I feel like a fool. I was the perfect victim for the Hoodiaphen ripoff. I was on a site looking up a product mentioned on Oprah. On the right side of the page was an ad for Hoodiaphen as seen on Oprah, 60 minutes and NBC's Today Show. If you qualify you are eligible to receive a free sample of this weight loss product for free. Just pay the S&H $4.95.
The pills came in the mail very quickly. I had taken only one pill and got a creepy nervous feeling. Just a week later I received a plain manilla envelope from the Fullfillment Center, USPS signature required. Guess what. Two more bottles of pills. No invoice. No return info. Nothing. That's when I noticed the pill bottles had no manufacturer or lot number etc. I went into detective mode.
Hoodiaphen was never mentioned on the named TV programs. What was discussed was the Hoodia Cactus from Africa that is very rare and expensive.
The ingredients in hoodiaphen are a blend of caffeine, willow bark, cayenne pepper and supposedly 30mg of Hoodia cactus. My research informed me that it would take over 800mg of pure hoodia cactus to be even minimally effective as a weight loss product.
I went back to the site and was unable to to reach any one in customer service. Customer support is always "temporarily off-line". That's when I noticed "terms" in small print. I was going to be charged $149 for the 2 bottles. When I signed up for the free sample it seems I agreed to pay for the next shipment. It was my fault for not being more computer savy and reading the fine print. Of course this info was way below the submit button.
This company has found a legal loop hole to dupe people into thinking that they are ordering a product endorsed by Oprah etc. They use a real shipping and packaging company... The Fullfillment Center... Who obviously will do business with unscrupulous clients.
I called my credit card company and found out that the $149 charge from Hoodiaphen had not been posted yet. There was no way for them to stop this transaction, so I was told my only recourse was to list my card as stolen and get a new card. It was a pain but at least they didn't get my money. The "terms" also said that if a transaction is not completed you will be billed a $49 service fee. An unpaid fee will be sent to a collection agency. So even if I hadn't signed for the package, my credit card would have been charged.
I would love to know who manufactures these pills. Hoodiaphen should be charged with deceptive and fraudulent business practice. I wish people could see this letter if they ever google Hoodia cactus products. Thank you for giving me a place to vent my frustration.
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