Complaint Review: VitaDigest - Walnut California

1. I'm contacting this office for assistance regarding an order I placed on 2-28-13 through my online member account at VitaDigest.com.

I experienced a problem with my account immediately and contacted VitaDigest Live Online Support- there was no response. Since this was live support, with the promise of a live operator to assist me, I didn't understand what was wrong. I waited approximately 5 hours then followed up with an email directly to customer support- there was never a response from either departments, nor did anyone return my messages by phone.

The problem was that I was previously signed up for a "rewards" program- the company's loyalty discount program, and I was to be earning points by the dollars I spent on each previous order. Except my account was now wiped clean, there was no account history of the previous orders I purchased from the last couple of years, none of the orders I placed earned the reward points promised, so I was unable to apply any of the reward points that I've earned from my previous order history to this order:

https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/?ui=2&shva=1#sent/13d24814f29f58fa 

2. On 3-1-13 I received an emailed shipment confirmation from UPS that a shipping label had been created and a separate confirmation that it shipped that day- the package shipped was expected to be delivered by 3-7-13:

https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/?ui=2&shva=1#inbox/13d28b9aff885073

Also on 3-1-13 I received an emailed itemized receipt from VitaDigest that my credit card was charged $302.14 and confirmed the shipment of all of the items in my order were in stock and shipped at that time:

https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/?ui=2&shva=1#inbox/13d28c8a613ab5d5

*Now it has been my experience from buying through VitaDigest over the last 5 years that I've usually received a package within 5 days. This is the first time I'm having this problem, there were other problems from my past dealings with their phone orders department: I have had a couple of problems with them with phone orders in the past where they quoted one price for my order then tried to get away with unauthorized charges to my credit cards afterwards. I had to go through the local Better Business Office with formal written complaints for help and to make it clear this was not ethical business practices and would not be tolerated. 

Every day after 3-5-13 I checked the front door for signs of the delivery up until 3-7-13, it was not delivered by the end of the day so I called UPS, 800-742-5877 and spoke to an agent who said that the information entered into their database showing the package had been shipped was fraudulent; the only record they had for this package (1Z7F53060353726066) was that a label had been created on 3-1-13 but it was never physically shipped.

I was then transferred to the Tracking Department, where an agent reported that VitaDigest had a long history of complaints like mine against them and that what they had done was fraud and this report was forwarded to the fraud department for further action. The agent then tried to do a conference call to VitaDigest but she said that they must be closed, because no one was answering the phone extensions. She told me to call UPS back later and try the phone call again.

I next contacted my credit card company and made a documented report, I was told there would be an attempt made to contact VitaDigest to resolve this...

On 3-8-13 I called UPS again and spoke to a different agent who said that he had a confirmation that VitaDigest had shipped my package at 10:33 PM that night. So it was believed that my shipment would arrive in another week. But 6 days later...

On 3-14-13 the package was delivered. To my surprise the contents of the box was very poorly packed; it was half full and the bottles could be heard rolling around freely inside the box when I picked it up and under closer inspection even contained 2 products that I did not order- roughly 2/3 of what I paid for was missing with no explanation. This is the copy of the itemized order I paid for, I also printed a hard copy of the receipt before they emailed the shipping confirmation:

Name                                                                Code                            Qty     Each  Options

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Super Booster Softgels,                                    le-super-booster-60              3          29.88

60 Softgels, From Life Extension

(Shipped) UPS Tracking Number:

1Z7F53060353726066                                    

                                     

Metabolic Advantage                                                             et-thyroid-advan-180             3         17.86

Thyroid Formula, 180Capsules,

From EnzymaticTherapy

(Shipped) UPS Tracking Number:

1Z7F53060353726066

Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA),                                                        drb-alpha-lipoic-60                6           8.78

60 Veggie Caps,

600mg,From Doctor's Best

(Shipped) UPS Tracking Number:

1Z7F53060353726066

Mega Citrimax, Halt Fat                                                         twin-mega-citrimax                4          14.93  

100 Capsules, From Twinlab                                              Shipping Surcharge = Ground Storage,               

(Shipped) UPS Tracking Number:                                                                                               (+$0.25)                                     1Z7F53060353726066

Benefiance Concentrated                                                     perfume-431096                    1          59.14

Anti Wrinkle Eye Cream,From Shiseido

(Shipped)UPS Tracking Number:

1Z7F53060353726066                                                     

                                                                                                     Subtotal    314.73                                               

                                                                                     Coupon discount     -12.59                                                 

                                                                                             (cupid2save)                                                     

                                                                                                     Subtotal    302.14                                                     

                                                                                                    Shipping        0.00                                                           

                                                                                                              Tax         0.00                                                         

                                                                                                           Total     302.14

This completes your order. Thank you for shopping with us.

**Out of my above order, the only thing in the box that I received was:

5 bottles of Doctor's Best ALA 600mg 60 caps (at $8.78 each),

3 bottles of Enzymatic Therapy Metabolic Advantage Thyroid Formula 180 caps (at $17.86 each).

The total cost of these items is $97.48 minus the 4% discount of $3.90 = $93.58, out of the $302.14 that I paid.

As I made notes of the problems with my order I promptly contacted VitaDigest through the Live Online Support; I listed the issues in type that I contacted them about already along with the arrival of the package contents and sent them the message, demanding a response- again, they did not respond in any way. I followed again by copying and pasting that message to the itemized email VitaDigest sent to me on 3-1-13 in my Gmail account (excerpted above) and sent it back to them at 12:03 pm- to this day there has been no response by phone, email or text message:

https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/?ui=2&shva=1#inbox/13d28c8a613ab5d5

THE RESOLUTION I AM ASKING FOR: It's very simple- complete my order and deliver what I have purchased, exactly what I have purchased.  I also want my erased account history to be returned to reflect the reward points that I earned, this is only fair since I have spent thousands of dollars over the years.

A little compensation for putting me out financially for NOT sending me my products; I had to purchase replacements for the products through their competitors already, since I was about to run out of these supplements when I ordered them in the first place on 2-28-13. I am still in the process of repurchasing these missing supplements, I had to go directly through Life Extention today, 3-22-13.

 

These supplements I need to take every day- I take them because I have several medical conditions that are treated with adjunct therapies to my pharmaceutical treatments that are doctor recommended. This has created a lot of wasted time and money for everyone involved, totally unnecessary considering the right thing to do is just follow proper ethical business practices in the first place.

VitaDigest has a long history of complaints, as I looked up their online reputation, I am definitely not one of the first customers to be given poor treatment: 

http://www.bbb.org/los-angeles/business-reviews/vitamins-and-food-supplements/vitadigest-in-walnut-ca-13190515

http://www.ripoffreport.com/vitadigest-com/supplemental-health-programs/internet-internet-0e001.htm

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/VitaDigest

http://www.ripoffreport.com/computer-mail-order/vitadigest/vitadigest-do-not-receive-item-3a84x.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/directory/Vitadigest.aspx

http://www.ripoffreport.com/miscellaneous-companies/vitadigest/vitadigest-sent-outdated-prod-ef44d.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/corrupt-companies/vitadigest/vitadigest-ripoff-alhambra-int-awfe3.htm

*I don't know if the hyperlinks are going to work for those VitaDigest and UPS emails from my gmail account, but if it doesn't, could you send me info on how to forward copies of those emails to you? The emails are the only proof I have that backs up the details of my complaint because it records the time and dates of the information. 

I also have photos taken with my iPhone of the box and package contents, along with the printout of the order confirmation dated 2-28-13. These can be emailed from my gmail account as attachments if you could forward your contact info (email address) to me.

Thank you for your assistance.