Complaint Review: Lumidaire - Internet

I have several issues to complain about: false advertising, exorbitant price, missing product, a dishonest and predatory sales model, and an impenetrable and non-supportive 'support call center'.

I ordered a free trial of two products, eye cream and face moisturizer, and shipping costs were to be $3.95 and $4.95. Since I travel for work, it took me three months to realize what was going on, and by then Lumidaire already had $660 of my money. My bad for not jumping right on this, but I could not have imagined the total cost.

FALSE ADVERTISING. The product was not 'all natural' as advertised. Far from it. Dozens of ingredients make up each of the two products, with only a few (water, cetearyl alcohol, and a blackcurrant derivative) are pronounceable. In other words, this is a scam. I refused to use it on my skin.

EXORBITANT PRICE. My bank statement showed charges totaling $660.14, including the original $10.89 for two products to try, and then seven more hits ranging in price between 89.71 and 94.66. I certainly did not know I would be spending $180+ per month on these supposedly 'natural' products!

MISSING PRODUCT. Not all of the product which I paid for arrived at my house. The price of the missing product was $187.67.

DISHONEST AND PREDATORY SALES MODEL. I did not see, when signing up for the 'free' trial, how much the product would cost, and I was not aware that I had signed up for a monthly subscription of product. There were no emails or receipts to explain this. I had to search in my bank statements for the charges.

Caveat emptor. I was willing to take responsibility for the opened packages. However, I wanted a refund for the product that never arrived at my house in August ($187.67), and I wanted to return for a refund the unopened packages (one of each item, $188.38) as well as the item which was in transit to me ($93.72).  I feel I deserve a refund of $467.77.

It took three calls, including a 45-minute battle of wills with the agent on the third call, to get a supervisor on the phone. Hat’s off to the agent who stuck it out on the phone for so long, continuously repeating the same nonsense policies while we supposedly waited for a supervisor to become available, with me responding each time with a demand to speak to a supervisor. I assume part of their legal defense would be 'she hung up before we could help her.'

Here is how it all ended.

My subscription was cancelled, and the cancellation fees were waived (oh how generous). This happened on the first call.

I received a refund of $282.10 for the three most recent charges - the product in transit plus the items which arrived in September. This was apparently a big concession, as the company's 'policy' is for no refunds after a 15-day period.

I was given a tracking number for the product that was supposed to arrive in August but didn't, and Lumidaire will not help me track that down or give me a refund for that. Since the USPS tracker says it was delivered, I'm not holding my breath for any remedy on that one.

No company which sells a truly good and respectable product would make an unhappy customer wait on the phone for 45 minutes to get help. That's the point, this product is a scam, and the phone support people are very well rehearsed to refuse refunds. This company is a scam.

To anyone reading this, here is my advice. Don't buy the product. If you do, and you want a refund, do it immediately. When the agent says the supervisors are in a meeting, or on outgoing calls, or helping another customer, don't give up. You will eventually get them to help you, if only a little bit, especially if you threaten a lawsuit.