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Cherie of Morrison, CO, writes:
I signed up for DietSmart on October 4, 2000. They take you through a questionaire and then to a payment screen to pay a $15.00 sign up fee and three months membership at $10.00 for a total charge of $45.00. The billing page states that if you call within 5 days they will issue a refund.
After speaking with a doctor friend of mine about this service, it was recommended that I not use this service. I called in less than 5 business days (Oct 10, 2000) to cancel the service. She said that I was beyond the 5 days and refused to give me any kind of a credit. I am being forced into a three month membership with DietSmart. The page does not say anything about how much of a refund after the five day limit.
At the most I should only lose my $15.00 registration fee. When a consumer asks for a credit they should receive it without argument. The woman that I spoke with didn't even ask me why I was canceling. She completely gave the attitude that she could care less.
This is an extremely deceptive way to trick consumers into spending a large portion of their money. Nowhere does it say that someone is automatically forced to have a 3 month membership. Membership means that once you pay the registration fee and then decide to cancel, the membership dues are not charged. The policy is not stated clearly on their website. So much for keeping the customer happy. I can only hope that DietSmart fails along with all of the other deceptive e-commerce sites out there in this day and age.
We checked the DietSmart site and found this:
If I cancel, will I receive a payment refund?
If you are not satisfied with your DietSmart plan for any reason, you may cancel your subscription at any time. If you cancel within five days of registering, you will be entitled to a full refund. If you cancel after five days of registering, you will not be entitled to a refund of any portion of your $45 upfront charge. You will, however, be able to continue using your DietSmart plan for the remainder of your 3-month sign-up period
This is pretty clear. It says "five days," not "five business days." Cherie called six days later and she is therefore out $45. However, she is on the right track by talking to her doctor before actually starting a weight-loss program. Her next step should be to ask her doctor friend to refer her to a registered dietitian, who will truly design a diet and fitness plan especially for her.
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May 17 2008
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