Complaint Review: Sunrise Herb Farm - Sage Advice - Garden Girl Bath Products - Bethel Connecticut

Here's a current CT AG document dated June 10, 2010 outlining Val & David Hoffmans schemes against the people of CT & the U.S.  No one is jealous of you Val - Chloe - you don't fool anyone. If you stop ripping people off, you won't have keep defending yourself.  Live a good life and stop wasting your time and talent.  All the money in the world won't buy you peace. 

I have known Val Gal as we call her and Dave for 11 years and they have always been great to me. Paid my company on time, ordered on a convenient schedule and treat everyone they know regardless of financial or social back round with respect and love which I think is d**n cool as most people with their lives are s****.>

  It's interesting to see how many names this company can come up with to post good things about themselves on this site.  You will know the posts are from the Hoffmans because they are the ONLY people that would ever have anything good to say about this Rip-Off of a company.  They have repeatedly broken the law (I have forged documents they provided to our credit card company), and I hope they get what they deserve for all the headaches they have caused people through the years.

Here is another letter we just received: I have ordered for over 14 years and just like the other guy said every invoice says the policy as does the website and my booklet I got and Val told me too that it was an Auto Ship company-its far from hidden and these people who are writing here either are not very smart or are just trying to get a refund they are not owed. Hey people-you don't want Auto Shipments then don't order from Auto Ship companies-most are not nearly as clear as this one was thats for sure!! ps people should watch what they post or they could be subjected to a defamation lawsuit themselves...wow people sure are nasty out there, sad world. I understand Mrs Hoffman already found out with this Ridgefield gardener and other Kris gal are!

I was at the hearing and Ms Hoffman was RIGHT all along...the State only had this one witness who would show up and she crumbled on the stand ADMITTING she did indeed sign up for the Auto Ship program Ms Hoffman has gotten slack over-she also admitted she was told the policies on the paperwork and the invoice AND that even Ms Hoffman told her...I felt so bad for saying the cruel things I did about Ms Hoffman as I saw she was just following her policies and that the clients are just liars trying to get out of paying for goods they signed up for. I WAS a bit confused all along I must say as when I reported on this I did notice you cannot even check out of the website without agreeing to Auto Ship and it IS noted in like 5 places.. I think based on all the comments people make about her home the reality is these people are just jealous and I am humiliated I was a part of it. I wrote and apologized to the family and am happy to hear the judge sided with them, made fools of the state and that they are now suing for over 6 million! Good for them! What they have been put through is horrible...I read the AG in that state Blumenthal was voted as the TOP Worst AG in the country and that he has 23,000 similar pending suits...he cares about nothing but money it seems and will destroy people to get it...scary. ps I was just told that over 9000 business's may sue the AG for doing the same thing to them in some class action suit-oh boy! Bet Ct wished they had just settled with the Hoffman's...this was a small stupid case all along...what a waste of tax dollars AGAIN from the state!

In life its often hard to admit when we are wrong but in this case I must suck it up and admit I was wrong about the Hoffmans and the company Ms Hoffman runs. I reported on the hearing you see and when I read all the documents I felt ashamed and embarrased as the reality of this is that the policies of the herb farm were those dictated by Consumer Protection themselves-it was really ironic when I heard the testimony of the ONLY client who had shown up to the hearing and saw her humiliate herself and then break down admitting she DID actually sign up for the Auto Ship program and was simply angry as she forgot to cancel....it really put a light on for me and when I read more and more about this case it was pathetic how people jumped to conclusions and clearly were so jealous of the lovely home the couple had as that kept being mentioned over and over-how is that relevant to the case!? The reality is no one was just put on an Automatic shipping program-they signed up themselves-and when I checked the website Ms Hoffman was right its written all over it ( and on her booklet and receipt too) -page after page and I couldn't even check out on the website without agreeing to it-it is far from deceptive and unclear as people tried to claim and truthfully why did people ( unless they were jealous of a young successful couple ) make such a big deal out of an Auto Ship program case-its a very common thing out there these days. In addition, when I read more I realized they are a simply hard working family and were really treated like crap I must say by a very few small minded and I might add very rude individuals.... the things written by it turns it out ONLY 3 individuals were beyond cruel and as a learned very false.. I am not at all surprised it turned out the complaints were an 70 % less than 8th what was claimed and that the judge sided with the Hoffmans....NOW the State of Ct has bought themselves a huge lawsuit it turns out as I read the documents and the Hoffmans are suing them in 2 states to the tune of 6 million dollars-good for them!

I have ordered from Ms Hoffman and her company for 17 years and this horrible slander is unreal. Ms Hoffman is a a LOVELY classy gal who works with abused animals, does incredible things to support the environment and sells a wonderful product. If you go to her website and read her paperwork it tells very clearly that clients get Auto Shipment so how this Jan gal can sound so foolish and not be embarrassed is beyond me. I love Sunrise's herbs and have never felt better in my life since I started using them and since Ms Hoffman is one of sweetest ladies I know this type of garbage posted makes me furious! Ps if you read further you will see she was even nominated as the Entrepreneur of the Year!! I am glad RO reports posts BOTH sides..

I just wanted to clarify that Garden Girl is no longer connected by any means to Valerie Hoffman-Hawk or Sunrise Herb Farm or any of her other businesses. I am the present owner of Garden Girl, which I purchased from Ms Hoffman in January 2006. I have completely separated myself from her. While I certainly applaud any efforts to have business owners held accountable for deceptive business practices, I want to clarify that Garden Girl is a totally separate company and we maintain absolutely no connection to Ms Hoffman. Sincerely, Kristin Miller President/Owner Garden Girl Natural Skin Care

Although I have no direct business dealings with Sunrise Herb Farms and its owner, Valerie Hoffman, I truly believe the charges of fraud and unethical business behavior being leveled at her. I have seen this woman operate over the past 15 years and have come to realize that she is a person totally devoid of a sense of shame and care for others. Her entire life revolves around the almighty dollar and the material things it purchases. How she obtains it and who she has to walk over to get it doesn't concern her. I hope the State is successful in prosecuting its case. I understand that a crime against the elderly carries a mandatory jail term in CT. If this is true, it couldn't happen to a more deserving person.

One of the statements in the report should have read: "If our experience is a good indication, then the 200 complaints to the state probably represent over 2,000 wronged customers, since my wife was the only one out of more than 10 friends that got wrongly charged but actually filed a complaint with the State of Connecticut." In other words, 9 out of 10 people probably don't know that they can / should report such fraud to the state ... they only fight it through the credit card company, like some of our friends did. Some of our friends, unfortunately, just cancelled the herbal subscription and paid the excess charges, since they didn't feel like fighting. This is the "math" and logic that encourages companies like this to continue such bad practices --- they get away with it the vast majority of the time!