I saw an advertisement on Facebook for an amazing skincare product that was free of charge, you only had to pay the R60 postage, so out of curiosity, I tried it, providing my credit card details to pay for the postage. I ordered an Iris Eye Gel and an A Treatment cream.
The so-called welcome packet arrived several days later and upon opening the packaging I realised that I'd been signed up for a subscription. The products each cost R1632 and the next order was on the way. I immediately contacted Formlife and they stated that I could only cancel after I'd received the next order. After several mails back and forth I checked the terms and conditions, which I had to search for (I didn't notice this when I was ordering the product) and saw that they have a fourteen day cooling off period. The consultants did not inform me of this, I had to discover it on my own and contact them about it.
I returned the welcome packet the next day via regular air mail, receiving a receipt from the post office. Formlife now tells me that they have never received the welcome packet and that because I did not mail the items back with a tracking number, and that the slip does not show their address and my details on it, that they cannot perform a refund of any sort until I send back the first order. I received it and questioned them regarding the return, as what happens if I send back the order? Will I at least receive a partial refund?
I was told, and I quote:
"I cannot determine as of the moment what refund you will be receiving because as
mentioned on the previous emails, they are to be reviewed and approved."
"Please provide these information for us to process a manual refund (R 3330)."
They have many consultants and each day a new person assists you via e-mail, which leads to a lot of confusion as the new person isn't up to speed on what the last consultant told you. Personally, I think this is a way for them to not answer pertinent questions. So I am told that they can only make a decision regarding the refund and cancellation once they receive the product (excerpt above).in one mail the consultant assures me that they will refund my money (excerpt above). I refused collection at the post office and received the order slips proving that I'd returned the product. I mailed them the proofs and got a short one sentence reply stating:
"If you want to get a refund, you need to return both the welcome packages and the first ordinary packages."
I questioned them very carefully, trying to ascertain if by returning the product I'd be out of pocket R3264 and have nothing to show for it, never mind the postage fees, which you are liable to pay!
Suddenly the entire story is changed and now I'm not entitled to any kind of refund? Surely that can't be legal! Why didn't they tell me that when the welcome packet disappeared? If that was the case, I'd have kept the product, to at least get something for my money's worth... Please be very careful when ordering anything on line. Who knows how many others they have caught out this way, getting over R3000 and getting their products back into the bargain and not shelling out a cent on their part. What a costly lesson on my part.
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