URGENT HELP NEEDED! Argan Oil Fraud

just_cool

Hi All,

I just typed a really long reply to this as both my wife and daughter got stuck in this situation.

They ordered the trial and both filled in their details to 'cover' postage. This was £5.99 and they thought that would be ok. Then on 11th November both received email invoices for £83.80. This was taken out of both Banks.

They were horrified and were afraid to say anything until asked what they were discussing. After they told me I rang HSBC and informed them of these payments being taken out from theier accounts without authorisation.

First my wife's problem.

I first rang the Bank, they got authorisation from my wife for me to speak on her behalf, (she is German!) told them that £83.80 had been taken out of my wife's account illegally, they didn't want to know, so I told them I wanted to be put through to the Card Co. They were more helpful and said that even though my wife had signed up there was no way of stopping these payments. When I complaind and started a complaint proceedure they blocked all further payments. One actually came through whilst I was on the phone for £99.99, she asked me if this was one of the fraudulent payments. I said yes and she stopped they payment going through, two minutes later another charge of £105 98 was tried. I had that one stopped too! Unfortunately for us they stopped her card as well and are issueing a new one, didn't tell us that on the'phone, caused a problem at the garage though when trying to pay!!!!

I then rang the number on the email from Idrotherapy Ltd on 08717 119080. I got through to a rep who was well versed in sales tactics, Jerimiah was his name? ha! and he offered me £20 off, meaning he still had £63.80 of our money. I told him that I wanted a full refund of the £83.80, so he offered me £40 off, No! then £60.00. Again I told him that I wanted a full refund and, as the stuff hadn't been used yet we would send it back via recorded delivery and have the full refund. He agreed and gave me a Return Item number and a refund number. He also agreed to remove my wife's name from the subscribers list and promised to email me all the relevant details from the conversation.The address he gave me was;

Idrotherapy Ltd.
3rd Floor,
207 Regent Street,
London,
W1 B3HH

We have sent the items back recorded delivery so will see what happens.

My daughter did not want her husband to know so I did it for her. She rang the Bank and said she had lost her credit card thereby getting a new one. I then rang Idrotherapy and after quite a hard conversation she said that her company didn't take the monies. It was a company called Essence of Argan. I rang them on 08712 846563 and spoke to 'Jed', wouldn't givehis last name! shadey or what! He did exactly what the other co. had done before with reduced amounts etc. I told him I wanted a full refund and my daughters name taken off the list and a confirmation email to this effect. As she had used the product he said the best he could do was refund £60.00, I agreed but said I wanted the refund back in the account before I send the goods back. He then gave me a refund number and a RMA (return merchandise autorisation). He also told me to send the items to;

Essence of Argan,
Lifestyle Advantage Ltd.
66-68 High Road,
Bushyheath,
Hertfordshire.
WD23 1GG.

Upon checking my daughters, she did, not me, account she informed me that they had refunded the full amount, £83.80. So now I will keep my end of the bargain and send them the items back, recorded delivery.


If you use the numbers I have provided, don't let them bully you, these Yanks have perfected the art of sales techniques and how to try to confuse you. Don't let them, stick by your beliefs and let them know you know it's a scam. It seems to throw them off balance.

I will let you know the outcome of my wife's when and if anything happens, but one out of two, for now is good.



:cool:

just_cool

As promised, an update from these sham companies.

My daughters is sorted, all monies refunded.

My wife's problems were not as easy, I telephoned both companies as Idrotherapy took £99.99 plus £105.98 out of my wife's account and Eof A took £83.80.
I didn't know at the time that two companies were involved so I sent both items back, recorded delivery, to Idrotherapy. Mistake no.1. Not all information was given by a very upset wife. I should have kept the bottle of E of A and returned it to them to get a complete refund, however they have offered and i have accepted a £60.00 refund. You learn from mistakes, I had no product to send back to E of A.
Idrotherapy have promised to refund the full amount of £205.97 as they have received the items sent back, couldn't dispute it as it was sent to them recorded delivery. This they say takes three days before it reaches the account. The Bank in a weeks time are going to issue a new card as some of the details on the new card will be different so they won't be able to withdraw any further monies. The problem is that if it was a Credit Crad transaction we would be covered immediately :doh: but as it was a Credit/Debit card it is a different game entirely. It is much harder to get monies back from the fraudsters and the Bank. Make sure the companies you are dealing with email you details of the conversations with them so you are covered when you go to the Bank, cap in hand!!!

Now it's a waiting game and we even went into our local Bank so they were informed too.;)

:cool:

lordra

I know that if someone takes money from your account, without your consent, it amounts to plain and simple fraud. even if you authorised Mr.X to take it out in his name and he tells Mr.Y to take your money, its still a fraud as its without your consent. Your banks fraud dept will deal with this. You have more protection with a credit card. That's why I use a low limit credit card for shopping online. LIke the Vanquis card starts you off with £250.

Nanna_Knit

Looks like I got caught too ! In addition to Argan oil, signed up for Idrotherapy cream. Bill was £99.99 ! Have used your advice and cancelled card. Put it down to experience. :mad:

just_cool

Nana Knit, you don't have to put it down to experience, my wife has just got back £60.00 refunded from Essence of Argan and £99.99 and £105.98 from Idrotherapy, has changed her card for a new one, so the details don't match. This means they can't take any more monies from her account.:T
SORTED!!!:D:D:D

AND

in the mean time they sent her another jar of Idrotherapy cream. Is that going back.... er! I don't think so....:j

:cool:

kim55_2

Just been targeted by them myself. Had a phone call from the fraud team of my bank today (sunday) asking me about a withdrawal from my account today. They told me it was an unaunauthorised withdrawal from my account. Seems that this is the same scam. The bank have now cancelled my card so no further payments should be made. They also advised me to check my bank statements, and low and behold a payment was withdrawn from my account last month for the same amount !! Rang the bank back and adised them of this and they are dealing with it. The banks are obviously aware of this fraud so I don't think it will be long before this particular fraudster is brought to rights. Just worried that other bloggers have said that he has over 40 companies. Why can't the law stop this ? I asked my bank if I should report this to the police and they said no, they were dealing with it. Seems to be an easy way of making money illegally !!

Edwardia

Unlike a Direct Debit, you can't cancel a recurring MOTO (mail order/telephone order) transaction with the bank and cancelling the card doesn't necessarily stop the scam.

If the scammers carry on presenting the card number then the card merchant will keep passing it through and even if you've stopped the card you did sign up to the offer and therefore there's a contracr.

Somehow scammers got hold of husband's card number and address and used it to sign him up to American cable !!!!!! which didn't actually exist. Loads of hassle with bank and eventually we asked for a copy of the transaction the scammers were presenting to VISA,

It was only when we were able to point out FOURTEEN discrepancies, that the bank refunded all the amounts taken and dealt with VISA.

In the USA it's well known that scammers will put cheapo ads on TV to get card numbers and addresses to scam.

If it looks too good to be true generally it is

millerg3

You must pursue this and get a refund I have just secured a £377.56 full refund after my wife fell victim to this on 31st Oct, she authorised £5.99 & £3.99 which were legitimate transactions. However on checking & paying my credit card last week I noticed 4 additional transactions £83.80, £99.00, £87.79 & £105.41 totalling a whopping £377.56.

On contacting their help desks ‘Essence of Argan & Idrotherapy’ supposedly two different companies but operating out of similar sounding call centres and with similar web pages -- they will do everything to avoid a refund BUT IMPORTANT - be firm - persistent and don't give up - basically demand to speak to a supervisor and demand a refund - refuse to send the product back at your expense and do not accept a part refund, do not hang up on them - let them hang up on you - if they do then ring back.

I told them I had referred them to the police - the credit card company and the Action Fraud web site. They were also very interested in checking the product had worked – when I told them it had brought my wife out in a rash (true) they appeared more interested. If they go on about terms and conditions and 15-18 day period for cancellation – insist that their web site did not present any such information (my wife insists she read the small print and did not remember this) also insist that there was no confirmation eMail and that there was no cancellation or contact details in the order

Sorry for the long story but I have been credited the full amount yesterday following 2-3 hours onto the two helpdesk numbers on Friday

NOTE IMPORTANT: you must get a refund reference number for each amount and also confirm your account has been closed with them so that the CPA (continuous Payment Authority) is stopped also inform your credit card company that an unauthorised CPA has been applied to your account

The helpdesk numbers are:
Essence of Argan: 0871 284 6563 (not the one shown on the web page)
Idrotherapy: 0871 711 9080

To confirm your account is closed follow the 'easy cancel' links on the respective product websites (put your eMail address in to check) sorry - as a new user I cannot post the URL's

JacoB_2

As with most of these posts, my son has been caught out by Essence of Argan. Despite repeated attempts to cancel his account has been debited repeatedly.

He is vulnerable, suffering from severe depression, unemployed and totally broke. While he may have been foolish to be taken in in the first place, this is an appalling situation and obviously not uncommon and continuing.

He has tried cancelling online, phoning the customer "support" so-called number. It will be interesting to see whether his bank will help. We will read all of these messages for advice and in the meantime he is writing a letter to the Daily Mirror, mostly to vent his ire. It seems to me that what this company does is tantamount to theft.

Meanwhile, a sick man is being fleeced and apart from us has not got the strength to deal with the frustration and helplessness which the situation has caused. We will go to any length to publicise this and to get his money back. Better still, get this rogue trading stopped.

Trading Standards, Police, You and Yours, papers, Watchdog - here we come.

littlereddevil

You better get on to the bank right away