SUPREME BRANDS Free Trial Is Not So Free LA JOLLA California
I ordered a "free" one month's supply of VITAL ACAI pure concentrated formula and VITAL ACAI clense formula, paying the nominal postage fee of $0.99.
Here is a quote from the instruction sheet that came with the bottles:
"If you are enjoying VitalAcai, then there is no need to take any action - at the end of your 15-day trial you will be charged the low rate of $78.91 for the bottles you received." All of a sudden, my "free" trial is costing me close to $80.00." Further, every thirty days from my original order, an automatic shipment will go out, along with another $78.91 charge.
I ordered my "free" sample on Nov 25 and it was not delivered until Dec 2, so half of my trial period had expired before I even saw the product.
I immediately attempted to call the company to tell them that I was very dissatisfied with its deceptive marketing practice; that, deceptive as its marketing is, I have to wonder if the claims for the product are not even more deceptive; and, as a result, I want to return the product and be sure that I am not charged for my "free" sample.
After waiting on hold for over fifteen minutes, the hold-music stopped and line suddenly went dead. I called again and I as I type this, I am on hold at twenty-two minutes and counting.
I haven't been ripped off yet...at least I haven't yet been billed for a "free" sample that I now have no interest in, but it doesn't look good at this moment.
I find it all the more interesting that there is no web address on the instruction sheet, which would make it less inconvenient--or maybe even possible--to contact the company to cut off future billing.
My next call will be to my credit card company to inform it about the situation and alert it to reject any future billing from this company.
Tom
ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Devin
La Jolla,California,
U.S.A.
You Did Not Order a "Free One-Month" Supply or Sample; you signed up for a "Free 15-Day Trial"
#2UPDATE Employee
Thu, June 18, 2009
Dear Tom,
What we are advertising on our site is a free 15-day trial so that customers have the chance to try our product and see if it is right for them before they are billed. We are not sending out one-month supplies of product as "samples" (which would be out-right gifts); rather it is a "trial" which is a time-sensitive test.
You refer to this as a "free sample" when nowhere on any of our sites or advertising is the word "sample" used.
I'm very sorry that you have had difficulty contacting us; we were transitioning to a 24/7 customer service center to provide better assistance during the month of December in 2008. Because of this, call times for a week or two were increasingly delayed. You could leave us a voicemail, however, and we would have followed whatever instructinos were left in a message to us.
I would like to point out how important it is to read the terms and conditions of programs you sign up for, which you did agree to when you ordered. Our terms and conditions are listed in clear, visible language on the order page, and our sent out to you in a confirmatione mail and listed on a product insert sent out to you with your product. We repeatedly list these terms to make customers aware of what they are signing up for; it is not our fault that you signed up for the trial without reading the terms, only to read the terms later and find out that this trial was not what you thought it was.
This could have been easily avoided by taking 2 minutes to review the terms & conditions which we repeatedly list and which you must agree to in order to place an order with us.
If you have any further questions or need assistance please contact us at our 24/7 customer service center at (866) 899-9006 - hold times are under 1 minute.
Devin
Customer Service Manager