Complain about a product or service

Advanced Wellness Research

Kathryn of Columbia, SC July 21, 2009

My story is much the same as many people here. I saw the endorsements and figured I'd do the discounted trial of the product. It didn't do what I wanted, so I sent it back. Several weeks later I received more of their product, so this time I returned it and got a proof of delivery receipt, which I still have. I figured problem solved. Imagine my surprise when I returned from a 4-week trip to find more Akai berry and another charge for 83.80.

After several phone calls and a long email correspondence, which I still have and have sent to the Illinois Consumer Protection agency, they once again sent me more product and billed me again. (I had been asked to leave the account open so that they could refund the money. All the more fool me.) The only way to deal with these scam artists has been to cancel that credit card, which is a pain because I have several ethical companies that direct debit to it. Whenever I contact them, they barely speak English and somehow cannot find my account number, although they can always find it when it comes billing time! Their latest excuse is that, with the merger with Netalab, there seem to be some computer integration glitches. Like I say, there seem to be enough to prevent my refund, which I have requested at least 5 times now, but not enough to prevent them from billing me repeatedly.

Jodi of Villa Park, CA July 20, 2009

I ordered the test trial Acai Berry Pro Capsules 60 Ct. and after using them for two weeks, I wasn't happy with the results so I called to cancel my future orders. However, when I tried to call and cancel I got the run around from a person who I could barely understand and they continued to try and sell me other products. I was on the phone for at least 20 minutes with this customer service agent who was very rude and told me the main reason I wasn't seeing any results was because I needed to stop eating so much and that is the reason I am overweight. First of all, this is very unprofessional and I am not overweight and I work out daily at the gym and only tried these capsules to see if they lived up to their reputation.

Well, if has been two months since I cancelled my future orders. Guess what? The orders keep coming and my credit card keeps getting billed for 86 dollars each time. I am very upset. I wrote a complaint to the internet fraud IC3 department and hopefully the attorney general from Illinois will contact me soon about my dispute with this fraudulent company. With everything I've read today about this company I can see I'm not alone in getting ripped off. In these hard economic times, we as hard working individuals can't afford getting ripped off by thieves like this. It is like being robbed by someone who has your bank account number and and can access it anytime they want. I hope nobody ever buys from this company again. Oprah, Rachel Ray, 60 minutes and all the other celebrities that endorse this company need to go on tv and apologize for misleading the general public. This is a complete scam and needs to be stopped now.

Euniece of BLACKWELL, ID July 20, 2009

Like others, false advertising, unauthorized charges, unsealed product that I wouldn't use anyways. I have saved the product for possible legal action. If the company is being unethical then the product is probably not what they claim and is probably unsafe to use. Product wasn't shipped timely which makes it easier for them to run their scam.

Susan of Temecula, CA July 11, 2009

On July 7, 2009 I saw a product online that was supposedly approved/reported favorably by Dr. Oz and Oprah, as well as, 60 Minutes. Online they offered a "free trial" for only S & H of 4.99. I backed out of the order before it was processed. Then, today I was checking my VISA statement online and saw the charge (I have not received confirmation of the order as yet). I call the number on my credit card page and spoke to someone in India who was very difficult to understand.

He proceeded to tell me that I could not cancel the order now. I would have to wait until I received the product and cancel by sending it back within 14 days or be charged an exorbitant amount for said product (some miracle pill or cream to reduce facial wrinkles). I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that it was not possible. After 20 minutes of telling the man that I wanted the order cancelled NOW, I finally hung up and proceeded to file a dispute with my credit card company. Tomorrow, I will go to the post office to see if I can stop the delivery. Problem is they have my information somehow.

Paula of Savannah, GA July 9, 2009

Now owned by Netalab. This company in combination with The Natural Source has been sending bleach kits to my house each month at over 100 a month with no way to cancel. I have not opened the first one. I have emailed and called to cancel but they continue to debit my account. Over 600 so far plus I still haven't gotten them to stop.

Sharon of douglaston, NY July 9, 2009

My name is Jessica, I am speaking on behalf of my grandmother. Apparently on May 15 my grandmother, under the impression she was ordering a FREE sample of a teeth whitening kit and was only told she was paying shipping and handling, gave this fraudulent company her credit card number and billing information. She was told she could cancel her subscription and account no later than 14 days after to ensure no further charges for new kits if unsatisfied. Come to find that day she was charged 24.99, where as she was told she was only to pay 4.95. Apparently the extra charge, which she was never informed of, was for an extra laser light that came in the free sample. Well, she has tried fervently to rescind her membership and has found the company uncooperative and to have charged her several times in varying amounts of around 80.00 for whitening kits she didn't even receive. She pled with them to allow her to even return the one kit she did receive for a refund and they refused.

They were so unhelpful in fact that I began to assume that the only reason they continued to speak to her was to convince her not to call up her credit card company and cancel the card based on fraudulent activities. I was, of course and sadly, very right. While she continued to plead and and argue with the almost unintelligible customer service agent I decided to do a search of this Advanced Wellness Research and then came upon many complaints, including the ones here at consumer affairs. Upon reading such complaints she hang up the phone in frustration and immediately called her credit card company to cancel the card, the apparent only other option. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! This company is a clear cut scam, do not give them the privilege of getting their hands on your account numbers.

lee of fort worth, TX July 8, 2009

I ordered a trial of teeth whitener for 5.95 from an online ad. received 2 months supply at 80 per month. I had no idea I had been entered into this agreement with the company. The product hurt my teeth and burned my gums, but when I called to send back the products, they said they would not refund my money after a 14 day trial period. I told them to at least cancel the contract(that I didn't know I agreed to to begin with) they said they would but I am leary. I am hoping I don't have to cancel my credit card to straighten this out. at the very least I am out 160 for a product that I cannot use. I see many complaints like mine fro this same company - I don't understand why they can't be stopped from duping unsuspecting people.

gary of redondo beach, CA July 6, 2009

billing me for product on my credit card every month

Deb of Irwin, PA July 2, 2009

WARN EVERYONE YOU KNOW . . . DO NOT EVER, EVER, EVER contact Advanced Wellness much less buy anything. I foolishly ordered a "free sample" of Pure Acai Berry. Now I am trapped in a death spiral of charges and telephone calls. I am in the third month of fighting to get these shipments cancelled. I won't bore you with the details . . . because you've already read them in the previous posts.

Because of the economy, the credit card which I use exclusively for Internet purchases was making some adjustments at the end of May. So, I called Advanced Wellness twice in April and once in May to get the account cancelled. Each time being assured that it was - only to have another shipment show up. June 6th I spoke with India again and reinforced that there were to be no more shipments or charges.

Yesterday I got another shipment and, because my credit card was used after the end of May, my interest rate has gone up by 5 percentage points. The credit card company insists that an RMA be provided in order to start a fraud claim. They said that there is nothing that they can do to block the charges from being submitted. So, not only am I trapped in the death grip of India & Advanced Wellness but I seem powerless to make my credit card company refuse the charges and my entire card balance is now being charged the additional 5% in interest.

The agents in India refuse to escalate to a supervisor or cancel the order. The credit card furnished me with additional contact numbers for Advanced Wellness and those numbers turn out to be bogus too. There has to be some way to stop these people!!!

Charles of Canal Winchester, OH June 26, 2009

I am an older Senior Citizen who has been ripped off by this company. Their “Terms and Conditions” contract should be made null and viod since most Seniors can not understand it.HERE ARE SOME VERY DISTURBING EXCERPTS FROM THE CONTRACT.

ORDERING PRODUCTS THROUGH THE WEBSITE; POLICIES NOTE: All products come with a fourteen (14) day free trial period (“Free Trial”) as described in this Agreement. If You have any questions about Our Free Trial, please contact Our Customer Service Department toll-free at 1-866-964-1011. Our Customer Service Department is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Note: Calls to this number are transferred to a call center in India which has 400 employees serving as customer service for several companies. Most speek limited English and for us Seniors they are very difficult to understand. CK 2009

HOME DELIVERY PLAN Unless You cancel Your enrollment in Our Home Delivery Plan, approximately thirty (30) days following Your original order date (and every thirty (30) days thereafter), NETALAB will send you another thirty (30) day supply of the Product and the credit card You provided to us will be automatically billed 79.69 for the Product (Florida residents add sales tax) plus a shipping and handling charge of 4.99 (shipping and handling is increased for international deliveries).

Note: The underlined statement. You must cancel your credit card to avoid repeated charges. CK 2009 CHARGEBACK POLICY: In the event a chargeback is filed by you and denied by the issuing bank - you will be charged the 50 Chargeback filling fee as well as a 100 processing fee. We strongly encourage you to contact our customer service department to assist you with a refund, before you consider filing a dispute or chargeback with your bank or credit card company.

Note: I consider this to be totally illegal policy and needs to be challanged in Federal Court. CK 2009 This kind of sales practice needs to be eliminated period!!!!! CK 2009