Free isn’t “Free”

So many people are happy to give up their personal information in exchange for something they have been told is ‘free’.

Even institutions like Major League Baseball promote one game every day telling you that you can watch the game live from their website for ‘free’.

Not true – you have to purchase the plug-in to watch the game.

Then there is my favorite, “Free Credit Report.com”. First the site was created as a result of a lawsuit whereby the credit reporting agencies had to provide free credit reports to the citizens of the U.S.

After the period of time passed that they had to provide the information for free they changed the structure of the website so that they would provide the information for free (after a two-day waiting period) but you had to “enroll” in a service that (for a fee) would watch your credit transactions.

So that too isn’t FREE.

If I were in charge (like that is ever going to happen) any company who requires you provide any personal information in exchange for goods and services or requires an additional “bridge” purchase in order to obtain the item for “free” cannot use the word “FREE” in their advertising, product announcements or any other enticement.

Maybe our lawmakers will take this issue on once they get done spending all the money we don’t have.

Jim's Soapbox