7 day free trial!

Discussion in 'Business & Economics' started by NMSquirrel, Mar 23, 2014.

  1. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    no this isn't spam or an ad.

    this is a complaint.

    recently I had filled out an online survey, and at the end was four 'prizes' for filling out the survey, there wasn't much I wanted, so I asked my daughter if she wanted any of them, she picked the anti wrinkle cream (she is 27, she doesn't need anti wrinkle cream) anyway I filled out the appropriate forms and clicked submit. 14 days later a 87.85 charge appeared in my account. (knew I had to pay 4.95 shipping and handling) now I write(e-mailed) the company (bellalabs) and they say they do not accept any products back that has been shipped or delivered, and that they cannot refund my 87.85 because I had agree'd to subscribe to their 30 day supply subscription, they canceled the subscription but refused to take back their product (which remains unopened).

    now granted this is 14 day free trial, not 7 day free trial..

    the 7 day free trial was from a credit monitoring company, to which they charged my account 29.95, I called and complained and they refunded my money and canceled my account. end of that story..

    I am on disability and am on limited income, I get paid once a month. when the 29.95 went through it left me with 6 dollars in the bank, so day after they put back the 29.95 bellalabs takes out 87.85 which puts me in overdraft, the bank charges 5 a day for accounts in overdraft (which I think is wrong and just stupid, they can see I don't have money, why punish me for it?)

    in my searches to resolve this problem I found this:

    ----------
    1791.1. As used in this chapter:
    (a) "Implied warranty of merchantability" or "implied warranty
    that goods are merchantable" means that the consumer goods meet each
    of the following:
    (1) Pass without objection in the trade under the contract
    description.
    (2) Are fit for the ordinary purposes for which such goods are
    used.
    (3) Are adequately contained, packaged, and labeled.
    (4) Conform to the promises or affirmations of fact made on the
    container or label.
    (b) "Implied warranty of fitness" means (1) that when the
    retailer, distributor, or manufacturer has reason to know any
    particular purpose for which the consumer goods are required, and
    further, that the buyer is relying on the skill and judgment of the
    seller to select and furnish suitable goods, then there is an implied
    warranty that the goods shall be fit for such purpose and (2) that
    when there is a sale of an assistive device sold at retail in this
    state, then there is an implied warranty by the retailer that the
    device is specifically fit for the particular needs of the buyer.
    (c) The duration of the implied warranty of merchantability and
    where present the implied warranty of fitness shall be coextensive in
    duration with an express warranty which accompanies the consumer
    goods, provided the duration of the express warranty is reasonable;

    but in no event shall such implied warranty have a duration of less
    than 60 days nor more than one year following the sale of new
    consumer goods to a retail buyer.


    Where no duration for an express warranty is stated with respect to consumer goods, or parts thereof,
    the duration of the implied warranty shall be the maximum period
    prescribed above.
    (d) Any buyer of consumer goods injured by a breach of the implied
    warranty of merchantability and where applicable by a breach of the
    implied warranty of fitness has the remedies provided in Chapter 6
    (commencing with Section 2601) and Chapter 7 (commencing with Section
    2701) of Division 2 of the Commercial Code, and, in any action
    brought under such provisions, Section 1794 of this chapter shall
    apply.
    -------------

    I think it says that the 7 or 14 day free trial is illegal that customers have 30 days to return a product, and that a company cannot refuse a returned product.
    this particular quote came from California code to which bellalabs is located.
    (I also sent in a complaint to the BBB)

    I am not a lawyer, is this what it says?
    if not, is there any laws/cases or precedents that specifically addresses my situation?
     
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  3. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    also there is something wrong with the terms of the 'free trial'

    bella says:
    -----
    At this time, you have been charged the full retail price of $87.63 for that initial 30-day product supply after your 14-day trial period expired. The 14 days are from the original order date as we explain in the terms and conditions you agreed to when you originally placed the order. We have never offered a 100% money back guarantee. We have cancelled the account from all further billing and shipping as of today's date. If you have any other questions, feel free to reply to this e-mail or call customer service during our regular business hours. To verify, here are the terms and conditions on our website you agreed to:


    TERMS AND CONDITIONS:


    You must pay a shipping and handling fee of $4.95 for us to send you a full 30 day supply of Bellalabs. We ship the product the day after you place your order (except that orders placed Saturday-Sunday will be shipped the following Monday). You will have 14 days from your original order date to see if Bellalabs is right for you. If you are unhappy with the product at any time during those 14 days, you must call us at 1-877-767-9942 and cancel your order to avoid being billed for the full cost of the product. If you are satisfied with our product, then do nothing we will bill you $87.63 for your initial order, and every thirty days thereafter we will send you a new 30-day supply of our product, and automatically bill you the low price of $87.63. To cancel automatic delivery and billing, call us at 1-877-767-9942 or email us during normal business hours: Mon - Fri, 8am - 4pm Pacific Time. Please read our terms and conditions for more details.
    ---

    so regardless of anything
    they charge 87.63 a month
    how is that a 'free trial'?
     
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  5. leopold Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    17,455
    well gee, i thought everyone knew there isn't any such thing as a "free trial".
    that's what these organizations depend on, that you would be unwilling to read the entire terms and conditions.

    the local internet (comcast) ran similar things such as a ridiculously low rates but the terms and conditions stated that you had to agree to a 2 year plan at the full price.

    the old adage is true, "there is no such thing as a free lunch".
     
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  7. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    anyone wanna buy a bottle of wrinkle cream for 63 bucks? (my overdraft)
    its worth 87.63..
     
  8. Sorcerer Put a Spell on you Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    856
    I have to say that would never sign up to anything like that, especially online. It's usually going to be a scam.
     
  9. CHRIS.Q Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    147
    What is this, I thought it was advertising
     
  10. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,738
    Make sure that your bank does not let them take any more money from your account.

    I think that you have a reasonable chance of recovering your money.
    You have a US equivalent of the British small claims court.
    http://www.usa.gov/topics/consumer/complaint/legal/small-claims-court.shtml

    (This looks right, but double check that it's the right site.)

    When you start your case, they may just give up.
    If the court finds in your favour, and the company doesn't pay up
    you can go back and they will enforce it.

    That's if you like a fight.
    If the matter is stressing you out,
    you might be better off putting it down to experience.
     
  11. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    I have been searching the internet for options, I have even searched for 'lawsuits against bellalabs' found several sites dedicated to complaints against them, but as of yet, no lawsuits against them that I am aware of.
    I did sign up at one site to begin a lawsuit, but it is dependent on where they would get their money, if it becomes a class action lawsuit I would think the lawyers would get their money from the company not from us..but then again I do not know.

    personally I think it should be illegal to have anything less than 30 days to return a product, and it doesn't make sense to me for a company to NOT care about customer satisfaction.

    but yes..i think its gonna boil down to live and learn.
     
  12. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    so you are saying it is ok for companies to do this?
     
  13. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    on 3/11 they charged me the 4.95 shipping
    on 3/22 they charged me the 87..
    this is 11 days..not 14

    I called and they tried to say it was from the date of ordering which they claim was on 3/7
    but!
    according to their own terms and conditions they ship the product out the day after the order was placed.(see above)
    so this means they did NOT ship the product the day after I ordered they shipped it on 3/11 so according to their terms, they are in breach of contract.
    I will be seeking a laywer.

    I did communicate this to them and they offered a 25% refund, to which I told them send me the 25% and you will be hearing from a lawyer for the rest.
    (they try'd to tell me if I sent a laywer they wouldn't give me the 25%..)

    anyone know any good laywers?
    I wanna see about making it a class action lawsuit as others are in the same predicament as I (I know I have seen the complaints online)
     
  14. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    Bellalabs terms and conditions in its entirety

    I just got to thinking..

    if I could find a breach according to their own rules..

    how much more so can some ppl here at sciforums, who seem to be great at finding flaws in the way something is phrased..

    any one up to the challenge of reading through all their terms and conditions to find loopholes and contradictions?

    um,isnt that illegal? or dependent on when a claim is filed?

    wait.. I paid 87.63..plus 4.95 shipping.. 87.63 + 4.95 = 92.58.. ?
    this is where I start to get confused..

    see, all orders are shipped the day after, not four days later.

    wait..wtf???

    oh..i was reading the terms and conditions from the main page of bellalabs.com
    I clicked the link on that page for "14 day trial"
    the only terms and conditions on that page :

    it doesn't mention holidays...

    oh and forgive me guys, I am gonna post the whole terms and conditions here, as I just realized the implications of my first comment.
     
  15. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    Terms and Conditions

    CAREFULLY READ AND AGREE TO PURCHASE TERMS BELOW BEFORE ORDERING:

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    Customer Service Hours of Operation:
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    Phone: 1-877-767-9942
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  16. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    how much of that am I too stupid to realize its illegal?
     
  17. Gremmie "Happiness is a warm gun" Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,593
    Umm... None of it's illegal. Immoral, unethical, just plain shitty? For sure. But, sadly, all legal. If you can still get that 25%, just take it, and see it as a lesson learned... Just my 2 cents.
    .
     
  18. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    22,910
    I agree. Unfortunately, these schemes are a dime a dozen. I suggest people remember those old adages, "there is no such thing as a free lunch" and "there is a sucker born every minute" when one sees these schemes. These schemes are unfortunately all too common place. Companies often like to bait you into a sale with the offer of a free or cheap goodie. In this case the goodie wasn't so cheap.

    Paying to submit your opinions via a survey is like paying to receive a prize in my book. It just doesn't make sense. The company should be paying you for your opinions, not the other way around. In this case you paid to submit your opinions via a survey by agreeing to purchase goods with automatic billing and payment. The survey and prize were baits to get you into a sale.

    As I see it NMSquirrel, you have a few options. First, you can file a complaint with the consumer section of your state's attorney general's office. Two, you can file a complaint with The Better Business Bureau and post your experiences on line as you have done in Sciforums. Additionally, you could sue alleging this to be an unconscionable contract law under article 2 section 302 of the Uniform Commercial Code. However a law suit would cost you thousands of dollars and there is a strong possibility you could lose. And even if you won, you would have to collect, which would likely cost you even more money. And in the end, you could wind up with all the bills and nothing to show for it. And I don't think it likely you are going to find a private attorney who would be willing to take this on a pro bono basis. It is up to the court to determine what is and is not unconscionable. So your best option is to report them to your state’s attorney general and The Better Business Bureau and be a little wiser the next time you run across something like this. Hopefully your coming out with your experience will help others if not yourself. Your state attorney general’s office is in the best position to help you. They have the resources and expertise to handle these situations. You may also want to report this to the Federal Trade Commission. They have a section which addresses consumer complaints. http://www.ftc.gov/

    http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/2-302

    If it helps, know that you are not alone.

    http://www.pissedconsumer.com/reviews-by-company/bellalabs.html

    http://www.bbb.org/san-diego/business-reviews/skin-care/bellalabs-in-del-mar-ca-172002497/

    http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Sheri...BELLA-LABS-SCAM-ON-THE-ELDERLY-Sparks-1002823

    But you need to be a good consumer too. And you need to read the disclosures as painful and as onerous as that might be. Automatic billing and payment is commonplace both in the consumer and commercial market places. But you really need to be cautious when you sign up for them. You need to understand what you are signing up for before you sign up.

    And the banks are not trying to punish you. They are just trying to make a quick buck. I suggest you try to keep a little extra in your bank account - a just in case balance for times like this.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2014
  19. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    Joe thank you for your constructive post, it was very helpful.

    1. Umm... None of it's illegal.

    I don't think you read it gremmie, too quick to say none of it is illegal.
    if there was a section saying they would come to my house and take my stuff if I didn't pay would that be legal?
    what if it said they would take my first born?
    yes I know these two example wouldn't be in a normal contract but the statement of 'none of it is illegal' says that just because it is written in a contract makes it legal, to me this isn't right, I think of old school lone sharks.. "if customer does not pay within 7 days then we have the right to come to your house and break your legs.." would this be legal in a contract?
    of course not, just because its in a contract doesn't make it legal.

    now for further news, this I just got from the BBB that I had reported them to.:


    MESSAGE FROM BUSINESS:


    At Bellalabs every customer is given the right to try their first 30 day supply without charge for the first 14 days. After the 14 day trial period, if the customer is unsatisfied with their product, they are to return the remainder postmarked for return within their 14 day trial period and also contact customer service to notify a request for cancellation. If the customer keeps their 30 day supply after the 14 days, they are automatically billed for their product on the 15th day and then automatically shipped and billed a product every 30 days thereafter. The customer has the ability to cancel at anytime by calling customer service or emailing support@bellalabs.com. If a customer needs to contact customer service, the phone number is listed on www.bellalabs.com, the product, the pamphlet, and the package the product is shipped in. The terms are disclosed clearly on www.bellalabs.com where the customer would have ordered their product. The customer has to also click "I agree to the terms and conditions" twice before the order is processed. If the customer does not "agree" to the terms, the order will not process. The terms and conditions are disclosed directly on the ordering website not only on the bottom of the first page, but also highlighted in a large white box on the second page where the customer inputs their card information as well as sent out with the product. The consumer placed the order on 03/7/14. This is when they paid the initial $4.95 and this began the 14 day trial period to sample from the initial 30 day supply. Since there was no notification of a request for cancellation and/or a returned product during the allotted trial period, the consumer was automatically billed for the 30 day supply on 03/22/14 as explained in the terms and conditions for which they agreed to. The consumer contacted our company on 03/23/14 with a request for cancellation and the call was disconnected after this confirmation. The account was canceled immediately as instructed and they were sent a confirmation email confirming the cancellation. The consumer called back to customer service on 03/24/14 and based on the nature of the call, the customer service agent issued a partial refund of $21.91. The consumer would have received an e-mail confirmation of the cancellation and refund. The refund will take three to seven business days to credit back.


    As we are fully invested in customer service, and due to the customers dissatisfaction, we have refunded the remaining charge of $65.72 back onto the customer's account. He will receive an e-mail confirmation regarding this refund.

    YES!!!
    I got the 21 dollar notice, hopefully the other will be here soon.
    (still aint in bank, but it takes a couple days for that..)

    moral of the story..
    learn how to be a bitch, it gets things done..
    (learned that from my ex,)
     
  20. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    13,938
    Sad, but true Squirrel... I often try to reason with a company first, only to find that, in the end, I have to resort to being an utter asshole to get things done. It leaves me feeling... dare I say, dirty...? but in the end it gets the job done. The few companies that actually listen to reason though, often end up with me as a customer for life (key example, OCZ Memory - they not only honored a warranty period after it expired on a solid state hard drive that failed prematurely, but when they realized they didn't have any in the US to send me, they overnighted me one from Taiwan... literally, it was on my doorstep in under 36 hours! Crazy! And that was the SECOND time they were replacing it! That's customer service baby!)
     
  21. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,478
    easier said than done..
    I have always had difficulty keeping a buffer in the bank, now that I am on limited income, its even harder.

    could you live on 800 a month?
     
  22. Gremmie "Happiness is a warm gun" Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,593
    Would be hard for me to live on 800 a week... Homes are high priced here in So. Cal. You couldn't even rent a studio apartment for 800 a month... Don't know how you make it.

    And, you're right, I didn't read the entire thing... My attention span isn't what it used to be. Glad you're getting all your money back. Being on a fixed income is defineatly not easy, I'm on one now... But, I've been lucky enough to have built a little nest egg... So, I'll be OK in that respect. I'm in no way trying to belittle or disrespect you here, but, I hope you take something from this incident... Always read the fine print, and as many have said, no such thing as a free lunch... Companies are always looking to make a buck. You spoke up, and it worked out. So many don't, and that's how these scammers make their money.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2014
  23. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,738

    "Live and learn"
    Not necessarily. I was only suggesting that option if you felt that it would cause you stress.
    It isn't worth it for $80 to upset yourself.
    A good mindset would be to mentally write the money off, but endeavour to cause them as much difficulty as possible.
    That way, if you get the money back it's a bonus.

    I wasn't suggesting that you use lawyers, but that you use online methods to process your own case.
    You can do this in the UK and the USA for a small fee.
    From what I've heard, the adversary will often fold early.

    If the word "free" was used the item should be free.
    It is a dispute over the item's cost price.
    You have been overcharged.
    They are con artists.

    Try googling "small claims court" and the name of your country or state.

    You could start by emailing them and threatening them with the small claims court unless they refund your money.

    Added later.
    Sorry, I didn't read everything on the thread.
    Are they refunding your money now?
     

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