Carico Cookware and Water Filters Reviews

Their products looked all well & good, and I would actually consider purchasing them if not for the forceful & sheisty sales delivery they gave us. Basically what Carico does is lure in young, unsuspecting couples with the promise of a free honeymoon, then they (con)vince them to spend $2000 on cookware by making it sound cheap (only $25 a week!) When I told the sales rep that I was interested in the cookware, but i'd rather put it on my wedding registry for family members to purchase, he told me the only way to do that was to agree to a loan right now, and they would set up a registry where the family would pay off that loan.

I told him that wasn't feasible as we didn't want the debt falling on us if all of the registry wasn't covered, so i asked politely if there was a way to order their products at a later date. The answer of course, was NO. He kept refusing my genuine attempts to purchase their products because i was trying to purchase it by alternate means rather than instantly putting myself in $2000 debt. You have to buy it all now or you can't buy it at all. If this isn't a scam, I don't know what is. We did get our coupon for the 'free' vacation, but it'll take a bit more research to figure out how legit that one is.... I would just like to warn future newlyweds attending a Carico seminar to keep this in mind before you let them put you into debt.

A week or so later we received a monthly statement which stated the following: Thank you for establishing an Extended Cash Plan with our company. You will receive monthly statements like this one to facilitate making your payments. ONCE YOU HAVB PAID YOUR FULL BALANCE YOU WILL AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE YOUR MERCHANDISE.

I did not see any reason to make payments for years in hopes of receiving cookware years from now. (Min payment per month was $25) The statement also says on it that any payments not received in a timely manner will had adverse credit consequences. I called Carico to tell them that I was not interested in an Extended Cash Plan. That since I HAD NEVER RECEIVED ANY PRODUCT from them did not matter. They claimed that I owed them $1300 and that if I do not pay it they will get a judgement. This company admits that they have sent no product and yet claims that I owe them the debt as if they had.

Their representative insulted me throughout the call saying that if I could have been a gentleman and called before, that I could have been a gentleman and paid my bills. He claimed that I could not cancel the order, that I would owe the debt no matter what, and that they would just ruin my credit, though people like you probably don't care. He also told me not to be so high and mighty because it was due to my credit that I had been put on this plan. Does this company have a right to collect this money, get a judgement, and or make reports to credit agencies even though I have never received even one product from them?

Our class never did receive the $5 we were promised either.

We went to the hotel the following day to ask for these cancellation forms. The first young man told us that he couldn't get them for us because the salesman had them in his briefcase and was busy giving a presentation. The second young man reminded us that we had initialed a statement that the sale was final. I pointed out to him that it actually says all *processed* sales are final and that the contract also states we have 3 days to cancel. He said this was an in-home contract that they are using and those forms are not available.

I returned later with my husband. We were told the forms did not exist. That this was an in home demonstration contract and to call the 800 number for assistance. We informed him that we were aware that these contracts could not be cancelled by phone. He insisted that if we simply called Michael Vincent at the 800 number all would be taken care of. I did not reach anyone at the 800 number and my message was not returned.

My husband's research confirmed that the company is in violation of the FTC's Cooling Off Rule. (See FTC 16 CFR 429). The company, from our perspective, is in violation in these areas:

1. Failure to provide attached cancellation forms or to alter the final sentance of the Notice to the Purchaser informing him of where to find the cancellation forms.

2. Failure to verbally inform purchaser of the right to cancel within 3 business days.

4. Refusal to provide the purchaser with cancellation forms on request and leading customer to believe that calling the 800 number would resolve this problem.

We stopped payment on our check and sent a certified letter of cancellation to the company before our 3 days expired. We also have registered a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in Florida.

Thankfully, our loss has been minimal; $20 to stop payment on the check and $2.30 to send a certified letter. The real damage here is in a company skirting the law to finalize their sales and manipulating the customer into believing that they have no recourse.