Product/Service: Hydroxatone web scam Description: Cosmetic company Issue/Feedback: Hydroxatone is a cosmetic product that is marketed through the Internet and the initial product offering is a deal where you get to try one product and the second one is free. The claim is made that they will charge you for the product 30 days later - essentially a two-for-one deal. What they don't tell you is that you are signing up for a monthly program whereby they will continue to send you additional product each month and automatically debit your credit card for the said product at the full price per product. If you are able to get through to them on the telephone to complain they insist that you have agreed to these terms. If you e-mail them an enquiry you will get an automatic response asking for your order details stating they cannot find the information. If you respond again with the details, their e-mail robot again informs you they cannot find the details and asks the same questions. This is typical behaviour of such Internet scams. Solution: After they had already deducted two lots of amounts from our card and sent us a bunch of extra product (two parcels) , I phoned them as their e-mails are simply automated e-mail robots. The woman on the phone debated with me and got increasingly agitated when I complained and told them we didn't want the product and we wanted the extra debits from our card to be refunded. The woman tried to then con me by saying she will take the next two payments and then cancel the order. I insisted I didn't want to pay for product I did not order or want. She insisted she was saving me money this way???? I insisted and told her I was sending the product back. She insisted I didn't need to send it back, just pay the two amounts. I refused. After advising the woman that I was going to elevate this to Internet public forums such as Facebook and the like on their deceptive conduct, she became extremely angry, told me she was reversing all of the charges put to us so far, canceling all orders and we could keep the product we had been sent or give it to someone else if we didn't want it. I sent all product back via Australia Post Registered mail as it was unethical for me to keep product I did not pay for. In addition to this conduct of automatically deducting transactions from our credit card, I have logged a scam alert/complaint with the ACCC. Conclusion: I fail to see how a product range that is marketed to be the top of the range has to resort to deception to generate revenue for their product. My wife has indicated that the product she used was no better or different than those she has used in the past from a local chemist or department store. Recommendation(s): I would seek to warn anyone NOT to purchase this product on-line or purchase it at all. |