Acai Berry review: money taken from my bank account 57

The lead defendant named in the suit is FWM Laboratories of Hollywood, Fla., which sells Resveratrol Ultra, Acai Berry Detox, and other supplements. Customers have complained to the Better Business Bureau that FWM makes it difficult to return products, and the company continues to charge their credit cards long after they cancel. FWM is currently under investigation by the Florida Attorney General's economic crimes division. I purchased from them and had a heck of a time getting my refund but I did get it... I notified my bank, emailed the company with a VERY nasty "I will pursue legally" note as I did cancel within the 15 day time frame. They tried to say I needed to send back the product and I provided to them, their OWN terms and conditions which says if you notify them prior to the end of the free trial, they will no require the return of the product. Bottom line here---read the rules, but more importantly I wish I would have checked this website FIRST!

They offered a product, Acai Berry supplement for free if you paid the $4.99 shipping and handling. When I agreed to do this in December 2009. Then I received an email they were out of stock. Then a week ago, now Febuary 23, 2010 I get his charge on my bank card for$88.74. After being on hold for 2 hours, a rep got on the phone and told me I could not get a refund because I authorized this and I had to keep the product. After requesting a document that I said "I authorized the charge".They offered me $34.45 because of "restocking fees". I disagreed again and requested the full amount be returned. They finally decided to get me a full refund. It took EXTERME pressure on my part for my money, back it happened.
I say go the a health food store, they will have this product and save your self ALOT of headache.

Here's a more direct way to avoid such scams --

Acai is an excessively abundant provincial Amazon berry. It sells for $1 a bottle of freshly squeezed juice at any major Amazon city, where something like 400, 000 lbs of acai berry are sold every. The species (euterpe oleracea) grows in the wild and on plantations by the billions. It is a weed species - the very same one used for hearts-of-palm (you know, the cheap $2.00 cans), a product which kills the fruiting trunk.

People outside the Amazon region are paying out the ### for this product, marketed by greedy advertising charlatans. They pay next to nothing to acquire their acai product (most of their cost is packaging), and they artificially inflate it's value, by spinning all this washy BS about it being a "superfood" and having superior "health virtue." These unscrupulous US companies (not the native growers/harvesters) are making a killing because they make 500-1000% profit in many cases. It's abhorrent.

They are playing the ignorant public like a fiddle, all the while giving "health food" a bad name. The puvlic would do much better to be skeptical of anything making such claims. Make every effort to understand where things come from, and what it is. That way at least you'll have some perspective.

When I ordered acia berry tropic it was supposed to be only $1.99 and the same day as my order went through on my bank account I had two charges of $11.98 and they werent from me using my card. I dont know how to get my money back and i'm a college student and I really cant afford for them to take money when they said nothing about other charges. If anyone knows how I can get my money back please e-mail me at dr_pepper224@hotmail.com

Thank you,
Leslie

You are absolutely right. Acai Berry did the same thing to me. The product absolutely does not work. In fact I gained 2 lbs while taking the product. I had to cancel my credit card to get them to stop charging my account. My credit card company is taking actiont against them to get my money refunded.

Contact the Better Business of Delaware! I had the exact same experience, but finally contacted the BBB & actually received a check a few days ago. I made sure it cleared today, before telling the BBB I was satisfied with the outcome. Hopefully more people will go this route.

DON"T ORDER! IT'S NOT FREE! first they charge you $1.99 for shipping and processing. They will send you 1 bottle of Acai berry pills. Then they automatically will deduct $88.74 for that 1 little bottle you received during the trial period if you do not send it back! That charge is not for the next month's supply! It is for the supposedly 'free trial'! They have the nerve to charge you $88.74 for a product you could get in a vitamin store for less than $20! Good luck ever getting your money back! You are supposed to send back whatever you have not used and then get a portion refunded of that $88.74. This is fraud on a whole new level! I want to start a class action against this deceptive, no-class, unethical evil people who scam people out of their money.

Ordered trial size for shipping cost only. Received the wrong product, and noticed an $88.64 charge on my bank statement. I never authorized them to take the money . I called and asked why, they told me I didnt withdraw from being a member within the 14 days from trial size order. I tried to withdraw but nowhere on their website can you go to cancel. I ordered the product in November 2009. It is now March 2010 and I still have not received my money back. I was told it would be put back on my account in 7-10 business days. Then there was a "problem" with my card so it was going to be put back on my mother account and that would take another 10-14 business days. Then they say they called (which I never received) because there was a problem with that, and they are sending me a paper check. I should receive the check in another 2-4 weeks. It has been 2 months. I keep calling and getting the run around. I just called 10 minutes ago and was given a web address that doesnt exist and they are expiditing my complaint to billing and she "guaranteed me I will see the check in 3 days". THESE PEOPLE ARE SCAMMERS AND SOMEBODY SHOULD DO SOMETHING. WHY THE HELL ARE THEY ALLOWED TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE? I AM GOING TO COMPLAIN TO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU, MAYBE EVEN CALL THE SENATOR OR GOVERNOR OF DELAWARE(where company is located) AND FILE A DISPUTE WITH MY BANK.

December 21, 2009 I noticed an $88.64 charge taken out of my bank account, I had not ordered or bought anything for that amount. My bank gave me the phone number of the company that took this amount out. It was Acai Berry Tropic. I had answerd a survey online and accepted a trial offer of Acai Berry tropic a couple of weeks before which I thought would cost me a total of $1.99, supposedly I clicked on a little box that said I approve of these terms and conditions. After several phone calls and much persistance, Acai Beryy agreed to refund my money. The time alapsed and the money was not added back to my account. The customer service dept. said they had trouble putting the money back into my account and would issue me a paper check. Now I am told that the paper check had been issued Jan. 21st and allow 10 to 14 days for the check to arrive by mail. today is the 14th day and still no check. Please help me. My acount/order no. is 925872

Have you asked your bank to actually do a chargeback? That's what I did when I ordered an Accai product (and canceled it!). Then I asked them to cancel my card and reissue me a new one. My bank was kind enough to not give me any hassle doing this.

I ordcered product on December 14, 2009 for shippinf fee of $4.95. I cancelled order on December 21, 2009. I was told I would receive a cencellation email that never came.In February 17, 2010 I received a bottle of the product and $88.74 was deducted from my account.I called the customer service rep and was told that there was no record of my cancelling my order. I then cancelled the order again and they refused to let me send the unopened prodect back. I asked for a cancellation order number and was told by Megan King that it would be emailed to me within 24 hours.I asked to speak to her supervisor and after being placed on hold for an hour I spoke to David Web and Miquel Molina who would not give me a verbal cancellation number but told me that I would receive one within 24 hours by email.I waited 48 hours and called back again and spoke with Selena Turner who told me she was sending me a cancellation email which never arrived.I also sent an email to the company but have received no reply. I would like to have $88.74 refunded and a cancellation order number and to be able to returned the unopened product. I have a family to feed and cannot afford to have this money taken from my account every month.I am working with my bank to try to resolve this problem. G Vinson

contact your bank and report it as a fraud charge. Be stern with them and make sure you keep at them. Do not bother with the company itself as they are a waste of time.

I did exactly the same thing and I was refunded.

Cancelling your account with this company isn't necessarily the end of them. They charged me for items of a different name (on my credit card) to the ones I actually recieved. Therefore, I have cancelled the order for further items of the ones I received but, technically, have nor cancelled for the items I was charged for. How can I - I didn't order them in the first place! I was also charged more for these items than the amount on my invoice which also came from an address in Bristol not acknowledged by the customer service woman I spoke to. Although helpful enough, even after my so called cancellation numbers had been given me, she completely changed when I said that I 'dcancelled my credit card so they couldn't get any more from my account no matter what they tried. The only way to be sure you do not get defrauded again is to change your card - incovenient I know - but worth it in the end.

Hi,

We would like to apologize if there was any confusion regarding our trial offer when you placed your order. We would like to help you resolve this situation as soon as possible. We try to make the terms of our trial offers as clear as possible which is why they are displayed right at the top of the order page. These terms explain how our trial offer works, however we understand that misunderstandings sometimes happen. In addition to providing the terms and conditions of our offer on the order page, they are also displayed on the terms and conditions page which can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of the order page, and the homepage.

To help resolve the situation we ask that you please contact our customer service department toll free at [protected]. Here you will be able to speak to one of our highly qualified and expertly trained customer service representatives for a full refund. Our customer service department is available Monday through Fridays between the hours of 8am and 9pm EST. We are also open on Saturdays from 8am to 4pm EST. We are happy to assist you with ANY questions or concerns you may have.

Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience and we truly want to keep our customers satisfied with our products. We are always open to suggestions for improving our offers and we would love to hear yours! We look forward to helping you resolve any problems that you may have.

Thanks,

Joe C
Manager

ACAI BERRY TROPIC is a complete dissapointment. I have a pending charge of 88.64 on my bank account, and i cancelled this product while i was even waiting for my trial.
I RECIEVED MY TRIAL BOTTLE 3 DAYS BEFORE MY TRIAL PERIOD ENDED! HOW DO THEY EXPECT FOR THEIR CUSTOMER TO TRY THE PRODUCT WITHIN THAT TIME OR EVEN RETURN THE PRODUCT BEFORE GETTING CHARGED FOR IT! Not to metion when i spoke to a lady about cancelling my account, i repeatedly asked her so from this day on there will be NO charges to my account?, (and when i say repeatedly i mean over and over and over) and she assured me there wouldnt be no charges. i HAVE READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS ON THEIR WEBSITE BUT being i had not even recieved the trial bottle in the time i was suppose to i dont think its fair that i was STILL charged the 88.64 EVEN AFTER I HAD CANCELLED MY ACCOUNT. aLSO WHEN I CALL THE CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE, IM PUT ON HOLD FOR ABOUT 5 MINS AND THEN THE LINE DISCONNECTS. iM CONTACTING THE BBB AND REPORTING THEM. i WILL ALSO BE CONTACTING THE SITES ON WHICH THEY ADVERTISE LIKE MSN...YOU GUYS ARE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS...I WORK HARD FOR MY MONEY AND ITS NOT GOING TO GET TAKEN FROM ME IN THIS MANNER. IM POSTING THIS COMPLAINT ON EVERY WEBSITE POSSIBLE UNTIL SOMEONE LISTENS.

I ordered the product and the advertisement was 2.95. Little did I know that the product actually charges you 80.00 a month and not to mention a colon cleanser that was 55.00 this was terrible. I called all the numbers and no one could find my account or help me. I later learned that you can buy the exact same product for 14.95 at a Herbal shop like GNC and i does the exact same thing. I had to cancel my debit card and never received a refund for the merchandise.

i was just checking the price and didnt approve anything or check the terms and conditions box and they shipped the product to me and charged my debit card. I wasnt expecting anything since i never approved it. But when i got it in the mail and tried to call and cancel. I couldnt even talk to someone that i could understand or that could understand me. She kept telling me that i couldnt cancel that i would have to call back in 24 to 48 hours. I had to call my bank to cancel my debit card. Just to make sure they didnt take anymore money from me.