2/23/04 Placed order with Lipo Slim Systems for 3 pack of diet pills. 3/25/04 Didn't work for me, so I rec'd an RA # and sent back the empty bottles.
4/15/04 I emailed about the status of the refund of $89.99 (price w/o shipping and handling)
Same day: I received a response saying a refund was submitted on 4/6/04 for $67.49. I wrote back saying I spent $89.99 not $67.49. I received a response: "Please review our Return Policy stated on our websites. There is 100% credit for unused product and 75% credit for used product."
I checked the site. On the site's left menu bar, there is no link for a Return Policy. I checked the product page from where I purchased the actual product and stated THREE TIMES is their 100% satisfaction guarantee policy:
"Guarantee: If you are not completely satisfied with
this product just return it within 30 days from the original date of your purchase and we will refund your money. We are that confident in the quality and the overall success you will achieve with this product. Guaranteed!"
None of the guarantees state anything about a "75% refund" or "partial" refund or "check our Return Policy for more specific product return information". It just says return within 30 days and we will refund your money.
I finally found where their Return Policy is located - on the bottom of their "Payment & Shipment" Page. The return policy reads as:
"Our goal is to provide customers with timely service in the event a return is necessary. We recommend that you carefully read the following notes detailing our return policy. All request for product returns must be emailed to:
[email protected]Please do not attempt to send unapproved product returns back to us. For security reasons, ALL shipments returned without a RAN number will be refused. Sorry, there will be absolutely no exceptions.
Normal Returns
LipoSlim Systems will ONLY accept product returns on products that are guaranteed on their respective product page (Guarantee Seal) within 30 days that an order has been placed. Customers must email us and advise of of their intentions to return a product that has been guaranteed.
Customer service will issue a Return Authorization Number (RAN) via an email. The email will be delivered from
[email protected] and it will contain the Return Authorization Number and the customer care agents' name who assigned it. You must write your Return Authorization Number on EXTERIOR of your return shipment. Please do not attempt to send unapproved product returns back to us. For security reasons, ALL shipments returned without a RAN number will be refused. Sorry, there will be absolutely no exceptions.
Please retain a copy of this (RAN) email for your records. It will serve as your proof of valid approved product return. You must write this number on your invoice and include it on your return package. Refunds will be issued upon receipt of the returned product(s). No product will be accepted after 30 days from the day that an order was placed. All other returns are not accepted.
*Please do not attempt to send unapproved product returns back to us. For security reasons, ALL shipments returned without a RAN number will be refused. Sorry, there will be absolutely no exceptions.
There will be a 25% Restocking Fee calculated against the total cost of ALL products being returned. Also, the customer will be responsible for the cost of return shipment. All of the above product return directives must be complied with, including but not limited to the assignment of a Return Authorization Number."
Even their Return Policy does not mention a 75% refund. It mentions a 25% restocking fee. The product I returned was opened and completely used. There was no product to restock.
Besides this fact, FDA Guidelines call that opened or used consumable goods cannot be resold to the public. A restock fee is charged to return an product back to the shelf with the intent on reselling it.
I do not know if All Web Nutrition is breaking the law and reselling pills from open bottles to the public, but they are charging restocking fees to do so.
Either way, they cannot charge restocking fees for opened or used (or completely empty bottles in my case) goods because they are prohibited by law to resell them.
When I emailed them about this crazy crap, they said: "The restocking fee is the cost of doing business.
We have to charge a restocking fee in order to keep our prices nice and low for our valued customers. We can call it a restocking fee, because, some returns are unused returns."
But I caught them in a lie.
I wrote back: By the way, you just contradicted yourself. In your first email, you said:
Please review our Return Policy stated on our websites.
There is 100% credit for unused product and 75% credit for used product.
And your latest:
Yes, we can call it a restocking fee, because, some returns are unused returns.
You don't charge restock fees for unused items, you said it yourself. So, your company is breaking the law by charging restock fees for items that are returned empty, used, and opened, and then redistributing them to the public. Ewww.
Don't buy their stuff! The stuff doesn't work and you still pay for it even though 1/2 the pills in the bottle probably came from someone else!!!
Tara
North Providence, Rhode Island
U.S.A.