Perfect Radiance Cream Trial SCAM

M

Madilla

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I recently availed of a trial for a cream called perfect radiance & was billed just over €7 in total for three sample creams. My credit card has now been billed a total of €337.56 in 4 seperate transactions from the same & similar sounding named companies. It seems by agreing to the trial & stupidly not reading the T&C I have been signed up to an agreement to continue purchasing this cream monthly. The website is [broken link removed]. I have contacted my card provider RBS Tesco Cr card but they say they cannot assist. I Have tried to phone the contact no on the site but have held on for 30 minutes at a time on a no of occasions now but did not get to speak to anyone.I have also emailed the co but as yet have not received a reply. I am just wondering if there is anything else I can do?
 
Sounds similar to the "free trial acai berry" offers that were out a while back - to get the free sample, customers had to supply CC details and later found that they were being charged monthly sums.

I'm sure it was discussed here on AAM:

Edit: Here's the acai berry thread in case it's of any use:


www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=891661
 
gipimann

Well spotted

The address of Acaiberry is

Viv3 Lab Limited
Unit 5, Mill Road Industrial Estate
Linlithgow, WL EH49 7QY

and the address for Perfect Radiance according to [broken link removed]
The only reason I bought trial was because it was an English Address and on the dispatch notice for my trial is PO Box13583, Linlithgow, West Lothian EH49 9AP
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Looks like the same people.

The ACAI berry site is no longer working, apart from redirecting people to other such products.

There are 183 posts on the [broken link removed] thread

It's discussed on boards.ie as well.
 
Hi Madilla

I called MBNA and told them my CC had been stolen but they issued me with another one but the payments stopped as the new CC had a different Acc no on it. would you believe i did get refunded but only for the last amount but i did loose over E300. I then cancelled my CC telling MBNA that as we had two CC (Mine & Hubby) with them i was cancelling mine. It was a hard lesson to learn I would advise to cancel the CC immediately or use my story. The Terms & Conditions get you every time. I always take the time to look at them since.
 
I did eventually get thru to someone this evening & they gave me line about signing up 4 free trial & therefore accepting their terms & conditions.I explained I was very unhappy & requested to speak to a manager & advised that I intended to contact consumer organisations along with the media.I was then advised that a refund would be processed.I asked for an email confirmation & was advised this would be sent within 24 hours. So we'll have to wait & see. Il update when I hear anything.
 
I have received an email copied below confirming that I my credit card will be refunded but despite my request for confirmation of the amount of the refund there is no mention of this so I'l have to wait and see what amount is processed.

"This is confirmation your refund was successfully processed for the credit card we have on file ending in XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Please allow 7-10 business days for the refund to post to your online statement, but depending on your bank it can take a full month billing cycle to appear. Please allow a full cycle to elapse before contacting us again regarding your refund.

If you have further questions, please contact us at +44 (808) 178 7321. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

Thanks a million to Brendan for highlighting this issue to liveline and today three of us got an opportunity to speak on the issue on the national airwaves so hopefully we can alert others to the dangers of signing up to these type of offers. Of course if something seems too good to be true it nearly always is. Ah well a valuable lesson learnt for me.
 
I am astonished that even the UK Consumers Association Which uses a cheap trial period, after which you must opt out. They make it easy to see and they do make it easy to opt out, but even still, they should be setting the standard for requiring people to opt in.

Summary of offer

By joining Which? you will have unlimited access to reviews of thousands of products & services on Which.co.uk. We'll also email you each week with details of the new reviews on the site and the very latest news. Every month a copy of Which? magazine will be delivered to your door PLUS as part of a limited special offer you will have access to consumer advice from our Which? Legal Service. This gives you access to qualified lawyers ready to advise you on a range of consumer issues, all included within the price.
You will pay £1.00 for using Which? during your trial period. After this, your subscription will automatically continue at £9.75 month (incl. VAT). Payments will be automatically requested on a monthly basis.
When you join Which?, we will ask you to provide payment details. This is to ensure your access continues without interruption.


You can cancel at any time during your trial by emailing

[email protected] or calling us on 01992 822800 quoting your membership number, before your first monthly payment is due. Thereafter, we require 7 days' notice of cancellation and are unable to make refunds for periods of less than one month. Your account will then expire the day before your next payment would have been due.
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You must be feeling as desperate as I was. You will find a lot of the numbers given are now telling you that you have misdialled.. Try 08081787320. Hold on - don't give up, cheaper than paying that amount out each month. I have now had success using that no. No email confirming so sent another email to:- [email protected] This has worked and now sorted.
I pointed out that their goods did not arrive until long after trial time. that their Terms and Conditions came up as an 'error' page and therefore not applicable. They tried to fob me off with 3 more jars. No way. Refused. Then offered 50%..Refused. Told them I had spoken to my C.C. Bank and that I had requested a Charge Back and that if I didn't receive mymoney I had no alternative but to file a coplaint with the FTC. Hope this helps you
 
Hi Meg, I am looking at possibly doing a story on this issue for the Consumer Show. Did you get any joy with your complaint?
 
Would cancelling the credit card stop the amount being billed? This topic might be something to take up with the BBC watchdog programme, if they are scamming in Ireland then presumably with the larger UK population they are doing the same.
 
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