Complaint Review: First Impression Hydroderm - Culver City California

In December of 2005, I too signed up for what I thought was a free sample of the First Impression Lip Plumping system from Hydroderm. When I signed up for it, I was under the impression that I would get a free sample & if I didn't cancel within 30 days, I would be sent the auto-shipment, for which I would be charged the 60 or 70 bucks (can't remember how much it was exactly). When processing the order, luckily I had hit the "print" button at the top of my browser page. When I got the "free sample" about 2 or 3 weeks later, I started looking at the computer print-offs & the papers/invoices that came w/ the shipment to find the phone # I would need to call to cancel the auto-ship before I was charged for it. This is when I saw that I had signed up for a free trial sample. You are getting a free trial to sample the product (this is why instead of getting a "trial" size, which is usually much smaller, you are getting the "full" size container of each product). You have to send the product back w/in 30 days of first ordering it, or they will charge you the full amount for the "sample". So basically, your "30 day trial" is really only a few days because it takes a few weeks to get the product & then you have to consider the transit time for returning the shipment. YOU ALSO HAVE TO CALL OR EMAIL THEM TO NOTIFY THEM YOU WANT TO CANCEL THE AUTO-SHIPMENT. If you don't do these 2 things, they will charge you for the "sample" shipment & charge you for the auto-shipment. Luckily for me, I realized all of this, & not only cancelled the auto-ship, but sent the product back 2 days after I received it in the mail. I paid about $5-6 to send it back UPS Ground so that I would have a guaranteed delivery date of just a few days & would be able to track it to know when it was delivered back to them. Hydroderm never charged me anything other than the $6.95 (this was the price of s&h then) for shipping my "free sample". You are given a 30 day trial period to sample the product. After the 30 day period, by KEEPING the product, you are KEEPING the product. That is why they told you they would not accept an "open box". I mean when you think about it, for example, no store that I know of is going to let you return a tube of lipstick that you've already used. Because this was directly through the manufacturer though, they did let you first try the product to see if you would like it before you actually purchased it. The product itself is not free. The opportunity to try it first-i.e. the trial is what is free. I myself did use the product a few times before I sent it back 2 days later & when filling out the form to return it, I was asked which products were open & I answered truthfully & they accepted my return & never charged me for it. This was all done during my specified free trial period, so they didn't give me the whole open box spill like they did you. It just goes to show that we always have to read the fine print. I'm not trying to put you down in any waybelieve me, I'm guilty of it too (not always reading), I'm just hoping that my experience w/ this company will help others who are reading this so they will not wait a month or 2 like you did. I also want to make sure you know that I am by no means defending this company either, because their advertising IS VERY DECEPTIVE in making you think your getting a free sample (which would mean you get to keep a small sample of the product) when in fact you are getting a free trial TO sample the product. Obviously I sent this crap back, so I didn't think it was worth 60 bucks either :)