As of 8/12/04 I did not receive anything from Gleaming White Smiles, not the "free trial" or anything else that was promised as I noted. Per internet add, I was supposed to have a free trial for only $6.95 Shipping and handling - then in 30 days would receive another order if it wasn't cancelled in time. The initial order was 7/22, $6.95 was charged against my Visa/Quick Check Account on 7/26 for the proposed "free sample". I have never received this sample. I tried at that time to find a way to cancel the order through the website and could find no link.
I called the number for GLEAMING WHITE SMILES @ 877-4707102 as posted with the entry in my bank account and after a following the sequence of push #10 for Gleaming White Teeth & #1 for cancellation, there was a recording that said all agents were busy, to leave a number and message and someone would call back. I did just that 3 different times, 3 business days in a row, 7/26,27 & 28. I never received a call back.
I kept calling and finally got through on 8/9 and spoke to an agent who said he would have the $6.95 & $56.95 charged to my account refunded and the subscription cancelled - that it would take 3 to 5 business days to show up in my account. I requested an email confirmation and he said he would comply. I called right back to verify only to get the message to leave a message. I tried the rest of the afternoon and the next day the 10th. I sent 3 emails (attached below) on the 10th to request cancellation, a refund, confirmation and to document my telephone conversation.
I finally got through to a human being on the 10th - John, explained my situation, he said he was certain the agent had put in the cancellation and refund but could not (or would not) get his name. Today I was told that the company could not refund the money until I sent back the product that supposedly was shipped out on the 10th, did not have any record of the request/phone call and just received my email of the 10th today. It has been virtually impossible to cancel this request - I read through every section of the internet posting and could find no link to cancel as I would have with any other internet offer I have ever seen.
I could not get response to the messages I left, was not provided a phone number to call until the email response I got on the 12th.in essence the company made it impossible to cancel in time to avoid charges, did not adhere to their own add and promise and never sent any of the products promised - free or otherwise. I was not afforded 30 days free trial period from the time of initial request (7/22) to the time I was billed another $56.95 (8/10). This isn't even a full 2.5 weeks! And - I have never received the $50 gift certificate to Red Lobster that prompted me to consider taking advantage of this so called offer in the first place.
After this conversation I was told that they would research the account and get back to me. When I did not hear from them, I called back the week of the 16th and spoke to Carla, x272. She verified that the sample was never sent due to some glitch in their system that they could not explain. She told me they were Customer Care and could only research the claim and email a request for refund. They could not request a refund until I sent back the product and could not refund the shipping.
Even though I never received the initial product that contained the directions, kit, and sample, I was expected to absorb the shipping for the refill that I could not use anyway without the kit and should never have been sent out in the first place. I called back later in the week and spoke to a Rebecca who confirmed that a request had been submitted for the initial shipping charge of $6.95 for the sample and kit I never received on 8/13. She suggested I call back the number where I spoke to John and verify if they had requested a refund. I called back John, 8/17 - spoke to his manager Chris x1022 @2:15 PM who told me they could only email a request for a refund and that they had done that, they could not verify if the request had been honored.
None of the people I talked to at either number could confirm that the request would be honored or would give me any other people/contacts in the actual Company to discuss the problem with. I finally got the refill on the 18th and sent back on the 19th. As noted above, it was useless to me as it was only a refill without directions or kit.
I called back 8/24 spoke to Carla, told her I still had not received any refund of any kind to my account (over 7 days since it was supposedly submitted - $6.95), advised her that I had sent back the refill and discussed the refund on that. She told me they had no way to refund the shipping on the refill that their system would not allow it, even though she understood it was due to an error in their system that it was sent without the initial kit and was useless to me, I would still be responsible for the $6.95 shipping for the refill and would not get $49.95 refunded until they had the refill back in hand.
To date I have not received any refund of any kind, $63.95 of my money had been deducted from my account, I never received the initial sample and sent back the refill. Please help me get all of my money back and alert the rest of the world of the fraudulent practices of this company.
Juanita
Elkton, Maryland
U.S.A.
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