Advanced Wellness Research review: billed for free trial product 61

I also had the same problem. I went to their website and sent numerous emails to their customer service. The responses were all the same like a form letter. I tried to access my account online to cancel it, but the password they sent me would not work. I called the number and I too got a full mail box when trying to leave a message. Finally I got a live person when I ask to be connected for an order. Then I proceeded to tell them I wanted to cancel. I was told that my account had been canceled and I got the representative's name. They could not give me a cancellation number nor did the rep. have an employee ID that he would reveal. I was told that I would receive an email shortly. That was 2 days ago and I have not received an email. I sent yet another email asking for a response to my cancellation, but nothing. I guess that my next step will be to have my credit card company dispute the charge. If anyone else has gotten a similar situation resolved I would appreciate hearing how.

I have the exact same situation! I have gone the extra step and have had my bank file a dispute on this charge. There was nothing on the free trial process that said anything about a 14-day period, only that you could order the product free and pay only the shipping charge of 4.99! What a criminal company this appears to be! I have tried calling and calling and emailing and emailing with NO RESPONSE!

I have also had the same problem. I had no idea the free trial offer would lead to charging my account for the product. I would like to send the product back and get my refund. I also do not know if they will continue to draft from my account. I am not sure whether to change my account. I have tried to cancel my account with them and that has not worked. If you can help in any way I would greatly appreciate it. Sincerely, Vicki Sammons

I am having the same problem, except I received the full 60 capsule bottle instead of the free trial, I received that on 11-28-08and on 12-1-08 my account was debited $78.86. Like all of you I have called them 20-30 times and e-mailed 5-6 times. My bank is stating that I have to file a dispute which I'm not sure how long it takes to do that or how long it would be to get my money back. Did you guys ever get your money back or do you have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Rebecca

I am also having the same problems. All I get when I called is a voicemail saying "This mailbox is full." I have been trying for days! I guess I could cancel my credit card before they charge the monthly fee.

having the same problem. this looks like a ripoff.

Uhh, ohhh. I am in the beginning stages of this nightmare and can't get a response from them either!

I am having the same problem and have to dispute it with my bank as well. I also get the voicemail right away and says that voicemail box is full.

I was finally able to get through on the phone to an actual "live body" who spoke english with a very heavy and hard to understand accent who took my information and said that he would be sending me an email within 10 minutes with instructions on how to cancel and request a "Return Form". I have not received any email and it has been several hours. I too am concerned that my account will continue to be charged. Perhaps we need to contact Rachel Ray and Oprah Winfrey and alert them to this scam! I too am considering closing my account in order to prevent future charges by this fraudulent company!

Okay, I got a woman on the phone. She said systems were down and they would contact me. (Yeah, right). She said I couldn't return the product and she couldn't cancel my order. They sent me two bottles and said I signed up for 2 trials. I called my credit card company, and found out to immediately return them, asking UPS for a Return Receipt Request, and if they billed me, VISA could get my money back. Good luck.

My complaints is the same as everyone elses. Paid $4.99 for shipping only then got charged $78.81 for the product. When ever I call they say their mail box is full and they can't take another message.

I just got my "free" berrys and haven't even tried them.

Mybank has told me that since I used my credit card, they can stop payment by issuing me a new credit card.

According to their ad Oprah used their stuff to lose weight right? How about everyone write Oprah and find out? Maybe if she endorsed the berry's she can make them pay us back?

Ditto on the BAD deal. Geeze. I feel like an idiot. Yes, I am all about contacting Oprah. I am ON it. Will post again if anyything comes from it.

Have tried berries...I wouldn't be surprised if they were powder in capsules with a berry sent infused.

With everything that is happening in the nation...people are still scamming people.

Well ...the Karma is THEIR issue

Money is just money but ripping people off with intent is bad ju ju. Calling my bank and then try to see if I can get in touch with Ophra

I have had a similar problem, I tried to cancel 30 minutes after ordering their free trial product because I called my bank and realized that they were going to charge me the $78.81 in addition to the shipping and handling charge of $4.99. I wrote them an e-mail and got a response back that they were only authorizing the charge and that it wouldn't go through until after the 14 day trial period. Well they didn't even ship the product until after the 14 day trial period and then charged my account. The next day I received the product, but did not even get to try it or have a chance to cancel within the 14 day trial period. I have tried to call them as well and get the same message saying their mail box is full. I have also written them numerous e-mails and get a basic automated response that is not helpful at all. I'm fed up with this and am going to change my bank account number. I'm wondering how you can get your money back from filing a dispute with your bank since we gave them our credit card information in the first place? Can someone please tell me if we are able to file a dispute?

i got through and they are going to refund me. i was about to give up ihad left so many messages. then finally i spoke with someone. they even were willing to cut the price from 78dollars to 18 if they can sell it for that why charge so much to begin with. but i am not fully happy until i have the money in my hand. i wish the rest of good luck in getting yours.

still trying to get a live person. cancelled my debit card and getting a new one so they can't charge me again. God only knows what is in the pills. I am sitting here with a packagehaven't opened and I can't get info to send the darn thing back. Do I feel stupid or what. I only hope they go out of business soon.

I thought I would be getting something good when I sent for the $4.99 free trial. Nothing was said then about charging me for a new order or sending the free trial back. I have tried calling and never can get to talk to anyone and just told to leave a message, but never a return. I will be calling the bank to see if they can do anything. This charge is a great hardship for me as I live on Social Security and don't have a lot of extra. I thought if this was a good product I would try to order more, but now don't know if I should even take it. These people should be ashamed of themselves!

you suck! Give me my money back

I am still in the 14 day trial as of now and thanks you i have contacted my bank and will not be a victum of this disastor. I have also written the company and CC: my bank with my letter and documentation from you and CNN. If anyone else is a victum of this scam in the future CALL YOU BANK ASAP! I tried calling the phone number [protected] and it is exactly what everyone has said.

Thanks again everyone!

I am learning right now about this product that I have not even opened it yet I recieved it on thursday December 12, 2008 right now I want to send it back and cancel the trial period.But it looks like I may not be able to do this.according to all of the complaints. WOW I wish I would have seen this before I paid for the item. I'm going to keep trying to do somehting about this so wish me luck everyone. Sincerly, ALina from Battle Creek Michigan

It appears that we all have been riped off by this group of cons 2 minutes after the order order i sent e-mail and told them to cancel my order. here what they said

Dear Pat
First let me thank you for your order and confidence in Pure Acai Berry. Now, let me reassure you that you were NOT charged anything other than the shipping and handling today. The charge you are inquiring about is not a charge but only an authorization. Depending on your bank, it remains on your card for anywhere from 15-30 days. If after using our product during the trial period you decide to keep it, we will then convert that authorization into a charge. Right now it is only an authorization and is not a billed amount.

I hope this answers your question and we hope you enjoy your Pure Acai Berry.

Thank you and have a nice day,

Andrew Philips,
Customer Service

Original Message
----------------
Subject: PA - Customer Service
From: To:
Date: [protected]:21:44

cancell that order it said free then you had 78.00 i do not wont it stop shipment now. just placed order pat

PURE ACAI BERRY [protected] NY CHKCD PURCH $78.[protected]

the next day i was charged on my card. these people are a joke and i'll e-mail every day with a complant

This company does not legally do anything wrong. Although their tactics may bring up ethical questions, sadly, they do everything in a legal manner. When you order your "free trial" and you check that little box that says "I have read and agree to the Terms & Conditions" you are agreeing to terms and conditions that you may not have been lead to believe would happen. It clearly states in their terms & conditions that if you do not respond about your free trial within 14 days you will be charged and sent a full order. So, unfortunately, if you did order this free trial and did not respond to the company saying you disliked the product, the company is complying with their own terms & conditions by sending you a full order. Some people have had luck (not with this company but similar situations) getting a refund of some kind. However, the company is not under any obligation to respond with any kind of refund at all.

Advance Wellness Research Inc.
Posted: 2008-12-18 by melodyann12

Celebrety Fraud usage/Hidden Info/Shady Business

Complaint Rating:
Company information:
Advance Wellness Research Inc.
Corporate/500 S.Pointe DR
Florida
United States
Phone: [protected]
trypureacaiberry.net

This Company uses names and pictures of Of Oprah & Rachael Ray as a selling point to there product.
After further research neather of these celebs are even related to this particular product. Through This Company
My complaint is if you Dont read the FINE PRINT it does go on to tell you that you are to get a 14 day free trial of this product. They do send you the product but there is a full month suply. So if you go past the 14 day suply you are then automaticaly charged to your bank acount if you used your Debit/Visa Card $78.81 pluss S&H. And thuss it continues on untill you cancel.
Now canceling is very diffacult with the trial bottle even if the product is unopened. You must call and wait forever for help. And then you must send the product with the pills less the 14 day suply back to them. ON the out side of your package must be A number which they call an RMA number along with all your other information in order to get a cancelation. When your ordering the sample product it does not tell you about this. How ever I went back to the web page and way down at the bottom if you click on terms then it gives you several pages on this information.
I want to send out a Buyer be Ware of this so called free sample Product as its extreamly diffacult to get it cancled. And I think its a very bad policy to take the public for moneys that they do not tell you about up front.
I went through all of what they told me to return mine. I am sending the unopened unused saposed sample with A full month suply back to company with the address they gave me of

#-17th AVE South
Napa, ID 83651
I will return later to inform you if they actualy did cancle any further shipments to me with out any further charges to my acount

Ok, folks...I came here after doing a search for complaints on this company and will put my 2 cents into the pot...another 2 cents to follow after I see what this company is really made of. A little background: I have many years of marketing, sales and service in the sales field selling just about everything. Now, that in itself doesn't make me an expert, but I believe I have a little more knowledge than your average joe ...or josie :). My wife signed up for her 'free trial' just as all of you have done so with the understanding that the cost would be zero except for the shipping. That is because of their misleading - but probably not illegal - website. Still, just because it's 'legal' doesn't mean it could be ligitimate in the eyes of those who are supposed to protect our interests. No where upfront does their website indicate a further charge. One has to dig deep to find the real cost. That cost, on the surface, seems outrageous. We're talking around $1000 a year. But I am not writing this to pass judgement on the cost factor, even though I'm ticked about it. We'll leave that up to the officials to figure price-gouging, if it comes to that point. And just because you may have 'buyers remorse', that in and of itself doesn't exempt you from upholding your end of the bargain. Remember folks: Buyer Beware! I believe in reading these complaints that we can boil the gripes down into 2 identifiable problems - which happen to be my problems too. First is the implied 'free samples', if you will, for the price of S&H. The second is the lousy response (or lack of, for that matter) by their 'reps'. Now, I'm a believer in giving a person or business a chance to redeem themselves before going on a tyraid. Because I neither checked off that I Agree or Disagree but am Neutral in my attitude, my hope is that will happen and then I will come back to this site for - are you ready for this? - a GOOD report. As a guide for those of you wishing something from us here in Complaintville, and ONLY as a guide, I am pasting my letter to the fine folks at Advanced for you to peruse - but NOT TO COPY WORD FOR WORD. It won't fit many of you heavily into this quagmire and it would render itself moot if they see this repeated time and time verbatim. Feel free to glean anything you can from it. If you care to email me with general questions, please do - but remember this: I'M NOT A LEGAL REFERENCE AND CANNOT GIVE YOU SPECIFIC ADVICE. Get it? You're on your own with that one. I only wish to 'help' by doing something for some of you who seem desparate out there. Good luck and...I report something soon.

Sir or Madam:

This email letter is to inform you that we have just spoken to your phone representative, who identified himself as 'Sheldon' and had a far-eastern (Indian) accent, to cancel order number 1940243 effective immediately, to cease and desist withdrawing any further sums from our account, to refrain from using, selling, renting or marketing any and/or all of our personal information, and to place back into our account the sum of US $60.00 as per our agreement with that rep. He and we came to that sum by subtracting for the trial bottle of Pure Acai Berry Pro, which evidently came out to the price of US $18.81 because of his insistence that we continue to try the product at that level on a subscription basis. We will have none of that at this time as the main breadwinner, George, has been laid off several times during this recent downturn in the economy. For sure, we are hard-pressed to pay for even basic living expenses. A review of the rep's computer notes (CON1940243) and our apparent taped conversation will obviously point all this out to you, if that would be necessary. As agreed upon, we will expect those funds to be redeposited in our account within the stated time limit of no more than 10 working days. Sooner would be better for us as that would be all the funds we would have to live on in the oncoming weeks - it is that close for us at this time.

Now that the above is out of the way, we would like to take a few more moments of your time to tell you how we feel about all this. If you have a fair and honest product to market, your website should be of the same caliber, too. Inasmuch as we could not find ANY reference to the ongoing cost of this item without having to dig very deep into the website's clickable links, you have given the impression that this product's cost will only be US $4.99 - at least for the trial bottle. If this product was as highly effective and acclaimed as you represent it to be, then you wouldn't have too much difficultly in divulging the true monthly cost up front in the main page. By omission of that fact, you also give the impression of being disreputable in your business. We are not speculating about this. George has been in sales for a major part of his life, having been involved with the marketing, selling, and servicing of various items throughout his tenure, and has been extremely successful with his endeavors. He has always found that being upfront and forthright with customers and prospects has been the best way to go. Judging from the many comments about your business given at various sites found on the internet that allows for customer feedback, maybe your establishment had better take a good, hard look at revamping the website to convey a better idea of that concept before some class action is proceeded against you. Also, although it may be perfectly legal - and that is debatable - to start a trial period at the point of ordering, it leaves a sour taste in one's mouth to know that it will be somewhat shortened by postal delay and such. With a timeframe of around 3 months for the product to take effect, what good is such a short 14 days going to have and then shorten it that much more? Finally, there are so many scams out on the internet that we find it inconceivable you would allow yourselves to appear that way with such a poorly designed site.

In closing, we are sending this out with all good intentions of updating and furthering any information that may be beneficial. We are, however, going to keep a close and, hopefully not, wary an eye on this matter. We will see. We are entrusting you to live up to the agreement reached through your phone rep and ourselves. Should your actions be fruitful - and especially if timely or better - then we should not have to pursue any further action and indeed are not looking to do so at this time, wanting to give you the benefit of the doubt. We hope you have a better understanding of our situation/position and perhaps you can glean something useful that we've noted.

Sincerely,

George and Valerie Orbin

Well folks, it's been a few days now and I did recieve an email back from my send to the address listed on their contact page. It seems they don't have anything on file about our account and I find that hard to believe - unless the both of us are getting snookered by some disreputables. They need alot more personal information to find me than I'm willing to give - for obvious reasons. I still wish to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'm no fool and won't be strung along for too long. You may find it interesting that I was able to get through to their outsourced call center in India both times I tried on the first dial. Dunno why it's different than what's been reported here. Also, the rep was generally kind and seemed sincere - sorry for that if you feel I'm being icky, but I report what has happened. Yes, I am an old sales rep myself, so maybe I just know what to say or how to say it, no? Anyway, he reinterated what the other rep told me on my earlier call, said not to worry that it will happen what we agreed upon, and said he'd send me a confirmation email. As of yet, that email hasn't arrived. I will cut and paste what I have for you to view. For those who've read my earlier comment, part of it will be familiar. Hope this helps!

Dear Pete Collins:

Thank you for replying in a timely fashion. I must, unfortunately, pass on giving out my personal information as per your request. I am aware that some folks have their identities high-jacked these days, so I will provide clarification enough to prove who we are and to locate us in your system, if we actually exist in your system at all. We will see on that. I am starting to suspect we all are part of some scam scheme. I hope not. We got your email address from what we thought is your website: www.pureacaiberrypro.com (www.buypureacaiberry.com). I wrote before to tell you the reasons for cancelling this, let me tell you what transpired. My wife, Valerie, used her personal email, valsredroses@hotmail.com, when ordering this. By default, our email client uses my personal address for replies, thus you will see our correspondence originate via f_form@hotmail.com . We do not know how to control that. Anyway, we called that number you listed, [protected], on 12-21-08, which was also stated on your website. As you'll recall in my original email, I spoke to a rep who obviously was of eastern Indian origin. He and we, my wife being at my side, decided that we would pay for the bottle of Pure Acai Berry Pro, which we thought was a free bottle, for $18.81, cancelled any and all further deliveries, and came up with a refund of $60.00 to be deposited back into the account it was taken out of within the 10 working days as noted. I asked him for a conformation number and he gave me CON1940243 - the same as our RMA ID number with the letters added (if that's how they do it). Because I've been in sales for many years, my experience has been to send a followup letter or email to the parties concerned explaining the general agreement. Your reply, which was expected, raised our eyebrows as to it's contents, which wasn't expected. I find it disturbing, to say the least, that if your representatives, whether they be integral or contracted, would have the ability to look up our account and make corrections and updates to it, that you wouldn't be able to receive the same on your end. Indeed, when contacting the above number again, as you re-indicated in your response, I was once again connected to another asian Indian who was able to pull up our account with that mentioned number and see the notes attached therein. Since I listed that RMA ID in the subject AND the body of the message, you should easily be able to pull it up, too. This last rep was, as in the first one, helpful and reassuring that everything will go as planned. His name was Kevin. I asked him for the name of his agency but he refused, saying they weren't allowed to divulge that. I asked him for another confirmation number and he said he would send it in a personal email to Valerie. That was a few hours ago and thus far we've received NO email confirmation. We will give it a little more time as it is our nature to give the benefit of the doubt. I hope all this is making sense to you and this is the standard operating procedure. We would be quite dismayed to learn that you aren't in agreement with that. I noticed that there are two different mail addresses for this product. One is in Florida, the other in Idaho. My experience has been that this could very well be the case - especially if you have contracted for others to sell these products. I would like to point your direction to a particular website that many folks use for griping: www.complaintsboard.com . There, if you will do a search under such headings as Acai Berry, Acai Berry Pro, Advanced Wellness, Advanced Wellness Research, etc., you will find an alarming amount of complaints by some very irate persons who feel, rightly or wrongly, that they've been taken advantage of. I also put my '2 cents in the pot', if you will, telling the folks I'm neither for, nor against your company - at least not at this time. Because of my sales background, I brought up some things to make them aware of, both pro and con. I both chided them for 'buyer's remorse' and sided with them for lousy or non-existent phone rep help, amongst other things. What I'm getting at is this: I WILL return to that site to give updates and a final disposition, be it favorable or not. I told them I really would like to come back with a GOOD report on my outcome with your company. With all the negativity going around, I do wish to put a plug in for your establishment, if this all is just some misunderstanding on their part. I have to admit though, that you do have some 'splaining' to do. There are just too many of the same type of complaints over and over. I'm a reasonable man. I will listen. But I'm also very acute to these situations. I will be waiting in earnest to read what you have to say before I take any action, if you respond punctually. I've led the irritated masses at that website to expect a follow-thru, and I expect to deliver for them - and hopefully - for you. Now, with this email, and the attached older emails, you have enough information available. The ball is in your court, sir.

From: Sales
Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 9:03 PM
To: f_form@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: CON1940243 followup

Hi,

Thank you for contacting customer service. We have searched your order in our system but we are unable to locate your order. Please provide us your first name, last name, email, phone number, shipping address and your order ID so that we can locate your order in our systems. You may also call us at [protected]. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Pete Collins,
Customer Service

Original Message
----------------
Subject: CON1940243 followup
From: f_form@hotmail.com
To:
CC: "My Wifey"
Date: [protected]:48:04

Sir or Madam:

This email letter is to inform you that we have just spoken to your phone representative, who identified himself as 'Sheldon' and had a far-eastern (Indian) accent, to cancel order number 1940243 effective immediately, to cease and desist withdrawing any further sums from our account, to refrain from using, selling, renting or marketing any and/or all of our personal information, and to place back into our account the sum of US $60.00 as per our agreement with that rep. He and we came to that sum by subtracting for the trial bottle of Pure Acai Berry Pro, which evidently came out to the price of US $18.81 because of his insistence that we continue to try the product at that level on a subscription basis. We will have none of that at this time as the main breadwinner, George, has been laid off several times during this recent downturn in the economy. For sure, we are hard-pressed to pay for even basic living expenses. A review of the rep's computer notes (CON1940243) and our apparent taped conversation will obviously point all this out to you, if that would be necessary. As agreed upon, we will expect those funds to be redeposited in our account within the stated time limit of no more than 10 working days. Sooner would be better for us as that would be all the funds we would have to live on in the oncoming weeks - it is that close for us at this time.

Now that the above is out of the way, we would like to take a few more moments of your time to tell you how we feel about all this. If you have a fair and honest product to market, your website should be of the same caliber, too. Inasmuch as we could not find ANY reference to the ongoing cost of this item without having to dig very deep into the website's clickable links, you have given the impression that this product's cost will only be US $4.99 - at least for the trial bottle. If this product was as highly effective and acclaimed as you represent it to be, then you wouldn't have too much difficultly in divulging the true monthly cost up front in the main page. By omission of that fact, you also give the impression of being disreputable in your business. We are not speculating about this. George has been in sales for a major part of his life, having been involved with the marketing, selling, and servicing of various items throughout his tenure, and has been extremely successful with his endeavors. He has always found that being upfront and forthright with customers and prospects has been the best way to go. Judging from the many comments about your business given at various sites found on the internet that allows for customer feedback, maybe your establishment had better take a good, hard look at revamping the website to convey a better idea of that concept before some class action is proceeded against you. Also, although it may be perfectly legal - and that is debatable - to start a trial period at the point of ordering, it leaves a sour taste in one's mouth to know that it will be somewhat shortened by postal delay and such. With a timeframe of around 3 months for the product to take effect, what good is such a short 14 days going to have and then shorten it that much more? Finally, there are so many scams out on the internet that we find it inconceivable you would allow yourselves to appear that way with such a poorly designed site.

In closing, we are sending this out with all good intentions of updating and furthering any information that may be beneficial. We are, however, going to keep a close and, hopefully not, wary an eye on this matter. We will see. We are entrusting you to live up to the agreement reached through your phone rep and ourselves. Should your actions be fruitful - and especially if timely or better - then we should not have to pursue any further action and indeed are not looking to do so at this time, wanting to give you the benefit of the doubt. We hope you have a better understanding of our situation/position and perhaps you can glean something useful that we've noted.

Sincerely,

George and Valerie Orbin

Another update, folks. Here's the latest - just received - from Advanced Wellness Research. We are still awaiting for our refund and will report what is going on. So far, so good...or so it seems. Once again, I hope this helps in some way.

Dear Pete Collins, et al:

Thank you once again for your email. We appreciate you're moving forward with this matter. To be sure, we will be anticipating that refund as soon as possible. Just because we had to reverse this and the rest of the terms (ongoing shipments, monthly account withdrawals, non-use of our information afterwards, etc.) doesn't mean we won't possibly be doing business later on. Because you appear to be keeping up your end, we shall endeavor to keep an eye on your business to see what we might be interested in when time and finances allow. Also, you may recall we pointed out a particular website (www.complaintboards.com) set up for those who have issues with certain websites and companies. If you'll also recall, I am submitting an ongoing factual account at that site of all of our dealings. We have remained neutral in our comments - much to the chagrin of others who have posted there with an obvious slant on being negative - because we believe in giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. So far, you have not given any indication of reneging on this agreement and we shall be including this latest exchange into those comments we have submitted for others to read and evaluate. As we mentioned to the readers, we only report what has transpired be they good or bad. Admittedly, just as in others, we were also initially incensed at the onset, but are glad we allowed a more objective approach to develop. For sure, this issue has not been put to rest yet, so there is still some hesitance to write a clean bill of health for your business, but we now see that as something that should not occur in light of your positive indications via these emails. Please feel free to write us if you'd be open to hear what ideas George would like to offer for a better designed website that shouldn't be interpreted the way most of the folks who've added negative remarks about it feel.

Sincerely,

George and Val Orbin

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Your refund has been issued"
Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 8:32 AM
To: "Valerie Orbin"
Subject: Refund Confirmation

>
> Dear Valerie Orbin,
>
> This email is to confirm that a refund of $60.00 has been issued to you today. Depending on the billing cycle of your bank or credit card company, you should receive your refund within 5-7 business days.
>
> If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at anytime. Remember, we do only want happy customers and we always strive for 100% customer satisfaction.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pure Acai Berry Proâ"¢
> Advanced Wellness Research, Inc.
> Customer Care Team
> [protected]

Ok folks, here is the latest - and hopefully the next to last - installment in this ongoing affair with Advanced Wellness Research, Inc. This has been such a roller-coaster ride for us. Val and I have just checked our account with our bank and the hold on the funds they have placed on it was just reversed today. Yesterday it wasn't. Still, if you can tell by the date of the positive email from them, the turnaround was less than the 5-7 days they mentioned. Now, not knowing their exact procedure leaves me unsure of what might still be to come. Because I have allowed that our account may be hit for the agreed upon sum of $18.81, I do feel that there will be one more notation here. We will give it a week's run to tell. Either way, I will close out my issue with them and check off that I DISAGREE with the complaints here. Here me out. I'm not stating that I disagree with the multitudes of you folks who have had obvious misleadings and bad followup service. We have had the same, generally. I pointed these glaring errors on their part out to them. I will be disagreeing with the thought that this company is just a fraud and should not be in business. I believe, in reading their emails and in speaking to their reps, that they are being sincere. Their game plan, which is obvious, is to use either/or different websites or contractors to sell their wares. This is, unfortunately, perfectly normal. The reason it's unfortunate is the lack of control, up to a point. Even so, in a court or class action this may not protect them if it can be shown that they were negligent in setting up certain guidelines. The wife and I, who pride ourselves in being able to see the big picture, have certainly fallen into a situation we hadn't counted on. We are incensed - as I suspect many of you are - mostly at ourselves for allowing this to happen to us. But we have fallen on rough times financially because of spotty work, so it was vital to regain (mostly) what we've lost by going back to my negotiation skills. Thus far it seems to have paid off for us. Because I feel for those of you who feel desperate and don't know what to do next, I have a few pointers. First, and always first, make sure you do NOTHING unless you are calm enough continue. Type A people (driven, competative, hot-under-the-collar) will really have to chill before you proceed, huh? LOL. Next, do your ABC's. Keep track of dates, times, names, etc. that you have thus far. It is far better than saying "I spoke to (wrote to) SOMEONE a WHILE ago...blah, blah, blah. Learn to be objective, folks. Put yourself in their place when corresponding. If they truly haven't done anything wrong, would you, in their shoes, want some screaming, ranting lunatic on the other end of the line or email? Do you think they'd be happily willing to work with you? Make your argument in a straightforward and factual way and let them know you very well intend to followup after what they have to say in a manner that is firm but not threatening. Be able to compromise, if in fact there is a need to compromise. Case in point: We did recieve a bottle of their product. We have not used it (yet) but did not mail it back because of lack of a reliable mailback address and it's associated costs. Thus, we offered to pay the reasonable price of that bottle at $18.81, deduced by assumption by way of the monthly reworked figure the phone rep wanted us to continue the program on when we first contacted them. This allows them an 'out' by not having them lose money on the deal (once again, assuming they are actually honest about their business). Also, to be taken more seriously, try to ensure that your spelling and grammar are exceptable. Use a spell checker or have someone knowlegeble proofread or write/speak for you. Make sure that person points out to them he/she is speaking on your behalf and you make sure you're right there when it's happening so the phone person can verify with you. Again, note names and any other information. Ask about a definitive turnaround or next contact time and restate it to them. Finally, end on a positive but firm note. DON'T PAY LIP SERVICE! Don't say things you don't intend to do and once again don't get overly loud or wantonly threatening. You only hope to instill a sense of being misled, mutual respect, facts, urgency, and an outcome based on what the company ultimately decides to do about your dilemma. And one more thing that you need to do if this applies: ADMIT when you have judged wrong and make amends where you have done so. That is just common courtesy that we all would hope for if we'd been on the other side of the stick. Hopefully, those of you who are objective enough will have gleaned something of value to use in your dealings with them...or...should I say?...with another dispute (Geez, I hope NOT on that!...ONCE is enough, no?). Good luck and watch back for my, hopefully, positive close of this problem.

December 29th email to Wifey:
Hi Valerie,

Thank you for contacting Advanced Wellness Research - Customer Service.
Kindly accept our apologies for not replying any earlier than this, as we had to furnish a concrete resolution to your query. I see that a request to refund $60 is already processed, which shall reflect on your card in a short while. We do hope that this shall negate the misunderstanding and hassle that you had faced.
For any further assistance please call us at our Customer Service toll free number [protected].
We thank you for your understanding & cooperation.
Regards,
Philip Ray,
Advanced Wellness Research, Inc. – Customer Service

LOL...in my chiding remark about doing your homework when you write, I inadvertently spelled acceptable as exceptable - and in the very line to boot!..(yeh, I B Hu-Man, too...geesh!)

Wellll...a 'setback' that we're hoping is just a procedural move Still, the company should have told us whatthehell would be going down and we are more than a little peeved about it. If we'd have used that money immediately, we would have all kinds of hell with overdraft fees and penalties, what with Advanced taking out that $80 against a hold put upon our account. I've attached our quick response back to them so you folks can get an idea of what might befall yourselves if anyone is in the same boat. We're still of the belief that they will live up to their end of the bargain and redeposit the $60. This will be a rat's nest for them if somehow they managed to foul up the proceedings. We'll obviously keep you all posted.

Dear Phil:

Glad you got the last email. Unfortunately, George jumped the gun about seeing the hold removed, which gave the appearance of you folks depositing the funds back into our account. After checking the bank this morning, we have found out that your establishment did, unfortunately, withdrawal the full $80 from it. That must have happened sometime after we looked at it yesterday. As we mentioned, not knowing your exact procedure leaves us to believe that you will be depositing the agreed upon $60 back into that account in short order. Specifically, we will give it about one week as that is what you specified in your email of the 27th. We understand how commands can get crossed up when standard operating procedures have to be overridden and that is our only apprehension. Please just double check to make sure that those performing the refund have the total picture on this situation and that no further account debiting will take place afterward. We were quite surprised and dismayed over this and sure glad we hadn't used any part of those bank funds thus far as there would have been a terrible penalty against us for doing so. Perhaps, if there is a next time with someone else, you could inform those affected of the proper procedure to take place and avoid causing more problems for all involved. We hope this helps and will be keeping a cocked eye on everything just to be sure. We'll obviously let you know if something is not right. Let's pray it doesn't come to that.

Regards,

George and Valerie Orbin

From: Sales
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 1:19 PM
To: valsredroses@hotmail.com
Subject: RE:

Hi Valerie,

Thank you for contacting Advanced Wellness Research - Customer Service.

For any further assistance please call us at our Customer Service toll free number [protected].

Thank you and have a nice day!

Regards,

Philip Ray,

Advanced Wellness Research, Inc. – Customer Service

Here it is, folks, the final installment in our ongoing dispute with Advanced Wellness. Understand, we are not paid troubadours for some little scheme they concocted. We're just people such as yourselves that unfortunately did what just about anyone would have. Who would have thought to search extensively throughout that website for the fine print? It should have been right up in front for all to see. Hopefully with my encouragement for their designer and management teams to have a look-see at all the ### going on at this website (and in under many different headings), they'll take the initiative to better that selling site of theirs and/or reign in those that resell their products. Our hope is that you out there have learned something on how to approach them by reviewing our follies. It is embarrassing to post the emails, but that is the only way to be fair about the whole thing. Believe me, Val and I would haven't stood for anything less if they wouldn't have come through for us. The outcome was acceptable given the circumstances. And just in time too. Yesterday, our car's waterpump went...can you believe it? In closing, we'd have to say this is a reputable company - with a bad marketing concept. Sorry to those of you who see it differently. We wish you all well in your endeavors with them.

George

Dear Phil Ray, et al:

Please accept our final Thanx! in this ongoing matter. Having checked with our online bank yesterday, we noticed your establishment's quick turnaround for the redeposit. It is our belief that this should be the last of this. We will be going onto that forum website, www.bulletinboards.com, to give Advanced Wellness a good recommendation by checking off DISAGREE with the others' negative remarks. Hopefully, all of us concerned in this dispute have learned something we can use to only better our selling and buying of online products. We bid you a fine Good New Year and good selling!

Warm Regards,

George and Valerie Orbin

Rereading this after posting, I realize I gave the company the WRONG website address to this site...LOL...maybe more caffeine would help? I need to write them to correct that. ONE MORE THINGIE: Anyone want to buy an unopened bottle of AcaiBerryPro?...ROFL!

I was looking on the Flat Belly Diet site. Then I sawthe two free trial offers: Accai and Bromolite. How cool with the pictures of Oprah and Dr. Oz. Rachel Ray is on the page too. so I figure, what the heck? Try the stuff for $4.99 for shipping. What a mistake I made. I contacted Visa. they are holding my Card for 90 days in the hope of resolving the issue. they told me to send back the remains of the 2 bottles back. They said to get a tracking slip and a confirmation from the companies. Nightmare!

Hi girls,
I ordered mine on 1-27-09 and received it within 4 business days, i got right through to a live person when i wanted to cancel my order i spoke to a person who speaks great English and was very easy to understand. I wish all of you the best of luck with your orders! Try using this number... [protected] and it is option 1. again best of luck...sammy

What I would like to know is, how can a product be "trial" when you haven't received or even taken it? That's crazy! I ordered on Jan. 27th, but didn't get till a wk. later. Today, Feb. 11 I have tried to cancel anymore product when I saw the $78.81 was charged to my debit account. I called you immediately, Molly, who was very nice and asked her to cancel. She said the 14 days start the day you order and she couldn't take off my account. I took the advice of another displeased buyer and called my bank immediately. The disputes dept. is putting my money back in, issueing me a new debit card and turning the complaint over to the disputes management devision, who will be contacting me. I just can't believe I was so stupid to fall for this scam. Believe, I will NOT be ever doing this again! You are a very dangerous company to take advantage of people like you do. Yes, Oprah needs to know. I hope this note will help others. Daphne Carter

i had no problem canceling product just get and ask for cancallation confirmation number there number is [protected] PUSH NUMBER 2 and ask to cancel
your order francine

francine, glad to hear you had no trouble. well, just wait. they will still bill your account, look in a day or two. the $78.? will be there. i did the same and canceled with no problem and then the charg was there.

i feel stupid too. and sammy just wait for the charge. it will be there.

yes I was also charged the $78.81. I thought that this was a free trial. This is a ripoff. They should be charged with false advertising. Better watch your billing because I found another charge relating to the colon cleanser.

Just wanted you all to know that I have spent endless hours on hold with Advanced Wellness Research in Nampa, ID [protected]). After cancelling my order 6 days after ordering it and well within the 14 days free trial (and sending back the product certified mail), I was charged $87.02. I spoke with somebody in their customer service center (barely able to hear him or understand his very heavily accent) who assured me that they would refund my money back to my account (and they did) after me telling the customer service rep to stop talking over the top of me and to listen to my complaint. I found out that they also charged $8.21 to my account which they are unwilling to admit that they charged to me 0r what it was for. I guess I should be happy that I got the majority of my money back, but now it is the principal of the matter and I want them to 1) give me all my money back, and 2) apologize for the runaround (oh and don't bother asking to speak to a supervisor, they are *always* in meetings). So don't order anything from Advanced Wellness Research or TRYACAI.

Another person dumb enough to set something like this up over the internet! I did feel it was fairly safe however since endorsed by Oprah and other celebs. I ordered the free trial for 4.99 shipping only on 2/8. On 2/19 I called and actually got hold of a nice sounding lady although accent very strong and I hung up hoping things were taken care of. She said she had cxl my order and to keep the free trial as a thankyou and assured me there would be no charges. On 2/23 my bank acct was charged 78.81 for the order. I called and spoke to a couple people over the next few days from the company and asked repeatedly to speak to a supervisor. I finally was transferred to a "supervisor" and after a terse conversation he told me that my account would be fully reimbursed in the next couple days. I thought my concerns were over. On 2/28 I called the auto voice teller of my bank to get update on my acct. Low and behold I was reimbursed the 78.81 but then on 2/25 I had another 80.38 taken out by Acai Berry.! I immediately called and after long wait, was told it does not show up on their screen of another charge so nothing they can do! I now must change my acct # at the bank
but worse, My acct went into overdraft so have to pay an additional 75.00 for 2 overdrafts that was created because of their charging me incorrectly! I hope any of you who read this consider changing your acct or you may be billed several times and nothing you can do about it. I'm also mad at myself for trusting in this scam! I know better than to give my card number out on internet! lesson learned but at a cost of 155.00 and the bank hassles! Buyer beware!

This happened to me also. What a rip off! What is Oprah's address? Maybe she should be aware of what's been said about her show. Maybe that's not true either. I haven't seen it. I called yesterday and was told to call back today that I would get the refund but it was being processed yesterday and I would have to call back today. I got disconnected the first time after holding for 20 min. Then after another 4o minutes of holding someone told me that they was having technical difficulties and they couln't assist me. That I would have to talk to the customer representative that I talk to yesterday. I told them her name and ask for her extention. She kept repeating that they were having technical difficulties and she was sorry for any inconvience. She keep repeating this, every time I ask for help. Then she told me to have a nice day and hung up on me.