ^[3] from Experian. As good as Credit Sesame ^[2] is, it’s still only one score out of three and for someone who needs to know their full credit picture, 67% of the picture is incomplete.

Why do you need to know all three credit scores?

If you need to use credit to:

1. Buy a home using a mortgage.
2. Buy a business using a loan.
3. Go to college using borrowed funds ^[4].

Chances are very good that any lender will pull your credit and take a peek at your score. Which one? There’s the rub! You’ll need to see all three scores to get a complete picture of your credit reputation and your lender may only pull one score from one of the three main credit bureaus. The problem is, you just don’t know which one.

To make matters even more difficult, though some creditors provide their information to all three credit bureaus and use all three credit reports and scores to make decisions about potential borrowers, other creditors have relationships with just one or two credit bureaus and therefore do not provide information for your accounts to all three bureaus. As a result, your credit report and credit score ^[5] from different credit bureaus may be different.

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That’s why it’s vital to get ALL THREE scores from a company like GoFreeCredit.com ^[7]. Knowledge is power and the more you have, the better. Signing up is free and easy.

To get started, just enter your first and last name, your email address, and your zip code.

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The next screen asks you for your address and gives you the opportunity to decline receiving offers from Credit Score ^[3] Complete, the company that handles GoFreeCredit.com’s ^[7] credit monitoring service. I declined the offer.

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After that, you’ll need to enter your credit card ^[8] information. I erased my personal information on this screenshot (in case you’re wondering).

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Next you’ll need to verify some personal information. You may be asked about previous addresses, cities you lived in, the original amount of your mortgage ^[9] or other significant loan, or your specific information about a certain credit account.

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You’ll only have to click See Scores Now at this point. Here are mine.

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Just a few weeks ago Credit Sesame ^[2] listed my score at 820 so I’m somewhat confused why it dropped 35 points but since I rarely use credit anyway, I’m not too upset. I’m glad I got all three credit scores since I now know where I stand with each of the three credit bureaus, even if I’m still a little confused.

My next step was to cancel my membership to avoid being charged for monthly credit score ^[5] monitoring, so I tried to find where to do that but couldn’t. Only after I opened the “Welcome” email and re-logged in to my account was I able to cancel my membership so I wouldn’t be charged $19.99 per month for month-over-month credit score ^[3] monitoring. If you have trouble cancelling your account online, you can always call 1-800-316-8750 and speak with someone directly to get your membership cancelled or go through an auto-attendant.

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Make sure you understand that you’re signing up for a subscription which costs $1 to start (“processing fee”), and $19.99 a month thereafter if you do not cancel within seven days. Also understand that you’ll be charge one dollar to get these “free” scores. Take your time and go over the information, be sure to capture a screenshot, generate a PDF of, or print out your credit report. If you’re interested in checking your scores every month on a regular basis then by all means don’t cancel. Otherwise, make certain you cancel within seven days to avoid being charged.

You can receive a refund for the $1 “processing fee” by calling 800-316-8750 within the first seven days of the free trial. I canceled over the Internet but to get the $1 refund, a phone call appears to be necessary. I didn’t bother with it.

Click HERE to sign up for your FREE Triple Credit Score from GoFreeCredit.com ^[7]

I thought this was a great opportunity to check my credit scores and compare them to Credit Sesame ^[2].

What GoFreeCredit.com and Credit Score Complete recommended for me (funny!):

Honestly, these recommendations go against what I know is best for me financially, but here are the ideas they presented and which credit bureau they go with:

• There are not enough premium bankcard accounts on your credit report. [TransUnion] I know. I like it that way!
• Your installment account balances are too high in comparison with your credit limits. [TransUnion] I have no balances!
• Your mortgage ^[9] account balances are too high in comparison with your credit limits. [TransUnion] My mortgage is 70% of my home’s value so I don’t see any problem here.
• Your installment account balances are too high in comparison with your credit limits. [Experian] How can a ZERO balance be too high?
• You have not had enough debt experience. [Experian] Laughable. I’ve used credit since 1984 … that’s 27 years of credit history!
• Your total revolving account balances are too high. [Experian] Again, I have ZERO balances on my credit accounts.
• Your account balances are too high in comparison with your available credit. [Equifax ^[11]] Balances = ZERO!  Give it a rest!
• There are not enough mortgage ^[9] accounts on your credit report. [Equifax ^[11]] How many mortgages does one person need?

If I were you, I’d sign up to get the free triple credit score ^[5] and ignore the recommendations. They really make no sense under ANY scenario!

Sign up to get your three FREE credit scores HERE. ^[7]

Note: This was NOT a paid review and NO free sample of the service was provided.

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About the author

Ron has written 1083 articles on The Wisdom Journal.

The founder and editor of The Wisdom Journal ^[12] in 2007, Ron has worked in banking, distribution, retail, and upper management for companies ranging in size from small startups to multi-billion dollar corporations. He graduated Suma Cum Laude from a top MBA program and currently is a partner in a national building materials company.

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