Ahhh, proactiv... Where to begin...
I guess I'll just tell my story.
My acne isn't really that bad... So I only want to use Proactiv every once in a while. I had used it before, but my father had purchased it for me and I didn't know the exact details of how their program works. So, during a time in which my acne was worse than usual, I went to the company website to purchase some product. Proactiv did not inform me in any way that by signing up for their "preferred customer" program, I was actually agreeing to have their product shipped to me at pre-determined intervals and I would be charged for these shipments. Signing up for this program is necessary to get the best price for their products, but in my opinion isn't worth the trouble caused by signing up.
First of all, to be clear, the web site did inform me that I could arrange to have Proactiv shipped to me in intervals when I was signing up. What the site did not inform me of was that I MUST have the product shipped to me in certain intervals... That such shipments are essentially a condition of the program. Essentially, the web site leads customers to believe that they have an option to have the product shipped every X weeks, when in reality this happens whether you want it to or not.
When I first realized this, I was upset, mostly because I didn't want Proactiv to send me shipments and then automatically charge my credit card for no other reason than my X number of weeks had passed.
The next time I logged in to their site, I noticed that Proactiv doesn't actually charge by the shipment. They charge by the month. I'll have to admit, they were slightly more forthcoming about this aspect of the program, as it clearly says "$xx. Xx/mo" on the website at the page on which the subscriber chooses which package he/she wants. So if I receive one shipment a month or one shipment every four months, I apparently pay the same price of between $25 and $30 per month. This type of billing structure really doesn't make sense, as I'm buying tangible goods and not a service like cable TV or Netflix.
Imagine this: You buy an X company printer and sign up for what seems like a sweet deal on X company ink. You can get a special price on ink by signing up for this "preferred customer" program, and you "can" have shipments sent to your house or business at certain intervals. You do it, then find out that you WILL have shipments sent, and the company is going to charge you the same price based on the ink type you use and completely irrespective of how much ink you use. What's more, you suddenly realize that the only way this program is actually a sweet deal is if you use a ridiculous amount of ink. But we can't really change our ink usage... You print things when you need to print... Much like acne. We can only use as much proactiv as we need before it stops doing us any good. You'd be pissed about the ink thing, wouldn't you? I would.
The only way this structure manes any sense is if the company is trying to lure in unsuspecting customers like me and catch us off guard with the unusual account practices and billing practices. I wonder how many people would sign up for a program like this is they knew what was going on at the time they signed up? Not me, that's for sure. That's when you know the company is trying to rip people off. I'm usually a big believer in the whole "caveat emptor" idea, but not in situations like this where the company does not disclose necessary information to its customers until it is too late.
I called up the company and asked to close my account. I don't want to be a part of this ripoff scheme any longer. It was almost funny that the CSR asked me if I would like to have shipments every six months (the largest interval I can choose on their web site is 4 months). As if that would make a difference. I'm concerned about my $25 every month, not about having too much of their product. I just wanted to order a product that helps with acne (which it does) the same way I order products from reputable companies: Get online, select a product, and pay for the product I'm ordering. I guess I should have just paid the full price, and I think everyone else should too unless they want to end up like me.
I'm sure this is not done, and I'm sure I'll have more to write in a couple months when the company does some other unscrupulous deed which makes me even more furious. I'm just waiting for them to send me one more undesired shipment. Or, for them to do what I am really expecting and continue to charge me every month without sending me squat. What I really want is to have every piece of information they have on me taken out of their system so they can't send me anything or charge me even if they wanted to. So, to anyone else who has experienced the same problem, good luck. And to anyone thinking about ordering proactiv from the company website, I strongly urge you to forgo clearing up your acne for a little while, or to find someone you know who has received undesired shipments of the stuff and buy it from them instead.
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