VitalChek is a LexisNexis-owned company that allows citizens to request government records. You only need to access their online portal to obtain birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates. It is considered America’s number 1 online certificate ordering service that helps millions get important documents timely.
No third party or authorised agencies are involved with VitalChek. Hence, the chances of being scammed are lower on this online website. However, many customers have complained about their customer service. Some have reported that they cancel the certificate request without any reason.
VitalChek takes an ample amount of time to confirm the government record requests. Late delivery is another reason many people think VitalChek is a fraud website. Customers must wait until the estimated time to receive their certificate through VitalChek.
So, let’s find out whether VitalChek is a reliable or scam website to get government-issued vital records:
1. Security Policies
VitalChek undoubtedly is a reputed company in the United States. It has acquired massive worldwide recognition by offering an easy-to-use portal to request government-issued certificates. The company uses effective security policies to protect the users’ data from data threats.
They guarantee the confidentiality of the data you share with them when filling out the online forms for issuing certificates. When accessing their online portal, VitalChek ensures no virus or malware will harm your mobile devices. Thus, you can use VitalChek to obtain marriage or birth certificates without security concerns.
2. Customer Reviews and Ratings
Most people check report-issuing agencies’ customer ratings and reviews before availing their service. They start looking for alternative options if the company has received poor customer ratings and reviews. So, users determine the report-issuing company’s legitimacy based on their reviews and ratings.
You must know about Trustpilot; it is a popular online review platform. On TrustPilot, VitalChek has received poor ratings and reviews from 21% of customers. Sitejabber, another leading destination for checking customer reviews and ratings of businesses, rated VitalChek “bad”.
More than 203 customers have submitted feedback about VitalChek on SiteJabber. It has received 2.03 ratings from most of them. Thus, it indicates that most customers are dissatisfied with the service received from VitalChek. So, avoiding this site will be a wise decision when obtaining government-issued records.
3. Buyer Protection
Leading companies follow the Buyer Protection policy, ensuring buyers receive a full refund of the product/service purchases. In short, it provides a money-back guarantee to the customers.
You can request a refund if the goods you ordered don’t arrive. Buyer Protection helps customers to refund their money after returning the products.
However, VitalChek lacks a Buyer Protection policy. This means you won’t get your money back even if the company fails to send the marriage or birth certificates. It is another reason why many customers consider VitalChek a scam website.
4. Shipping Time
VitalChek’s slow shipping time is why most customers have given it a 2-star rating. The shipping time of this government report-issuing company might vary from one region in the U.S. to another.
It offers 2 shipping options to customers requesting certificates – Regular mail and Express delivery. VitalChek takes 1-10 business days to deliver the certificates to the customer’s address via regular mail. Delivering the certificates via Express delivery takes 7-21 business days.
Thus, if you need an emergency death certificate within a day or two, VitalChek isn’t ideal for that. You must look for an alternative report-issuing agency in such instances. Furthermore, it charges additional shipping charges when delivering certificates via Express delivery.
5. Customer Service
There are several ways to know whether a company is legitimate or a scam; customer service quality is one of them. A scam company will never respond to the customer or buyer’s call. They might take days to call you back to solve your problems.
Legitimate companies offer quick responses to customer queries and questions. Unfortunately, VitalChek has a slower response time than other government report-issuing agencies. They have a poor reputation for their customer service based on Trustpilot and Sitejabber’s ratings.
Some customers have reported that VitalChek’s customer service number doesn’t work. Though they have an active phone number, no one picks up the customers’ calls.
What is another indication of poor customer service? The inability to deliver the product on time. Many customers encountered this problem when using VitalChek. They have waited more than 3 weeks to get the government-issued certificates from this company. So, poor customer service is the prime reason people think VitalChek is not a secure site to get government-issued certificates.
6. Payment Options
You will find secure payment options on legitimate report-issuing sites. Moreover, they offer flexible payment methods for the customers to pay for the service or product online. Most reliable companies allow buyers to use payment gateways like PayPal and credit and debit cards.
Unfortunately, VitalChek only lets customers use credit cards when issuing certificates. This authorised company only accepts American Express, Visa, MasterCard and American Express credit cards.
Thus, you can’t pay for government-issued certificates online without a debit card. Customers can also opt for PayPal transactions when using VitalChek. So, looking for a VitalChek alternative will be better if you don’t use credit cards.
7. Social Media Presence
Most customers check a company’s social media account before availing any certificate ordering service. VitalChek has a statement on social media networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. However, they don’t share any posts on their social media accounts.
The last picture VitalChek posted on Facebook was in February 2023. The customers who have requested a certificate have written negative comments about the company. Some stated that the company had charged twice for one order, and they didn’t even refund the money.
Though VitalChek has replied to the customer comments, they didn’t resolve the problems. On the other hand, you will find the last tweet on February 1 on VitalChek’s Twitter account. No social media presence is another reason why most customers question VitalChek’s legitimacy.
Should You Use VitalChek for Issuing a Government-Issued Certificate?
A company’s security policy can’t be the only reason to prove its legitimacy. VitalChek’s poor customer reviews and service indicate it is a scam portal. Late certificate deliveries and inconvenient payment options are other downsides of this site. So, most customers prefer using other options to receive vital records.
How to Cancel a Certificate Order from the VitalChek Site?
You can’t cancel a certificate order from the VitalChek portal if you haven’t paid for it with your credit card. Moreover, you must pay the full amount to qualify for the cancellation. So, how can you cancel the order on VitalChek? Access the website from a reliable web browser like Chrome or Safari.
Head to the Order Create section when VitalChek’s home page appears. Look for the order that you want to cancel from the site. Tap on “Click Order” and wait until VitalChek displays the “Cancel Order” message.
Click the “OK” button to confirm your action, and VitalChek will cancel your order immediately. Go to the “Order Status” section, and the order status will change to “Cancelled”. Contact VitalChek’s customer service representatives if you can’t cancel your certificate orders.