I pride myself on being a savvy consumer but this one took me by complete surprise. I have ordered thousands of items online safely so when I stumbled across this, I thought "what do I have to lose"? I ordered a free trial shipment of Acai Berry Edge Lite, Bromalite & Best Pure Cleanse on 1/21/09,1/22 & 1/24 although they were all ordered the same evening. There was an unknown charge for $3.97 for a trial shipment of Lipaphen (??) which I have no idea of what that product is nor have I ever received it. Upon receiving my credit card statement on 2/23/09 I had 3 free trial charges for $3.97, $4.95 and $5.95 for the supplements ordered. The only supplement that came with any kind of documentation was the Colon xR, billed as Best Pure Cleanse (888-820-2656). I received it yesterday and cancelled today. I also received a charge for Acai Elite for $87.13 (866 633-6706), DRI Bormolite (866-897-0663) for $69.95. I actually got an American male at this company who seemed very sincere and told me that as soon as I received my second bottle that I could return it to P. O Box Riverton, UT 84065. He said that within 8-10 days, I would see a credit back on my card. After a 30 minute wait on hold, I also had a smiliar conversation with an American woman from GNS regarding a charge for $79.90 referred to as SlimBody Vitamins. GNS is based in Arvada, CO. She offered to extend my 30-day period until March 6 but told me that I had to either UPS or Fed-Ex the remaining supplements back tomorrow and to make sure to save the tracking number. She stated that in 5-7 days I would see the charges would be reversed on my card. Unbelievably, there was still another charge from Easy Rapidcle (Easy Rapid Cleanse) for $78.84. I have yet to speak to anyone from there as the recorder says that they are open 9am-6pm and then simply hangs up (866-950-2024).
I immediately called my credit card company and was told that they had been besieged by telephone calls from unwary consumers who had been scammed as well. They told me that I would be responsible for contacting the merchants and instructed me to call the number listed next to the charges which I did. 2 voices were from India and I got nowhere except for them to say that my account would be cancelled. They did not offer a confirmation cancellation number automatically. I had to insist but I did get confirmation numbers for all my verbal transactions tonight. That is VERY IMPORTANT to ask for one because otherwise you have no grounds for disputing future charges. After 3 hours of this, I decided as a precaution to just cut my losses and hope for the best by cancelling my credit card and asking that no future charges by placed against it and a new one is presently being issued to me. Man... What a hassle this is proving to be! I could just envision next month's card statement so took the high road and acted. NEVER AGAIN! Next time I will go to Whole Foods or another reputable Health Food Market and purchase supplements or an equivalent substitute that I may want to try.
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