It's frustrating to see so many new diet pill scams pop up lately. It's also frustrating to see so many people (or websites) supporting such diet pills by endorsing their products so they can get their cut as well. In light of this frustration, I thought I'd write about one of the most popular scams that's hit the internet lately: The Autoship.
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.
So what's so bad about it? It sounds pretty nice and convenient right? Well, it is. If that's what the consumer wants, then there's nothing wrong at all with sales practice. Please note, that I am not saying that all autoship programs are evil. An autoship can be good or bad, depending on how the company uses it. Unfortunately, many companies try to trick you into enrolling in the autoship without you knowing about it.
Now I don't know the history, but at some point in time companies figured out that if they hid the details of the autoship in the fine print of the terms and conditions, that they could get people to agree to it without them knowing about it. People would skip over the terms and quickly purchase the product and bingo. They're enrolled in the autoship.
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 illustrate some of the one-sided details of some of the classic autoships that I've seen while reviewing diet pills, I'll use a fake scenario with our friend John. John is convinced by the marketing of a certain diet pills and finds that they offer a free trial. Being a naturally trusting person, he inputs all his personal information into the free trial request form and his credit card number to pay for the shipping of the trial.
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, are all autoship programs like our fictitious example above? No. Many fully disclose their autoship in very noticeable manners. But the ones that don't are not much more than a scam that uses a diet pill product as it's conduit to take your money. The point of this: read the fine print and be cautious of free trials. Not much in this is life is free and I assure you that these companies aren't looking out for anything but their own bottom line.
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.
So what's so bad about it? It sounds pretty nice and convenient right? Well, it is. If that's what the consumer wants, then there's nothing wrong at all with sales practice. Please note, that I am not saying that all autoship programs are evil. An autoship can be good or bad, depending on how the company uses it. Unfortunately, many companies try to trick you into enrolling in the autoship without you knowing about it.
Now I don't know the history, but at some point in time companies figured out that if they hid the details of the autoship in the fine print of the terms and conditions, that they could get people to agree to it without them knowing about it. People would skip over the terms and quickly purchase the product and bingo. They're enrolled in the autoship.
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 illustrate some of the one-sided details of some of the classic autoships that I've seen while reviewing diet pills, I'll use a fake scenario with our friend John. John is convinced by the marketing of a certain diet pills and finds that they offer a free trial. Being a naturally trusting person, he inputs all his personal information into the free trial request form and his credit card number to pay for the shipping of the trial.
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, are all autoship programs like our fictitious example above? No. Many fully disclose their autoship in very noticeable manners. But the ones that don't are not much more than a scam that uses a diet pill product as it's conduit to take your money. The point of this: read the fine print and be cautious of free trials. Not much in this is life is free and I assure you that these companies aren't looking out for anything but their own bottom line.
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.
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