I'm starting to see more an more diet pills scams hit the market. And many of them are following similar tactics, so I thought I would write an article about one of the primary methods that some diet pill companies are using to scam consumers out of their money: The Autoship. This method seems to be working since we've seen more and more companies using this same sales tactic.
So what is an autoship program? Basically it is where the company agrees to mail you supplies (usually monthly supplies) of their product to your home on a regular basis and then charge your credit card when they ship the products.
Not so bad right? In reality, the idea of the autoship is quite convenient and handy. And when the customer is aware of the program and desires to be a part of it, it is convenient and is a good thing. Where you run into trouble, however, is when companies try to get you to enroll in the autoship without you knowing about it. It's the way the company uses the autoship that can make it a good thing or a complete scam.
The problem arose once companies realized that no one was reading the fine print in the 'terms and conditions.' They saw an opportunity to put the autoship details in the fine print so that people didn't usually find out that by buying whatever the product was, they were also agreeing to engage in the autoship program. This is where consumers started to get taken advantage of.
It got worse, however, when companies started to offer things for free and get them to accept the terms of the autoship under their nose. Everyone wants something for free, and hence they are able to get thousands to get the "free" trial and get them into the autoship without them knowing about. A few weeks later, they can start charging their credit card. You can quickly see how many cunsumers they are taking advantage of by doing a quick search on some of the internet complaint boards.
To give you an idea of just how horrible some of these programs can be, I'll try to walk you through a classic autoship agreement hidden in the fine print. I'll use Customer John as an example. John sees an ad for a free trial and says "Sure, why not?" In order for John to get the free trial they ask for all of his information. If John looked enough he might also find in their privacy policy that they reserve the right to sell his information to third parties (this is not a good thing). They also get his credit card information so that he can pay the small shipping fee (Bingo! This is also so they can charge it in the future).
John quickly checks the box stating that read the terms and conditions (even he didnt - who reads that legal jargon anyway?) and submits his request for the free trial. He is now enrolled in the autoship. He must now call and cancel the autoship within 15 days of his request or he will see a charge his credit card for $30 to $100 depending on the diet pill (a few will charge him for 3 months which would obviously triple these charges). Because he didn't read the fine print, he is surprised on the 15 day when he sees these "fraudulent" charges. He calls customer service to demand a refund but either no one answers or he is given the run around and never gets a real answer. Our poor friend John is now left with a few ineffective diet pills and a lot less money that he had previously. Now I don't know about you, but it sure seems like the company's taking advantage of our friend John along with all the other unsuspecting customers.
Now again, are all autoship programs scams? No. There are many companies out there that fully disclose (and make it obvious for the consumer) that they are enrolling in an autoship. Others give the consumer the option to enroll or not to enroll. There's nothing wrong with this at all. But there are many, many other companies who's sole purpose of the product and website is to deceive the consumer and suck as much money as they can out of them. So be wise and make sure that you are fully aware of what you are agreeing to. Read the fine print. You'll be glad that you did! - 15683
So what is an autoship program? Basically it is where the company agrees to mail you supplies (usually monthly supplies) of their product to your home on a regular basis and then charge your credit card when they ship the products.
Not so bad right? In reality, the idea of the autoship is quite convenient and handy. And when the customer is aware of the program and desires to be a part of it, it is convenient and is a good thing. Where you run into trouble, however, is when companies try to get you to enroll in the autoship without you knowing about it. It's the way the company uses the autoship that can make it a good thing or a complete scam.
The problem arose once companies realized that no one was reading the fine print in the 'terms and conditions.' They saw an opportunity to put the autoship details in the fine print so that people didn't usually find out that by buying whatever the product was, they were also agreeing to engage in the autoship program. This is where consumers started to get taken advantage of.
It got worse, however, when companies started to offer things for free and get them to accept the terms of the autoship under their nose. Everyone wants something for free, and hence they are able to get thousands to get the "free" trial and get them into the autoship without them knowing about. A few weeks later, they can start charging their credit card. You can quickly see how many cunsumers they are taking advantage of by doing a quick search on some of the internet complaint boards.
To give you an idea of just how horrible some of these programs can be, I'll try to walk you through a classic autoship agreement hidden in the fine print. I'll use Customer John as an example. John sees an ad for a free trial and says "Sure, why not?" In order for John to get the free trial they ask for all of his information. If John looked enough he might also find in their privacy policy that they reserve the right to sell his information to third parties (this is not a good thing). They also get his credit card information so that he can pay the small shipping fee (Bingo! This is also so they can charge it in the future).
John quickly checks the box stating that read the terms and conditions (even he didnt - who reads that legal jargon anyway?) and submits his request for the free trial. He is now enrolled in the autoship. He must now call and cancel the autoship within 15 days of his request or he will see a charge his credit card for $30 to $100 depending on the diet pill (a few will charge him for 3 months which would obviously triple these charges). Because he didn't read the fine print, he is surprised on the 15 day when he sees these "fraudulent" charges. He calls customer service to demand a refund but either no one answers or he is given the run around and never gets a real answer. Our poor friend John is now left with a few ineffective diet pills and a lot less money that he had previously. Now I don't know about you, but it sure seems like the company's taking advantage of our friend John along with all the other unsuspecting customers.
Now again, are all autoship programs scams? No. There are many companies out there that fully disclose (and make it obvious for the consumer) that they are enrolling in an autoship. Others give the consumer the option to enroll or not to enroll. There's nothing wrong with this at all. But there are many, many other companies who's sole purpose of the product and website is to deceive the consumer and suck as much money as they can out of them. So be wise and make sure that you are fully aware of what you are agreeing to. Read the fine print. You'll be glad that you did! - 15683
About the Author:
Before you buy any diet pills online, make sure you check Criticalorie's quality commentaries of diet pills. You'll get common sense advice from an industry insider.