Advanced Wellness Research review: overcharged! scam!!! online orders acai berry 500 321

Add my complaint to the others. I sent for a "free sample" of Acai Berry and was charged $78. My pharmacy carries the same thing for about

Add my complaint to all the others. I sent for a "free sample" of Acai Berry, and was charged $78. My pharmacy carries the same thing for about $12. Judging from the foregoing complaints, I may as well accept the loss. Worse is the inconvenience of having to cancel my account, since it has been compromised. Is there no way to stop these people from their scam, or to prevent them from advertising on line?

I have had the same problems. Charged my card for something that was to be a trial offer. Couldn't get through to them to tell them the product didn't work. Since I didn't give my authorization to charge my card, or for an autoship. I stopped trying to contact them. Also the first bottle didn't come with any paper work what so ever. just the bottle in the bag. When I received another shipment, it did come with a piece of paper stating that thanked my for my order. I called the phone number, and tried to tell the lady that I did not order this and asked what I was charged for it she told me $78.81 what I agreed to . I told her that I never agreed to that. she said it was in the terms and conditions. I told her that I never gave the authorization for that, that I only agreed to the shipping and handling charge. I told her that I wanted my money back. She told me that she couldn't do that, but she would cancel my order if I wanted her to. We argued for several minutes about it, her continuously interrupting me to tell me that this is what I agreed to and that I needed to keep trying the pills for 3 months. I told her that I wanted to talk to a supervisor, she told me that, that was impossible. But she then told me that she would give me $20.00 back. I told her that was not good enough, she then offered 60.00 told her no, I would get an attorney. She then offered me $70.00, but for me to keep the pills. I took her name, and I will b sending the pills back with a letter. I don't see any better outcome, but I am going to do it anyway. Its companies like them that keep me from ordering things on line. It really makes me sick. Not to mention the fees at my bank that was charged because of them

They sent a second bottle and charged me 78.81 after I told them to cancel. VISA is putting this down as a disputed amount. I must return the product return receipt required and send this with a form that VISA will send me. I am sending your reports to VISA so they can clamp down on these so and so's.

4/22/09 I sent 6.99 as a shipping and handling fee for teeth whitening product. Never received anything but have been billed 85.92 for a product I have not received. Called the number to cancel and spoke to someone with an East Indian accent. She said her name was Cherry White and that I did not cancel within the 14 day period. Keeping any satisfaction there was impossible. This is an internet rip-off. I will join any class action suit. Don't buy anything from Advanced Wellness Research.

You can't deal with a bogus Company, You have to file fraudulent charges with your credit card company. Don't believe me? Read the rest of the complaints here under Diet products... someone posted the ingredients here and one of them said " NOT DIGESTIBLE BY HUMANS."

Many businesses across the country are using the same selling model for their acai products: They lure customers in with celebrity endorsements and free trial offers, and then lock them in by making it extremely difficult to cancel the automatic delivery of more acai products every month.

The endorsements are also misleading, according to the bureau, and some celebrity lawyers have already gone after these online companies.

"Consumers should be aware that Oprah Winfrey is not associated with nor does she endorse any acai berry product or online solicitation of such products. Attorneys for Harpo are pursuing any companies that claim such an affiliation, " said Don Halcombe, spokesman for Harpo Productions, Winfrey's production company.

Consumers can check www.bbb.org to get a "reliability report" on particular companies before purchasing an online product.

"These companies are simply abusing general acai berry endorsements from well-known, trusted celebrities by using it as a tacit endorsement of their company and products specifically.

Consumers trust Oprah and unfortunately, if they are tricked into believing that she is putting her stamp of approval on a product then they are definitely more likely to purchase it.

"FREE TRIAL OFFERs" FOR ACAI BERRY ARE NOT FREE!
In fact they will cost you more than 4 TIMES AS MUCH as it should cost per bottle. These scammers will charge your credit card at least $80 per bottle each month. That more than twice as much as quality freeze-dried acai berry should cost. And to make it worse, they send you crappy drum dried Acai Berry, which cost about 1/2 as much to produce. So you end up paying at least 4 times more per bottle than you should.

YOU WILL BE SIGNED UP FOR A SUBSCRIPTION
Yes, they say they just charge you for shipping. If that were so, it wouldn't be bad. But in reality, they just want your credit card number and will bill you every month for a subscription you didn't sign up for. They bury the fine print in their terms and conditions.

YOU WILL SPEND HOURS TRYING TO CANCEL THE SUBSCRIPTION
There will either be noone to contact to return the crappy product, or they will say you have to call their customer service number to get return authorization. When you do, you are put on hold and shuffled between different people until you give up. Don't believe me? Before you purchase, call or email them and say you did not sign up for a subscription and please stop sending the product. You will get the runaround

THEY WILL SHIP YOU A CRAPPY, NEARLY WORTHLESS NO NAME BRAND OF ACAI BERRY SUPPLEMENT
They don't expect you to be happy with the product. They don't care, so they make even more money by shipping you crap. Acai Berry supplements must be freeze dried, or else they lose most of the nutrients and antioxidents. These scammers use cheap, heat processed Acai that cost 1/2 as much. Read more about choosing a quality supplement

THEY OFTEN BUNDLE OTHER PRODUCTS IN THE SUBSCRIPTION TO CHARGE YOU EVEN MORE
It's really obscene what some of these scammers do. We've listed a common offer below, where they bundle additional offers if you do not deselect the checkbox (it's checked by default). Some are hitting people with $150 a month in charges.

This is a complete Scam. My wife ordered the product and they called me to verify the order since the credit card was in my name. I sensed high pressure in the salesmans presentation so I told him that i did NOT authorize the charge and to cancel the order. I then asked him why the high pressure over a $14.99 charge. He elevated and hung up on me. We subsequently received the product and returned it according to instructions. We were charged the $78.81 and the shipping of $14.99. The next month they shipped it again AND billed our credit card a second time for $83.80. I called them and they agreed to eliminate half of the first month charge and take the second month charge off of my card. They asked me to send an email asking them to cancel. Apparently I send the email to "services" instead of "service@advancedwellnessresearch.com and they never got the email. I just got off of the phone with Molly (in Canada) and I forwarded her the email from March 30th. She said that she was sorry but since they didn't receive the email they could only refund me the most recent of the four charges. I asked her why there were charges at all since we not only never confirmed the order in the first place but we returned all three bottles of product to the addess specified. She said that she had no way to contact "shipping" to confirm the return of the inventory. Long story short, it is a scam to charge your card each month for an amount that they hope you won't notice. By the time you do notice and call them they have made $177.60 or $261.40 off of you and they move on to the next one. I guess I work too hard for my money. What a nice little scam they have created for themselves. You have to respect their ingenuity with the marketing, the difficult return timeline and process, and then the offer to make it right by discounting the product. Of course they have gotten greedy in my case and didn't even cancel my account when I returned the product and called in. This will be their downfall when an Attorney General gets hold of it. Good luck, Jerry

I can't believe I have fallen for this. On April 1 the product arrived. On April 2 I called to cancel as the product is loaded with caffeine and I take it. (something they don't disclose on the web site). My visa bill shows a charge of $78.81 US - or $100.38 Canadian charged in April 1.
I just called them to complain about my visa card being billed on April 1, got some guy who is challenged with English, who told me that no one will give me a refund - refused to let me speak with a manager - told me it was policy and I didn't cancel within the 14 days. I am FURIOUS.
They are taking such advantage of so many people. It's truly a crime. I will followup with my bank on Monday and will be writing to every magazine I ever see the ad in requesting they stop advertising this. What a SCAM. I will start by returning the product, which likely causes heart attacks...

Well, here's one more sucker to add to the pile. Same story different day. I'm glad to here that someone is investigating them for fraud. Anyone know of a class action suit? If so, I'm in! I have been charged $79.72 & $85.92 & no product. Have canceled acct, but cc co says it's too late to have charges removed. Unfortunately, my cc company has had a lot of complaints about them. Deceptive Trade Practices seems to be a constant for this company.

On 3/19/09 I fell for the free offer and did receive one bottle of Pure Acai Berry for just shipping of $4.99. Then on 4/05/09 they charged my account $78.88 for nothing. NO additional product has ever been received. I called the number listed on the charge and was told to email advancewellnessresearch.com which I did. It came back as undeliverable. So I have filed a complain with the State Attorney General's office.

This is a dishonest company. I paid once, but will not pay again. (Not sure I should have paid anything). I told the person from a foreign countryl that I did not want any more product. He agreed. This man was very stubborn. Advanced wellness research is a total scam outfit. Put them out of business.

Hi,

I have just been on the phone with American Wellness Research, what abunch of crooks! They claim they informed me fully in the text when I ordered a teeth whitening product. I never got the product! And then 14 days later, they put me on their regular subscription and charged me $78.93! I called and gave them hell, which is hard to do because the people work in India and they don't understand the nuances of American anger over such issues, and the effort I had to go through to obtain just a partial credit was increidble! Long waits, put on hold, etc. I've contacted Visa, but we reallyneed to initiate a class action. I have filed a complaint with the FTC. Please also do so so that we can stop this. The company has a US office in Florida, and my complaint emails to them are replied to with canned text explaining that I am mistaken, I've agreed to a subscription, and I have to pay the charges. Amazing! I still have no product. Visa is sort of namby pamby about the issue. I'm sorry I didn't use my Amex card instead. Let's act and do something about this. Also contact your state attorney general!

I placed an order for a "free" trial of Acai Berry weight loss supplement on 3/22/09. It was a free 14 day trial, however, the product did not arrive until 4/1/09. Little did I know that the "free trial" started on the day the order was placed. So for 14 days, I took the product, it did not work. I lost no weight, and I really wonder on the chemical contents of the product, because the label says it contains caffeine equivilant to 2 cups of coffee. So why could I take it and go to sleep? Hmm. So, today is the 14th, I have trialed it for 14 days, so I go to cancel my order, and I notice my bank account was charged $78.81 on the 10th. I really only had 9 days to trial the product, which is really not enough time to give a product a chance to work. I was on the phone with 4 different customer service reps in India, they refused to let me speak to a manager, said they were at a meeting for 4 hours. They were rude, one agent hung up on me. They all refused to refund me money, said it was "company policy". Finally, they said they will give me a $40 credit. We'll see. ADAVANCED WELLNESS RESEARCH COMPANY AND ACAI BERRY PRODUCT are both scams.
Don't buy from companies that outsource! EVER!

Same as everyone else, charged $4.99 S&H for the free trial, then $19.99 that no one will explain, then twice for $78.81 and twice for $83.80. $350.20 for a little bottle of TOTALLY worthless product. Below is one of the email replys. I also called customer service and was told no returns and no refunds, period.

it is assumed that the customer wants to continue with the subscription; hence the card is charged with the actual cost of the product i.e. $78.81 on the 15th day. Further you also get automatically signed up for our monthly subscriptions for $83, 80. This information is clearly stated in the terms and conditions on our website when you go ahead to process the order online.

I would REALLY like to know what is the best approach to get my credit card company to back me in this dispute and get my money returned. I have a card with Citibank. I think with so many complaints and investigations on this company, it would be interesting to find a comparison of which banks back their customers and which banks back the merchant, since this merchant is CLEARLY a thieving scam artist.

Joe

I am also having the same problem with them. They over draw my account by $304.85. I am calling the PA attorney general and filing a formal complaint. I am also including the name of their spoke person. According to their advertisment she is suppose to be from my home town. Also their customer service personnel are very rude. One person hung up on me. We need to file a class action law suit.

I have one question...how the hell does this happen in America? Story after story of people being ripped off and harrassed. I too was a victim of this fraud. But really-I feel like a COMPLETE IDIOT! Who gives their credit card offer to an unsecure site to try a 'free sample'? Like mom used to say "if it sounds too good to be true..." well you all know the rest. If you gave this company your credit card number than CANCEL IT. ASAP! Dont bother with the phone calls or emails. YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK! Lesson learned. I emailed the Florida Attorney generals office and filed a complaint through them. Hopefully someone will shut these ### down! If you got your money back, consider yourself lucky. I did the phone calls-the emails-threatened to contact the BBB-they dont care. They make their money by ripping people off and thats that. Someone is making a hell of a living off suckers like us!

I too have been duped and when I checked with the BBB, there was no record of any complaints against this company! I have their email and I've emailed them some pretty nasty letters yet when I put that address in the BBB complaint form, it says its an invalid email address and won't send. This is really pissing me off! Even after canceling, they've billed me $70 and $55 in the last 2 days. If someone is organizing a class action lawsuit, I DEFINITELY want in!

I just got off the phone for the 4th time with this company trying to get back the $4.99 that was charged to me for a product that was never received. All of the customer service people kept asking me to wait for a couple of more days, and they were sure the product would arrive. I was able to cancel the future shipments (maybe--we'll see), but when I asked to speak with a supervisor I was first told that the floor was too big that they couldn't find him, and then when I persisted, I was told that he was in a meeting with management (this is what I had been told during the first call today, and was told to call back, which I did). This company is a SCAM! They are relying on people to not try to get their shipping costs (or future shipments costs) refunded because of all of the trouble and the stalling techniques that they have been taught. I will be checking my credit card, and will request that any future payment requests from them be denied.

Learn from my mistake---DON'T ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY!

I am still trying to get my money back. I returned the "trial" kit because they automatically billed me for my next order, $91.00 Canadian. I have been batteling this company since November 2008, I am now going to phone them again today.
They played all kinds of double talk, telling me that I'm loosing you connection, I can't hear you very well, please put your headset closer to your mouth, you need to speak to my supervisor, which I did and he claimed that they started a new billing program and he can't find my account. I will check with the department in charge of refunds... they owe me $134.64 I did not see anywhere in the trial offer that they would bill me ahead of time for my next order, did anyone else?I am not going to give up, I am going to hound them for loger even, if I don't get my money back.
I will never again try a sample of anything, this is twice I got scamed, but it won't happen again.

Linda

I too have been scamed and will just swallow the two $86.00 charges. I am leaving now for the bank to cancel my debit card and get a new one with a different number.

As with almost everyone here, my experience with Advanced Wellness Research and Pure Acai Berry has been a complete disaster. I, too, took the same steps as everyone else. I tried it for a few days, did not like the product and called the customer service line to cancel the order and obtain an RMA number WELL within the trial period. I tried for three days, staying on the phone for almost an hour each time and could not get an answer from ANYONE. I just got to listen to the same relooped song for the entire time. I tried both options of #1 and #3 - still no luck. The first charge for the entire product price was taken from my debit card while I was still trying to reach them.

I finally sent an e-mail to a contact address that I found well-hidden on the Advanced Wellness Research web-site. I stated what I had experienced and advised them that I wanted nothing more to do with their company and wanted to return the product. I received a response stating that they wanted to keep me as a customer and offered me a discounted price ($39.00) for future orders. I sent a response stating that I didn't want the product AT ANY PRICE and wanted an RMA # to send it back. Between that time and the time I received a response - they charged my debit card for a second time for $89.95. I then received an e-mail from someone else stating that I had to call their their customer service # to obtain an RMA #, they would not give me a number any other way.

I finally got someone on the customer service line, an Indian female who told me they had no cancellation on file. I gave her the information that I had already cancelled the order on 2/26/09 and had received an e-mail with "RE: Cancelled order on 2/26/09" in the subject line. She argued with me for quite a while, stated there was nothing she could do except cancel any future shipments. I told her I hadn't ordered the FIRST shipment and wanted my money refunded immediately. She told me that she could nothing about it, but again, she would cancel any further orders. She talked over me throughout the entire conversation repeating a mantra of crap about the fact that they are a reputable company and have quality customer service WHEN the customers follow the proper procedure for cancelling.

I still have had no luck in getting my $160 some dollars back from this company and truly don't expect to. BEWARE OF ORDERING ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY. They have no integrity and could not care less about the people they are scamming. I don't care how well the products they sell might work - get them somewhere ELSE and save yourself the frustration and the cost.

I GOT A CALL TODAY THAT THE ID SAID COMFIRM ORDER AND WHEN I ANSWERED IT THE WOMAN ASK FOR CAROLYN AND WHEN I ASKED WHO SHE WAS SHE HUNG UP ON ME. I HAVE NOT ORDERED ANY MORE ACAI PILLS AND DON'T WANT TO. THEY ARE FULL OF JUNK AND NOT JUST THE BERRY. I HOPE THEY ARE NOT DUMB ENOUGH TO CHARGE MY ACCOUNT AGAIN. I AM WAITING FOR A RETURN LABEL BUT HAVE NOT RECEIVED IT YET.

I had the same problem - I wish i had read this before I ordered - and to boot I received a teeth whitening and coloflush product that i didn't even order! I have called twice and very cooly they explained they don't give refunds after 14 days and when I asked for a supervisor they were all in a "meeting". I am getting upset thinking about this and I am going to try to call again now. Plus I igot charged overdraft fees! I ordered on March 14 and on March 28th they charged my debit card - didn't even wait till I received it!

Ok - I called again and now again the supervisors were in a meeting - and again got no assistance - saw three charges on my bank statement again - called my bank and since their bank is off shore i got charged for international transactions. So i went ahead and put in a fraud complaint - this company is horrible. I haven't opened the products that i don't want and they won't take them back for a refund. Will keep you posted!

I just had to do the same thing, cancel my bank account before the full amount could be charged to it. I called and spoke to someone who, conveniently, could not find any of my information, even the order number they sent me in a confirmation email didn't work. My name and phone number came back with no information as well. I told them I knew what they were doing due to all the complaints I have read about them, so I decided to beat them at their own game. They are NOT going to keep charging my credit card for a product I have not used and said I would return to them unopened. Please DO NOT order anything from this company, unless you don't mind them taking a ton of money from you!

They got me for over $300 before I noticed the unauthorized charges on my account. They signed me up for 3 affiliate programs I never heard off. The only thing they would do for me was to cancel the 3 services, no refund for scam charges, cant wait for my next month statement to see if they realy cancelled.

It happened to me too.

I called them on Monday to cancel my trial and get a refund of the $78 they charged me. They sent me an email confirming the refund will be issued. I check my credit card statement today and there is no refund ... but a charge of $83 on march 23rd the day i canceled ... I immediately called them and the guy tells me that they sent me a new bottle on march 22nd which is a Sunday so that's what they were refunding me for... I called back again and asked a different person if they ship on weekends and he said no... I called back again trying to speak to a supervisor and they told me they are in a meeting... When i talked to someone on Monday they never said i was being sent anything else Just a refund for the trial. so now i have 2 charges and no refund yet. They said they cant refund me for both. I have the first bottle which i used for all of 2 days... The people i talk to are clueless about everything and keep feeding me lies. How should i go about getting a refund for both. Can i make a dispute with my credit card even though i "agreed" to the terms and conditions which are pretty much not there on 3rd party sites where they offer this stuff. their website is not even functional so there is no proof anywhere of these terms and conditions. They dont send you the terms and conditions with the product either so how was i supposed to know to cancel? on the site i saw this advertised they said it was backed by AOL CBS NBC all these reputable company's so the last thing i though was "scam" please help me whaas85@gmail.com

well, i don't agree with these complaint bcoz if i m going for the product the first thing i would be doing is to through everything abt the product as it's ma harden money, so it's advise to all the people whop have no time for there harden money is confirm everything then go for the thing...

I am ashamed that I fell for this. They will not stop my shipments. I sent the trial back 4 days after I received it, and sent an e-mail asking them to stop shipment. It was never taken off my bill, and I still recieved another bottle.

I am tired of trying to speak with these people.

I HAVE HAD SAME EXPERIENCE.

I too was ripped off, they charged my credit card twice in one month, on the 12 and the 23rd . I called them and got the run around, they are a rip off scam company and we need to notify the attorney general of the US to get them off the internet, as well as the FCC. These people make a free trial offer and then take you to the cleaners, for 78 dollars a bottle, , any other company charges around $20 for the same thing. PLEASE DO NOT ORDER FROM ADVANCED WELLNESS RESEARCH INC.
There has to be a way to get these people off the internet. STOP THE FRAUD< they do not fully disclose the terms when you sing up, and if you go to the www.buypureacaiberry.com website it says it is under construction, so good luck . Johanna Kelly

I have been billed for Norton Security and have not been able to download it. How do I proceed? Can you help me install the protection ? Should I advise Visa to hold payment? Help! rjf1352@wowway.com

do not send this acailberry dexto my free tail is over with it didn't work so don't send me this thank you

To Whom It May Concern, I do not want your acaiberry dextox I finish the product and it did not work so please don't send me this product again my free tail is over and I dont want this thank you Diane Leighton

I too was duped by this company...it looked so legitimate. Well I placed the order and after waiting a day for the confirmation I googled and found these comments that the company is a HOAX or a SCAM. I received the confirmation letter from them about 3 days later and it included an order # and a [protected] number to call. I responded to the email indicating I wanted to cancel but have not received a response...

I then called my credit card company to ask if this charge can be disputed and any additional charges. They said yes and that if more than 3 charges were charged to me they would cancel the account and send me a new card. So I won this round...my lesson is to check the websites I am ordering.

I hope everyone on this site is able to recoup their money as well

I too have been had and ripped off by these people.
Several times I've continued to hold indefinitely and when a person answers they hang up.
I was billed the $78 without my authorization.

I was stupid enough to order my trial acai berry from your company and then because of cardiac issues I called to cancel just 5 days after receiving them, well within the 14 day trial. Then I get my charge card bill and there was a nearly $80 charge the next day! So I call and get another foreigner who was very insistant that I called AFTER that 14 day trail...and the $78.81 charge was appropriate! I am fuming, because of this horrible scam! I never got another bottle of acai berry for that near $80 charge and he told me that 14 day trial bottle was that charge! This is a horrible way to conduct business, and I am about to get the law in the middle of this situation.
I will tell everyone who will listen about this experience which I see is typical after reading many testimonial from those who also have had this experience!

This is BAD NEWS! Mrs. Brenda Gilbert in Kansas

I too thought I was getting a free trial and noting more. It informed me that I would be receiving future orders so I cancelled it within the time period given. My checking account has been debited for $83.80 and I cannot reach any one at the two numbers given to have them credit my account and remove me from their mailing list. I have not opened the envelope and am returning the pills certified mail along with a letter of complaint. I guess I will have to go to the Channel 2 Clark Howard folks and also alert Oprah that this company is not doing what they need to do. Josephine

Bright teeth whitening KIT Complaints - Suspicious deductions from checking a/c
Review all ADVANCED WELLNESS RESEARCH Bright teeth whitening KIT complaints
Bright teeth whitening KIT
Posted: 2009-03-21 by dd25

Suspicious deductions from checking a/c

Complaint Rating:
I as other people did impulse bought the trial product online 3 days ago. I should have known better that to use my debit checking card in such a manner but I had read about the teeth whitening results. The package arrived and I was emailed the bill of $6.99. The same day I checked my internet banking account (i usually monitor it thank goodness) and i saw that the said funds were deducted. Last night however I saw that my funds went back to its orinigal balance. I knew something was wrong having worked at a bank in risk and fraud. I decided to check the net for reviews of Advanced Wellness Company. I was no way surprised at the reviews, they helped me so much! to learn from the awful experiences. At 12. 30 am I checked my account and
by 7. 20 am when i awoke (today is saturday) in order to go the bank and deal with the matter before things got worse, the balance of 6.99 was deducted again from the company and addional 21 cents as a separate transaction by the same Advanced wellness. the transaction said bright teeth whitening. I withdrew what i could form the ATM and as soon as the bank door was opened I withdrew the rest, met with a banker and closed
off the account. Please Beware and be proactive. I have not used the product since I cannot trust this company.
I have learnt my lesson, I am a full time student and I am glad that things did not get worse! These over night theives should be jailed for good!