I don't normally respond to aggressive internet marketing but in the case of the Nature's Acai Berry and Ultra Slim XS weight loss advertising scam I fell victim.
Here's the scam:
1. I came upon a website with the testimonial of somebody named Michelle Thomas from New York who reports that she lost 35 lbs on the Nature's Acai and Ultraslim diet. This is the first part of the scam. Michelle Thomas is also the same person with as Katie Carson, Naomi Conrad, Jenna Patterson, Laura Conrad, Jaymes Conrad and on and on who.
2. There were prominently placed sidebars on Michelle's site with the names of of Dr. Oz, Rachael Ray, Health Magazine and ABC News prominently displayed. If you don't read them carefully, you won't realize they are not supporting these particular products but the problems of obesity and general health benefits of Acai berry and colon cleansing and not using them for weight loss.
3. When you try to navigate away from the web pages you are prevented from doing so and are confronted with pop-ups asking if you really want to leave the site and offering the free trials for even less in shipping and handling than the initial offering. See examples below.
4. So I fell for it, ordered the free trials of Acai and UltraSlim for the cost of the shipping and handling. I received the trial products about a week later. Then about a week after that I had charges totaling $169.86 on my credit card, including the $29.95 cost of some kind of membership that I had no idea was part of the order! In other words — the 14 day free trial is really a 7 day trial at best. Really not enough time to decide if you want to pursue the diet and pay for the products.
5. I called Nature's Acai and with some minor cajoling was able to get a full refund for both the pills and the membership. I agreed to send the unopened trial pills back in order to receive full credit. Fair enough.
6. I called UltraSlim XS and they refused to refund my money — even though I had not opened the trial bottle yet, even though I had not received the additional pills that they billed me for 13 days before. I still haven't received the Ultra Slim pills and it is now 16 days after they charged me. If I had wanted to take the pills and do the diet it would have been interrupted by the delay in sending pills.
7. Supporting information:
A. Yahoo search for testimonials about acai and colon cleansing (same person on most of the pages!) http://search. Yahoo.com/search? P="My oldest daughter asked me what was wrong, and I realized that I was just unhappy with my body. I never slowed down enough to really take that into consideration until that day in the dressing room."&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
B. More on the multiple sites with the same person marketing:
Http://www.thepissedoffconsumer.com/health/diets/acai-berry-shameless-scam/view-details.html
Http://txdiva. Blogspot.com_01_01_archive.html
C. Trying to navigate away from ultraslim xs site:
Http://www.ultraslimxs.com/? Aff=24&p=3&t=1&subid=4
Are you sure you want to navigate away from this page? WAIT! Before you leave we'd like to offer you shipping for ONLY $1.95. Click cancel to take advantage now! Press OK to continue, or Cancel to stay on the current page.
D. More on the deceptive marketing of acai berry and ultra slim xs
Http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1501319/acai_berry_diet_scam_teams_up_with.html? Cat=51
Http://usashameboard.com/complaints/ultraslim-xs-c176025.html
0 comments