Buyer BEWARE of Free Trials!

By show of hands, who of you out there has ever ordered anything online or from an infomercial. I know I have. Now who of you have ever ordered anything that has promised a risk free trial? Again, me too.

Don't be ashamed, we've all done it and some of us more successfully than others. Those ads and infomercials can be slick, full of empty promises and smooth talkers, and all I can say is, sit back and read on, and keep my story in mind before you give over to impulse/emotional buying. This is a true story about a mom (me) who after two children and quitting smoking, had added a few pounds to her once trim waist line, and came upon an ad online that swept her away like a good romance novel. It began innocently enough last September. I was new to Facebook and if you are familiar at all with Facebook, then you know on the right side of your screen there are ads for Diet & Weight loss miracles, Anti Aging secrets and more. So I took the bait and clicked on an ad that read find out what Oprah and Dr. Oz recommend to lose weight. Curious, I clicked against my better judgement. So what did they recommend? It was a supplement of Acai Berry, supposedly the newest weight loss wonder, in pill form. And what do ya know, it had a "no risk" free trial!! So once again, sucker that I am, I took the bait and began imagining myself in my former size 3 jeans, carpooling the kids with onlookers oooohing and ahhhing wondering if I was their mother or perhaps a sister? Oh okay, I exaggerate. Suffice to say, I took the bait and ordered it and it came with a 14 day trial, so it SEEMED that it was guaranteed to work or I would just cancel it and go on with my life. It arrived and I began my Acai Berry adventure. First of all I wasn't impressed with the taste. It was a melt away tablet that sat on my tongue and tasted bitter and gritty and made me gag, as it didn't melt as fast as I would've liked it to. Second of all, I shed not one pound in 14 days. So before my trial was up, I called the 800 number on the bottle and cancelled. And so imagine my surprise when my credit card statement came and there was an 89.31 charge from this Acai Berry company!! How could this be? So I immediately called them back to correct this, and so would begin an irritating and lengthy ordeal. The first woman I spoke with told me that the one month supply had shipped out before I had cancelled my trial, therefore they had to charge me. I replied (calmly at this point) that first of all, why would they ship it out while it was still on the free trial, and secondly, that being the case, I would just return the bottle as soon as I got it. To this she replied they do not do returns/refunds. Oh really? How convenenient for them. So we exchanged a few more words before I hung up on her. I waited a few days to collect myself, then I called again, determined to make someone correct this. This time they put me on hold. By on hold, I mean, they completely ignored me for 38 minutes. So I hung up, since I do have a life, and a few days later, called back yet again. This time someone answered and I explained what had happened, and that it was all a mistake and that if I ever received what they said they had shipped out, I would return it promptly. She was pleasant and assured me there would be a credit on my next bill. Yay!! Persistance paid off! So I hung up quite satisfied with the outcome, and returned to life as usual. Then, one day, my credit card bill arrived. I opened it, and there was indeed a credit. There was a credit for HALF the amount they billed me for, not the full 89.31. !!!! Ahhhhhh! Are you kidding me? So I decided to call my credit card company since obviously the Acai Berry people were being shady (who woulda figured since both Oprah and Dr. Oz gave such high recommendations huh?). The representative from my Sears Mastercard put in a request to remove this from my statement and assured me it was all taken care of. With a sigh of relief, back to life as usual I go. And my next bill came, and there was indeed a credit. But this time it was for too much. Now I begin having a terrible persistant twitching just under my right eye. Apparently Sears credited the FULL amount instead of what I had told them, which was half. Because remember, the shady Acai people did generously give me half a credit for the product that to this day, I never received but they are billing me for. So now I call Sears back and tell them about the mistake. They were confused, as I rambled on to explain they were only supposed to credit 45., not the full 89. They transfer me twice, and I reexplain myself a total of 3 times before Henry tells me he understands and will take care of this issue. Somehow I come away doubting his sincerity, but cling to hope, as I try to control the twitchy eye problem. So by now we are in the month of November. This adventure began in September. Next statement comes, no change. Then in December they send me a rather curt letter and put the 89.00 back on my statement twice. What? What the? The letter states that they have found this credit to be in error and it will be placed back on my account, which they did, TWICE. By this point I now have a twitchy eye, and a blood pressure problem, and am wrestling with the urge to throw myself on the floor in a screaming kicking tantrum. So here we go again, by now, their number is on my speed dial. I call them, explain, then get transferred, then reexplain, then get tranferred, and so forth and so on. Fast forward to February. Yes Februrary. I am still dealing with trying to get this corrected when I am told that I now need to hand write a letter and fax it in stating why I feel this charge is an error and why it should be removed. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!! Okay fine, so now I get out my stationary and hand write a letter stating the exact same things I have now told no less than 25 Sears Mastercard employees via phone. Just one day later I fax it to them and wait. Then for some reason I decide to call them to confirm they have received my letter via fax, and here's where it gets good. After speaking to another 2 representatives and then getting transferred to a manager, the manager comes on and unemotionally states that I did not respond to their request in a timely fashion and the case has expired. Expired??? What? What does that mean? My "case" has expired, as in bad milk? Or as in they just don't want to do their job, and they are tired of dealing with me?? He states there is nothing more I can do but pay. WHAT?!!! Let me add, that up until this incident, I have been a stellar customer, always paid on time, usually paying whatever I charge off each month. I CAN pay this bill. Should I have to? No. It's a fraudulent charge that should have been removed had either company done their job. Both the Acai company and Sears Mastercard have shown a gross neglect in customer service and quite frankly, they're idiots. So to sum it up, I am stuck, I have to pay this now, unless I want to try to jump through other hoops with higher ups, which at this point, I am just exhausted mentally and I have no more faith in the "high ups" than I have in the little dufuses that messed this up in the first place. I can assure you that I will never ever never order another free trial of anything again, and even more, I will NEVER use my Sears Mastercard again!! This has been a terrible and undeserving experience, and all I have been to this point is a loyal customer with an excellent reputation. So I am warning you, beware of free trials, if it sounds to good to be true, it usually is!

I am including the following information as a warning, do with it what you will, just don't say I didn't tell you so if you get scammed!

Extreme Acai Berry Melt Away Tablets 801-208-7485 (there is no other information on the bottle except directions, precautions and nutritional information)

Also, I would be VERY careful if you have a Sears Mastercard. Everything was fine with mine until this charge got placed on there, BUT the important thing to learn is that they did NOT correct it, and ultimately made the situation worse. If you have a Sears Mastercard I would be very careful what you charge to it, as the company will most likely jerk you around for months (if there is an incorrect charge) until your claim/case "expires" and there "is nothing more they can do". Just a warning based on my personal experience!