SkinCentric review: SkinCentric 4

Hi there,

I thought you might be interested in the unfortunate situation I find myself in. The company involved does have an office (of sorts) in Ontario.

Sometime in May I was scrolling through Facebook and an ad popped up on my page. Usually I ignore these ads but for some reason I decided to read it. It was an advertisement for a “free sample” of face cream and all I had to do was pay $6.95 for shipping and handling. Well, I foolishly clicked the box that read “I am over 18 years old and accept the Terms and Conditions”. (And, admittedly, I did not click the hyperlink that I assume would take me to the Terms and Conditions.)

During this time, I had fallen and broken my wrist and my dog had had a knee replacement so I was not checking my mail on a regular basis (we have super boxes rather than door-to-door delivery). So I can’t say when I received the first box with the “free sample”. When I did receive it, there was what looked like a packing slip inside with no information except my address and the name of the product… no monetary amount and no letter of any sort.

Then I received a second package a short time later which contained the same thing. Over the next two months I received four more of these packages and at that point I decided I had better check my credit card statement, wondering if I were paying $6.95 shipping each time. Well, to my horror, I wasn’t paying $6.95 each time but over $100! Credit card charges totalling almost $800 and resulting in putting my card over the limit.

I immediately contacted the company and was told that because I had not returned the first “free sample” within 14 days I had agreed to become a monthly subscriber to the tune of US$90/sample (and there were 2 “samples”) per month. Again, I admit that I foolishly did not read the Terms and Conditions or I would have known and stopped this right away. I then requested a cancellation of the subscription and a full refund for the unwanted products. I was pretty much given the run around and told that I had agreed to the Terms and Conditions, etc. etc.

Next I called my credit card company’s dispute department and was told that they could do nothing about the charges that were older than 30 days (apparently this appears in the Terms and Conditions of the offending company but I will get to that later as their Terms and Conditions are ambiguous). I wanted the credit card company to block any future charges from this offending company but was told they couldn’t do that without my cancelling the subscription. They offered to call the offending company with me on the line, which we did. I managed to get them to cancel any future shipments and requested a cancellation number (as per the credit card company’s suggestion). I then requested a refund for the unopened (and unwanted!) product and was told that they could only give me a refund for the last two (there were six in total) and there is a 20% restocking fee. I was given two “Return Merchandise Authorization” numbers which I wrote on the address label on the box containing two products. I mailed the package (I had to request the mailing address since it does not appear anywhere on packing slips) and, as per the credit card company’s suggestion, I chose a shipping method that provided a tracking number. I then went home and called the offending company again and gave them the tracking number. I was told that they could then put in a request for a refund for those two returned products. As of this date, I have received no credit(s).

The next thing I did was retrieved and printed out the Terms and Conditions which, admittedly, I should have read before clicking on the Facebook ad. When I looked under the heading “100% REFUND POLICY” here was the information I found:

100% Refund Policy:
If you are not happy with your purchase, please call our customer service number [protected] or [protected] or numbers shown on your bank statement and one of our representatives will be happy to help you process a refund. All products (unused portion) coming back are subject to restocking fee, 100% refund policy subtract to restocking fee of 20% or $20 USD whichever is greater, it may also vary on product condition i.e. reusable or unused portion.
We strongly engorge our valued home delivery program members to call our customer support staff to obtain RMA ( Return Merchandize Authorization) Number to help us expedite the refund process Packages marked Return to Sender or refuse delivery may take longer than normal time to credit processing time. The refund will require 3 to 5 business days for approval. By hitting the Submit Button (order button) on our site shows that you are fully aware of and agree to all our terms of our stated refund and return policy.

And from another of their websites:

Cancellation/Refund Policy
We take great pride in the quality of our products and are confident that SkinCentric is the most effective and powerful anti-aging system on the market today. If for any reason you do not find this product is right for you we will gladly give you a full refund, no questions asked. You have nothing to lose except for the wrinkles! By placing an order you will be enrolled in our refill membership program. This program will charge $89.95 for your trial of SkinCentric on the 18th day(14 day trial + 4 days for shipping) and ship a full-size bottle of SkinCentric for $89.95 + $9.95 every 30 days thereafter until you cancel. You can cancel or modify your membership anytime by calling [protected] .

Nowhere did I see a time stipulation for time limits on refunds. Yet when I questioned the representative at the offending company she told me the company had a 30 day return policy.

I asked to speak to a supervisor but was told that the only way to speak to a supervisor was to request a “call back” and I would be in a call back queue for 24 hours. Not surprisingly, I did not receive a call back within that time. I called the company again and asked about the call back. I was then told by the representative that a “call back” could take 24-48 hours. Of course, I have still not received that call back.

I feel foolish that I allowed myself to be hoodwinked by this company. I know I should have read the Terms and Conditions but I believe this company counts on the fact that people won’t read them. The company is not about a product at all but rather all about drawing unwitting people into their net and then charging them exorbitant amounts of money on a monthly basis. They then use their “Terms and Conditions” to justify this practice. But somehow I can’t use those same “Terms and Conditions” to procure a refund for an unwanted product!

I also asked the offending company’s representative for a mailing address to which I could send correspondence but was told that they “don’t have that facility”. I wondered why they had an address to which to ship returned products but not correspondence and she simply repeated that they “do not have a facility” for receiving written correspondence. That they only correspond by telephone or email.

I am very frustrated by this entire experience. Besides being swindled out of a (to me) large amount of money, my credit card is now over the limit and I can’t even use it myself!

By the way, the offending company (as you will see from the excerpts of their Terms and Conditions) is called SKINCENTRIC.

If you are interested in doing any investigating on this, please do not hesitate to contact me. Based on my place of employment (below) you can see why I might feel doubly foolish 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I will be advising everyone I know not to purchase this sample product advertised for $4.95 You will be billed for $200 plus Cdn the next month if you don't cancel I think this is a tricky way to get money from customers and unless you read the small print you will be charged Best not order samples like this on line.

I have filed a complaint with the BBB and Internet Fraud Reporting Service. I have never received the 4.95 sample and then see that they have taken 89.95 USD out of my bank account for my "subscription". I called to talk to their CSR and was given an invalid tracking number for my parcel!

To SkinCentric Office,

This is Rina Collins. Last May 5, 2016 I ordered a sample from u and u said its free just pay postage for 4.95 dollars but when I checked my account you deducted 134.99 can dollars. How could you cheat on me when I am struggling with my budget. That money you deducted I will use for my daughter's need and you are so heartless to do that to me. I demand my refund for that and I will go to my bank to request an investigation for that, if not I will report you to the authorities for fraud. That is plain treachery.