Oxi-Berry, ripped off by Oxi-Berry and Ratrol-Resveratrol, Internet
On 8/18/09, I was lured into watching a video featuring Barbara Walters exclaim over the amazing qualities of Resveratrol. The website featured a local television "reporter" who claimed to have tried the product and achieved incredible results of energy gain and weight loss. She urged viewers to try the product for just 99 cents in shipping fees. I bit and signed up online for the product. I printed out a receipt for the transaction which shows the cost of the Resveratrol Ultra as $87.13. That amount was discounted with the resulting total being 99 cents.
A few days later I received a phone call from someone who professed to wanting to confirm my order for the Resveratrol Ultra. This person informed me that I would be receiving a complimentary shipment of Biolabs Instant Wrinkle Releaser. There was no price attached to this product and I did not agree to pay for it. I received the Biolabs product first, then the Resveratrol Ultra came in the mail.
I received my VISA statement today and noticed a $49.99 charge from "Oxi-Berry" with an additional $0.50 charge for international fee-finance charges. I called the referenced phone number, 866-906-6551, and spoke with a young man named Alex. He kept talking about my Resveratrol Ultra account, but I finally was able to get him to deal with the Oxi-Berry charge.
He told me that the Oxi-Berry company sells the Biolabs Instant Wrinkle Releaser. I told him I didn't order it, but was told it was being sent free of charge. I told him I wanted to return it in order to have the charge removed from my credit card account. He told me that I had agreed to recurring shipments when I signed up online, and that the 30-day return period had expired. I told him I felt like I was being scammed because I didn't sign up for the Wrinkle Releaser.
That's when he stopped saying that the 30-day return period had expired and said that he would refer my case to the credit department who would issue a credit to my VISA account in five to seven days.
This smells of a scam to me. I didn't buy the Biolabs Wrinkle Releaser online or over the phone at any time. The Biolabs box has the following information on it: Biolabs Skin Care, LLC.Hollywood, FL. 33020, www.biolabs.com. The Resveratrol Ultra has the following information listed on its receipt: Information Tech Systems Ltd., 4 Charlesford Avenue, Kingswood, Maidstone, Kent, United Kingdom, ME17 3 PH.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Resveratrol_NOT
Greengrass,Iowa,
USA
Fight Back Against Free Trial Scams!
#2Consumer Suggestion
Sun, October 11, 2009
Unfortunately we all either know someone or have been claimed as a victim of one of the "free trial" scams that are all over the internet. In an attempt to educate others in avoiding the mistakes I made (even though I thought I was pretty secure in the way I treated this "free offer") I offer this posting/rebuttal.
Please copy it, and send it to everyone you know, if the thieves can't be stopped, we can hurt them through being smart internet-savvy consumers, armed with the correct weapons for this type of fight.
The BEST way to fight this scam is to be PROACTIVE!! A good offense is your best defense!
If you have a PayPal account (or any other type of account like PayPal) look for their product/service called a "SINGLE USE SECURE CREDIT CARD" (you may have to download and install the PayPal plug-in for your browser). If you don't have a PayPal type of account, consider obtaining one, it is a more secure way of doping business over the internet and the "secure Credit Card" system enables you to make purchases more safely on the internet. Other credit card companies/banks are starting to offer this service as well, ask around.
If they have one (as PayPal does) when ordering the free trial USE THIS SECURE SINGLE USE CREDIT CARD!!! It will not be attached or be identified to your bank/charge card accounts and will prevent unauthorized charges to your account!!! * (see below) Don't forget to save your receipt for the transaction....
You will be able to obtain the free trial, and not have to cancel the account as the Credit Card will be dead *. (see below) Or in my case, fail to cancel the subscription BEFORE the 19 day trial period for a 30 day trial of the product! * (see below) Which is how they "get you", assuming that they will bill you for the next round of product(s) BEFORE you see the credit card/bank statement!!!
* NOTICE: PayPal SECURE SINGLE USE CREDIT CARDS can be processed by a merchant more than one time!!! I found this out the hard way.
It seems that a "single use" card can be "hit" up to FOUR times by the same merchant for things like multiple ship orders, or SUBSCRIPTIONS!!!
Since the free trial is considered a subscription, the merchant was able to "hit" the card again 19 days after the first charge of 99 cents (for the free trial offer).
THE WAY AROUND THIS is to log on to your PayPal account and CLOSE the SECURE SINGLE USE CREDIT CARD as soon as it has been charged the first time for the 99 cents!!! (On PayPal, just click on the menu item on the right side of the page that says "PayPal Plugin", then there will be new menus on the left side that will enable you to view secure cards and close any open ones)
Since the card was a "single use" card, you have done nothing illegal or wrong by closing this card. You have not violated any terms, agreements or any other convoluted "fine print" or terms and conditions hidden on some obscure often overlooked page of their website that the scammer has made you agree to in the free trial offer.
I assume other bank/credit card companies may have similar types of secure single use credit cards, just check out if they can be processed more than once by a merchant. Then see how to close/cancel them as soon as the first charge for the free trial comes in.
Good Luck, and if we do this right, we can put these scammers out of business, because they won't be able to exist selling their product for 99 cents and wasting time trying to collect from dead credit cards.
Pass this info around, the more who know how to defeat these opportunistic bastards, the better!!!