“There was nothing to lead me to believe that there was anything nefarious about it,” said Frank Dobias.
The offer of “free samples” of products seems like a tempting offer but if you’re not careful, you could be the next victim to a fake website’s scam.
It happened to a man in Suttons Bay who was promised a free sample of a diet pill if he just paid for shipping
Frank ordered a free sample of Garcinia Cambogia.
After he got his first shipment, it wasn’t long before more were sent and the charges started racking up.
“I had no way of sending them back, no information that I could find except the address that had sent them to me so I returned them to that address,” said Frank. “All of a sudden, I got shipment number three.”
Frank was not only out $300 but out of patience.
“I would find a phone number and call and if it was busy, I would keep trying,” said Frank. “If they would answer, they started giving me ‘we know nothing about it, you called the wrong number’.”
His credit card company was finally able to stop the shipments and payments but wouldn’t refund his money.
“Some of the credit card processing companies are unwilling to refund the money later because the company that sold you this, can show where you signed up for the deal,” said CEO and President of the Better Business Bureau Phil Catlett.
The company involved has been linked to several websites that have a history of this type of “free trial” offer.
If there’s a product you’re interested in trying but are unsure of the business who is selling it, you can head to the Better Business Bureau’s website, type in the product and a list of reviews and ratings will come up.
“I think there’s a lot of evidence out there from disappointed customers that will point you in the other direction if you just take the time to look at it up front,” said Phil.
Bottom line, if the product and deal seem too good to be true…it probably is.
