Fell for a teeth whitening scam :( Extreme White

lotta77

I was just on the Spectator Magazine website and followed a link under the heading Spectator Recommends for teeth whitening. Intrigued, I followed the link and up comes what appears to be a legitimate article about teeth whitening free trials. I checked it out, was redirected to the website for Extreme White and only became dubious when it asked for £3.99 p&p.

Thankfully I Googled the company and this thread came up. So glad I always check this sort of thing out but others aren't so thorough.

I have emailed the Spectator telling them the sort of scoundrels whose advertising they have accepted and sent them a link to thi thread. Hope this stops more people getting hooked in.

Lillylocks

Well my bank told me to write and cancel but to be honest I didn't expect a reply. Here's my email to them:

Dear Sir or Madam,
I have fallen for your offer of a free product, only paying £3.99 p & p.
Unfortunately I did NOT read the terms and conditions posted right at the bottom of the web site page, rendering this FREE product not free at all, but costing £59.99 EVERY 26 days!!
I have been in contact with my bank, who will rescue me from your devious arrangement.
I will NO LONGER REQUIRE anymore of your services, and the arrangement is to be CANCELLED forthwith. I will also contact trading standards as soon as possible. A copy of this email will be sent to my bank.

And their reply:
Thank you for contacting Extreme White.
We have received your request to cancel membership in the Extreme White Maintenance Club. We have taken action to cancel your membership.

We hope that you are enjoying the benefits of whiter teeth and an improved smile. Should you be interested in re-starting membership in our program, please send us a note. We might even be able to offer you a discount for being a prior customer.

Regards,
Thanks, but no thanks!!

westy23

found it here on the mse site
JoeTeeee – "I'm being charged by a card I cancelled four years ago!"

I've found out the hard way about the perils of a Recurring Payment. Yesterday I received a credit card bill, with a payment taken from it, for a credit card that I had cancelled FOUR years ago!

The address used was one that I moved out of a similar number of years ago, and it's only by luck there are still people there who knew how to contact me. By the time I got the bill, the minimum payment date had already passed, so I am now expected to pay interest on a payment for a credit card that I cancelled ages ago.

The problem is I had my AA membership put into hibernation when I received 3 years free RAC cover with a new car, and this month the remaining period of cover elapsed. So this is the first time the AA had taken out payment in over four years.

How can a credit card company can take payment, and send out a bill, for someone for whom the last details they had are over four years old, on a cancelled card? To add insult to annoyance I phoned the AA to get them to refund the payment to the old card and take payment from my current card, and they said they can't refund onto the old card as it has been cancelled!

I can't imagine I am the only person that this sort of thing has happened to, and how many people currently have old credit cards running up interest and bad credit scores without their knowledge? Scary. It's Direct Debit for me from now on.

flipfloper

Grr, just been scamed by this extreme white company, so angry, as they have took £59.00 out of my account. have Emailed them several times, but just get automated Emails back. People must use this link to stop futher payments being taken. There are 2 options read carefully. So pleased I found it, Apparently they were due to take a further payment out of my account in 8 days times, which means 2 payments would of been paid to them within 2 weeks. As a newbie I can not display web links................grr. so I hope you can work it out cancel. extreme-white . co uk/ (hash)trial

sammy1will

I have just received my "free" trial kit today and was also shocked to read that i will have to pay £59.99 every 26 days. I got straight onto there web site to cancel and after filling in a short survey was told i could keep the kit for £30 and that would be it, they wouldn't send anymore kits or charge me any more. Do you think this is true? I have tried to e-mail them to ask but no reply. If anyone could answer, would be greatful

BFG_2

RTFT

Call your cc or debit c company and insist upon a chargeback being issued. They will give all sorts of crap about .goods received, you need to return, blah, blah' Let them waffle and then INSIST upon a chargeback..don't take no for an answer.

Then write to them comfirming your chargeback .

Don't let the cc co fob you off...INSIST upon a chargeback

Threaten to complain to the FSA/Banking Ombudsman.

If they still refuse, then DO complain officially to cc co and then when they still refuse, DO complain to FSA/BO [easy online form, 10 mins and job done]

You WILL get your money back....stick at it.

sorisa

I was looking to purchase such a product. Fortunately I read through the small print and did not fall for the scam. I was quite shocked at how they were advertising - it is not at all clear that you will be billed further and it really is not a trial for £3.99 either as you have to return nearly all the product within an unrealistic time span.

I received an email from them as I discontinued my transaction prior to completion

Good afternoon. I noticed that you began to sign up for your free trial of the Extreme White at-home teeth whitening system, but did not complete your order. It would be very helpful if you would kindly tell me why you did not complete your sign up as we want to make sure we are giving our customers the best opportunity to try our teeth whitening system before they buy it.
My guess is that you are interested in whiter teeth and a sparkling smile, but something about our offer did not work for you.
Eagerly awaiting your reply.

Regards,
Emily.

Here is my reply to this email.........

Dear Emily,

Yes it was your con style advertising.

I am interested in your product and would have tried it however I do not like companies that have a hidden agenda in their small print. I am thinking about reporting your ad to the advertising standards agency.

I would have been interested in making a full purchase for your product on completion of a successful trial however what you advertise and offer is very different to what is revealed in the small print.

Shame on you.

Why not make very clear your offer and costs up front! Oh I know the answer = people would not be conned into parting with their hard earned cash. Makes me wonder if your product actually works if you have to "advertsie" it like this.

Yours disgusted

Interestingly enough and not surprisingly I never got a reply to that email! I think we should report to the ASA and get this advert changed as many people will be caught out by it.

HeatherHughes

Help - I received my "free trial" of 1 box of Dazzle White /pen and threw away the delivery note inside. I then got a further package with 3 pens in and thought it was a mistake. However, just got my credit card and have been billed USD58.76 for the free trial and a further USD58.76 for the subsequent delivery. I tried to discuss with my credit card company and they will investigate but have said as I have entered in to an agreement (although unwittingly) I am liable even if I cancel my credit card. I have tried to phone but get a voice mail to say they are open from 5.00am Mountain time, whatever that is. Their voicemail says visit their website and chat but I can't find their web site (or one that works in any case). I have sent e-mail to [EMAIL="support@wu-yisource.com"]support@wu-yisource.com[/EMAIL] and have noticed that wu-yi source do the diet green tea also - so beware of that. I also called the BTBMailflight company from where this dazzlewhite needs to be returned to and they are more than familiar with Wu-Yi and would only tell me that they've had lots of happy customers and if I want to complain I should e-mail and they know nothing of a web site. I can't even find the ts & c's that I have supposedly signed up to. How do I stop them sending me more and charging me. Can I get my money back?? Thanks for any help

BFG_2

FTLOG - RTFT

RTFT

Call your cc or debit c company and insist upon a chargeback being issued. They will give all sorts of crap about .goods received, you need to return, blah, blah' Let them waffle and then INSIST upon a chargeback..don't take no for an answer.

Then write to them comfirming your chargeback .

Don't let the cc co fob you off...INSIST upon a chargeback

Threaten to complain to the FSA/Banking Ombudsman.

If they still refuse, then DO complain officially to cc co and then when they still refuse, DO complain to FSA/BO [easy online form, 10 mins and job done]

You WILL get your money back....stick at it.

BFG_2

Update from today wrt s75, continuous authority etc.....


One point to ensure you have the absolute best chance of succeeding is that when you ring to do a chargeback or a Section 75 refund you MUST say that the reason is for "breach or contract"

Try not to say agree to "misrepresentation" or let the ccc classify/twist it into anything other than 'breach of contract [BOC]'. If you don't use BOC it's highly likely thay the ccc will try to wriggle off the hook...........[yes, shocking but true!!]

To help understand the difference:

if you say 'there's this clause about £99/month hidden in the T&Cs' the ccc will say 'Ah that's a misrepresentation issue, and we're not helping' ie you should have seen it and it's therefore your fault. They would them insist upon you proving that this 'misrepresentation' amounted to enough to be a BOC, and that's generally a difficult issue for Jo public to do....so many drop it.

If you say 'they haven't actually delivered the items I agreed to purchase' or 'the goods were not fit for purpose' - then that's much more of 'BOC', and as such you can invoke Sect 75 straightaway...and get the payments stopped [and hopefully the others refunded].

My ccc actually wrote to me yesterday with new T&Cs and it specifically says they 'will not cancel one-off or recurring payments, you must contact the third party and ask them to stop collecting"...[ie ask the scammer to stop scamming - some chance lol ].

The OFT [I called them] says they are allowed to do this, but it doesn't absolve them of their Sec 75 obligations [as written in law] - thus they can refuse to stop scammers deductions, but you simply need to invoke BOC and Sec 75 to stop and reclaim. OFT says they may possibly refuse to stop whilst they investigate but once yuo invoke BOC/S75 they are duty bound to respond - and they are jointly liable, so you are entitled to ask THEM for all your money back, and not necessarily deal with the 'merchant/third party' [ie scammer].

So don't ask the ccc to stop the payments because you've 'been hoodwinked by smallprint' or 'you've changed your mind' or 'the saleman lied on the phone to me' or 'I didn't know what I was agreeing to'..........................................................make it clear the reason is BOC [hit google for good examples]

Sorry for the length, but make sure you get it right at the start!!!!!!!!

BTW..this is just my understanding at the moment, would welcome any validation/corrections....