Scam Free Trial: Get your money back
Hundreds of readers have contacted us to complain about the diet pill free trial scam. The majority of consumers have fallen victim to dubious and devious tactics. Some continue to lose up to 100 euros a month, which represents a considerable financial deficit for some people.
The most common way to scam consumers is to encourage them to sign up for a “free trial” of a slimming pill, disguising in micro-characters that this is an automatically renewed subscription. To achieve this, scammers won’t hesitate to use tried and tested tactics to give a false air of security.
And in a moment of weakness on your part, they strike directly. And before you know it, you’ve already learned an unforgettable lesson: appearances are deceiving!
So how can you protect yourself against these scammers? And if the damage has already been done, what can you do to get your money back?
Free trial scam : How can I get my money back?
RULE #1: NEVER SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL OF A SLIMMING PILL or any other product!
That way, you’ll avoid being scammed once and for all.
99.9% of free diet pill trials are scams, so don’t be tempted by their claims.
Do you honestly believe that these people will offer you their product for a few euros out of the goodness of their hearts? Absolutely not, it’s just a well-crafted scam that will only leave you a loser!
But I’ve already been scammed, WHAT CAN I DO NOW?
1. Don’t feel guilty
These people are highly skilled professionals who have implemented incredibly insidious and lucrative strategies based on the free trial scam, which provides them with millions of euros every week. So you’ve fallen victim to a sophisticated scam that has already affected millions of ordinary people like you.
Don’t blame yourself, and don’t take it personally. Try to put your emotions aside and think about taking action. Obviously, this is easy to say and very difficult to do, but it’s the first step to getting your money back.
2. Gather information
Try to gather all the information you can find. Take a notepad and write down everything you know so far:
- Company name, address and phone number;
- Company website;
- Terms and conditions you can find;
- Where you saw the ad (if you remember);
- Delivery dates ;
- Billing dates;
- All your credit card/bank account details;
- Anything else you can find.
Keep all this information handy. Don’t forget to write down the dates of all the phone calls you make and letters/emails you send. You’ll need them to get out of this free trial scam.
3. Contact the company
Now that you know you’ve signed up for automatic recurring billing, the first step is to contact the company and explain the situation. Sounds easy, but it’s not! After all, they do everything they can to make it almost impossible to cancel the subscription, since that’s how they make their money!
If it’s a UK company (which is the country of origin of many weight loss pills), you’ll find a UK number displayed. However, you should be aware that the majority of these companies deal with call centers located elsewhere. They’ll probably be based in Utah in the USA, where most of the diet pill scams are based.
Make yourself a cup of coffee and hang on to your phone until you manage to get through to someone on the other end. Be careful, they may hang up on you, leave you on hold for a long time or pass you on to someone else who will pass you on to someone else and so on! This is where you have to hang in there. Don’t be discouraged and try again. If it’s your lucky day, you’ll get a reply the same day.
Once you’ve made contact with the person in question, remember to stay calm. Remember that this is the business world and shouting your hatred and rage won’t do you any good. Speak authoritatively and firmly, and don’t lose sight of your objective: to cancel the whole procedure and get your money back.
Just state the facts: you’ve been tricked into signing up for a free trial and you want to cancel immediately. Don’t forget that the person you’re talking to is just an agent in a call center who’s only there to earn a living by receiving calls like yours. Remain polite and firm, then explain the situation.
In most cases, these agents don’t have the authority to deal with the problem and will tell you they’ll “take it up with the appropriate department”. Insist and you should get an answer. These call centers are also paid according to the number of returns they manage to avoid, so it’s in their interest to dissuade you from asking for your money back. All this to say that you must insist and persist until you get what you want.
4. Cancel a US-based free trial scam
If it’s an American number, then they’re obliged to comply with very strict rules governed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Here are some scenarios that may apply to you:
- You got the offer by clicking on an ad from a fake news website ;
- The website said the trial was completely free;
- The website implied that the trial was completely free;
- You were asked to provide your credit card details before the terms and conditions were displayed;
- The terms and conditions are not displayed directly above the submit/accept/continue button.
The FTC takes the issue of free trials very seriously. If a company gets found out by the FTC, it’ll be too expensive. So they’ll do anything to stay incognito.
You can use this advantage if you can’t get a response from the company in question. Mention that you’ll be contacting the FTC immediately if they don’t respond to your request. Don’t forget that this only applies to US-based companies.
Consult the FTC guide: (Source: Federal Trade Commission. “Free” trial offers? ).
In most cases, we’ll cancel the free trial scam contract and refund the money we’ve taken from you. Legally, the contract can be cancelled in one way or another, but the money refund is not so obvious.
5. Cancelling a UK-based free trial scam
In the UK, the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) is responsible for tracking down scams.
If you buy something online in the UK, the seller is legally obliged to provide you with certain information beforehand. If any of this information has not been given to you, then the contract is illegal:
- Name and address of the supplier (a P.O. Box number won’t do) ;
- Description of the product’s main features;
- Price incl. VAT ;
- Delivery charges;
- Billing and delivery method;
- Existence of right to cancel;
- Minimum contract duration;
- Whether you must return the product in the event of contract cancellation;
- Contract cancellation conditions;
- Geographical address for complaints.
This information must be presented in a clear and comprehensible manner and confirmed in writing. The terms and conditions on the website are not sufficient.
This means that you must have a document containing this information, which may be a confirmation e-mail.
So, if you haven’t received a confirmation email containing all this information after ordering the free trial, then the contract is probably invalid.
Using a PO Box is ILLEGAL and VOIDS the contract. They must have a valid physical address.
For more info, here’s the OFT website ( Source : Office of Fair Trading.)
6. Get your money back via your bank
If you’ve taken the appropriate steps with the company and they still refuse to give you your money back (which is unlikely), then the next step is to contact your bank or credit card company.
You need to explain to them that money has been fraudulently withdrawn from your account. You can only do this if you’re sure the company has breached the FTC or OFT regulations already mentioned above.
You can only say it’s a fraudulent procedure if they followed the rules completely and you signed up for the free trial scam out of carelessness. In this case, you can cancel the contract, but you won’t be able to get back the money you’ve already withdrawn.
In any case, you have the right to cancel the money withdrawal via your bank or credit card provider by indicating that you have stopped permission to withdraw money from your account.
Your bank or credit card provider MUST stop payments. They have no right to ask you to make arrangements with the company receiving the payments.
But be careful, you’ll still be responsible for paying the amount you owe if you don’t cancel the contract.
Once again, stay calm and keep your objective in sight. The bank has to act in your best interests, so don’t let them confuse you.
7. Learn from the free trial scam!
Hopefully, you’ve managed to get out of this predicament with the minimum of damage.
Remember that 99.99% of free trials are scams, these people manipulate people to make money. They have no moral restraint and no sense of guilt, so don’t be discouraged and fight to get your money back!
And don’t confuse diet pills with free trial scams. There are a number of respectable companies offering good products that stand out from the scams and nonsense flooding the market. That’s one of the reasons we’ve created this site. Through our tests, articles and surveys, we try to offer you objective advice that will help you choose the weight loss supplement that’s right for you, without getting ripped off in any way. We recommend that you consult the list of approved pills to stay safe from unpleasant surprises.
If we can prevent just one person from falling for the free trial scam, or help one person get their money back, that would be amazing. Please feel free to post the link to this page on forums, Facebook pages and Twitter to alert people. It’s our collective effort that will help put the free trial scam out of business once and for all.
WARNING: This article does not constitute legal advice. We are not lawyers qualified to offer legal advice. We are consumer advocates and offer our opinions from a consumer perspective. If you have any doubts about what you have read, please consult a lawyer for legal advice before acting.
