D&B Faces Federal Class Action Alleging “Pay To Play” Scam
The plaintiff in a federal class action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington is accusing leading credit reporting company Dun and Bradstreet (“D&B”) and Dun and Bradstreet Credibility Corporation (“DBCC”) of conspiring to use high pressure sales tactics to create a monopoly in the small business credit reporting market.
The complaint in O&R Construction, LLC v. Dun and Bradstreet Credibility Corporation alleges that thousands of small businesses were “deceived, misled and cheated” by D&B and DBCC in a “pay to play” scam that sold credit products in exchange for favorable credit ratings.
Plaintiff O&R Construction claims D&B and DBCC misled small businesses into believing there were problems with their D&B credit reports in order to defraud them into buying DBCC’s “CreditBuilder” line of products to improve their credit ratings. Plaintiff alleges D&B and DBCC violated antitrust laws by conspiring to make the CreditBuilder products the only products available on the market that can address D&B’s small business credit reports.
Dun and Bradstreet has been a credit reporting agency for over 150 years. The company has used its database of business credit information to develop a product that small businesses can use to monitor and improve their credit rating. The complaint alleges that D&B spun off DBCC to sell the credit monitoring products and gave DBCC an exclusive license to use the small business data. O&R argues that the 2010 agreement granting DBCC an exclusive license to D&B’s credit database has prevented new companies from competing in the market.
According to the complaint, D&B and DBCC have used fraudulent sales tactics, including scaring business owners by falsely telling them they faced several credit inquiries because their ratings were low. However, unless the small businesses purchased DBCC’s CreditBuilder to monitor their credit, they could not find out who had made the inquiries and improve their rating. The complaint also alleges that D&B would downgrade a business’s credit rating if it cancelled its CreditBuilder service.
O&R, which provides remodeling services mostly for government contracts, relies on D&B to provide accurate credit reports so that it can work with vendors. O&R alleges that Home Depot, for example, decreased O&R’s line of credit after D&B downgraded O&R’s credit rating, which followed O&R’s cancellation of the CreditBuilder service.
“Defendants are colluding to negligently, recklessly or intentionally falsify information in small business credit reports,” O&R alleges.
Categories: Antitrust Law and Monopolies, Antitrust Litigation
November 1st, 2013 at 11:45 am
The same thing is going on with my company right now.
I have obtained a report that DB provided to a vendor of mine.
It is grossly inaccurate and outdated.
We have been solicited for their credit builder program and have not participated. That is when our paydexex score went from 81 to 3.
Any of our vendors who rely solely on DB to extend credit will not extend us credit.
We are actively seeking someone to pursue the matter through the court system.
November 12th, 2013 at 4:19 pm
I am getting the same calls and emails from D&B and DBCC giving me the same sales pitch that i have to pay them to for a credit rating. when i refuse and tell them i am not interested they tell me that companies are purchasing my report and it is not complete and i try to give them the proper information and if i dont pay they will not update my information. They say that this is a free service but wont allow information with out paying
Dan
January 8th, 2014 at 8:10 pm
We have been in business and profitable since 1989. Last fall we decided to invest in a new phone system and lease it over 3 years but were denied based on information in our “D&B Report”, about which we had no information whatsoever. Upon checking into it, the information was completely inadequate and inaccurate. We immediately contacted D&B who promptly told us the only way to correct the information was to pay them +$900! They confirmed that they are the only game in town so naturally they have small businesses over a barrel. I can’t even see details about the information they are reporting to potential vendors and clients without subscribing to their overpriced, monopolistic programs. God knows how many contracts I’ve lost because of their inaccurate information. Is there a class action suit I can join? Otherwise, is there an attorney out there who would take this case on for all the small businesses who are being severely damaged by their monopoly?
January 20th, 2014 at 10:07 pm
I too have recently received similar calls from D&B, telling me that there has been “recent, unusual activity” on my business credit and moreover, three companies have paid to pull my business credit report. Then they tell me that I will have to pay an annual subscription of hundreds of dollars for the privilege of updating my credit information and getting credit alerts when companies research me. I fell for this scam a few years ago when I was subcontracting on a federal contract. Sent them a tidy sum of money to “update” my credit report and as far as I’m concerned got absolutely nothing in return. This is a total ripoff and scam. They shoud be put out of business for unethical practices.
February 4th, 2014 at 6:46 pm
SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM
Our Companies Experience was pretty much the same as what you have read above.. What a shame, if being in Business in this day is not hard enough we need a Credit reporting Agency Not only reporting inaccurate info on your company they want you to pay to remove it….AND to get YOUR COMPANY REPORT… Why is our Government not going after these crooks with full force… Another supposedly APPLE PIE company GONE BAD… The Small American Business man NEEDS HELP…. GOD PLEASE HELP US!!!!!!!!!!!! IN GOD WE TRUST!!!!!
March 4th, 2014 at 4:55 pm
Again, I have a letter I just received from DBCC stating that I have a score decline but when I investigated online the D&B number they referenced in the mailer, it does not exist or is connected with my business. I’ve had dealings with D&B years ago, they tried to hard sell their credit services in order to “fix” problems in my business credit. But when I asked to discover the business reporting poor payments they wouldn’t disclose the details in order to correct the error. SCAM!!
I have not and will not ever give D&B a single penny of my hardened money.
May 27th, 2014 at 4:12 pm
I have been trying extremely hard to build credit for our business. D & B wants money just to correct information on D & B site. They will not add other Vendors unless I purchase the site builder. They claim that they are protecting me from fraudulent reporting, but everything that is on the report which is very little is inaccurate. They took the incorrect info without money, But they will not correct it without money! This is the biggest SCAM I have ever seen!
August 12th, 2014 at 11:51 am
I just received a call from D&B with the same offer. D&B is in a monopoly position, where government agencies require businesses to pay D&B an annual ransom to maintain a DUNS number, in order to renew federal operating licenses. In practice, D&B fails to hold any credible information about the actual business financials. On top of that, D&B is pitching these sales calls to pay up for a favorable credit report. There is a huge conflict of interest at multiple levels. I believe, there should be an anti-corruption investigation within the federal government and to reconsider these requirements. Something needs to be done!
January 19th, 2017 at 8:59 pm
We have had the same problems as everyone else. In our case, we have D&B phones blocked from contacting us. We are privately held, and do not operate on credit, never have. We literally have NEVER requested credit from any company. As a profitable business, we don’t need credit. Who made D&B the gods if business? When is this class action lawsuit going to occur? This forum has been out since 2013, and it’s now 2017. What’s the delay?