Caught out by DazzleWhite

texas_tom

I hope this helps. My CC company is part of RBS but has a supermarket name.

On becoming aware I researched online and emailed Roger Defevre CEO (dazzlesmileTM) He was very helpful and sent me the 67 page Action his company are bringing in Salt Lake City courts.


I sent this to my CC Co. and Visa pointing out in my case:

The goods were not received
The 'qualifying test' appeared fake.
That there was various allegations in the Action concerning consumer rights.
All transactions were deceptive and unauthorised
All transactions were contrary to Distance Selling Regulations and EU Directives. (Cyprus is in the EU and that's where the payments albeit in dollars emanate.

If you read the Action you all will fit in somewhere and get a chargeback for all your debits!!

nellie21feet

Somewhere out there must be a budding or well established investigative journalist who could produce some valuable work on this subject.

To protect folk in the long term some influencial MP could try to change the card payment system so that the card holder is protected especially in the types of scenarios we have all found ourself.

Very few people are aware they have no control over card payment. We have all assumed that tis our bank account therefore cancel card or close the account. Can't be done as Visa will honour the payment to the company. We use a bank to keep our finances safe.

Visa I believe ought to stop the payments on behalf of the card holder. Any legitimate company would respect the wishes of a customer.

texas_tom

nellie21feet wrote: »

What did you say in your covering letter to the card company and Visa.
Would you be able to give some pointers?

The bank has sent us letters relating to all transactions made by affiliate companies to date saying have raised a dispute via Cyprus bank.
No further monies taken so far.

Hi Nellie

I've just replied to you. BUT I'm a bit unsure where my post will go to. I'm not used to this forum lark! Please check other dazzlesmile permutations if original not received.

texas_tom

sooperb wrote: »

The name change is no big surprise. Of the three payments taken so far (after the initial trial fee) have been premiumwhite, followed by intnl beuty club followed by glorioussmiles.com which the bank said was the same as premiumwhite. On Wednesday I received another batch of whitener from the Houston address! I then sent another email to premiumwhite and got an automated response from everbrightsmiles.com. I emailed to tell them that I had already cancelled and wouldn't send it back without a prepaid label only to get a supposed autoresponse saying they didn't monitor that mailbox and telephone numbers to ring. For the UK they suggest 02033719369. I haven't tried it yet. And another thing, cheeky so and sos, the customs declaration gives the value as £5!!! So why are they charging so much.

My husband suggests we write to the Trade Attache at the US embassy. Also to HMRC, but I am a bit reluctant to alert them in case all the poor beggars who get these products then get hit for a customs charge which they won't get back under any circumstances.

I tried Watchdog, not a peep from them, obviously not important enough they'd rather rubbish some poor healer. I tried consumer protection but their email wasn't terribly helpful.

hi Soop

See my earlier post. you can go online direct to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or salt lake city - consumer rights (Trad. Stds)

competitionscafe

nellie21feet wrote: »

To protect folk in the long term some influencial MP could try to change the card payment system so that the card holder is protected especially in the types of scenarios we have all found ourself.

Very few people are aware they have no control over card payment. We have all assumed that tis our bank account therefore cancel card or close the account. Can't be done as Visa will honour the payment to the company. We use a bank to keep our finances safe.

Visa I believe ought to stop the payments on behalf of the card holder. Any legitimate company would respect the wishes of a customer.

I agree - this loophole is ridiculous. If someone is effectively stealing money from you, you should have the right to stop it!! I know one of the Motley Fool writers said that they thought these kind of payments should be illegal (or at least protected in the way that direct debits are so the consumer has control and can cancel them).

Perhaps this is another cause Martin Lewis :money:could take up on behalf of consumers?

competitionscafe

sooperb wrote: »

And another thing, cheeky so and sos, the customs declaration gives the value as £5!!! So why are they charging so much.

These teeth whitening pens can be bought 'white label' (supplied with the logo and packaging of your choice) for between $1.50 and $3.50 each from China with a minimum order of 500 - yes the same thing that Dazzlewhite are charging $89 each for! (And given Dazzlewhites high volume of orders they probably pay less than $1 each for the pens they charge $89 for!)
See: http://www.scamtimes.com/product-scams/bad-dazzlewhite-ripping/

competitionscafe

texas_tom wrote: »

See my earlier post. you can go online direct to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or salt lake city - consumer rights (Trad. Stds)

Where to file complaints online:

FTC: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ US as they use US addresses.

econsumer: http://www.econsumer.gov/ International: includes FTC and OFT (UK)

Recol: https://www.recol.ca/howtofile.aspx (As head company Just Think Media is in Canada)

http://competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/frm-eng/PJSH-6X9KQY Canada : "The Competition Bureau promotes truth in advertising in the marketplace by discouraging deceptive business practices"

IC3: http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

MP: http://www.writetothem.com/ (Contact your UK MP)

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and/or http://www.econsumer.gov/ are probably the best option if you only have time to fill in one complaint form (or to save time you can save a text or word doc copy of your complaint and then cut and paste the same info to anywhere you can find - hopefully eventually someone will take action!)

frwpr

I also fell for the phoney money saving consumer item about using two companys' teeth whitener to get the best of both worlds. and.. both company were providing free trial offers. One was DazzleWhite the other was Everwhitesmiles.com. (Not seen this name elsewhere)
DazzleWhite eventually sent a tiny stick, prior to that they removed £30.21 from my account. Marked wellbhealth on bank statement. Today an email from everbrightsmiles informed me they were billing me for £158.27. On calling the Co.Durham name and number given, 020 337 19369 I spoke with a lady in America who said she would cancel further payment, (my reaction was, what further payments?) but I would have to pay the £158.27.
Lloyds TSB said they could not refuse payment and the £158.27 is about to be paid. They gave me the Credit Fraud number 0845 600 4868. Who were aware of the scam and said they would attempt to recover the two payments once they were paid out. Iwas asked to call DazzleWhite and cancel order to avoid further payments. 001 866 989 2686. Did this and was given cancellation number. Credit car Fraud also suggested I change my debit card number . I Did this
Sad to think that even at this moment many people, here and abroad will be unknowingly joining these. schemes, not knowing what they are letting themselves in for. Computer and consumer literate people will no doubt say you should have read the small print, perhaps they are right but these unfair practices should be legislated to display vital information on opening page. Who on earth would knowingly pay £158 a month for self treatment for white teeth.

sooperb

Oh boy they are really upping the ante! Out of idle curiousity I have just checked everbrightsmiles T&Cs, remember this is the new name for premiumwhitening. They have revised them from Nov. 30th and are saying they will challenge all chargebacks and pass the "debts" to debt collectors and make extra charges! This is new and definitely wasn't in my T&Cs. The web site is everbrightsmiles.com Right at the end, it casually mentions that if you agree them, they will also sign you up to the diet club at another $29.95 a month.

So it seems that although my bank say the best way is to keep charging back, these people are now going to fight the chargeback, not the sign of a company that eventually gives up as claimed by my bank! Hubby is still telling me to send the stuff off to trading standards, can they be effective with an overseas company?

competitionscafe

sooperb wrote: »

The web site is everbrightsmiles.com Right at the end, it casually mentions that if you agree them, they will also sign you up to the diet club at another $29.95 a month.

So it seems that although my bank say the best way is to keep charging back, these people are now going to fight the chargeback, not the sign of a company that eventually gives up as claimed by my bank! Hubby is still telling me to send the stuff off to trading standards, can they be effective with an overseas company?

They give a UK address but if you Google it seems to be linked to a lot of p0rn websites!
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=43+Iveston+Road+Delves+Lane,+County+Durham+Consett+DH8+7HR&hl=en&rlz=1C1CHMG_en-GBGB291GB343&filter=0

The threat regarding chargebacks is an empty one as used by many scams to try and frighten people into not doing chargebacks - proof that chargebacks are an effective weapon against these scams.

The company has to prove to Visa/Mastercard that they are entitled to charge you the money they took - a bit difficult for them to do if it's a scam and if you have not received a product, have returned it or have cancelled. The company will not only have to refund the money but will also get charged a penalty fee of around 20 pounds by Mastercard/Visa. However there is no way they can pursue you for this debt as it is not your debt it is a charge levied on them by the credit card company.


Everbright address from their website:

H5-UK Ltd
43 Iveston Road
Delves Lane, County Durham
Consett DH8 7HR
United Kingdom
(020) 3371-9369

Everbright Smiles ∙ US Headquarters
15621 Blue Ash Dr, #160
Houston, TX, 77090
Toll Free: 1 ∙ (888) 694 ∙ 9257
E-mail: care@everbrightsmiles.com