Menu
For Business Write a review File a complaint
CB Drug Store Review of viv3 and focus cleanse
viv3 and focus cleanse

viv3 and focus cleanse review: fraud 63

M
Author of the review
7:51 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

i have been scammed while buying acaci berry on free trial for a $1.00 but charged more and the funny thing is i was then charged by another company by the name of focus cleanse which i have never heard of $141.46 twice, never ordered these products and never received .viv3 and focus cleanse are working together and scamming people, you cannot contact them by internet, only for them to take your money and im in australia...n.ow im writing a letter and probably to no prevail ..cancellig my credit card has anyone got there cash back and how?

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

63 comments
Add a comment
R
R
1rascoal
US
Aug 12, 2009 8:48 am EDT

Yes be very careful with the online purchaces of the Acai Berry and colon cleanse. I also was hit with fees that I had not authorized. I clicked on my online banking account information and was able to get a phone number. I called that number was transferred around put on hold for extensive lengths of time, but finally was put through to someone who obviously was in India. They cancelled the order, and with the help of my BOA branch cancelled any future debits and got my money back.

K
K
Killer.Barbie
Calgary, CA
Aug 12, 2009 10:37 pm EDT

I was charged but never signed up. I phoned mastercard and disputed the charges and they are removing them

S
S
st65
GB
Aug 13, 2009 5:08 am EDT

I am in the Uk, and have also been scammed by Viv3 and Focus Cleanse. I think it is outrageous that they can just try to take money from you account without any authorisation. Luckily for me, my credit card does not have enough credit for them to take any money so I am just going to cancel the card, because I cannot get hold of anybody on any of the numbers that I have been given.

S
S
st65
GB
Aug 13, 2009 5:34 am EDT

I have just phoned Viv 3 to cancel my account as I was hit with unauthorised charges, the lady was very helpful and my account was cancelled immediately. I will keep an eye on my credit card statement, but I didn't have any problems with them.

F
F
FEELING VERY STUPID
IE
Aug 13, 2009 1:36 pm EDT

Help, I asked for a free trail of acai berry & focus cleanse . I have been billed six times, YES 6 TIMES. different amounts from 3.61 to 86.24 totaling 402.08. I am dealing with MBNA . I canceled my card & still getting charged.These companies go under different names, sister companies, from THERMOTHIN, VIV3, FOCUSCLEANSE, TO VITALITYCLEAN. I am hoping M.B.N.A, WILL HELP THIS LOYAL CUSTOMER

M
M
madtim67
GB
Aug 14, 2009 8:36 am EDT

anyone got a contact number that works

C
C
cailin_ni_giolla
IE
Aug 15, 2009 5:23 pm EDT

Hi i asked for the the same free trial of acai berry and focus clense and have got billed 58 dollers and 115 dollers. What i did was googled the number that came up on my credit card and i got this website http://www.premiumacaislim.com/contactus.php. You must cancel your order or they will keep charging you. I got to cancel my order by chatting on the Live 24/7 Customer Support but i still have to sort out the issue with my credit card company but i feel i wont be getting my money back any time soon, i hope this is of some help

K
K
Karin121966
Walkern, GB
Aug 17, 2009 9:02 am EDT

I have also just picked up on this scam. I am appauled that this can happen. However, lesson learnt in not reading the Terms & Conditions more closely!
I have cancelled my order now but I lot of money has been taken for nothing.
Remember, nothing is ever for free!

S
S
sharonanne
Birmingham, GB
Aug 18, 2009 3:24 am EDT

hi i just found out that two little bottles of which were free samples have cost me £167.00 without my authorisation was told had to cancel within 15 days bank gave me direct phone no which is [protected] not that it helped much but was able to cancel biggest scam i have ever known they should be ashamed sharon uk

C
C
csturzaker
Ashfield, AU
Aug 18, 2009 4:43 am EDT

I never signed up for any of these i got hit for $7.04 and a month later i got his $147, i am disputing these charges and they are looking into it and im australia, i have cancelled my card

J
J
JoVi
Holborn, GB
Aug 18, 2009 10:28 am EDT

Same has happend to me, I'm in England and have been charged $118 for something I never ordered! How disgusting! I have cancelled my debit card so they will not be able to take any money from me again! Scheming f**king b**tards!

M
M
Moosp
Canterbury, GB
Aug 18, 2009 3:26 pm EDT

I am in the UK and the same ting happened to me. Fortunately my card provided spotted this, alerted me and and stopped the payments. These con artists are a British company, located in Portugal on +[protected]. I called them and told them I was reporting them to Interpol along with hundreds of others. It seemed to rattle them a bit.

They are basically pulling this trick on every customer purchasing their trial offer. It is our duty to inform any website advertising their products that they are con artists.

K
K
kelly.r
GB
Aug 19, 2009 7:29 am EDT

same happened to me i ordered the trail and then they took 2 more lots of money out of my account i only relised as i was saving for my daughters 1st birthday present and as a single parent it comes keen so when i went to collect the money from my account and the money had gone i was discussed to find that it was this company doing it which is totally wrong that they can be aloud to do this and get away with it. has anyone got there money back and how could i do this and how long did it take to get it back? kelly from uk ?

K
K
kylie-keeran
Brisbane, AU
Aug 19, 2009 6:39 pm EDT

hi there i am from australia and the same things has happened to me..
ordered a free trial was to believe all free and now i have been hit with 2 amounts of $144.40 from my credit card..and i have no idea who to contact o r anything

K
K
KK Groove
Elwood, AU
Aug 20, 2009 4:26 am EDT

I too got sucked in by this. After I discovered the payments taken from my credit card without my authorisation, I did some research. Googling viv3 instantly came up with pages of complaints. I also discovered there are many different websites all over the world that are linked to this company. Some do say it is a 15 day free trial but nowhere in the main text of the add does it say anything about paying this ridiculous amount of money if you don't cancel within the 15 days. it doesn't even say 'conditions apply'. I ordered through an Australian website and they didn't even mention 15 day trial..it was just a free trial on a 30 day supply. What's the point of a 30 day supply on a 15 day trial?
Anyway, I managed to cancel by ringing UK on+[protected]. I made sure there would be no more sent to me and no other payments taken from my only to discover when i checked my statement a few days later another payment had already been taken out.
So I closed the card and asked the bank to reverse the charges. They have sent me a letter saying they have but the company can still dispute that. I also rang the UK again to ask for a refund on the product I was going to return to them. That didn't seem to be a problem and I'm waiting for their email with the address as to where to return it.
All is pending now, so we'll see what happens.

Kaye

L
L
LUIS CALVO
ES
Aug 22, 2009 11:20 am EDT

I'm from Spain and i bought by internet a acai berry and life cleanse trial, for 3, 95 € each. I received the products ok. But today august 28th, i received two notices for two charges of 119 u$d in my account. I have cancelled this credit card. It's very incredible. (sorry for my english). Now i will go to the police.

Luis.

K
K
kaes0615
Kitchener, CA
Aug 22, 2009 2:26 pm EDT

I got scammed too. They said no freight charges and the item is free and such. I paid $50 CND in tax now its charging me $135 on my credit card (twice as of today). What can I do? I'm in Canada. I can't cancel my credit card only because I have a lot of auto payments attached and it will be a hassle.

A
A
AVR
Bradford, GB
Aug 23, 2009 9:57 am EDT

I experienced the same as most of the above - I agreed to a 'free trial ' paid for the postage, received two bottles and approximately one week later had £73.81 taken from an account by means of a Visa card I had only used as a 'one off' because my main Maestro card was not accepted by this 'pharmaceutical company' for some reason ( I'm now very glad about! ) This unauthorised withdrawal resulted in my being charged £75 in bank charges - £15 per day, which frighteningly would have continued increasing and would have over-looked completely had the bank not contacted me re my 'unplanned overdraft'.
My bank manager said they are unable to refund the charges until the fraud team have dealt with the matter. I had spoken to the 'disputes' and the 'fraud' people who gave me four numbers to try. Will submit the results after spending yet more hours on the phone
AR Bradford UK

L
L
Lindawh
ayrshire, GB
Aug 23, 2009 2:15 pm EDT

Go to the police and trading standards and continually email vivlabs demanding your money back, I did and got all my money back.

F
F
fran-72
Yeovil, GB
Aug 23, 2009 2:57 pm EDT

I have also been scammed by these people, I had the free trial then found out they have taken £73.20 x 4. I googled viv3 and came across this website, i immediatley contacted my bank to inform them it was a scam and that I wanted to cancel my card but was told they had had other complaints from customers but had looked into it and that I should of "ticked the box" to say I didn't want to continue any longer. I have e-mailed viv3 to get my money back but to no avail, I don't know what to do now as my bank will not help.

T
T
Tracey 68
Mackay, AU
Aug 23, 2009 10:09 pm EDT

I have also experienced the same as most of the above - recieved the free trial from Viv3 & then been charged $143.99AU by Focuscleanse. I have lodged a complaint with my bank & they declined it but have provided me with a method of continuing my dispute. I am continuing but am not hopeful of receiving a refund. Having read all these comments I will be contacting my bank with regard to stopping all further payments.

Tracey Australia

H
H
helene browne
Rotherham, GB
Aug 24, 2009 8:12 am EDT

Similar has happened to me; free products and only postal costs applied. They have now withdrawn £72.72 from our bank a/c.

Luckily, this morning I found the invoice...which does not bear the name FOCUSCLEANSE, the company that has robbed us of £72.72.
On the invoice is a UK Toll-free number ...[protected]. I have rung this number which got me through to a french lady who hummed and hahhed about me not replying in 30 days and therefore I was on some kind of subscription. I read out what is down on my receipt i.e. no mention of 30 days or subscription.

The upshot is that she has given me a customer service number and will send me an email in a weeks time to let me know the money has been returned to my a/c.

K
K
kim armour
Sunderland, GB
Aug 24, 2009 9:24 am EDT

i am currently disputing this also i paid for the shipping for the two bottles 18 days into it my credit card has been debited 73.91 twice and the credit card company think i might have a chance to get the money back but im not to hold my breath how terrible is this company that they can do this when people turn to tablets to try and loose weight and you get scammed.

L
L
Les Barrett
GB
Aug 24, 2009 2:47 pm EDT

Yes I'm a poor sucker as well. I spoke to Barclaycard the first time I noticed the postage was charged for in US DOLLARS CYPRUS and told them that I had no idea who this company was. I was refunded straight away by Barclaycard, but was hit by another bill from Focuscleanse. for £73.64... To add insult to injury BC tried to sell me credit card protection...By the way there was no box to tick to agree to Terms and Conditions.

S
S
sap1123
Sydney, AU
Aug 25, 2009 12:12 am EDT

I have four children under the age of 9 and going through a divorce i thought i try this life cleanse to help me feel better abt life, only to be scammed and out of pocket with children to feed. People need to understand that there are bad ramifications to these kind of scams.

L
L
liz barnes
Stevenage, GB
Aug 25, 2009 3:55 am EDT

I have had the same problem my account has been charged twice £30.76p.

I did order a free trial but i never agreed to any subcription. My bank said they would cancel my card, but that still doesn't get my money back. If anyone has the number for these companies please let me know i have been given numbers that transfer to someones home.

S
S
SAN7
AU
Aug 25, 2009 8:35 am EDT

RING YOUR BANK AND CANCEL YOUR CARD! I have just had the same problem... I just called my bank to cancel my card, the lady was really nice and I ended up talking to her about it. She said that 25% of her calls each night are about the same thing... same company. I asked her what the success rate of getting the refund was like and she said because it's relatively recent (all in about the last two weeks or so - which you can tell by the dates of all these complaints) they haven't had many refunds YET. But she said that they were pretty confident that people should be getting their money back. Also check out the advice by this helpful person:
Viv3Labs Acai Berry Detox — How to Get Your Money Back and Legitimate Contact Info

The terms and conditions state that you can get a full refund within 30 days of placing the order. So there's another avenue for you to get the money back if you are still within the 30 days.

Good Luck everyone - DON'T LET THEM WIN!

L
L
looser
Ringwood, GB
Aug 26, 2009 7:36 am EDT

yet another sucker here in the uk. bank cant or wont do anything. they gave me some phone numbers but they are unobtainable. i will have to cancel my credit card or they will keep on charging. i will go to watch dog and whoever else i can think of to get my money back

T
T
thecrapdontevenwork
Ormeau, AU
Aug 26, 2009 7:42 pm EDT

Hi I am from Australia and the cheeky ### took $141 & $146 out of my credit card without my consent. I emailed the scamming ### and told them to cancel my order and refund my money.

M
M
M-K
ES
Aug 27, 2009 4:52 am EDT

I LIVE IN CANARY ISLAND SPAIN I HAVE ASKED FOR THESE PRODUCTS THAT OFFERED ME FOR ONLY 3, 95€ ALREADY THEY HAVE TAKEN ME MORE GIVE 240 € GIVE MY ACCOUNT, I HAVE GIVEN FROM FALL TO MY CARD AND CHARGES CONTINUE HAPPENING TO ME, ALREADY I HAVE DONE THE DENUNCIATION TO THE POLICE AND TO THE JUDGE OF MY COUNTRY, THIS IS A FRAUD IN INTERNET, I HOPE THAT THEY COULD RETURN MY MONEY TO ME, And THAT STOP THE PERSONS IN CHARGE, THIEVES!

H
H
H.V England
Selsey, GB
Aug 27, 2009 8:29 am EDT

I also experienced the same as most of the above. I agreed to a `free trial`paid for the postage recieved two plastic pots and 17 days later had an unauthorised withdrawl of £74.10X2 taken from my bank account by a company called Focuscleanse.Spoke to them, there comments where, It was up to me to cancel the contract? what contract, it was a free market they could charge what they liked for there products.Telephone number [protected].Then spoke to VIV3LABSto find out if they knew what was going on, they did.Telephone number [protected].I shall now pass all this on to the fraud department of my bank and email VIV3LABS until I get my money back.H.V England

S
S
southgirl
PY
Aug 27, 2009 1:13 pm EDT

On Monday 24/08 I cancelled the order, i made it on 21, the date in the invoice was 22..I called +44 [protected], the person there gave me 3 cancelation codes (8 digit numbers), one for each product. I checked mi VISA on line info and found the debits for shipping..
there is one descriptor for each product, they are:

NATUREBERRY - FOR ACAY BERRY
FOCUSCLEANSE AND VITALITYCLEAN FOR LIFE CLEANSE AND RESVMAX (I guess). In the agreement says that any CC charge is going to refer to Trading Planet Ltd. wich is not true as you can notice.

Today we went to the bank (my husbad is the card owner...) Cancel the credit card to avoid future charges, they said that with this it will be 99% chance to stop the debits..they said that some of these internet sellers make sure to acces your new card trhough the credit card brand with some insurance policy...i hope our scammers can not...

Since these people refuse to provide any written proof of cancelation the bank made copies of the invoices, terms and asked me for the cancelation numbers. I hope this works.

By thee way ..I lost 4 pounds in 3 days because of the worries and stress... sorry for my english...wish luck to all of us...

L
L
Lisa Cotton
Leeds, GB
Aug 29, 2009 9:49 am EDT

They did right by me. I ordered it and had a friend order, too, because it was a good deal and I liked what I got. Both of us had good experiences and called to cancel and were treated professionally. This is the number I called +[protected] but I also found this one which was a free number [protected]. Lots of grousers on this site...or maybe some of you guys are their competitors? Who knows. Anyway, I can only speak from my experience which was positive.
Lisa Cotton

S
S
Shebe
Sandy, GB
Aug 29, 2009 4:43 pm EDT

Hi i to was scammed... It said FREE trial, did'nt read the conditions as ai should [my fault] as a Dyslexic i just did'nt ! lesson learnt
They had the £3.95 then started charging me £160 ! phoned them got an Australian lady who was sooooo rude so i have cancelled my credit card ..i can't believe they can just start taking money like that there must be a way of stopping them trading [Sheba]

S
S
SophiaG
DE
Aug 30, 2009 2:24 pm EDT

Same happened to me, I'm in Germany. I called Barclaycard today, only aware of about 160€ they charged me. The nice lady on the phone told me that there's another ~70€ charge as of Friday. Then, I cancelled my credit card and I faxed the fraud department. And the lady also forwarded this to the fraud department (in addition to my fax).
I also tried emailing them, only to get the answer back that they don't offer email support. Also, I've tried calling them, but for me, the international number did not work. It said the number is not available...
So, the lady on the phone said that the Barclaycard fraud department is going to call me later this week, after checking my case. I hope I'll get my money back... as a student I don't have much :(
I think it's also very suspicious that you order at viv3labs or something but the charges are from focuscleanse...

K
K
kathy liverpool england
GB
Sep 01, 2009 7:47 am EDT

the same thing happened to me... ordered a "free trial", which came no problem, but then two invoices and two further bottles of pills turned up, costing £80 each, which had already gone from our account. Phoned the 0808 uk number on the invoice to cancel, which was supposedly done, but was told that no written confirmation would be sent, only a reference number! cancelled the card so they can't take any more money, (already £160 out of pocket) and the company, (whatever they are calling themselves now) told me there would be no more money taken, but could not tell me whether I would be reimbursed for the goods already paid for, even if they were returned unopened! sending them back anyway recorded delivery, and hoping for the best! wait and see whilst contacting bbc watchdog, trading standards and the police. my advice to anyone considering using any of these sites is DONT DO IT THEY ARE PROFFESSIONAL CON ARTISTS STEALING MONEY FROM INNOCENT UNSUSPECTING PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD!

S
S
SophiaG
DE
Sep 01, 2009 8:03 am EDT

I've finally got a hold of them, very suspicious: The only times I've got answers was when I mailed to chris@phytoscience.co.uk . Phytoscience is their shipping company - he forwarded my complaint and suddenly I go a response that they were going to refund me 118.63USD (which is 1/4 of what they have charged me). Today I emailed again (one of the mails was sent to Chris@Phytoscience again) telling them I wanted the whole money back - with the answer that " Your account will be refunded for the charge of the product for the amount of 355.89Usd since these are charges indicated in our database. Please note that this might take up to 5 business days ". Well, I hope it'll work, alread faxed my credit card company those emails, but also telling them to stop giving those pigs the opportunity to rip off people like that.

N
N
nikkym
stalybridge, GB
Sep 01, 2009 10:25 am EDT

i have also been scammed and have paid 4 lots of 75.35 i have rang them and cancelled the so called agreement! and i have been told that i will be reimbursed. but as to when that will be is anyones guess. if i had the money to swander away and if the thing actually worked i wouldnt mind so much, but as single parent with lots of debts to pay, this has seriously left me in alot of trouble with my bills and rent! i now have to cancel my card and open a new account. ithe bank is looking into it and i am also contacting trading standards to try and recoup my losses. i think that in this day and age its totally disgusting that we have to go to these lenghts to get our money back. i will keep you posted as to how long it all takes. nikky

C
C
chinu
Scarborough (Toronto), CA
Sep 01, 2009 12:29 pm EDT

hi everyone,

they are cheaters, i have request that please dont buy anything from this company.

they charge me $150 for just 60 tablets, they are nothing more than a fraud company.

S
S
shashi vadana
IN
Sep 01, 2009 1:29 pm EDT

have placed this order for Acai Berry and Life Cleanse on August 5, 2009 and was charged twice for the product. I got the product by courier in a week's time. I have been repeatedly calling the toll-free number but there is no response for that number.
The website is www.acaiberryexclusive.com. There is a fine print in the terms and conditions which says that we will be charged repeatedly unless we call them and cancel the order. If we repeatedly email them or use bad language they will not refund the money. Is there some law that can stop this fraud?