Internet purchase - scam?

Lou3000

I'll try & keep this brief:

Beginning of Jan: followed link via facebook to a company advertising a trial of a beauty product. I followed the link, read the details, saw nothing untoward and elected to pay for 2 different 'products' as a trial. Cost came to £9.95. Paid by debit card.

I did not receive an email confirming my purchase. This set off alarm bells.
I kept a close eye on my bank a/c and on 13/1/11 I saw that £9.95 had been deducted from my a/c/ by cml*purecollagen. I had not yet received the products.
By 30 Jan, I had still not received the product & discovered that on 27/1/11 the amount of £96.35 had been deducted by cml*purecollagen. I phoned my bank.

The bank said that I had to wait 30 days before I could cancel my debit card.

They gave me the phone number which they could see on their computer screen by the transactions & recommended I phone the company. I did this, and discovered it was an American company. The guy was pleasant enough but 'guarded' and a bit too laid back for my liking! I told him I had not received the product & wished to have my money back.

He told me I had to return the product before I was refunded (or have a 50% discount.) He sent me 2 emails outlining what to do. This is the only email communication I have received from them.

I googled & discovered a forum where this company was being discussed and everyone had the same tale to tell - thinking we were paying 9.95 for a trial of the product, after 2 weeks we'd had our bank accounts raided for almost a 100 quid! So far, noone on that forum has said they've been reimbursed. And noone seems to have received their product.

Am sure the company will say they are entitled to do this as we did not respond quick enough (cooling off period) and cancel the order. How could we do that if we had never received a confirmation email and therefore not sure the order had actually been accepted?

I went to the website to check on their T&Cs and although I found a link yesterday - which came up with an error page - I cannot find it today.

What can I do to make sure my bank account is not raided again? Customer Service at the Bank of Scotland were pleasant enough but I'm not happy that I have to wait till the end of February before I can do anything - I could be another £96-odd worse off by then. My husband has just been made redundant, I don't need this worry!

I have still not received the product.

The company is called: anti-aging store. I think they've been around a while as I think I've followed a link to them before. I am convinced this is a clever scam - I would never, ever agree to a trial of anything if it meant that I had to supply my bank details for further payments unless I cancelled.

Can anyone advise where I can go for help? :mad:

jayme1

yep sounds like you clicked on an scam 'ad' just like for the sliming pills/patches, the 'enlargements' and other impossible products.

basically always ignore ads on the internet, either don't read/click on them, or install an ad blocker. and never give your credit card details to them.

on facebook you can click the little 'x' and report the adverts as a scam.

paddyrg

Sounds like the Acai berry/Goji Berry/Aloe Vera/Tooth Whitening business model all over. If you haven't had the products you should be covered by the Distance Selling Regulations, don't open them and just reject them if they arrive. Their proof of postage is not your proof of receipt, and you have 7 days from receipt to reject the goods.

If they mess about and don't refund, sue through the small claims court.

Lou3000

Thanks for your replies - but has anyone any ideas about where I can go to ask for help about this?

Like most of us, I thought I was pretty savvy, but I can't be perfect all the time!:)

The goods arrived yesterday. I haven't opened them yet but will have to in order to send them back. I'll use a tracking service. The emails I got from the company are quite specific about how to return something. Seems as if you don't cross a 't' then you won't get your money back. Looks to me like they have great big loopholes built into everything.

I did send an email to consumerdirect.gov.uk but haven't had a reply in any form yet. At least I am bringing the company to somebody's notice.

garth549

These scams are very common unfortunately. The business probably hasn't done much wrong in a legal sense. They rely on people not reading the terms of what they are signing up to.

I wouldn't bother sending it back to be honest it's unlikely they will refund you on their own accord. If you want to cancel your card you can report it as stolen, that will stop any further charges. Ask the bank if they operate the chargeback scheme (for goods not received - I know you have but this company certainly isn't playing fair so why should you). If it was a VISA card it should be possible.

competitionscafe

Some info on the scam here:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/cmlpurecollagen-c389840.html

Apples2

Lou3000 wrote: »

Like most of us, I thought I was pretty savvy, but I can't be perfect all the time!:)

Clicking random facebook links for beauty product trials is a Country Mile away from being savvy.

I struggle to see how ANYONE could think they are genuine.

Lou3000

Apples2 wrote: »

Clicking random facebook links for beauty product trials is a Country Mile away from being savvy.

I struggle to see how ANYONE could think they are genuine.

Just occasionally, these scams are set up to be so realistic that, when we take out eye off the ball, we can be suckered in.

When we ask for advice on these boards we don't need smug responses. Let's hope you never find yourself in the position where you know you've done something stupid and need help.

Oopsadaisy

Shock horror...something for nothing promise turns out to be a scam.

HOLD THE FRONT PAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever next....weightloss magic tablets don't work?

Apples2

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

Shock horror...something for nothing promise turns out to be a scam.

HOLD THE FRONT PAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever next....weightloss magic tablets don't work?

But this one was different, this one was set up to be realistic :shocked::wall::shocked::wall:

Not like all the others which tell you it is a scam first :rotfl::rotfl:

Equaliser123

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

Shock horror...something for nothing promise turns out to be a scam.

HOLD THE FRONT PAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever next....weightloss magic tablets don't work?

Did you read the post?

It was stated to be a trial for a set sum and no product was received....