BUYER BEWARE

I want to share a lesson I recently learned in the hope that I can help prevent others from being taken advantage of and scammed.

We all have our weak moments, times we feel less than great about ourselves. I read a "blog" on the Seattle PI website that a local woman wrote regarding her weight loss program. I could certainly loose a few pounds and the program sounded harmless enough. She used the "new" wonder berry the acai berry. She saw information about it on Oprah. Well, there you go. How much more convincing does a person need? The blogger also recommended an herbal colon cleanse product as well that works in conjunction with the acai.

As it turned out both company's just happened to be running a free trial offer for "only" $5.95 shipping each. What a deal. What harm could there be other than wasting six bucks. I thought if nothing else, who couldn't use a colon cleanse now and then.

After entering all my shipping and credit card info. I simply waited with anticipation of how much better I would feel after getting a colon cleanse and possibly having more energy and clarity from the acai berry capsules.

First to show up was the colon cleanse. Awesome. I've done these before. No big deal, no extensive programs, just take the capsules as directed and have a gentle but thorough cleanse. I tossed the packaging, opened the bottle and popped out the 2 capsules I would take for the next 24 hours, 1 that night and the next in the morning.

By mid-day the next day I was cleansing alright. Not so gently though. I re-read the bottle to be sure I was following the directions and not taking too much. Diarrhea is no one's favorite situation. I expected a bit as I got going, so didn't worry about it. Not until 24 hours later when I was still having stomach cramps and irritable bowel. Obviously, I stopped taking the capsules. By the following day, (I apologize in advance for this) evidently my colon couldn't come up with anything but tissue as I was not passing anything but bloody flakes (really, I apologize).

Okay, those capsules went in the trash. So much for a free trial. $5.95 in the dump. But wait, the acai berry capsules arrived. They shouldn't be so harsh I thought, but just to be sure, I better read the literature. There were two sheets enclosed with the bottle. I read all the "amazing" details of what was possible with the product. Then I noticed the sentence, mid-paragraph, part way down the page that stated I would automatically be enrolled in the monthly program at just $65 mo. if I didn't cancel before the 15 day trial period was over.

There were two reasons for me to be uncomfortable at that point. One, I thought it was a 30 day trial since it was a 30 day supply in the bottle. Second, I hadn't seen any reference to an automatic enrollment on the website when I ordered the trial. So after I tried them for about a week and didn't notice any change in the way I felt I decided to cancel and send them back.

I contacted the company to be sure I had the proper address to return them to. Low and behold, it is a good thing I did as there was a RMA (return merchandise authorization) number required. That information was not stated anywhere in the literature that came with the product. I was told that without the number the delivery would not be accepted. Obviously if it was returned to me and I called them to find out why and had to ship them back, it would have been well past the 15 day trial. I smell a scam.

The true insult was when I received a second bottle of the colon cleanse capsules. I should have read the paperwork in the original shipment as it was the same 'offer' with the automatic sign up for the continuing program. My credit card was charged $88 for the first bottle (that I threw away) and the program was $88 plus $5.95 per month. $93.95 for a 30 day supply of herbal colon cleanse capsules!! I canceled the program and lost $88 and the original $5.95 shipping charge for each "free" trial.

BOTTOM LINE_____I will no longer order anything without thoroughly clarifying all details first. Be very careful friends. According to the customer service rep. I spoke to, I agreed to the program when I checked something on the order page on the original free trial order. They were two different companies, two different websites, but they both have the same M.O. and catches.

NO LONGER CAN WE TRUST UNTIL UNTRUSTWORTHY IS PROVEN. BE WARY OF ANY OFFER.