CONSUMER ALERT A scam....Acaipure

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Patricia Kotnour

Patricia Kotnour

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I'm not sure if this is where this should be, but I just wanted to alert anyone on the G to this scam. Most of you have probably seen the online ads for Acaipure free samples. They tell you that you will get a free sample of this product for the cost of shipping. There is nothing in the ad that says that you will be charged more once you recieve your product, or that you will be shipped more product each month.

Since Oprah had been pushing this product on her show, I thought I would try it. Shipping was only $4.95 so it sounded like a good deal. Wrong!
Within two weeks I recieved another bottle of this stuff and a bill for $44.85. Little did I know that the company had also charged my credit card an additional $39.95 for the first product, within a week of receiving the "free" sample.

If anyone out there has had this happen...this is what I did. I called my credit card company and told them that I had not authorized these charges and that I wanted them taken off my bill and would be returning the second bottle....that the first was to be only be $4.95 for shipping....which was also on my bill. The contact number Acaipure had on their bill was constanly busy so I couldn't even tell them to stop any further shipments.

After informing the CC company of the situation, they told me that they couldn't reverse the charges until the second bottle was in the mail back to the company. They took my word for the fact that I had returned the second bottle and reversed all charges except the original $4.95. They then cancelled this credit card and gave me a new number so that Acaipure couldn't charge more to my account.

Acaipure then came back with a claim to the credit card company insisting that I pay the $39.95 + $4.95 for the shipping of the second unathorized bottle. The CC Co. then sent me a questionare and ask for my reasons why I shouldn't have to pay these charges.

Looking into the company's history I Googled Acaipure and found several web sites with thousands of postings from people who had been taken in by this scam like me. So.....I copied 15 pages of these posts and faxed them back to the credit card compay along with my questionare and my reasons why. I haven't heard a word from either the CC company or Acaipure since. That was back in Nov. of 2008.

Big lesson here. Nothing is free! When you buy on line, know who you are buying from and watch your credit card bills closely. Scam artists are good and even Oprah can be taken in by one.

Note: It was on the news this morning that the state attorney general is trying to shut this company down. Let's hope they are successful.
 
Looking at their website, you're ripped off no matter what you do. When I googled it the page was full of warnings about exactly the situation you're having. "Detoxifying" your body is just the latest round of medical woo making the rounds.

Typical rubbish website: big but vague claims, no support other than endorsements, no mention of real studies done, etc. The most annoying aspect was trying to navigate away from the page I got numerous popups with a "sales rep" wanting to chat. I told it to f off.

I feel dirty. I'm going to clear my cache and cookies.

Oprah should be ashamed. She's becoming another Montel Williams.
 
Pat Kotnour said:
...Since Oprah had been pushing this product on her show, I thought I would try it...
Click to expand...


That should have been your first warning.

I would never take medical advise from a celebrity talk show host.

For over the counter medical advice, try 'The Peoples Pharmacy' on NPR.
 
Oh my goodness Pat, I looked at that site and apparently they are using Oprah and Rachael Ray names to sell their stuff. When I tried to leave the site 4 more boxes opened up to try and get me to make the purchase. I had one of those "gut feelings" and passed on it. Sorry you got sucked in. It was a very convincing bunch of testimonials and health benefit information, but Like I said, intuition said not to do it.

Lori
 
does Oprah have any idea she is being used this way..anyone know how to e-mail her and send copies of the bogus site to her?/
 
Thanks for the warning Pat. The more people know, the better.

It is very misleading, especially when things are promoted by celebrities. I guess Oprah didn't know either (it happens to the best of us).
 
I was one of the lucky ones. The credit card company reversed all but my shipping charges for the "free" sample. The thing that saved me is that I called immidately, as soon as the second bottle showed up, and had the credit card company stop payment on the charge. It was then that I found out about the additional $39 charge, which they also stopped payment on. I think the 15 pages of negative posts did the trick in keeping the charges reversed. Hopefully, now Acaipure will be put out of business altogether.

For the record, call the credit card company anytime you see charges on your credit card that you don't recognize or didn't authorize. Especially if it is under $10. Bogus companies are charging thousands of credit cards daily for bogus purchases that are under $10. Because so many will not question a purchase that is such a small amount, it allows these companies to bilk millions of dollars from the credit card companies and the card holders.
 
I was going to try Acaipure for free as well, but when I went to one of the web sites I did read in the fine print that you were billed monthly for 39.95 and that you had to call and cancel to stop it. I decided not to order it.

When I was doing some research on it, I never did really find anything that said Oprah or Rachel Ray actually endorsed this paticular product, but rather they both claim that using Acai berries can be very beneficial to your health. So I went to the health food store and bought a bottle of Pure Acai berry. It is expensive, I think I paid about 30$ for a 32oz bottle. I keep forgeting to drink it on a regular basis, so I haven't really noticed any changes.

When I asked at the local health food store they said it's a big seller and that many people claim it helps to boost your energy levels, helps with joint pains and is a good suplement to your diet.
 
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pollyann said:
I was going to try Acaipure for free as well, but when I went to one of the web sites I did read in the fine print that you were billed monthly for 39.95 and that you had to call and cancel to stop it. I decided not to order it.
When I ordered it there was no fine print, or anything else about the $39.95 additional charge. If there is fine print now, it is only because they have been forced to include it. From the looks of things this has been a scam from the get go.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Just logged into yahoo.com
and they had a video about the whole acai scam. Apparently they are talking about this same company.
Funny thing is that all the acai claims for weight loss are not proven at all.
And, the picture of the woman showing weight loss is in fact a photoshopped picture of a german model, who has nothing to do with the whole acai thingy.
 
hope you kept copies of ALL your correspondence---you need to rattle the cage of your cc vendor(with some of that documentation)---vehemently(no more mr nice guy--this has gone on way too long!)
 
There was report on our local news about this whole scam. One lady got her "free" sample then like you describe got another bottle a week later and tried to call to cancel the order. She said she called and called and called to no avail, no matter the time or day all you get is a recording. She wound up having to dispute it with her Credit Card Company and filed numerous complaints. Apparently now there is an investigation going on looking into this whole mess. Like the old saying goes nothing in life is free.
 
There are so many scams with that berry right now.

My dad gets wrapped up in a lot of things and he bought some at Walmart so I decided to try it........

Long story short, I bought some quality supliments and have been taking it for about a month. I am a huge fan! Not loosing a lof of weight, but a little bit, but mainly the antioxident benefits are proven and I do feel better overall. They seemed to have help my focus and calmed my nerves a bit.
 
You dont need anything or anybody to lose weight. All you need is will power and a treadmill. I am currently on a strict diet that i created. I have lost so far 36lbs and i have another 4 to go. Iam so happy but i have done major sacrifices. The berries might give vitamins but not lose weight. I remember about these other berries Mona vie that claimed to be anticancer and was going around as a pyramid.
Remember one thing everybody : whatever you put in your body that makes go faster (metabolism) you at the same time are aging your insides. The faster it works the faster it ages.
Diet & WILL POWER!!!:smiley:
 
It is not only the weight loss products that do this. I learned the hard way (similar story)that you have to very carefully read the terms and conditions, somewhere in there is the you just joined their auto ship club.

keep calling it is the only way to stop the charges and the shipments.
 
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