Instant Checkmate Reviews
A company’s ratings are a time-based and verification-based weighted average numerical calculation of the ratings submitted by consumers in the most recent 24-month period.
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About Instant Checkmate
Instant Checkmate is one of the leading public records search tools on the internet, providing instant access to millions of documents. Instant Checkmate’s information is generated by searching public records that include federal, state, and county databases and compiling them all into one report. Users can look up addresses, phone numbers, social media profiles, driving records, arrest records and more. Just enter a name and state to start your search.
Visit www.instantcheckmate.com- Unlimited reports with subscription
- Detailed reports
- Easy to use
- Use 30 data points for reports
- Not a traditional background check
- Subscriptions automatically renew
Instant Checkmate Reviews
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Our review standards
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- Financial relationships do not influence whether we publish a consumer review.
Reviewed June 29, 2016
I did a lot of research on different sites before selecting Instant Checkmate. The persons I was looking into, I know for 1000% fact that they both have Domestic Violence records, which did not show up on your site. Also, I had a police officer show me a warrant that popped up on his system, for one of the individuals I was researching. A warrant for this person's arrest in the state of Texas, for Domestic Violence. Very dissatisfied with my experience! My husband and I are both disabled, on fixed incomes. I trusted your site, and even paid the additional $4.99. Makes me angry as I feel sites like yours just prey on people like myself!
Hi M,
We know how frustrating it is when you don’t get the information you were expecting. We are constantly working with our data providers to get the best information possible, but due to some states’ laws regarding public records, and slow electronic processing times in certain counties, there may be gaps in our data for some jurisdictions. We sincerely apologize that you were unable to find the domestic violence records you were looking for. We will contact you privately to work out a resolution.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed June 28, 2016
I thought that you advertised police reports and I can't find one. I can't even find people that I know have a criminal history. I find more information from Google.
Hi Ashley,
We’re sorry that you weren’t happy with our service, but glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed June 28, 2016
I called the company yesterday. They are refunding me 4 months of charges but will not take responsibility nor seemed to care. They listened to my explanation of experience from 2-3 yrs. ago and the fact I did not sign up, but refused to refund the charges for full refund. I am beyond furious. I believe this is an example of too many businesses today. Here is a company that checks backgrounds on others for crime and I feel taken advantage of by THEM.
Hi Denise,
We're so glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed June 21, 2016
Just bought the membership. Nothing extra. All the information provided there I had already obtained from a simple Google search. TOTAL rip off. I haven't seen one extra piece of information that's new to me. Pathetic. $27 down the drain. Highly not recommended. Now I am going home to bang my head against the wall.
Hi Yusuf,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed June 15, 2016
Signed up for the 5-day trial and when the 5 days were up, on the fifth day called to cancel. Kept getting dropped (calling to cancel) and after many hours trying got a hold of someone to cancel. They stated that everything would be cancelled after I gave them my information and would not be charged; few days later check my checking and they charged me anyway, and now I have a draft overprotection charge. Thanks for the cancellation. Shady company, plus information was wrong on their website about certain people.
Hi Drew,
We're sorry to hear you had a bad experience with your trial membership. We have contacted you privately to work out a resolution. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed June 14, 2016
Paid for the month service, I heard there was a $1 trial offer. But they conveniently didn't have that option when paying. Was trying to find out the info on my exhibition of speed because I'm applying for a job. So I paid, and got my record but there was nothing to see in the criminal section. So out of curiosity I searched a few more people that I know have offenses - nothing on them either. A couple people didn't even have any record to show. I tried talking to them and it seemed to me like they just had a fancy way of saying they aren't responsible because they said their reports aren't 100% accurate. The reports should have a misdemeanor/felony on the report when they say they check for it. Big old scam and waste of money. Paid $22.86 to see my phone number, email, Facebook info, and sex offenders in my area. Had to spend more money to use a different website.
Hi Amber,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed May 30, 2016
So, you visit this site and right away it wants you to enter someone's name. No doubt info is found and a report generated. BUT you end up waiting 10 minutes from the home page to find out how much your report (memberships) is going to cost. This info is not available on the bottom of the home page or deeply hidden in the choices. Be upfront and save people the time and trouble.
Hi Frank,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate your feedback, and we apologize for any confusion you encountered regarding our membership plans and/or billing policies. In order to complete the enrollment process, each user is required to check a box to agree to Instant Checkmate’s Terms and Conditions. Instant Checkmate’s Terms of Use, like the Billing Details and Frequently Asked Questions also prominently displayed on the website, fully and conspicuously explain Instant Checkmate’s billing terms.
Thank you again for your feedback, and please feel free to contact us at any time if you have additional questions or comments. Our US-based member care team can be reached at 1-800-222-8985 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: May 20, 2016
Thanks for taking the time to respond and confirming my conversation with your team member, it seems that your department is running very well. Customer service is crucial in any company and I feel a larger indicator of the overall business, my experience to that end has been stellar... from hold time to service.
Original Review: May 19, 2016
Customer service handled my request with empathy and professionalism. (We will see if I receive my courtesy refund.) I would not recommend the service. What I found after 4 searches of individuals I know intimately including myself was: misinformation - with the most egregious being the failure to disclose a serious criminal charge that is public info along with stating that an individual I know to have an extensive criminal record had none. At this point I could not count on the site to provide me with the service it promised. Some people may use it for dates or check out babysitters which is why I felt compelled to write a review even after a pleasant experience with customer service.
Hi Erik,
Thank you for reaching out. While we’re happy that our member care team was able to help you out, we’re sorry to hear you were unhappy with our services. Our data is obtained from public records and various other records sources. We are always working with our data providers to get the best information possible, but as our Disclaimer states, there are some cases in which the information may not be 100% accurate. This is due to variables like clerical errors, slow processing times, and discrepancies between states over what is considered “public record.” We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences you experienced.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed April 30, 2016
I just joined this site and did a 1 month service and the site is total BS. You DO NOT get any more information than you would get if just did Google, that is of course unless you pay additional money to get additional information. I did like 7 family member searches to see if anything is provided that you wouldn't get off of Google and NO such luck. Actually some of the information was actually incorrect like current address and phone numbers. Instant Checkmate is a total waste of money. Do not waste your money or time.
Hi Gary,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed April 29, 2016
Rip-off!!! They'll keep billing your credit card every month, but not send you any mail or email so you'll forget about it. Buyer beware.
Hi Aaron,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate your feedback, and we apologize for any confusion you encountered regarding our membership plans and/or billing policies. In order to complete the enrollment process, each user is required to check a box to agree to Instant Checkmate’s Terms and Conditions.
Instant Checkmate’s Terms of Use, like the Billing Details and Frequently Asked Questions also prominently displayed on the website, fully and conspicuously explain Instant Checkmate’s billing terms. Specifically, the Terms of Use describe:
The use of this website is subject to the following terms of use:
2) Billing and Servicesa) Standard Membership Plans
Instant Checkmate offers two standard Membership Plans for Background Reports. All Membership Plans are billed up front for the entire term selected.
Standard Background Report Membership Plan with a 3-Month Term: For a standard 3-month Membership Plan, the debit or credit card or other payment account you provide will be billed $54.71 immediately upon purchase and $54.71 every 3 months thereafter, unless and until you cancel.
Standard Background Report Membership Plan with a 1-Month Term: For a standard 1-month Membership Plan, the debit or credit card or other payment account you provide will be billed $22.86 immediately upon purchase and $22.86 every month thereafter, unless and until you cancel.
Instant Checkmate offers two standard Membership Plans for Email Reports. All Membership Plans are billed up front for the entire term selected.
If you have any questions regarding the foregoing, please do not hesitate to contact Customer Support at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: May 3, 2016
I was contacted by the company and they are refunding my money. Thank you for taking care of this problem. I really would suggest that you let people know when you are charging their cards.
Original Review: April 27, 2016
I signed up for a one-time use and have found monthly charges to my credit card. Called to cancel and told no dice. I wasn't even able to find the damn person that I was looking for. Total rip. Going to contact BBB and call credit card company about a chargeback.
Hi Patty,
We apologize for your frustrating experience with Instant Checkmate. We’re happy that our member care team was able to get that issue resolved for you. If you need help with anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-800-222-8985. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed April 27, 2016
I used to be very pleased with your service. I paid for and used the phone service as well with great results. Then one day I was told that I didn't have the phone service so I called, and at first the individual on the phone told me they couldn't find me payment. I went online to my card and told them the date, they found it and then informed me they were having system issues.
You changed the website and I have not had very good results. For example, when searching a name, you used to type in the first name, tab over to initial of middle name and tab again to the last name. Now after typing in the first name, hitting tab changes the first name you just typed into the first name that was typed in previous to this search. The next tab moves you on but with the wrong first name. You used to time out and have to log back in due to inactivity but now you are up and never log out. It is as if you are on a free site and not the one I am paying for. I am very close to cancelling my account. I cancelled the phone search and had every intention of adding it again but my experience since the change has been so bad, I have not spent the additional money for it. Not very happy right now.
Hi Bruce,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate honest feedback — it allows us to do our job better. We hate to hear you are unhappy with the new site. Our developers are working hard to continuously make improvements to the site, so your feedback is very valuable to us. We sincerely apologize for your frustrating experience. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: April 15, 2016
The customer service from InstantCheck Mate have resolved the issue after they investigated the facts, all money fully refunded.
Original Review: April 10, 2016
I used the service in October 2014 and chose the once only option. I did not realize but I was continuously billed US$22.86 every month since then. My bank had to contact me as they flagged the payments as possibly fraudulent. I have since been to https://www.instantcheckmate.com/cancel/ and tried to cancel but once I entered my information and hit "Cancel My Subscription" the only thing that happened was the page renewed. No confirmation on the page, no email confirmation, nothing. I now need to see my bank about the US$411.48 that was charged without consent.
Hi Grant,
We’re really sorry to hear you were frustrated by our billing system. We have the system in place because we want to make it easy for all our members to get unlimited access to our reports for one low monthly fee. Please accept our apologies for your troubles. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed April 4, 2016
In October 2015 I used the online service and selected the one time only charge. They continued to charge my account for the following 5 mos until my CC flagged it as potential fraud activity. Although I selected the one time only selection during my transaction, and although after spending 30 mins on the phone with them they finally refunded the charges (however not the interest).
If there was a "0" on the rating scale this company would certainly receive that. I would not recommend anyone using their services as it appears this company actually does not have a one time only service although it certainly appears during the online process. Conveniently they have my name spelled wrong and the email address was also incorrect. I hope other consumers choose to go to the local courthouse and make a request for a formal criminal background check instead of using this service as they obviously are generating revenue in very unethical practices by continuing to charge individuals for a monthly membership.
Hi Audra,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed March 26, 2016
After you pay $95.17 for 6 mo membership, they tack on fees for just about everything. $19 to upgrade to premium service (for $95 I should be getting premium service) then you pay $2 for each additional name listed in the report for each report on each person, each time. I cancelled on their website within 30 hrs because it's a waste. Shortly after I received confirmation of cancellation and confirmation that auto renewal was taken off along with my CC info.
In March 2016 I saw charges from Instant Checkmate for $95.17. I called Capital One to dispute the fees that I already cancelled just hours after I signed up but unfortunately I didn't hold onto a 6-month-old email confirmation that no renew would be charged. I sucked it up and ate the first charges but refused to pay for something I hadn't used in 6 mo.
For a company that does background checks I find it hard to believe they couldn't look back to see when the last time my account was accessed but they said they don't have the capability. I spoke to customer service rep with Instant Checkmate (Ardel **) and he said a refund had been processed on 3/9/16. When Capital One tried to verify this w/ supervisor they refused to give out any info. I've seen asked for investigation why Ardel gave out such info. I've also contacted and put a formal complaint w/ the BBB for Instant Checkmate. You can tell even on this site whenever they get a bad review, 20 reviews appear within hours about how great the service is. (FAKE REVIEWS WRITTEN BY EMPLOYEES AT Instant Checkmate) DON'T USE THIS SERVICE!!! Take 5 min and search on any search engine and you can find the same info.
Hi David,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed March 23, 2016
Instant Checkmate was a complete ripped me off. They continually asked for more and more money to see the information I sought. The reports were incomplete and I have lost my money. Even when I paid for their Premium Access (another $4.99), I really got no more info. BAD.
Hi Brenda,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed March 23, 2016
Easy to use. Even though some things are fully accurate, it's enough for a start for research.
Hi Lori,
Thank you for your positive review and high rating. We really appreciate your feedback, and we’re so happy to hear that you find our site easy to use. If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed March 20, 2016
I have almost daily used your telephone service to find out who is calling me and most are telemarketers. You have help me to NOT answer many of these intrusive calls!
Hi Linda,
We're so glad that our Reverse Phone Lookup service is able to help you find the information you are looking for. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed March 20, 2016
Rep was very patient and helpful.
Hi Ellen,
We're so happy to hear that our member care team was able to help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985. Thank you for your feedback!
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed March 11, 2016
First order with your company went fine, and program was very useful. I'm on my 2nd time using, and it's been a disaster. I keep getting suspended under your potential violations of terms of service. I'm only researching former students I graduated with over 50 years ago, so I have to check several of your "potential" people as to who they actually are (in other words, did I graduated with them). Last suspend was after only looking at 3 of the possible 34 people provided by your program. This is not a way to run a program where you claim "unlimited access" to reports on people. Suspended after 3 looks? Come on please. Very disappointed, and I will not recommend this program at all. None of my searches are business related, and are strictly to locate former students for a potential upcoming reunion....
Hi Norris,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed March 7, 2016
I paid $22.86 for the monthly membership and performed a background check. The report I was sent was woefully incomplete. There was NO information provided that was helpful. Not one relative/family member connected to my person which is crazy. Of course for an ADDITIONAL $19.95 I could get more information. What a complete rip off.
Hi Christin,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: March 7, 2016
InstantCheckmate stepped up and did the right thing when they read my criticism. It makes a strong impression when a company truly cares about customer satisfaction, and Ashley from InstantCheckmate did it right. I thank you very much.
Original Review: March 3, 2016
Repeated ads eventually get you to give it a try. You start entering info, maybe on yourself, never once being told, that in order to justify generating a report you have to let the search finish, then pay. Once paid, you realize ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THE REPORT is of any value. You could have obtained it ALL for FREE, with a little effort and patience. I quickly called and canceled to avoid any additional fees. All done in under 45 minutes and the rep didn't even say sorry you weren't happy let alone offer any amount of a refund.
Hi Jim,
Thank you for taking the time to update your response and star rating. We're very happy we were able to find a satisfactory resolution! Please do not hesitate to reach out to us again.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed March 1, 2016
We were disappointed in the lackluster amount of detail returned for the searches we performed. The info returned is barely sufficient to find out much, and didn't even appear to include any information about divorce records. That was specifically what we were looking for in the general/overview of the person we were searching.
We requested our money back less than 24 hours later and they did refund most of it to us, thankfully (minus some processing fees of some kind I assume, which we were fine with). Perhaps it isn't this way in every report, but unless you want to pay more for every detailed sub-report that they have included with the general/overview, don't expect the info to be very helpful. We just did the basic subscription. It seems you have to pay substantially more in order to get anything of value.
The company was very professional and courteous in their handling of our dissatisfaction with the product/service. I wish that there was more than one option to rate them because their customer service is quite good, but the actual search results for the amount of money spent seemed sub-par in my opinion. According to my own "scale" here's how I would rate them: Website Usability (ease of use and search) = 4/5 stars, Reports/Results = 1/5 stars, Cost (for quality of results returned) = 1/5 stars, Customer Service = 5/5 stars, Overall Satisfaction = 3/5 stars. We didn't pay for the higher subscription, so in this case maybe we got what we paid for, but we were unwilling to pay any higher. We do appreciate their commitment to customer satisfaction, which is why we're attempting to be fair in our review. Considering all factors, I would say the experience was decent.
Hi Russ,
We hate to hear that the information we provided you wasn’t what you were expecting. We work hard to get as much data from public records as possible, and we are just as frustrated as you are when we can’t provide our members with the records they want. We’re very sorry you are no longer a member of Instant Checkmate, but happy to know you got things straightened out with our member care team. If you have additional questions, our member care center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 28, 2016
They don't need to give you the info but it would be nice if they would disclose whether they do have info or not before you have to pay. I paid $27 for access to their "basic service" only to find out my grandfather's date of birth and that he is a Scorpio. They then say you need to pay another $18 to get extended access but don't tell you if there is actually any additional information. The lack of basic disclosure is really upsetting. I just threw money away. Really shady in my opinion.
Hi Lise,
Thank you for reaching out. We're sorry to hear you were unable to find the information in your grandfather's report that you were looking for. We’re always working with our data providers to ensure that the information in our reports is as up-to-date and complete as possible, but sometimes the data just isn’t available to us. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 28, 2016
I have found that you cut back on the info you originally gave me with my subscription and that some of it is only now available if I upgrade. But yet you still charge me the same! I cry foul on that one and therefore am unsatisfied with your site.
Hi Danae,
Thank you for reaching out to us with your honest feedback. We hate to hear you no longer find our service as informative as you once did. Our developers are constantly working to make improvements to our site, so we really value our customers' feedback. We will continue to make improvements to our reports. We sincerely apologize for your frustrations and will contact you privately to work out a resolution.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 26, 2016
When I need to find someone I use Instant Checkmate! Your system seems to supply me with the information I am looking for when I request it!
Hi David,
That's great news! We're so glad to hear that our service is helping you find the people and information you're looking for. Thanks so much for the positive feedback and high rating, and if you ever have a question or need assistance with your search, our US-based member care team is standing by 24/7 to help. We can be reached directly at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 25, 2016
This service has been very good in locating our members who have moved and did tell us.
Hi David,
We’re so happy to hear that our service has been helping you locate those who have moved away. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 25, 2016
Very disappointing. I know for a fact that 2 of the people I searched had arrest record and a mug shot you could find with Google. One of which is dating my sister. I even paid for a premium report and was given nothing. I called and cancelled my account after using my own name just to check and finding very little. Google is free and I found more information.
Hi Sarah,
I see that your issue has been completely resolved. I'm very happy that our member care team was able to assist you. Thank you again for your feedback, and please feel free to contact us at any time if you have additional questions or comments. Our US-based member care team can be reached at 1-800-222-8985 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 24, 2016
When are your records updated? I looked myself up. My wife has been dead for over a year.
Hi Graham,
We're so glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985. Thank you again for your feedback!
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 21, 2016
I didn't check credit cards # as well as my PayPal account lately. So Feb. 18th I got a bill from PayPal & Bank of America, asking for a recurrent Monthly payment of $26.82 from Instant Checkmate, Inc. I never signed up for such monthly service from them!
Hi Heide,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 19, 2016
"Please wait while we pretend to load everything for 40 minutes so you'll be more enticed to throw your money at us, after already wasting your life away on our page." Instant Checkmate needs to have an episode about them featured in South Park. Someone that can call them out publicly, and showcase just how bad it is to prey on people's patience in a time of need. (Nobody casually searches for a background check.)
They're assuming everybody will be desperate enough to rip out their wallets after tapping on their screen for 40 minutes, wishing everything would load faster, when the truth is the information wasn't being downloaded, they were making you sit on a timer. Then they flash a bunch of "As seen on TV" banners in front of you, saying "look, it sucks you have to pay us, but you can trust us! Just look at all this stuff we have on our page." I challenge everyone over at Instant Checkmate to a naked boxing match so I can both humiliate and destroy you all. You greedy maggots are worse than corporate bankers.
Hi Joshua,
Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us with your feedback. We’re sorry to hear you had a bad experience with our site. The idea behind Instant Checkmate is that we wanted to provide a faster alternative in accessing public records than having to visit the local county clerk. While we access and compile the data for a background report, we provide our users with information on what they can expect from our service. Based on what they learn about our service and what we provide, they can then decide whether or not they wish to sign up for a membership. Again, we apologize for any frustrations you may have experienced. A member care manager will be in touch shortly to work out a resolution.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 17, 2016
I've been using this service for several years now and have found it to be an invaluable tool for locating friend and lost acquaintances from the past. I've just recently located several people that I haven't spoken to for over 50 years which I found to be amazing. I will say that some of the database information is incorrect and very old.
Hi Edward,
Thank you for reaching out to us with your honest feedback. We're so happy to hear that our service has been helping you to locate friends and lost acquaintances. We are constantly working with our data providers to get the best information possible to our customers. If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 17, 2016
For the last 2 days I have had trouble signing it. Doing it twice each time. Reports have been unavailable to me, giving me an "error" message. I also have not been able to utilize the PDF button also with an "error" message. Today the report came up saying I viewed it when I had not. Just a bit frustrating!
Hi Joyce,
Thank you for reaching out. We sincerely apologize for your frustrating experience with Instant Checkmate. We hate to hear that you ran into technical issues with our site, but we want to let you know that we’re committed to making things right. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 12, 2016
Report wont load. Timed out several times and never loaded. Hopefully my card wasn't charged.
Hi Rebecca,
We're so glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 11, 2016
The site keeps saying that it's not reaching the server and almost 30 minutes later, I'm STILL NOT able to access one report. I'm not really sure what you guys are taking money for. Fix your server!!!
Hi Debbie,
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. We’re happy that our member care team was able to get that issue resolved for you. If you need help with anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-800-222-8985. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 11, 2016
I signed up for Instant Checkmate today and paid for the unlimited PDF downloads. Every report that I tried to download to PDF pops up with an error message "unable to download at this time". I called the 1-800 number and they couldn't help. I tried this on two brand new computers - one Macbook purchased this year using Safari as a browser and one Lenovo Desktop PC purchased this year using Firefox as a browser. This is very disappointing as I needed these PDFs today.
Hi Mark,
Sorry again for the troubles you experienced with our PDF service. We’re happy that our member care team was able to get that issue resolved for you. If you need help with anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-800-222-8985. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: Feb. 11, 2016
I called Instant Checkmate this morning to cancel my membership and discuss my disappointment. They were polite and helpful and credited my credit card for the amount I paid without any dispute.
Original Review: Feb. 11, 2016
This was a complete waste of money and a money grab. The info I received was NOT worth what I paid, contained less info about me that anyone can find anywhere, includes nonsense horoscope info, contains lots of inaccurate info about me, and keeps trying to get me to spend more money and buy premium. In fact, you can see very little unless you upgrade to premium. I can't believe I fell for this and wasted my time and money. Nothing about payment is mentioned up front. The process takes quite a while and messages pops up saying you could be surprised by the info or asking questions about what you expect to find. It's a psychological game to get you invested in time and energy so that it is hard to say no when you are asked to pay. Then you are asked to pay even more to get any real info. The receipt has no info on it, which makes it worse. I feel conned.
Hi Donna,
Thanks for getting in touch with our member care team. While we’re sad to learn you weren’t happy with the service, we’re glad they were able to get that issue taken care of for you. If you would like further assistance, please contact our member care department at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 11, 2016
I needed to pull up my own background report to check for accuracy, the site is misleading tricking you into thinking if you pay the one-month membership you will have unlimited access to reports etc. I just needed mine. After I entered my information, I clicked to view the terms and conditions and realized it was a monthly subscription. So when I went back to erase my credit card data, it processed the transaction. I immediately called the 1-800 number to cancel and request refund. No refund, and the report that they produced was like a not funny joke. They charged me for nothing and then tried to have me pay more for what I originally thought I would get in the first place. Disgusted.
Hi Kori,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 8, 2016
This does a great job of finding people when you lose touch.
Hi Rodney,
We’re so happy to hear that our service is helping you find people you've lost touch with. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 4, 2016
I am glad that I am using your service for searching people. I have found several people and their contact information through your service. It has already returned more than I paid for it.
Hi Mohammad,
We’re so happy to hear that our service helped you find the people you were looking for. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 1, 2016
I frequently find the results from my searches to be out of date and incomplete.
Hi Mark,
We’re sorry to hear that some of the background reports you retrieved were incomplete. While our data providers are always updating their information, some state and local governments do not release their records to the public, which creates gaps in our data. A manager from our member care team will contact you privately to resolve this issue.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 1, 2016
Cancelled my account today. I was told by the service agent that my premium account would be available until 2/11/16 but lo and behold, I can't access my premium account. I don't like to do business with a company that doesn't keep its word.
Hi Patricia,
We’re sorry that you weren’t happy with our service, but glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Feb. 1, 2016
I am a genealogist and I use Instant Checkmate nearly everyday to locate living descendants of persons I am researching.
Hi Charles,
We’re so happy to hear that our service is helping you find what you are looking for. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 31, 2016
This is a very sleazy company that scams and swindles people legally because it's in their terms agreement. They charge a monthly fee for unlimited searches, then all the information you really need (and they know it) is what they call "premium" where you have to pay $20 more per person on top of that monthly fee... And guess what? The information you need isn't there... And what little information you get, if you want a pdf printout you get to pay $1.99 more. I called the 800 number and cancelled my account - now it remains to be seen if they really do cancel it or if they try to sneak in a few more charges along the way (believe me I'm paying attention). If you're one of the smart people to check here before trying this so-called "service"... Save your money. They can coat it with their terms agreement all they want - it's still nothing but a scam!
Hi Kerry,
We're sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Instant Checkmate. A manager from our member care team will contact you privately to resolve this issue.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 30, 2016
This is by far the site with the most accurate information that I have used. This site has kept me from making a questionable decision on more than one instance. Thank you for a quality service that is affordable and reliable. Sincerely a satisfied customer.
Hi Cecilia,
We’re so happy to hear that you find our service to be affordable and reliable. Thank you very much for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 30, 2016
To start with, I signed up with you when you were running a special for $1.98 a month. You'll get that from me for life because I will NEVER cancel you for such a small amount, even if I don't use it for months and months at a time. Occasionally, I'd like to access full reports but I don't like how you have it set up to automatically keep drawing out of my account unless I call and cancel. This makes you no different from the rest. I might as well pick one of the others since you don't have anything any different to offer, see what I mean? The prices you have set at this time seem to be fair but people will have a more positive attitude, and you will make more money annually if you give them the freedom of choice because of options rather than "This is the way we are going to trap you, take it or leave it."
I've wanted to use your Reports several times but absolutely refuse to do it your way because for one, I called you not too long ago just for some answers on how to use one of the features and the guy kept asking me if he should go ahead and cancel my membership now while he had me on the phone. I kept telling him I did not want to cancel it and never would cancel and that wasn't the reason I called to begin with. So now I'm afraid to add something to my account in fear that I might lose my $1.98 a month membership. I suggested to one of these phone lookup sites maybe a couple years back on how they should lower the price to something very low like your $1.98 a month and get "ALL" of the people rather than $30 a month and only some of the people.
For 1 or 2 dollars a month, people will forget about such a small amount and let it keep drawing because the service will be there when they need it and won't have to sign up again. There's 300 million people in the US. If you had half of them at a dollar a month, and that would be guaranteed income every month because who is going to cancel such a good service at such a good price, that's $150 million a month. Even a fourth of the people at a guaranteed one dollar a month. I haven't watched Netflix for several months but calculate how much it is to rent or watch a movie and I'm still coming out better just letting it sit there until I'm ready for it at $8.00 a month.
Same holds true for your site or anyone else that decides to go with ALL of the people rather than some of the people. So when you change your settings and give me the freedom of choice to pick whichever one I want for a flat fee and so many weeks without the automatic take it from me, then I will use that part of your service also. Unless of course you simply give full access to all of your services for a ridiculously low price that can't be refused, then I'll probably jump on that deal too. Americans just can't pass up a good deal, TRUE?
Hope this helps you to see things in a broader, more for the average person, kind of way that if marketed correctly, will make you a lot richer and your customers more content. That's what Netflix did and now look at them. Don't forget Amazon and Walmart either. Also don't forget, if you do it first, then everybody will be locked in on you, but if someone else beats you to it, then it's too late and you'll never have the chance again because who is going to take the time to go through all the re-registration again for less than a dollar a month, not me. I haven't checked yet but if you haven't got an Instant Checkmate app yet, well what are you waiting for?
Hi A,
Thank you for reaching out to us regarding your experience with our services. We are glad to hear you are happy with our Reverse Phone Lookup service, and we understand your frustrations regarding our subscription-based pricing for Instant Checkmate background reports. We do our best to keep our standard memberships at a low cost for our customers, but we do pay multiple data providers for the information that can be found in our reports. We have recently added the ability to cancel and reactivate the same account - previously, customers had to sign up with an entirely new account if they wanted to rejoin. We understand your frustrations, and we are working hard to incorporate valuable feedback from our customers. Please feel free to contact us with any additional feedback or questions. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24/7 to help. We can be reached directly at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 29, 2016
Very rapid response.
Hi Thomas,
Thank you for your positive review and high rating! We really appreciate you taking the time to give your feedback about your experience with Instant Checkmate. If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 28, 2016
I get more info by googling some than I do with you guys!
Hi Joshua,
We’re sorry you didn’t find the information you were looking for. We’re always working with our data providers to ensure that the information in our reports is as up-to-date and complete as possible, but sometimes the data just isn’t available to us. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 22, 2016
This service has given me a chance to find former Navy Buddies and others I've served with all over America. It's helped to find other lost Friends and Family I could not otherwise find. It has been a blessing compared to trying to use a phone book or any other look up service. It's worth the cost to me to use this.
Hi Rhiannon,
Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your positive experience with Instant Checkmate. We're so glad to hear our service helped you find former Navy friends, friends, and family! We really appreciate your feedback. Please feel free to reach out if you ever have a question or need help with our website.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 22, 2016
I signed up for the instant checkmate for two months and I called and cancelled it but I still have a will left so I two to log in and it won't work. So I called the main office and she reset my password and it still won't work. So she tells tries it and it works for her but it still won't work for me. So she tells me, "Wait a couple hours and try again." So I did and still nothing. It's almost like she just told me that to get off the phone. I paid almost $27.00 for nothing. I couldn't use it at all do for both months. I pretty much threw the money away. Please do not use this site. It's a ripoff... Thanks for your time.
Hi Casey,
We're sorry to hear you experienced technical issues when trying to log into your account and that we could not get your issue resolved when you tried to contact our member care team. We want to let you know that we’re committed to making things right. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: Jan. 22, 2016
Well, I had to come back on here because Instant Checkmate showed me some outstanding customer service and I felt good seeing a company address, a situation in not only a timely fashion but also displaying excellent customer services skills and making me 100 percent satisfied with the way things were resolved. So yeah I was wrong about them. They are actually very professional and I couldn't be more impressed with the company as a whole. Much thanks to Instant Checkmate and I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THEM TO ANYONE. I would take down my original review if I could because they couldn't be more different than what I thought was the case. Ok, thank you and I hope this clears up what was said in my first review. Many thanks to Instant Checkmate for their help.
Original Review: Jan. 21, 2016
I'm very careful when I agree to free trials and service runs and Instant Checkmate is the most dishonest and grimy company I've dealt with in all my experiences on the web. I clearly looked at fine print and saw unlimited searches for 1.99. Well now I have 20 different 1.99 charges and I didn't even find the information that I was looking for. I feel like I got swindled in the same fashion that a petty lowlife criminal would rip me off but this is supposed to be a legit company. WATCH OUT. THE COMPANY IS A SCAM AND THEY ONLY STOPPED CHARGING MY CARD BECAUSE THEY MAXED IT OUT AND PUT IT OVER ITS LIMIT.
Hi Cisko,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 21, 2016
I bought the one month $29.95 package and reviewed one person. When giving the information I found that it really doesn't do a complete police check unless you add an additional amount on. Then if you want to save it in a PDF format it costs you extra also. So basically, using this product, I found out nothing about the person I was reviewing that I couldn't get by googling them. Also, when I tried to get back on using the User ID and password, the password didn't work. When they sent me a new one to my email address and I clicked on the link, I got a 404 "something wrong with the system." This is a ripoff.
Hi Jeanne,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 21, 2016
Why is the sign on different now? You have to sign in twice! That is very annoying. Why do I have to upgrade to view numbers/names I already paid for in the past??? When researching, I get that pop up repeatedly for more information. I know that by now, there is no need for it to interrupt me over and over again! I do like the service to look up information. It is fast and there is plenty of useful information there. When looking up phone numbers only, I think it should return to the phone number look up screen so I don't have to switch it every time. To be consistent, if someone is looking up a phone number, if no results, return to phone number look up and same for name look up.
Hi Nita,
Thank you for reaching out - we really appreciate your feedback. Returning to phone search after looking up phone numbers is a feature we would like to implement in the future. In the meantime, we are constantly making improvements to our site to provide the best user experience possible for our customers. We’re also sorry to hear about your frustrations with our premium upgrade popup and having to upgrade previously upgraded reports. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences you experienced, and we will contact you privately to work out a resolution.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 20, 2016
Back ground searches and phone look ups. Very informative site.
Hi Martin,
Thank you for your positive review and high rating! We're so glad to hear that you find our background and phone reports to be informative. If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 19, 2016
The only problem is my archive is getting to the point where I can no longer manage. You need give us the option of deleting people and/or telephone numbers from our accounts.
Hi Alan,
Thank you very much for taking the team to reach out to us with your feedback. We created the archive feature on the dashboard so that customers would only need to manage their active reports. We are constantly making improvements based on customer feedback such as yours, so we really appreciate your input. If you have more feedback or any questions, our US-based member care team is standing by 24/7 to assist. We can be reached directly at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 18, 2016
Any advice or directions or thoughts, insights are welcome. Do you know how to address this? Thank you.
Hi Beatrice,
We're sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Instant Checkmate. We hope we were able to get your issue resolved. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 15, 2016
Obviously missing data. A couple of obvious basic data that should be included in the basic package: Married status, Spouse(s) name(s), Date of death, Obituary. Thanks.
Hi Joe,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate honest feedback — it allows us to do our job better. We’re always working with our data providers to ensure that the information in our reports is as up-to-date and complete as possible, but sometimes the data just isn’t available to us. Although our service has included marriage and divorce records in the past, they are not currently provided. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 12, 2016
I love this service.
Hi Kevin,
We’re so happy to hear that you love our service! Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 11, 2016
I have tried to contact you several times about someone else's "criminal" record being on MY info page. Yet, you have not removed it. I have NEVER lived in North Carolina. NONE of the citations are mine. On the iPad it always reads error. On my computer I'm forced to input all the information twice when signing in. I like having SOME information -- much of it is obsolete, but you need someone to fix your website.
Hi Fran,
We're so glad to hear that our member care team could help explain how services work. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985. Thank you again for your feedback!
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 10, 2016
I cannot renew my present account because my credit card information has changed and there is no way for me to update it. I called customer service twice and both people said I would have to create a new account. I don't want to lose my searches.
Hi James,
We're so glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 7, 2016
Instant Checkmate is startlingly accurate. I have found information on several ex girlfriends. Although some of them are now married, it is nice to know I can contact them if I want to.
Hi Todd,
Thank you for your positive review and high rating. We really appreciate your feedback, and we’re so happy to hear that our service helped you find what you were looking for. If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 7, 2016
Very unpleasant experience with this service. It took me longer to sign-up and cancel than It took me to review a worthless report. The information on the report was easily attainable from free online resources. I was on the phone canceling 10 minutes after I signed up so my $26 mistake didn't turn into more wasted money. Of course, sign-up is online and you have to cancel over the phone. Additionally, the immediate premium upgrade offer is nothing more than a bait and switch.
Hi Mike,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2016
In several instances the information is not accurate, old, and not current.
Hi Stacy,
We’re sorry to hear you had a bad experience. We’re happy that our member care team was able to get that issue resolved for you. If you need help with anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-800-222-8985. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: Jan. 8, 2016
I was refunded two months of service charge for my dissatisfaction for standard review. The refund was chaos free. Every interaction via email and hassle free. I like their premium reporting but was not satisfied with standard reporting. They actually refunded all service charges and I got reports for free!
Original Review: Jan. 2, 2016
Frankly speaking standard report is not giving enough info. I did for myself and some incorrect info about my residence location in Detroit and some wrong phone number for my name also came. Not vital and not very accurate. Maybe premium report is more useful!
Hi Priya,
I'm very happy to see that our member care team was able to assist you! I see that your issue has been completely resolved, and that you have increased your star-rating. Thank you again for your feedback, and please feel free to contact us at any time if you have additional questions or comments. Our US-based member care team can be reached at 1-800-222-8985, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Jan. 2, 2016
The site is very helpful for locating people for a current book project, as well as genealogy.
Hi Hank,
We’re so happy to hear that our service is helping you find what you are looking for. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 31, 2015
Great site! Very accurate and I will recommend this site to others. Finally tracked down some old college friends and roommate!!!
Hi Natasha,
That's great news! We're so glad to hear that our service helped you find your old college friends and roommate. Thank you so much for taking the time to provide your positive feedback. If you ever have a question or need assistance with your search, our US-based member care team is standing by 24/7 to help. We can be reached directly at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 31, 2015
Helped me find info on past friends as well as new ones.
Hi John,
We’re so happy to hear that our service helped you find out information about your friends. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 27, 2015
Some stuff is good some is accurate. For what I need it for it is ok.
Hi Laure,
Thank you for your honest feedback. We're happy to hear that you are satisfied with our service. If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 26, 2015
The extra charges are a bit much.
Hi Isabell,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate honest feedback — it allows us to do our job better. While we try to provide our members with as much information as possible in our standard reports, we can’t show everything because some records are simply more expensive to access. Therefore, we must charge a one-time fee to compile premium reports for our users. Again, thank you for your feedback. If you have any other questions or concerns, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 22, 2015
Yeah I agree with one of the other customers. I was waiting for so long while the "Magical thinking wheels" were spinning! They even try to lure you in by asking possible criminal activity about this person & I literally received no information that I can use. It gave me some business address that I suppose this person may have possibly worked but really, that is pretty general. Way too much money & time to than go through having to pay more for a premium report. All the information that can be provided should be provided. Isn't that what you're already paying for the first time around. I actually consider this type of service some type of "racket" or "scheme" i.e. "enticing people promising higher returns".
I didn't purchase the "Premium Data" Report & I should not have had to. I would rather you tell me you needed more info from me first or that you had NOTHING, instead of trying to get more money out of me. I wasted 3 hours. Thanks! Very disappointing! & on top of it all, the receipt they email to you does not even have an order number. So I have to hunt for that too! This is ridiculous!
Hi Michelle,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 21, 2015
I can't find any women I looked for--no records of marriage? Name change? I also didn't find much info at all on men. This is a ripoff website and I'm going to spread the word. You promise a whole lot and deliver almost nothing.
Hi Connie,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 21, 2015
Looking for schoolmates for the reunion, I found several here. Great resource.
Hi Daniel
That's great news! We're so glad to hear that our service is helping you find former classmates for your upcoming reunion. Thanks so much for the positive feedback and high rating, and if you ever have a question or need assistance with your search, our US-based member care team is standing by 24/7 to help. We can be reached directly at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 21, 2015
I like the service. It's just when you have to reverse search the extra charge and you get a free from Google. I only signed up to get addresses for Christmas cards. This seems to be pretty detailed a lot of things. I don't need some things I need and want my money for. Trying to do a reverse search because I couldn't spell the name properly and he wanted a $1.95. Kinda thought that was weird.
Hi Joe,
Thank you very much for your honest feedback. We're glad to hear you like our service. Our Reverse Phone Lookup feature is its own separate service that we provide, which is why there is a small fee to use it. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this service, our US-based member care team is standing by 24/7 to help. We can be reached directly at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 19, 2015
When I can find stuff, I like this. I cancelled my acct today effective at end of 6 months or June 16, 2016. But when I tried to use it tonight, you gave me premium for one search and it was outstanding... However, I am looking for a way to add the 19.95 for premium... and it is hard to discover. That was the problem before, you made it sound as if it was an extra 19.95 per search.
Updated: 12/27/2015: At first I was not happy because I did not understand that for an extra 19.99 we could get the premium information. I thought the extra information was 19.99 per search. However, I now understand and am very happy with the results I find on Instant Checkmate.
Hello,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate your feedback regarding our premium reports. We apologize that it was difficult for you to locate our premium upgrade feature. The premium upgrade fee is per report. You pay for only the premium reports that you want. If you ever have a question or need assistance with your search, our US-based member care team is standing by 24/7 to help. We can be reached directly at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 18, 2015
Found my sister and my good friend going through background checks. Thank you very much! Well I think didn't call them yet but it looks so. Thank you again.
Hi Jun,
That's great news! We're so glad to hear that our service is helping you find your sister and friend. Thanks so much for the positive feedback and high rating, and if you ever have a question or need assistance with your search, our US-based member care team is standing by 24/7 to help. We can be reached directly at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 18, 2015
I needed a password reset. It went fine.
Hi Stephanie,
Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 17, 2015
I have found the service to be a great help. The information is limited but enough to give me what I need most.
Hi Ben,
We’re so happy to hear that our service helped you find what you were looking for. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 17, 2015
I love it.
Hi Touyn,
We’re so happy to hear that you love our service. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 16, 2015
I have tried to order numerous premium data reports however your system has yet to be up and running. What's with the system???
Hi John,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate honest feedback — it allows us to do our job better. We apologize that you experienced technical issues with your premium upgrade, but we want to let you know that we’re committed to making things right. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 16, 2015
Instant Checkmate offers me a great deal of peace of mind in today's day and age where nothing is as it seems.
Hi Angeline,
We’re so happy to hear that our service helps you keep peace of mind. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 16, 2015
Beware! I paid the $22 to try the service to check financial information as I was going through a divorce. The $22 provided ZERO information. Of course, there was an option to upgrade and pay additional fees to see the 'actual' information. Then to my surprise, several months later I noticed they were billing me MONTHLY and I was told I signed up for their 'membership' when I used their service on my initial log in. I'm rather savvy with contracts and did not see any information telling me I was 'joining' any type of membership. In all fairness, when I called their customer service the girl was very nice and agreed to remove some of the charges. She was very polite and helpful. I would not use or sign up for this service. If you do, beware and make sure you 'cancel' your membership immediately.
Hi Candace,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 15, 2015
You need a way to delete the search information. It stays there for years. Please advise.
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for reaching out. We do have an archive feature to remove any reports from your current Report History list. If you hit the square bin icon in the upper right hand corner of the desired report on your Report History, it will be archived. If you need any assistance with this, our member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 15, 2015
I'd like to have a list of ALL options that are available and the costs upfront... not have to start a search to order services. The site was advertised with capability to see internet sites that were joined by people. Hasn't been "offered" yet. Further, there should be a single fee for unlimited access to everyone, not premium reports for a select few. Some people would pay higher fees to avoid the hassles of signing up with a disruptive message asking if we want. It takes too long to generate reports.
Hi Tonya,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 14, 2015
Your records and results are good re names. However, your phone searches are not so good.
Hi Mike,
We appreciate your honest feedback regarding our phone reports. We’re always working with our data providers to ensure that the information in our phone reports is as up-to-date and complete as possible, but sometimes the data just isn’t available to us. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 13, 2015
Horrible experience - save your money! I paid for "unlimited searches", but my account was suspended for... "Making too many searches in a short period of time"? Just trying to get my money's worth, as none of the searches I performed provided the full detail I signed up for! Everything is an added cost/upgrade - you can't even save a report without coughing up an additional $1.99/ea. - they sure do a poor job of advertising THAT fact. And what on EARTH does someone's zodiac compatibility have to do with their BACKGROUND? I thought this was a legitimate search, not a psychic reading!
I searched for people with professional licenses (easily obtained through my state's website), which did not show up on their reports. I searched people with known criminal records, which did not show up on their reports. I found relatives showing phone numbers that were never associated with them. I found relatives showing false relative connections and addresses. I did not receive a single birth, marriage or death certificate. Basically, a name, DOB, address & phone # (sometimes not accurate) was all that was available - and I already know that info, so why PAY for it? I cancelled within a few hours, and they wanted to charge me for the ENTIRE MONTH... That is certainly a good indication of how they do business. There have to be better options out there. Save your money and google people by name, which will net you the same results for free!
Hi Sharon,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 12, 2015
Here are the areas I'm concerned about. I did a check and there is a lot of hype to keep you waiting forever to get the information. I did the check on me because one of the other sites of this type of personal info, said that I use an alias which is a total lie. This site didn't have that information but I didn't upgrade to "premium" so maybe there was more??? Don't know, didn't want to waste more money and time. It did have my wrong middle name which seems like should be really easy to get. It had my wrong date of birth which seems like it should be really easy to have correct. It had some other guy on traffic tickets that wasn't me and with tickets in places I haven't lived in. It also had a total wrong ancestry record too. To me, this site isn't very valuable. The info was minimal other than you might be able to see speeding tickets from way back when if someone wanted to.
It had sex offenders in the area which I could see locally without paying money for, if I wanted. It also had 20% of the search for horoscopes which to me is a useless piece of information but on the top where it showed the percentage of completion, 80% was complete and then on to horoscopes. For my experience, it's actually worse than I expected it to be as far as a waste of money for what little is there. It had mom and dad with an arrest record which has never happened. Mom's never even been pulled over for speeding in her entire life. This is my experience. After this review, I will be calling to cancel my membership. I read a lot of good stuff from others but as you can see from some of us, this is wasn't valuable to me. A receipt has not come through the email yet so I will have to come back to resubmit that to become a verified customer. I'm sure it will later.
Hi James,
Thank you for reaching out to let us know about your recent experience with our site. We're really sorry to hear that some of the records you retrieved on yourself and your parents were not accurate. We are always working with our data providers to get the best information possible, but as our Disclaimer states, there are some cases in which the information may not be 100% accurate. This is due to variables like clerical errors, slow processing times, and discrepancies between states over what is considered “public record.” There also exists the possibility of false positives, and more than one individual with the same name and basic information may match up with many other records. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences you experienced, and we will contact you privately to work out a resolution.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 12, 2015
Love it. But I can't change my billing info.
Hi Justin,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate honest feedback — it allows us to do our job better. We apologize that you were unable to update your account information, but we want to let you know that we’re committed to making things right. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 10, 2015
Had a hard time trying to set up an account with your site.
Hi Gerri,
We're sorry to hear you had a hard time setting up an Instant Checkmate account. We are constantly making improvements to make our site as user friendly as possible so we appreciate your feedback. Please keep in mind that our customer support team is available 24/7 to assist with any issues or questions you may have. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 10, 2015
Too many pop-ups for the UPGRADE.
Hi Penelope,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate honest feedback — it allows us to do our job better. We're sorry to hear you were frustrated with the premium upgrade popups. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our site based on customer feedback such as yours. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: Dec. 16, 2015
The other day I tried to find someone. Went through all the hoops, but when it came time for me to renew and get the report, I couldn't. They said I would need to provide a new email account and a new credit card. Today, IC called and actually looked at the section of the report I was interested in and said I would have to wait for more information to be received. They helped as much as they could, short of my getting a new credit card and a new email address.
Original Review: Dec. 10, 2015
Tried to renew, but could not. I was told that I needed a new email and a new credit card, to avoid the possibility of being double charged. Makes sense, but I'm still without access to the information I wanted.
Hi Michael,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate honest feedback — it allows us to do our job better. We apologize that you are unable to renew your account. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 9, 2015
Your website is quite poor. It never downloads a PDF on the first try, and even if after several tries it does, it may not open on my computer (iMac-OS X 10.6.8). The PDF button next to a name on the list does not work at all. It goes through the motions, but no PDF file ever shows up on the computer. If I open a report and try to download a PDF from there, that's when it may or may not download a usable file.
Hi Larry,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate honest feedback — it allows us to do our job better. We apologize that you experienced technical issues with our PDF service, but we want to let you know that we’re committed to making things right. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 8, 2015
Works great for me when looking up ancestors and friends.
Hi John,
That's great news! We're so glad to hear that our service is helping you look up ancestors and friends. Thanks so much for the positive feedback and high rating, and if you ever have a question or need assistance with your search, our US-based member care team is standing by 24/7 to help. We can be reached directly at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: Dec. 22, 2015
I was unhappy with the info provided, felt it should give correct info on the spouse, siblings, etc. I looked up myself & info was incorrect. I told the company & they refunded my complete payment.
Original Review: Dec. 8, 2015
Your company does not provide enough info such as spouse, siblings, how to find adopted children etc. Not as complete as you make it sound.
Hi Mary,
We’re sorry that you weren’t happy with our service, but glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 8, 2015
I paid for the 19.99 package and it only worked on 1 account. I was under the understanding that it covered all my Checkmate accounts. Very disappointed...
Hi Bill,
We apologize for any confusion you may have experienced regarding our premium upgrade service. The premium upgrade fee is per report. Premium reports supply additional and supplemental data about a person, and customers only pay for the premium reports they want. Since we pay an extra fee every time we access premium data, we do charge our customers an upgrade fee. This helps to ensure we keep our membership prices as low as possible. If you have any additional questions or concerns in the future, our US-based member care team is standing by 24/7 to provide assistance. We can be reached directly at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: Dec. 19, 2015
They responded very quick and got right to the point. Their team had a couple of solutions ready discuss and go over. They were a big help making my time at Instant Checkmate a pleasurable experience!
Original Review: Dec. 7, 2015
The basic information is there but I know that. I know she has at least 1 Facebook account and Pinterest but I'm pretty sure there's more. Plus a Hotmail and Yahoo account. All in all, a total waste of my hard earned money... I will let everyone I know that this is gonna get you nowhere but broke and in debt!!!
Hi Kelley,
We’re sorry that you weren’t happy with our service, but glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 7, 2015
Very sketchy information on report on my son (Dirk **). Just for the heck, I ran a report on myself and most of info is accurate, and it appeared pretty complete on myself, but I really need information on him. If you can help, please advise. Thanks.
Hi Doug,
We're sorry to hear you did not find the information on your son that you were expecting. We’re always working with our data providers to ensure that the information in our reports is as up-to-date and complete as possible, but sometimes the data just isn’t available to us. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences you experienced, and we will contact you privately to work out a resolution.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 6, 2015
Please upload correct information.
Hi Ryan,
Thank you very much for reaching out. We are always working with our data providers to get the best information possible, but as our Disclaimer states, there are some cases in which the information may not be 100% accurate. We cannot manipulate the data - we can only display what we are given. Thank you again for your feedback, and please feel free to contact us at any time if you have additional questions or comments. Our US-based member care team can be reached at 1-800-222-8985, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 5, 2015
Hi. I purchased the month membership today and what a RIP OFF. Came up with a report and when I wanted to view certain things it wanted to charge me extra. So I basically just threw $30 out the window. I'm next step will be to go to the Better Business Bureau.
Hi Jaime,
I see that your issue has been completely resolved. I'm very happy that our member care team was able to assist you. Thank you again for your feedback, and please feel free to contact us at any time if you have additional questions or comments. Our US-based member care team can be reached at 1-800-222-8985 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 5, 2015
The data contains the information I generally seek. There are several improvement that would be helpful: show the full date of death, show the relationship between relatives, create a search by address to show current and former residents, In this I'm trying to identify family members, allow specifics to be added to an existing search, age, zipcode. Thanks.
Hi Wayland,
Thank you very much for your honest feedback. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our service based on customer feedback such as yours. Currently, we do not have access to the full date of death, but we are always working with our data providers to get the best data possible. Please feel free to reach out should you ever need assistance with your searches. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985. Thanks again for reaching out!
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 5, 2015
I found it to be very easy and yes, very accurate.
Hi Debra,
Thank you for your positive review and high rating! We really appreciate your feedback, and we’re so happy to hear that you find our service to be easy to use and accurate. If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 4, 2015
I am disappointed because you have done a bait and switch. You say one thing and then want more money for the information you claimed would be available. Shame on you! Just add the $5 charge or state what is available and what is not. And, the information provided was so vague and not complete. You didn't even include any family members and I have two ex-wives and children. I want my money back! What a rip-off!
Hi Randall,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 4, 2015
Signed up to get a report that the website stated included certain data categories, including Social Media access. Paid for the service and when I got the report, some of the categories were not included. When I click on the link for a missing category it asks for more money (much more!). Within 10 minutes of seeing I was scammed, I called to cancel and they didn't even bother to ask why. I went back to the link that I used to register, to print out the details of what was supposedly included, and it is no longer a functional link. BEWARE!!! I'm glad I am only out $1.99, but makes me nervous that they have my credit card info.
Hi Mary,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 3, 2015
I keep having problems with my adobe files not opening up. I have regenerate them sometimes 3 or more times before they will open. Also, I have to keep entering my username and password even though I am right in the middle of processing a look-up. Other than these issues, I am fairly satisfied.
Hi Marcia,
Thank you for your honest feedback regarding your experience with Instant Checkmate. We sincerely apologize that you have run into issues with your PDF reports and with login problems. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 3, 2015
I was dissatisfied with the product. The standard report did not provide me any information I had not found elsewhere on the internet for FREE! Furthermore, I was continually prompted to pay more for more information. But, why would I? I already know that I will be disappointed with the data because the standard report was missing info I know. For example, I know the person has an arrest record, but that section came back empty.
Hi Renee,
We're very sorry to hear that you were unable to find information for certain people. We strive to provide our members with extensive public record information in our standard reports (including names, aliases, phone numbers, location history, possible related persons, arrest records, sex offenders, licenses, social media accounts, and horoscopes). However, some jurisdictions do not release certain records to the public, or they may not update their databases annually, so we are unable to provide records for people living in certain areas. A senior member of our team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: Dec. 14, 2015
Good company resolution! I got a phone call worth a refund of my money. They don't offer a lot for the $26/ month and I'm not sure that the average person will get much benefit, however, I can see how businesses or public services would get a lot from the premium services.
Original Review: Dec. 3, 2015
All of the information that I paid for was the same and easily obtained information found through a simple google search. Not at all impressed.
Hi Dolly,
We’re sorry that you weren’t happy with our service, but glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985. Thank you for your feedback!
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 3, 2015
After the lengthy wait, my email address was rejected as "already in use". What? I was asked if l had forgotten my password although l had not been asked for it. Finally l checked the box that said if l had forgotten it, it would be retrieved and at that point all activity froze, never to be resumed. There was no option other than to abort the process.
Hi Jennifer,
We hate to hear you ran into problems when trying to log into your account. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Dec. 1, 2015
The constant pop up's to rate the service or upgrade my account are excessive and will likely cause me to cancel the service.
Hello,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate honest feedback — it allows us to do our job better. We're sorry to hear you were frustrated by our premium upgrade popups. We want to let you know that we’re committed to making things right. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 30, 2015
False info. In the beginning I wanted the premium service but was denied?
Hi Wayne,
We're really sorry to hear that you had a bad experience on our site. Our data is obtained from public records and various other records sources. We are always working with our data providers to get the best information possible, but as our Disclaimer states, there are some cases in which the information may not be 100% accurate. This is due to variables like clerical errors, slow processing times, and discrepancies between states over what is considered “public record.”
We also want to apologize that you experienced technical issues with your premium upgrade, but we want to let you know that we’re committed to making things right. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 30, 2015
Your process keeps asking for more money.
Hi Susan,
We're sorry to hear you had a frustrating experience with our premium upgrade option. While we try to provide our members with as much information as possible in our standard reports, we can’t show everything because some records are simply more expensive to access. Therefore, we must charge a one-time fee to compile premium reports for our users. Premium upgrades are meant to supplement our standard reports and are completely optional. A member care manager will be in touch shortly to help you.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 30, 2015
Traffic Offenses - On this report these six offenses listed but when reading them they are all the same. In reality there should only be two.
Hi Denise,
Thank you very much for your feedback. Instant Checkmate pulls millions of public records from multiple data sources, which can cause duplicate data to be pulled. We apologize for the duplicates, and our developers are working hard to try and filter these out. Thanks again for reaching out. Please feel free to contact us again at 1-800-222-8985 if you have further questions.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 30, 2015
Hi, I just purchased email search and premium but it does not show on my account settings and I am not able to use it, actually the page prompts me again to upgrade and when I tried again it said I already bought it. I just don`t understand.
Hi Tina,
We’re sorry that you weren’t happy with our service, but glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 29, 2015
Overall fast and reliable.
Hi Victoria,
Thank you for your positive review and high rating. We really appreciate your feedback, and we’re so happy to hear that you find our service fast and reliable. If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 29, 2015
The second day I was using my new account, it shut me out of it and now, 6 days later, I cannot get any PDFs, etc. Want my money back!!!
Hi Carol,
We’re very sorry you are no longer a member of Instant Checkmate, but happy to know you got things straightened out with our member care team. If you have additional questions, our member care center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 29, 2015
This is an absolute rip off. Says you get info - nothing but address and old phone #. Then asks you to pay for premium info that is no more helpful than the other. Good for finding molesters.
Hi Kenneth,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 29, 2015
This report didn't provide me anything that was promised. Typical bait-and-switch. The info I did get was simple to find on Google. I really would appreciate my money back.
Hi Christian,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 29, 2015
I so far have found out more information from Google and the local newspaper.
Hi Rich,
We’re sorry to hear you didn’t find what you wanted. While our data providers are always updating their information, some state and local governments do not release their records to the public, which creates gaps in our data. A manager from our member care team will contact you privately to resolve this issue.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 28, 2015
None of your phone numbers work. There is never an answer or the number is disconnected. I have not been a member of this place long enough to have any more complaints.
Hi Dave,
We're so glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 28, 2015
I tried to order a new report but it seems that because my old credit card has been replaced due to the new chip in credit cards, I can no longer use my existing account's email address. I am being shut out of doing business with you using my new credit card unless I open a new account using a different email address. I don't understand the need to use a new email address. I find this to be ridiculous. Can you explain why a new email address is needed if I can't use my old credit card due to the new EMV requirements?
Hi Alan,
We're sorry to hear you experienced problems updating your account. We will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 28, 2015
There is a lot of duplication in filling out the form. It is easy to make an error while you are entering your account to pay for this service. I think it could be simplified. I should have marked the stars as a 4 instead of 5. There was no way to change this mistake.
Hi Mary,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate your honest feedback, and we are always looking for ways to improve our site based on customer feedback such as yours. Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have additional questions or comments. Our US-based member care team can be reached at 1-800-222-8985 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Updated review: Dec. 18, 2015
The company has demonstrated excellence in customer service and acted swiftly to resolve my concerns.
I have to say, thank you to Instant Checkmate for listening to my concerns and understanding the issues. This experience provided me with a more positive opinion of the company and how they operate and I will consider using them again. Thank you to Ashley ** for making this a true customer quality experience.
Original Review: Nov. 27, 2015
Overall did not provide the information I was searching for. Charged me for a three-month cycle and when I called 6 days later, refused to refund any part of my payment, although not using the service.
Hi Dawn,
We’re sorry to hear you didn’t find the information you were searching for. While our data providers are always updating their information, some state and local governments do not release their records to the public, which creates gaps in our data. A manager from our member care team will contact you privately to resolve this issue.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 27, 2015
Too expensive for the little data received. Don't receive much info for the cost. Then you have to pay for more info. Tried to pay for extra info with PayPal but somehow didn't work. No info on what went wrong! AND didn't seem to be an option to pay another way.
Hi Douglas,
Thank you for reaching out. We appreciate honest feedback — it allows us to do our job better. We apologize that you experienced technical issues with your premium upgrade, but we want to let you know that we’re committed to making things right. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 26, 2015
The information obtained from this site is minimal and feel can be located by using Google added by a bit of time. I looked up myself and other family members and found the information inaccurate. I assume if I pay the added fee I could get more information but considering the system cannot locate people I am looking for at present and for those I know the information is inaccurate, I don't feel the expense of this site is worthwhile.
Hi Ami,
We’re sorry that you weren’t happy with our service, but glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 26, 2015
Free check on myself. Never got my info.
Hi Maureen,
We're sorry to hear you had difficulty getting your report. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 26, 2015
I was wondering, how many years does Instant Checkmate go back when accessing and providing information? Is there a minimum age restriction for looking up a certain person or address? I don't understand what horoscopes have to do with this.
Hi Howard,
Thank you very much for reaching out to us with your questions. We get our information from local county courthouses and census bureaus, and this information is then uploaded to the database that we pull from. The public records that are compiled in our reports are provided by state and local governments. The degrees of accessibility to public records varies between states. Additionally, the amount of years back that can be accessed varies for each of our data providers. Thank you again for reaching out, and please feel free to contact us at any time if you have additional questions or comments. Our US-based member care team can be reached at 1-800-222-8985, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Care Manager
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 25, 2015
After paying $28 mo, I was asked to pay an additional $20 to access more info. I will be a customer for only 1mo.
Hi Neal,
We're so glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985. Thank you again for your feedback!
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 25, 2015
Good Site. I recommended your site to a class of 30 people; so you may receive several sign ups. Much better than Spokeo.
Hi Anthony,
Thank you for your positive review and high rating! We really appreciate you recommending our site to others. If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 25, 2015
My son, I know he's moved, Marshall **. Some of the info for L. Paul ** is not correct. I was married to him. Info of my son cont. to show and it's in his file - I hit. This is not who I'm looking for. Still had it on the downloaded file and the stranger had more info than my son. We couldn't find his Dad, Dennis **, and that's what started me on the search. I wanted to see my report also. I was happy with some, but I just bought a one mo. trial time. I may or may not, continue. I will see how it goes. Truly, Corby **. You also never showed me with my maiden name, that's 21 years of my life. I have a secret clearance for the government. NADA. Nothing. My mother and sisters didn't come up. That was very surprising. Cynthia **, Renee **. My mother s/h/b on there D. Kelley **.
Hi Corby,
We're sorry to hear you did not find the information you were looking for in your relatives' reports and that your maiden name did not show up in your report. Our data is obtained from public records and various other records sources. We are always working with our data providers to get the best information possible, but as our Disclaimer states, there are some cases in which the information may not be 100% accurate. There also exists the possibility of false positives, and more than one individual with the same name and basic information may match up with many other records. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences you experienced, and we will contact you privately to work out a resolution.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 25, 2015
First of all, I signed up for Instant Checkmate because I was being stalked and harassed by a man. I had to move out of my home for 6 weeks to stay safe and I wanted to run a background check to better understand what kind of person I was dealing with. So when I signed up I was told that I had unlimited access to all reports for 3 months for $60. That was not true at all. Every single time I tried to run a background check I had to pay for a Premium upgrade which is an additional $20 to view, in my opinion, pretty standard information such as arrest records. I had to pay another $2 to be able to print information as well. Then I tried looking up a phone number and that costs an additional $23.50 to view phone records.
When I try looking anything up, a pop-up screen appears informing me that I need to pay an additional fee to access the report! On top of all the fees I had to pay to access basic reports, the information in the background checks were not up to date and inaccurate! The man I was deathly afraid of and hiding from, was arrested for stalking me 3 times, and not one of those arrests showed up in the background check that I paid an additional $20 for a Premium report! It was 3 months ago, I assumed that by now, these arrests would be present in his report. I even ran a report on myself and that information wasn't correct. Not only has this been a total waste of money, I reached out to Instant Checkmate expressing my concerns several times with no response from customer service. I'm confused, what did my initial $60 membership fee for 3 months even cover when every time I tried to run a report, I had to pay yet another fee for this and that?
Hi Kimi,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 24, 2015
Got to see information about myself and my family. Shocked at all the detail.
Hi John,
We’re so happy to hear that you were able to receive the detailed information about yourself and your family that you were looking for. Thank you for the positive feedback and high rating! If you ever have a question, or need help with our website, our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 24, 2015
Provides very generic information (e.g.- white pages) and lots of popups that offer additional information for an extra price. Of course, you need to spend a lot of time entering information and waiting for the info check before the upselling begins. The company hopes your invested time commitment will make you click on the upsell buttons that take up half the screen and are hard to avoid clicking. Too bad more online companies can't offer straightforward price for straightforward services rather than using sales gimmicks. Worthless service unless you think there is a legitimate criminal record out there for someone you know. Also does the recurring monthly bill forever thing instead of a lump sum price, another "vampire" sales tactic common to online companies these days.
Hi Mark,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 23, 2015
Outdated, wrong pictures, bad info!
Hi Sheryl,
Sorry to hear that the information we provided you wasn’t what you were expecting. We work hard to get as much data from public records as possible, and we are just as frustrated as you are when we can’t provide our members with the records they want. Please feel free to contact us again at 1-800-222-8985 if you have further questions.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 23, 2015
I only found out 1 thing I didn't know. Almost all of the information is at least 3 yrs old, not current information at all. I was very disappointed and would not recommend your site. It was a total waste of money!!!
Hi Liz,
We’re sorry that you weren’t happy with our service, but glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 23, 2015
Background report with social accounts. I got NOTHING at all... I want a refund!!
Hi Angel,
We’re sorry to hear you didn’t find what you wanted. While our data providers are always updating their information, some state and local governments do not release their records to the public, which creates gaps in our data. A manager from our member care team will contact you privately to resolve this issue.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 23, 2015
I cannot access the report you said I downloaded. Not good.
Hi j d,
We apologize that you experienced problems accessing your report, but we want to let you know that we’re committed to making things right. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 23, 2015
Not all of the information is for that person. Namely you can tell when the birthdays don't match, etc. Sometimes it is hard to find people. Expected it to include marriage and divorce licenses but doesn't.
Hi Amy,
Thank you for reaching out to let us know about your recent experience with our site. We are always working with our data providers to get the best information possible, but as our Disclaimer states, there are some cases in which the information may not be 100% accurate. This is due to variables like clerical errors, slow processing times, and discrepancies between states over what is considered “public record.”
We also want to apologize that you had some difficulties finding people. Our member care team is available 24/7 to help our customers with their searches and with any other questions or concerns they may have. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences you experienced, and we will contact you privately to work out a resolution.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 22, 2015
No info on marriage/divorce for basic price & these are public records. Too many pop-ups.
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for reaching out to us. We appreciate your honest feedback regarding your recent experience with our service. An Instant Checkmate standard report may contain the following information: a person’s date of birth, phone numbers, address history, related persons, arrest records, government license information, social media profiles including email addresses, and nearby sex offenders. Although our service has included marriage and divorce records in the past, they are not currently provided. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 22, 2015
I was actually looking for my cousin who disappeared several years ago but none of the names that came up match him. It would help if there were pictures on the first page or you could search by birth date. I ended up just downloading my own and there is a lot of info that I wish was not so available but also a lot of inaccurate info. I'm not sure if it's worth it or not. I'll try to look up some friends that I've lost contact with and see if I have any luck.
Hi Deborah,
Thank you very much for your honest feedback regarding your recent search results. We're sorry to hear you were unable to find your cousin's report and that you were unhappy with your own. We’re always working with our data providers to ensure that the information in our reports is as up-to-date and complete as possible, but sometimes the data just isn’t available to us. We apologize, and will contact you privately to resolve this issue.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 22, 2015
Was rudely awakened after subscribing by add on additional charge. Expected to get a report of some degree of substance and then was told there were additional charges of $19.95 to get the premium report. As of now I would probably terminate this service. Would like to receive some type of response.
Hi Frank,
We're sorry to hear you had a bad experience with our premium upgrade. While we try to provide our members with as much information as possible in our standard reports, we can’t show everything because some records are simply more expensive to access. Therefore, we must charge a one-time fee to compile premium reports for our users. We sincerely apologize for your frustrating experience. A member care manager will be in touch shortly to help you.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 22, 2015
I am finding that the information provided is incorrect, especially on myself and especially my family members. I feel like I've been taken for $30.00
Hi Juliet,
We're so glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985. Thank you again for your feedback!
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 22, 2015
Your information didn't reveal facts about my subjects true records that I have personal knowledge of! Your system is not accurate!
Hi Andrew,
We’re sorry that you weren’t happy with our service, but glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 21, 2015
I didn't find places of employment or specifics on criminal offenses and my daughter's birth date and age was incorrect. Having a hard time getting the person I'm looking for.
Hi Joni,
We’re sorry to hear you are having a hard time finding the person you're looking for and that you were unable to find certain criminal records. We’re always working with our data providers to ensure that the information in our reports is as up-to-date and complete as possible, but sometimes the data just isn’t available to us. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 21, 2015
Well I tried a couple of these paid deals and the info you provide is missing some info the others provided. Maybe the search engines I don't know but otherwise it worked excellent.
Hi j n,
We appreciate your honest feedback regarding your recent search results. Our data providers are always updating their information, however, some state and local governments do not release their records to the public, or they may not update their databases annually. This can potentially create gaps in the data that is provided to us. A senior member of our member care team will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 20, 2015
After trying for an hour on an ipad pro and safari browser, I was told to use regular iBook and Chrome. The difference was that it didn't work but in different ways. Every time I try to save a report, it generates a new one. It worked LAST SPRING, but I have wasted 1 1/2 hours trying to find my old traffic tickets.
Hi Richard,
I see that your issue has been completely resolved. I'm very happy that our member care team was able to assist you. Thank you again for your feedback, and please feel free to contact us at any time if you have additional questions or comments. Our US-based member care team can be reached at 1-800-222-8985 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 20, 2015
Silly extra fees that automatically renew WITHOUT ANY OTHER OPTION. Obviously a money maker for you. Then, some of the reports draw a blank. I paid an extra fee to look up phones but can't get a report linked to the phone.
Hi Bruce,
We're really sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Instant Checkmate. We have our recurring membership program in place because we want to make it easy for all our members to get unlimited access to our reports for one low monthly fee. We apologize that a recurring membership is not what you wanted and that you ran into a problem with your phone report. We will contact you privately to provide further assistance.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 20, 2015
We opened an Instant Checkmate account with a company business card under the controller's name. (The service itself was middling, by the way, but seemed to serve its purpose.) However, someone under the name "Penny **" opened another account at Instant Checkmate (curiously with a start date a week before our legitimate one was opened) with ANOTHER credit card belonging to the controller - which was very confusing at first since that card is never used for general business purposes.
When Instant Checkmate was consulted, their representative informed us they take no recourse in the event of consumer fraud - which is interesting considering it is supposedly a secure site. They "could not" provide a contact for their legal department, or even the representative's supervisor. Conveniently inaccessible. This looks to be a shill company, or at very least, highly inept. AVOID.
Hi Liberty,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 20, 2015
The extra money for premium did not give the results I was looking for. Criminal history was very vague.
Hi Denise,
We’re sorry to hear you were unable to find all the information you were looking for in your premium report. Our data providers are always updating their information, but some state and local governments do not release their records to the public, or they may not update their databases annually, which can create gaps in our data. A manager from our member care team will contact you privately to resolve this issue.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 20, 2015
Even though they had his birthday correct, they posted pictures of other men much older than him, included information of other men with the same name in states that he has never been in. They have a lot of wrong information as it pertains to other people with the same first & last name even though they had his middle name and should only have used that name. The info they did have correct was very vague. I found the info to be useless at best and very detrimental as it included info on other people with same first and last name. It was a huge waste of money! It also included info on relatives but gave addresses that they never lived at. I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS SITE. I WOULD GIVE IT A -10 ON A SCALE OF 1-10. I did not receive a receipt for my payment and did not receive an order number!
I WANT MY MONEY BACK. THIS IS A SCANDAL!!! And without an order number and receipt, they cannot process it. I JUST NOTICED THAT THEY DEBITED MY ACCOUNT TWICE!! ONCE FOR $22.86 & ANOTHER FOR $19.99. I have the images of payments on the 2 payments they took but cannot download them to your "ADD IMAGES".
Hi Wanda,
I'm sorry that you had a negative experience with our site. Our management team is currently looking into this issue. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 20, 2015
I am not very impressed with the service. The company baits people in to buying their service, then tacks on a ton of additional fees to get to REAL information.
Hi Ryan,
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. We’re happy that our member care team was able to get that issue resolved for you. If you need help with anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-800-222-8985. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 19, 2015
I had some concerns so I called BEFORE I left feedback and was so glad that I did. I spoke with Employee #** and he was wonderful. He worked with me until we came to a mutual solution. Wish they'd add marriage/divorce & remove added pop-ups.
Hi Gidget,
I'm very happy that our member care team was able to assist you. Thank you again for your feedback, and please feel free to contact us at any time if you have additional questions or comments. Our US-based member care team can be reached at 1-800-222-8985 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sincerely,Member Care Manager
Instant Checkmate
Reviewed Nov. 19, 2015
Nearly ALL of the information I got was incorrect and/or out-of-date. I tested your service with people whose info I already had, and found it virtually useless. I would like a refund. Thanks.
Hi Ronald,
We’re sorry that you weren’t happy with our service, but glad to hear that our member care team could help you out. Please feel free to contact us again if you need anything else. Our US-based member care team is standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us at 1-800-222-8985.
Sincerely,Member Services
Instant Checkmate
Instant Checkmate Company Information
- Social media:
- Company Name:
- Instant Checkmate
- Company Type:
- Private
- Year Founded:
- 2010
- Address:
- 3110 Camino Del Rio N Suite 400
- City:
- San Diego
- State/Province:
- CA
- Postal Code:
- 92108
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- www.instantcheckmate.com
Media
