Complaint Review: FabriClear

I'm on this site reading all the complants saying the company is a rip off. To me this company is Heaven sent. How can a company be a ripp off if it does what it advertises? This is the only product I have used that really worked. After several years of using other spray products, foggers, and traps, this is the only one that really worked. For years I had to sleep with the lights on and one eye opened, watching all night for those blood sucking bugs. But after a few weeks of using the FabriClear product, I can now sleep with my lights out, and really sleep without the fear of bugs crawling and biting on me. No more inbarressing red marks all up and down my arms and legs. Why are people disputing the price of this product or shipping costs, I would have been proud to pay the small charge after buying sooo many other products that did not work. You cheapskates out there should get on the ball and stop complaining, or keep on itching. This product is Heaven Sent.

Don`t buy anything from TV scam and scum artists.Anything on national TV is a rip off.They fool yo and get rich,don`t let them scam you.

Becareful when purchasing any products on Fabriclear website they do not have a confirmation and adjustment page it just charges you without notice.  they overcharged me and i had no live person to dispute the charges with.

I did not realize that the "free" bottle had an additional charge until I went to the next page and after entering my name, address and credit card info.  I scrolled down before clicking submit to see if there was a summary & total of the charges and then I saw it...the additional $7.95 s/h for that free bottle. There was also no way to turn down the free bottle offer either, so I immediately deleted my credit card and personal info. and left the page.  

I will search to see if any other sites have it a little less expensive.

To Tabitha:

Your post here on ROR asks if FabriClear really works.  I believe the purpose of ROR is to identify rip-offs and is not necessarily a general consumer blog on the effectiveness or non-effectiveness of products on the market, although if the product does not perform as advertised, it could be proclaimed a rip-off.  As I state in my previous post, I cancelled my order and requested a refund after I saw what I opined was a rip-off in the offer of a "free" bottle when in truth, the company was doubling up on shipping and handling charges which may have not been economically justified based on actual costs.  In other words, they appeared to be padding their bill in hopes the consumer would be duped by the claims of "free" when in truth, the company was boosting their profit margins via how much they charged for S&H.  

The shipping and handling I was charged by FabriClear equated to $15.90 (i.e. $7.95 times 2) which was 41% of the total purchase price including tax, shipping and handling -- and I thought that was excessive, so I opted to request a refund after being charged without being shown the total first -- and I therefore never received the product in the mail.  In my area, there are several stores that carry products advertised on TV (e.g. Bed, Bath & Beyond, Walgreen's) that do NOT charge the extra S&H charge, so my goal will be to purchase a single bottle of FabriClear at such local store, if and when it becomes available there.  

So as the author of the original Rip-Off Report, I cannot opine whether FabriClear really works because I've never tried it, even though I certainly tried to (within economic reason.)  Perhaps someone else reading ROR who has tried the product could give you a consumer opinion as to whether FabriClear really works although you might find more numerous or qualified reviews in other 'Consumer Reports' type publications than the ones here.  This string comments on the FabriClear offer of a "deal" versus the effectiveness or non-effectiveness of the product.

Wow, I came here to see if there were any reports if the actual product (FabriClear) works or not. I really don't care if there is an extra charge for this "free" bottle (however, its technically not free if you will be charged additionally for it by listing it as shipping charges or not --- just saying), but my question here is DOES IT WORK???? This question is for the original poster who is mad about the additional charges as well.

Bottom line - did it work?? I have a little boy who comes to stay with my boys occasionally and I know his family has bedbugs. I hand him a towel at my back sunroom door, make him strip down, throw all his clothes, backpack and extra clothes in the washer (on boiling hot water) and make him go take a hot shower. While he's at my house he wears my son's clothes...and then when he goes home he gets his clothes/things back. I don't even let him bring his shoes in my house. I know it sounds harsh, but I can't/WON'T run the risk of my home getting infested. So again....please just tell me....does it work??

To Logikal1:

You are incorrect about FabriClear in 3 ways:

1.  You wrote, " IF one wishes, a 2nd 16 oz sized bottle is available for free plus an additional $7.95 S&H charge."  The 2nd 16 oz bottle is NOT a discretionary add-on purchase.  It is a mandatory purchase as part of FabriClear's package along with the 2nd $7.95 S&H charge.  I know this because I called FabriClear's order line and spoke directly with one of their telephone sales representatives and asked specifically if I could purchase just one full-size bottle of FabriClear.  She said, "No."  I asked her again if she was sure about that and she said, "Yes I'm sure. You have to buy the whole package including the main full-size bottle, the two travel-size bottles, and the 'free' second full-size bottle with additional $7.95 shipping and handling, plus tax."  Now if she had the wrong information, that would be her fault or the fault of whoever trained her -- NOT MINE as you have intimated -- but I checked to be sure because I just wanted one bottle of FabriClear, not two.  On the day I called FabriClear, one could not purchase one full-size bottle by over the phone or online.  If you, however, were able to purchase just one full-size bottle online or over the phone, then FabriClear may have read this Rip-off Report (or heard complaints from others) and changed their package options to allow such.  And if reading this Rip-Off report caused a consumer-positive change in FabriClear's offer, then Rip-Off Report is achieving one of it's goals and constitutes a valuable service as others and I believe it is.

2.  You point out how FabriClear makes note of the additional S&H charge in various places online and makes a verbal note of it in their television advertisement.  I have acknowledged and written above how such charge was listed in smaller print on their main webpage -- BUT it was NOT listed on the ORDER EXECUTION PAGE thereafter which constitutes the definitive legal sales contract, as per contract law and legal counsel who I have consulted with on this matter.  If you look at the screen capture I posted at the beginning of this report, you will see FabriClear's order execution section AT THAT TIME did not mention the 2nd S&H charge, and that is misleading to consumers who know that everything they will be paying for should be listed on the written representation of what they are purchasing when the approval is called for. And then to be even more slippery, FabriClear does not provide the consumer with the total of their order before charging their credit card for that total.  This is not the standard procedure for online purchases and represents additional intent to downplay or not mention in the key sales contract section the 2nd S&H charge.  And yes, when I saw the total for my first order, it surprised me in how large it was given how I just wanted one bottle and not nearly $40 of FabriClear products and fees including $15.90 for shipping.   I did have to call in and cancel that order because it was more than what I thought I would be paying -- but many people do not bother to do so and will live with the padded billing -- just as FabriClear knows a good portion of it's consumers will do, so they constructed their website in a way to capture such sales in a less-than-transparent way.

3.  If the order execution section you saw when you placed your order did include the 2nd S&H fee, that's because FabriClear HAS CHANGED their website to include such since I placed the original Rip-Off report.  Perhaps they saw what was written in my Rip-Off report and made the appropriate change to their order execution section.  But it was not there when I placed my order, as evidenced by the screen capture I posted at the beginning of my report.  So now I would say, "No -- FabriClear is NOT a rip-off to the extent they now list everything you will be purchasing in the order execution section.  But the marketing technique of characterizing the 2nd full-size bottle as 'free' is still misleading when one considers the 2nd S&H charge which is not free and may be significantly in excess of the actual S&H cost.  And to the extent even you thought that second bottle with S&H charge was optional (when my research showed it was mandatory) is further evidence of FabriClear's technique of 'sly packaging' in such a way as to run up how much the customer has to pay to get just 1 bottle of their product, and therein lies the additional profit FabriClear is making through slippery marketing hype.  But FabriClear is not alone as other products sold on television pull the same routine, packing a second unit of their item for 'free' but with a 2nd S&H charge which may exceed the actual S&H cost, and therein provide more profit to the manufacturer.

The person trying to claim Fabriclear is a rip-off is not correct. In fact, Fabriclear is NOT a rip-off, it does not have a misleading advertisement and should not have been libeled by a posting claiming it's a rip-off.

I went to the main Fabriclear site to buy the product to use when traveling [bedbugs are a HUGE problem in most hotels and worse, one always risks bringing the little bloodsuckers home after a trip!] and right on the first screen was the offer  It was crystal clear and stated both in writing and out loud the following: the cost for one large (16 oz) bottle was $19.95 + $7.95 shipping & handling. With the 16 oz bottle one gets two travel sized bottles (2.2 oz each) free.  IF one wishes, a 2nd 16oz sized bottle is available for free plus an additional $7.95 s&h charge. 
 
Everywhere online the offer was presented in exactly the same way.  On TV the cost of the whole order along with the additional fee for s&h was read out loud as well as shown on-screen to ensure one knew the bottom line before ordering. (The TV commercial's why I was checking online; to see if anyone had it cheaper, but right now the price is pretty well set since only one company makes this formulation.)

There was even a large asterisk on the right upper corner of the word 'FREE' next to the 2nd 16oz bottle to draw one's eye to the starred note below repeating the fact the 16 oz. bottle was free but the buyer had to pay an additional $7.95 shipping/handling fee. One had to be blind or unable to read to miss the constant reminders the 2nd 16 oz bottle was free except for shipping & handling.

Fabriclear is not out of line with its charges for shipping & handling.  I recently had to return a small item - an MP3 player weighing about 8 oz for which I'd paid about 20 bucks. I almost flipped when the post office told me it'd cost 15.00 (+ my own packaging in bubble wrap etc) to send it back to the retailer!  Needless to say I skipped sending it back & threw the player away.

Fuel prices (which only Big Oil & speculators control) are obscenely high, especially out in California & the West Coast.  THEY'RE the real rip-off.  If they weren't sucking up record profits (est. 1/2 trillion this upcoming quarter!!!) I'm sure S & H'd be half of what it is.  But as long as nobody's willing to slap down the robber barons then we all pay. And pay. And pay. 

I think the man who wrote that lying article needs to withdraw it.  It isn't true & it isn't right. Fabriclear is up front & honest in its ads (and yes, the product works quite well, too. I put mine into a used auto-spray bottle to save having to pump by hand but that's the only drawback I could find.)

I have absolutely NO connection w/Fabriclear [except as a consumer].   I can't stand to see a good company kicked down by a bully's lie. [I read all the posts by the complainant & he's over the top with aggression & anger...typical of a bully] We need all the small business owners we can get these days. I recommend this product which not only kills bedbugs (& they're usually hard to kill!) but it's safe to use around my 23 mos toddler grandchild. So, 5 stars to Fabriclear !!!

The OP is correct.

It does give the product's price and and the S&H price.  It says it in several places on the home page.  However, when you order the product, as the OP said, there is no mention of the extra fee.  I believe the issue is not that you believe the the extra fee has been removed, the problem is there is no total, no confirmation, no way to opt out of the additional "free" bottle which ends up costing you 7.95.  There is also a fee you can pay to insure your shipment and by default, it is set to declined with a checkbox which has been checked.

What you should be paying is 19.95 for a 16oz bottle and 2 2oz bottles.  The additional 16oz bottle is labeled "free" but if you cannot opt out of it, then it's "fee."

Let's be honest here, unlike Ken who apparently has "too much time on his hands in his retirement" or has an agenda, because clearly HE cannot comprehend plain English. Please try being constructive Ken and perhaps next time, take a little time to visit the site and go through the process yourself, so you can provide an "informed" opinion, rather than what you gave, your personal bias.

The "just pay extra S&H" is a scam.  If it's 7.95 for 1 16oz bottle and 2 2oz bottles, why is it the same price for 1 16oz bottle?  OK, argument could be because there is a minimum fee.  I'll bet you can put all 4 bottles in the same shipping box for the 7.95.  I have even been charged (not this site) for "extra S&H" and it was included in the same box.  The postal service even says "if it fits, it ships" for a flat rate.  Small box is 5.95 that would accommodate all of these bottles for 5.95.

https://www.prioritymail.com/flatrates.asp

Summary...

S&H is designed to be a income generator and extra S&H for "free" is fee because you cannot opt out.  What should be done is the marketer should modify their site to allow customers to opt out of the "free" bottle with fee attached AND they should offer a confirmation page with the total prior to billing. Here is the order form saved as an image for review:
http://www.diigo.com/item/image/2gfzk/537w

It's a rip off and Ken has not been helpful in his comments.

when YOU post to ROR, you are subject to any and all rebuttals whether you like them or not. I think you are wrong in your opinion of a Ripoff....You KNEW the extra P&H would be charged and then claim because this wasn't printed on all the successive pages that it was somehow misleading and a Ripoff.  Sounds to me like wishful thinking....O-o-o-p-s, did I "flame" you again?

To Responder Ken:  You as a retired person perhaps with idle time on your hands to engage in tedious debate online with others so as to lock horns and make retired liffe more interesting by hurling insults at people you don'd know -- are a "FLAMER" in internet-speak.  But guess what?  We may not actually disagree.  I yield here as I have before in my previous posts, that absolutely, FabriClear discloses on their home page that an additional charge of $7.95 for shipping and handling will be required for the extra "free" 16 oz bottle of their product.

You may assume (as I believe FabriClear is betting) that such constitutes "full disclosure" -- but I went the extra step to pay for the advise of expertise counsel in the state where FabriClear is located (i.e. Connecticut) and they gave the definitive response: The key section where the company proposes it's offer of a sale for the customer to accept and thereby creating a binding sales contract, is NOT web pages prior in the build up to the offer page, but the offer or order execution page itself.  And FabriClear does NOT disclose the additional S&H charge for the extra "free" bottle on that page / Step 3, as currently programmed on 20-Sep-2012.

It could have been an oversight on the part of the FabriClear webmaster that created that page.  Or it could have  been purposeful deception in an effort to not remind potential customers of the extra S&H fee they would be charged for the "free"  bottle they could not opt out of online.  Absolutely, I was duped into executing the order based on the offer stated which did not disclose the extra S&H fee.  And then after my card was charged that extra fee, I was shown what the total charges to my credit card were -- which is pretty slimey, you have to admit, based on how other online and perhaps more experienced merchants operate.  And I am a relatively vigilant person when it comes to online purchases which I make frequently every month.

But In either case of a unintentional webpage programming oversight or a purposeful act of clever deception to capture more online orders, the order execution page / Step 3 does not give full disclosure of all charges the customer will incur if they execute the order.  That Step 3 is incorrect as to the offer FabriClear may actually intend but is potentially actionable in a court of law under deceptive trade practices law.  That Step 3 should be edited to reflect the full details of the offer which was the focus of my original report, versus your purposes as a retired person wishing to engage in online flaming and debate to perk what you believe is your correct point of view, not entirely aware or accepting of the actual laws germane to this situation..

Please cease and desist with your online flaming over RipOffReport.com, Sir, and let this rest as an accurate accounting of what is missing on the FabriClear Order Execution Page which to my opinion, was a RipOff, whether you believe or not the company has free license to omit key details before charging customers' credit cards for more than what the customer thought they had authorized.

This from your original post....

"The main page of their website does disclose with an asterisk next to the word "FREE" and small text to the side that an additional $7.95 for shipping and handling is required to get the free bottle. But several web pages later on the order execution page after giving your credit card information, this important detail is left out, thus fooling you.."

It PLAINLY, and NOT is small text says the above...what's not to understand.
You write very credibly, but your comprehension is non-exsistent...you Ripped yourself off.

BTW, I DON'T work for them and NEVER have.
I've been happily retired for years.

Have a nice, clueless, day

After reading your response to my initial report on Fabriclear -- i.e. that you claim the order execution page (Step 3 in the order process) DOES disclose the additional S&G charge -- I went back to their website at www.FabriClear.com to double check and see if Step 3 had somehow been updated since my report to include that additional S&H disclosure.  Unequivocally, it DOES NOT at this writing (19-Sep-2012).  You must be looking at a different website or you are somehow "in the tank" for FabriClear such that you would post blatantly false information in support of the company's online charging practice. 

You ask why FabriClear would change their offer between the home page and the order execution page?  The answer is simple -- to make more money.  And no, I am not easily fooled as you assert.  FabriClear doesn't want to scare customers away by reminding them of the additional S&H charge before FabriClear has had a chance to charge the customer's credit card.  As further evidence of this, note that FabriClear does not give the customer the total of their order (including tax and 2 shipping and handling charges) BEFORE soliciting the customer to place the order.  Most other online merchants will give the order total and ask the customer to approve before executing the order and charging their card.  But not FabriClear!  They're being sly and hoping the online customer won't go to the effort to dispute the additional charge and just let it go.

I futhermore checked with legal counsel who reports: "In a similar case, FTC v. Bronson Partners, LLC, 674 F. Supp.2d 373, 393 (D. Conn. 2009), the Connecticut Federal District Court awarded restitution including shipping and handling charges to victims who were deceived by the vendor's promises concerning various products marketed nationally. Deception is the hallmark of an FTC claim, and a charge for shipping and handling that is not clearly disclosed to the customer is prima facie deception.  The "contract" between seller and buyer occurs where the billing and payment confirmation takes place. So, if the extra charge is not found in that section of the transaction, you could argue that not only is it deceptive, it's simply not part of the contract at all, i.e., you never agreed to the charge, so you're not obligated to pay it."

Let's hope someone from FabriClear takes note of this and cleans up their act by updating their website to give full disclosure of the additional S&H charge on the order execution (Step 3) page.

OFFER DETAILS: Order today and we'll give you 1 16 oz bottle and 2 2oz travel bottles of FabriClear for only $19.95 plus $7.95 S&H. Plus, we'll give you an additional 16 oz bottle of FabriClear FREE, just pay $7.95 add'l. S&H!

Sales tax may apply. Please allow up to 4-6 weeks for delivery

"The main page of their website does disclose with an asterisk next to the word "FREE" and small text to the side that an additional $7.95 for shipping and handling is required to get the free bottle. But several web pages later on the order execution page after giving your credit card information, this important detail is left out, thus fooling you..."
Why would the offer change from the homepage to the order execution page?

Not a reasonable assumption at all.  You must be very easy to fool.
While I don't like this marketing ploy, it is NOT a Ripoff.