Proactiv
reviews and complaints

Are you serious? I am about to return the package they sent the 2nd time. I think I have to block any charge from this scam product. P.S. The product not even work, only dry and wrinkle your skin. POOR (Extreamly)

I made an initial order with Proactive and was charged March 11th 2010 in the amount of 29.95 and received my package March 15th. Two weeks later a charge was made to my account in the amount of 37.94 for an additional package that I did not request. I immediately called on March 30th to see why I would be charged for another shipment two weeks after my initial shipment. I was informed that the charge was for a shipment that I should receive in2- 3 weeks. Note: On my invoice the information indicates that I should be charged for a club membership shipment the week of April 5, 2010. However the invoice also states that because I ordered online that I would need to go to the proactive website to activate my club membership account. I informed the representative that I never signed up or activated the automatic shipments. The representative told me that I should not have been charged and that the charge would be cancelled, the membership would be cancelled and no further charges would be posted to my account. She informed me that if the shipment was delivered to simply return to sender. On April 8th I saw that Proactive had charged my account again for 37.94 and I called customer service. The representative assured me that that this was a preauthorization and that the charge should not post to my account. IT POSTED TO MY ACCOUNT. This charge resulted in my rent check being returned and me being assessed the following fees: overdraft from the bank, late fee from the rental company, and a return check fee from the rental company.

I called two times to speak to representatives (Jared and Sally) to avoid this situation and each time I was assured that no charges would be posted to my account. In both calls I requested to speak to a supervisor but was not put through to a supervisor because the representative assured me that the situation was handled and I would not receive any charges. On March 9th after the charges were posted and my account was overdrawn I was finally connected to speak to a supervisor (after 3 unsuccessful attempts). The Supervisor told me that a refund for the 37.94 was put in on April 8th after my last phone call to them disputing the charge and I should see that refund reflected on my account in 5-7 days. I informed the supervisor (Dawn) that the problem is that I was told two separate times that my account would not be charged and it was charged and this charge resulted in my account being overdrawn. The supervisor told me that I could fax in a billing dispute detailing the situation. I am writing this letter on April 9th after getting off the phone with your representatives. I have been charged two times for a shipment that I never requested and as of today have still never received.

Just today I was sent a box in the mail stating they charged my acct of 21.30.. now I'm 12.00 negative in my checking acct. I've never ordered from these people before and don't know how they got my acct number?. So, I had them send me a new card and Proactive WILL NOT be getting the box they sent me back. I will keep it for the the frustration they have put me through.

Please do not order from this guys
They just take all the money they can out of your account without your concent

The same thing happened to me. I cancelled them in May and they told me that I was "cancelled". So I wasn't worried about it. Then, they send me a yellow envelope from North Shore Agency that said that they had sent me to collections for forty-five dollars for a shipment in JUNE that I NEVER recieved because I had CANCELLED my account. I call them immediately after I recieve the notice and they proceed to tell me I never cancelled my account. That I only removed my credit card. So they said they had automatically shipped me a package.. THAT I THOUGHT I CANCELLED... and than charged me for it. I spent an hour on the phone with them talking to two managers that proceeded to tell me that they couldn't do anything about it. I paid those greedy mother F*****G scammers and told them that I recorded the phone call and I want my information deleted from their systems and if they ever contact me through phone, email, or mail I will sue them for harrassement. By the way you might want to call them up and tell them to delete all of your information as well because they sell your info. FULL OF SCAMMERS. Gunthy Renker I hope you and your company rott in hell for the bull S**T scams you create. Robbing innocent people for a product that doesn't work.

Calvin,

We're sorry you had this frustrating experience. We'd like to see what we can do to help you resolve it. Please email our corporate customer service team at customerservice(at)guthy-renker.com with your account number OR your full name and zip code so we can look into your account directly. Please include a link to this post and ATTN: RENEE in your email to ensure your case is handled quickly.

Thank you.

Corrie (Proactiv USA)

DO NOT BUY FROM PROACTIVE! This company will continue to bill you after you cancel. They will promise to discontinue payments when you cancel. DONT BELIEVE THEM! You will end up having to close your bank accts. I am reporting them to the news media investigative team. They need to be exploited about STEALING people's money.
Theresa

I have tried to cancel with PROACTIV Solution. I keep getting charged for the product. I have returned the product, unopened twice! Extremely frustrating.

i did not order this product and they keep sending it to me and charging it on my visa.

They charged me $89.25 and I certainly did NOT authorize it. Just sent them an email, hoping to hear from them today. It's still in my pending transactions so I can't stop it on my credit card until it goes through as a complete transaction =(
I only ordered once to try the product and hadn't intended on ordering again anytime soon. Anybody have any stories of this getting resolved?

They are a scam, and no matter how much you talk to them they all sound the same, promise to send a refund and then they don't. When you finally find someone that says that they will refund the charged amount and you agree that it is the correct amount, the refund is only a fraction of what you have agreed on with the rep and you need to repeat the process again and again. It is frustrating and not worth the effort. Any product company that has trained their customer service to fleece the customers that they rely on must know that the crap that they are selling would not be purchased by anyone again after they have tried it..There is a myriad of good products on the market. No need to fall for false adverts..

I cancelled my debit card so they would stop charging me a month ago and I JUST GOT CHARGED. This is ridiculous.

December 28th 2013, credit card charge for $34.98 GRC Proactiv Solution, December 30th, 2013 Credit card charge for 39.54 GRC Proactiv Solution, December 31st 2013, Credit card charge for 39.54 GRC Proactiv Solution. On Dec31st 2013, I cancelled my card as per the banks suspicions. GRC Proactiv Solution tried ( and failed) 9 more times over the next 4 days to run charges through on my card. I have never ordered from this company, I didn't even know what this was, and the bank said it was a re-occuring transaction. Last time I used my credit card online was purchasing something from TLG Canada Dec 2nd. This is a fraudulent charge. I contacted TLG just to let them know I believe their site might be compromised. I am tempted to contact Proavtiv in the US, find out WTF?

Hi Dear,
I have been charged again for a prosctive product which I did not buy and I didnt authorise you guys to deduct money from my credit card. It happens few months ago but then the amount taken was refunded back to my account. But today when I checked mu credit card statement it again happen. Could you pleAse solve this problem immediately and refund my money back.
Thanks Raul

I was deployed overseas and was speaking to my son and he said he needed a refill of his proactive solution that we initially purchased from a vending machine. I was deployed overseas and quickly before an assignment jumped online and placed an order for it to be shipped to him at my ex wife's house. He received it with no problem except he said it was smaller than what we had purchased prior. I told him that I would give his mom money to pick up some from the mall in Lafayette when that ran out. I got home on leave for December and found a bill from proactiv solution. I didn't know what it was for so I called. I found out that the purchase was a membership for continued shipments. If I had not come home I would have been sent to collections and that could have had an impact on my clearances, my livelihood. I hate this type of practice and the whole reason they do it is for this reason. Guthy Renker is a rip off company anyway. I found something that works better anyway. Glyderm Gentle Cleanser and Glyderm Lotion Lite. Great product I was turned onto by my dermatologist. The skin store is where I got it and they have no Gunthy deceptive practice. I ask all American's to stand up against any company that practices this type of business.

Hi, I have the same problem here.
Charged on my credit card without my autorisation or my request. Now I ask you to cancel this order and give me back my money.
Thank you.
Marc-André Mercier-Roy (Canada)
Date de transaction Description Montant ($)
23 DÉC 2013 GRC*PROACTIV SOLUTION [protected] CA US 61, 92

Did it ever occur to anyone that maybe someone else stole your credit card and called the company and placed in order under your information. lf you are at all smart you would have contacted your credit card company and changed your card information anyone. Be more careful about who has your credit/ debit card information.

The same exact thing happened to me yesterday -- when I called Proactiv I learned that the order was associated with a fraudulent e-mail address. I decided to cancel my credit card number, because obviously someone (presumably within the company) stole that number and now has access to it.

This is criminal activity. I believe this company operates out of California. Should I contact California's Attorney General? Any advice would be appreciated.

I used Proactiv in 1999. It made my face breakout, I kept using it thinking that it was bringing all the deep down dirt to the surface and with continued use would begin to clear up. I continued usage for two months and it just got worse. My mother commented to me about it, she is a RN and told me to stop immediately. It took me over two years to get my skin back to normal. The money I spent on dermatologists, Rx, skin care regiments, etc has been ridiculous. Do not use this product!

Agreed. Proactiv seemed to work for the first few weeks, but I soon noticed scars and EXTREME dryness (I have oily skin)and dark chemical burns!Since my face was drying out and burning so bad, I decided to stop using it until my face got better. A week after I stopped using it, my acne got WAY worse. I honestly think the makers of proactiv put some kind of "addicting" substance in the product to make your skin become dependent on proactiv. Buying proactiv was a huge mistake. My face looks a lot worse than it was. It's been about 5 months since I used it and I still have horrible scars caused by proactiv. I've been using "equate daily face wash" from Walmart. It's about $3 and does help clear acne. As for the scars, I use cucumber juice and potato juice
(not at the same time).

Good luck to everyone struggling with the effects from using Proactiv.

I have been a member since 1995. my 3 piece kit was locked in at a member price of $35.90 for many, many years! Now they want me to pay $94.79 for the same 3 piece kit and they say that they have lost my data due to a system upgrade. I do not understand how a company can do this to a long standing customer like me. I am so very disappointed in this company.

My daughter ordered proactive online through proactive.com. They continued to ship us boxes of proactive and bill me for it. I called them up and told them we did not order this. The customer service rep acted like i am some kind of idiot, because of course i did, because by ordering online, my daughter became a "member". I said that joining any kind of membership is not clear and you should be able to order a product with out becoming a member and this is targeted towards teenagers, who would not notice such a scheme. I told them i would not pay for it, nor would i pay for shipping. They can pick it up or pay for shipping themselves. There is a shipping form that comes with the package whereas you are the one to have to pay for it. After i ranted about the marketing scheme being a sham and deceiving and that i had no intention of giving them any money, he said he's send a shipping label. Do not order online! What a scam! I am ticked off!

Well, I am considering ordering this online. I am well aware that this is a membership and they will automatically take out of my account each month. I came on here hoping to get reviews, not complaints about where people screwed up by jumping into this century long enough to order something for a good price, then jumping back out when it came time for the next shipment. Seriously people, if you want something NOT taken out of your account, call your banks and tell them to stop any future purchases from them. It really isn't hard to do, takes all of about 10 minutes of your time.
That said, I think I might go find me some real reviews and then order.

Terrible.
I ordered a box of proactiv + for the first time an paid about $48 total.
For my orders, i specifically indicated to have a shipment every 22 weeks since i didn't want to pay for a box every other month or so. To my surprise i receive another box in the mail the following month. I checked my account and noticed they deducted $54 for this purchase - the same amount listed in my order history for all of the items, including their "free gifts". I figured i would keep this and call to cancel my membership. No sooner was i able to call them when i received a bill in the mail stating i owed another $88 for the same box! i emailed customer service and they indicated because they sent me a 90-day supply (never did i authorize a 90 day supply) the initial $54 was for shipping and processing fees, the remaining balance of $88 was the cost of the merchandise. Are you kidding me? No where ever did it say while i was purchasing this product that they would charge so much, especially for a product of which i indicated i only needed a 1 month supply at a time. While the product is decent at best, the billing/charging system is a total rip-off. Do not order from this place.

Same problem here. Twice now I have contacted Customer Support and twice they have guaranteed me a refund for already debited charges, plus a confirmation email of my cancellation. I have yet to receive either. The employee ID number given to me at the time of cancellation was bogus. No employee with that ID number was employed by their company as I was led to believe. Can anyone say "Class Action"? Does anyone here have the number to a decent attorney that handles class action suits? I am more than willing to contribute toward attorney fees to see this issue get national attention in hopes to prevent others from being taken advantage of this way. This is a criminal act, no matter how you try to spin it!

The good news is that Proactive Solutions worked on my adult acne. The best part of the kit was the Refining Mask. I had purchased three kits separately and paid the full asking price. Each time I got the Refining Mask along with the Repair Lotion and cleanser.

Thinking I'd get a better deal I joined the club and ordered the same kit. I got it, then as advertised, I started to receive replacement supplies, along with a bill for $62.68. Instead of the Refining Mask, I was stuck with the Daily Oil solution which I have found does not work. I paid for it, and when the next shipment arrived, I returned it. Two months later another shipment arrived and I returned that. The third shipment arrived with a 'Second Notice' bill. I returned the kit and bill.

Then I got a 'Third and Final Notice' letter with threats to send me to collections. I sent them a letter explaining what I was getting and that I had returned the products back to them. I told them to check their files for my returns and told them that the product did work and I was happy with it but I needed to stop their treatments, per my doctor's orders.

Think that worked? No. Today I got yet another bill with a collections threat attached and a promise never to send products to my address again.

If you are happy with Proactive Solutions, fine. But never join their club!

I ordered Proactive over the phone and was told I automatically would be enrolled in their automatic shipping program. There was no way around that option BUT once i received the first box, I could call that day and cancel the auto ship feature. I got the order on April 11 and called on April 11. The rep was helpful and took care of it. Then on April 26 I got billed for a shipment! I called, the rep said it was mistake and she saw I had cancelled on 4/11/11. She said i would be credited in 3-5 business days. Well, today is May 12 and NO CREDIT. I called again and cant get anyone to help me...now what?

Same deal, 3 months later they reactivated my account. This is ILLEGAL. See following
Federal Law
These rules are codified in Title 39, United States Code, Section 3009. That section of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 incorporates these protections for American consumers and makes the mailing of unordered merchandise unfair methods of competition and unfair trade practices under the law.

If you do not wish to pay for unsolicited merchandise or make a donation to a charity sending such an item, you may do one of three things (in each case, by law, you have no obligation to the sender):

If you have not opened the package, you may mark it "Return to Sender, " and the Postal Service will return it with no additional postage charged to you.
If you open the package and don't like what you find, you may throw it away.
If you open the package and like what you find, you may keep it for free. In this instance, "finders-keepers" applies unconditionally.
Furthermore, it is illegal for a company that sends you unordered merchandise to follow the mailing with a bill or dunning communication.

If you are aware of violations of the federal law prohibiting the mailing of unordered merchandise, or if you have personally had difficulty with such items--especially if you are sent statements demanding payment for the merchandise--you should contact you local postmaster or the nearest Postal Inspector.

Same thing here.. I have canceled at least 5 times and even called back to verify the cancellation and a couple months alter they charge/ship again.. My bank even called them as part of a fraud resolution on the disputed charge and they LIED TO THE BANK and said I never canceled and am still an active member! What BS this is after canceling multiple times with multiple confirmation calls! PROACTIV is a POS company to deal with. A true world class slum shop!

Just a quick update. My contact at the FTC was very responsive and we are now in the process of opening up an investigation. ProActive should have really considered their subscription trap technique a little more carefully. If the investigation formalizes (which there is a good chance it will), this will likely have a big impact on Jessica Simpson's royalty check.

My underage son used the 3 step system and ended up with burns, infection, open wounds on his face, he is now scarred and suffers from anxiety and depression. i am going to do a lawsuit.

this company sucks, the product is awful. the service is horrible. signed up for the "club", changed addresses after 2 months product was shipped to old address. canceled and was still charged after cancellation. if you have to buy this crap just get it from a vending machine

First thing to your complaint: you don't use a cleanser to remove your makeup, you use a make-up remover
Second is: you are suppose to add water and damp your face with the cleanser, using more than the amount is useless
Third: Buy a bigger size then
Last=Scar does not equal pimples, they are hyper pigmentation, go google and learn

Please go learn something about how to clean your skin properly before putting any comments, it just makes you sound stupid.

Proactive is a rip off, at first when I started using it my acne got better (after the like 4-6week for it to start working) then when it came time to get my next pack they automatically charged me and sent it without my permission! After receiving it and continuing to use it twice a day the product completely stopped working and my acne went back to the way it was! Maybe it's my skin type who knows but it's not for everyone and if you don't want it make sure you call and tell them!