Acai Berry Power "FREE" trial

mikey0011

there sample is more then likely worthless .......guys check this site out and look/browse at all the posts ,,,,,there really are so many people getting !!!!ed over, i really really hope this issue gets taken to watchdog...................my bank which is hsbc seems to of refunded me which is good of them

miss_vic81

mikey0011 - i have looked through all the posts - thats why im worried! but until they actively £$%^ me over there is nothing i can do. and ive said it before its more our own carelessness that got us into this mess. i signed up for a chick fix and instead i should have taken a walk!

competitionscafe

Following the Visa crackdown on these scams, Mastercard is following suit by closing the merchant accounts of the scammers folowing high volumes of consumer complaints - so perhaps all the complaints to banks etc about allowing these scams to continue are finally being heard:

"Mastercard is reviewing individual accounts and requesting freezes on some accounts which have forced continuity and "Free - just pay shipping" offers."

"...both Visa and MasterCard are taking action in response to increases in consumer disputes related to card-not-present and direct response products and services.

MasterCard has recently warned the Acquiring community that “Negative Option” enrollment will be considered a “Brand Damaging” business practice. “Brand Damaging” is a very broad term and is still being defined, but in light of recent fines to our counterparts, we must be proactive. Indications are that MasterCard will require immediate termination of merchants identified as using this business practice, along with any other practices considered “Brand Damaging”. This follows recent policy changes from Visa regarding descriptor formats and disclosure of corporate entities related to Direct Response offers, with the intent to enforce all chargeback and transaction monitoring programs as defined by the associations.


(We) cannot accept merchant applications for products and/or services employing “Negative Option” enrollment, in addition to the following practices:
Marketing models that employ “Free-Trial”, “Deferred Billing” and/or “Shipping Only”. Customers must be receiving a tangible good or contracted service in exchange for charging of payment cards. Incentivized discount offers are acceptable when the cardholder is receiving something in exchange for payment, however we will be unable to support accounts engaging in hidden or delayed charges and ‘free’ offers that are not truly free.


The FTC has recently published guidelines regarding “Negative Option” enrollment programs and is taking a very aggressive position against merchants utilizing/employing this business practice. Recommendations take in part from the FTC’s website may include but are not limited to the following: Material terms should be disclosed in a clear, concise manner. Unnecessarily long or inconsistent terms are viewed as an attempt to mislead the consumer.
Terms should be disclosed in a conspicuous manner, clearly placed and labeled on websites in a location that indicates the importance and relevance to the transaction. Fonts and colors must be easy to view.
Material terms must be disclosed prior to completion of the transaction and before a financial obligation is incurred by the consumer.
Customers must provide affirmative consent to any offer, examples include a mandatory “I Agree…” statement checkbox, where the customer is acknowledging the Terms and Conditions of the offer and consents to be entered into continuity program as a result of completing the transaction. Pre-checked boxes do not qualify as affirmative consent.
Merchants must not discourage or make difficult in any way the disclosed cancellation procedures and all cancellation requests must be honored in accordance with the stated terms of the transaction."

From:
http://www.membershipsiteowner.com/public/IMPORTANT_Crack_Down_from_Mastercard.cfm


http://www.ftc.gov
http://www.econsumer.gov (You can file a complaint/report the scam here)

mikey0011

no i dont believe it was our stupidity in this case because when i signed up i signed up to a free trial it had stated tht int he terms and conditions that i would need to pay £.3.95 nothing about a monthly fee .....the fact is there are so many different names from this company and i genuinely believe that their terms and conditions are probably different in different cases of sites .......att he end of he day what they have done is illegal even if there were terms and conditiosn they must be clear according to uk lawso dont stress my bank has refunded me and if you get scammed still then your bank actually i hear must aswell ..
read through this link www .killphishing.com/MegaScam.htm (copy and paste it to explorer) dont worry mate but im just hoping this whole thing goes to watchdog

MothballsWallet

NutritionExpress wrote: »

We are a reseller of a Acai Berry Puree either in bottle form which you take as a shot (currently out of stock as I write this as you will see from our site as we dont have it listed) and in a more convenient pouch form which is great for people on the go.

If you take a look at our website for Nutrition Express (find it on google) and use our search facility for Acai Berry on the site.

We (Nutrition Express) are a UK based company which specialises in Sports Supplements and have found the acai berry to an excellent seller in the gyms and health clubs we supply, along with online. I personally started taking this supplement a few months back and was a little unconvinced on at first, however after starting with the bottle using the shots daily, and now using the pouchs for convenience, i can honestly say that i feel more refreshed, have more energy and feel generally more healthy then before. I cant really comment on the weight loss side of it as it wasnt the reason I started taking it, however as a supplement to help your sense of well being, I cant fault it.

As a company we do not participate in affiliate schemes and we only stock and ship products from our own warehouse and we certainly do not have any sort of ongoing billing systems in place. We operate on a standard retail basis, you purchase the product, we ship it next day to you using Royal Mail. And just for info, we sell a large range of sports supplements and dont rely Acai Berrys to bring in an income to our business, its just one of our lines.

The product has recieved a lot of bad press because of the scams which are mentioned throughout this forum and hundreds of others, however people should remember, if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. For someone who is generally wanting to purchase this product and check out the benefits to it, I would say stick to the retailers who actually stock it in the UK, do not bother with the "free trials" etc, nothing in this life is free as they say!

If any one would like more info, then dont hesitate to contact me directly through the website.

Although this is a bit of a plug, thought it might be worth posting just to let you all know that if you really do want to purchase this product then it can be found from reputable suppliers in the UK.

Regards,
Carl

Carl, in order to post on behalf of a company, you must email [Removed by Forum Team] and ask for permission first. I've reported your post to them for consideration.

shaz_one

I called the UK number and got an answer immediately at 8am last Monday, I was very nice to the operator to ensure I got my money back! She cancelled my subscription and refunded my money so I am very pleased with this!

Went back to the site to see if it actually states that a monthly payment will be charged and it does in very very small print at the bottom of the page!!! Note to self: read the small print in future! But what I cannot understand is everyone who seems to be getting charged month after month should be receiveing their months supply of Acai Berry - are you actually getting any goods for the subscription? If not they cannot legally charge you can they??

miss_vic81

hi guys - just an update - still havent been charged any extra money - but im going to go by the date of the 'free trials' that were sent to me - so a few more weeks to go. all this worry!

libellule_2

I got caught by this scam and also got my money back though it took a lot of effort. I found several websites that they operate under acaiberryexclusive dot com and effectivecleanse dot com, and globalcustmersupport dot com I then did a whois search on each site at http / whois dot domaintools dot com and then traced the company that was hosting the site by looking under "server stats" and discovered that acaiberryexclusive.com and effectivecleanse.com are hosted by a company called redbee dot nl in the netherlands and emailed them at support@redbee.nl informing them of these scam sites. They just forwarded my email to support1@globalcustomersupport.net which led me to believe that Redbee may be involved in the scam. I also copied in alexander.brausewetter@localbillinglimited.com at localbilling dot com and the Netherland Consumer protection body at 'webredactie_cw@consumentenautoriteit.nl' plus a few other emails.

Anyway after all this they actually called me and also emailed me to say my money was being refunded and my bank later confirmed this had been done.

if it helps anyone else get their money back they please try it yourself. I doubt these sites will go away and will probably move host as time goes by but it is clear many are getting caught by this and the sums involved I would guess are huge.

Good Luck

arunadasi

Reposting this link for the whole story about this scam. It's bigger than we ever thought!
http://www.killphishing.com/MegaScam.htm
There are several threads on MSe about this. Would be good if they could all be merged.

lothlorien

I fell for this too. arghhh

I recieved them saturday. I have cancelled my card so i hope that works i will call the company tomorrow to cancel the 'subscription'. is there anything else i should do?

thanks for your help