The Carfax report was useful. It confirmed the story of the owner as to when they bought the car from the original owner and how many miles they put on it. It also showed the car hadn't been in any accidents - that is, at least not in any REPORTED accidents. I was pretty satisfied. But then I had to ask myself - was I 100% satisfied? I got to thinking that I really didn't know what information Carfax had access to and what information they didn't have access to. For example, is it possible to report accidents to an insurance company or to the police but Carfax wouldn't have found this data? I couldn't tell what records they had searched and what records they hadn't.

So, since I was only, say, 80% satisfied (if such a thing even exists), I applied for the "instant money back" guaranteed at the bottom of the website.

Instead, the next day, I got back an email trying to talk me out of the refund:

Hello Brian,

Out of curiosity, did you find no value in the report?

Consider this useful information presented in the CARFAX Report you viewed. It offers a sequence of odometer readings to help verify the current mileage and offer a sense of the driving history for the vehicle. You know where in the country this vehicle has been during its life. No title problems or potential rollbacks are reported - Buy Back Guarantee applies to this vehicle (and would be voided if you receive a refund).

We also searched for any open recalls for this vehicle. In this case, none were found. That is useful information to have. Were you already aware of this?

Overall this is what I call a "good news" report - it should make you more comfortable in making a decision about this vehicle based on the information that is reported.

Please let me know if you still find no value in the report and would like to continue with the refund.

Chrissy
Consumer Affairs
WWW.CARFAX.COM
"Don't buy a used car without CARFAX!"

So, unless I'm confused about the meaning of the word "instant", Carfax clearly fails in their "instant money back" guarantee. Also, I don't like how Carfax tried to change the subject from "100% satisfaction" to me finding "no value" with the report. So I wrote back:

Hello Chrissy,

Finding value or no value in the report is irrelevant. The Carfax website states "Get every penny back if not 100% satisfied!". I'm "not 100% satisfied". So please refund "every penny back".

Also, it seems that the CARFAX "instant money back guarantee" isn't
exactly "instant", but please make it as "instant" as you can.

Thank you,

Brian

Less than two hours later I got this:

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to read my response and writing back. I really appreciate it.

I will process your refund request immediately.

The credit should appear within the next statement or two, depending on how your credit issuer posts these items. Please let me know if you do not see this credit within two credit card statements.

Let me know if you have further questions.

Chrissy
Consumer Affairs
WWW.CARFAX.COM
"Don't buy a used car without CARFAX!"

So Carfax gets a mixed review from me. Their report was useful, but trying to talk me out of the refund, regardless of whether I was trying to get a free report or was genuinely unsatisfied, left a bad taste in my mouth. If I'm completely honest with myself, I probably was going to go for a refund no matter how the report came back, but if they're going to offer a guarantee of 100% satisfaction, they should live up to it, no questions asked.

After the Carfax report I paid a mechanic $100 to do a vehicle inspection. He found a leaky battery, slightly worn rear struts, and a couple of hoses that should be replaced soon. I was 100% satisfied with his work and we're buying the car next weekend.

One more thing - Carfax offers website owners $3 for every person who links from their website to Carfax and buys a report. If you go to Carfax from here, I won't make anything - I'm not an affiliate.