By: Aka Hige
Free Acai Berry Products…. a Scam.
Free course on how to spot Acai Berry Scams… PRICELESS!
The most common question we get at Supplement Secrets Exposed is -
I just got an email for a free trial of Acai - is this legitimate?
The Answer is NO! The free trial Acai offers are really not free at all. If you don’t cancel immediately you are billed and then autobilled every month. Central Coast Nutraceuticals (CCN), the makers of Acai Pure were just hit with a $1.4 Million legal settlement for deceptive marketing practices (read our post on the Acai Pure settlement here).
So how do you buy an Acai supplement without getting scammed?
Welcome to our Black Belt Course - Spotting Acai Scams
That’s is right - once you finish reading this article you will be a true Black Belt in spotting Acai Scams
…
As Bruce Lee Could Defeat 100 Attackers
You Will be able to Defeat 100 Spams on Acai Free Trials
Okay, that analogy is weak - but you get the idea - come my student and learn how to defeat the evil Acai Berry Scams.
Lesson 1: If You Have to Enter a Credit Card - It is NOT Free
Most Acai Berry Free Trial Scams scream out that you can try Acai for free… just enter your credit card to pay for shipping. Sounds fair enough, but hidden in the Terms of Service is the real trick - you are authorizing the company to autobill your credit card each month for more products (at extremely high prices). Which leads us to Lesson 2…
Lesson 2: Read the Terms of Service to be a Wise Warrior
At the very bottom of the page, in print so small almost no human can read it, will be something called Terms or Terms of Service. You need to click this link and read what you are signing up for. Warning, part of the scam is to make the terms so boring, long and impossible to read that no one actually reads them - but you are training to be a Black Belt, so summon your inner Chi and blast through it.
You will find wording like “you will be autobilled $89.99 every 30 days until you cancel” and you “authorized us to send you more supplements to try - which you will also be billed for monthly”. Clearly, this is not the free trial you thought you were going to get.
Lesson 3: If You See Pictures of Oprah, Dr. Oz and Rachael Ray - Run!
We discuss this in our post on What Did Oprah Really Say about Acai . Simply put, Oprah, Dr. Oz and Rachael Ray have never endorsed any specific acai supplement. A website that is implying they have been endorsed by Oprah, Dr. Oz or Rachael Ray is a sure sign of an Acai Berry Scam.
Lesson 4: The Site Talks about Huge Weight Loss?- Prepare to Lose Weight in Your Wallet.
Are those $20 bills in your wallet weighing you down? How about those $50 bills, just too much weight to lug around? Then the Acai Berry Free Trial scams really will help you lose that unwanted weight in your wallet!
For those of us not named Bill Gates, we generally do not have the obesity of the wallet issue. While Acai has some fantastic health benefits, losing 30 pounds in a week is not one of them. Any site making huge weight loss claims regarding their Acai is highly suspect.
Lesson 5: Testimonials are Worth Slightly Less Than Lehman Brothers Stock
“I lost 40 pounds in 2 weeks on Acai SuperBerry Extreme . I also look 20 years younger, I have more friends and I just got a promotion. Oh, and I also won the lottery! None of those would have been possible without Acai SuperBerry Extreme!”
- Susan, Main Street USA
Come on, does anyone really believe these testimonials? Just because a company puts some words together on their sites and puts them in quotes, does not mean they are true!
Lesson 6: A One Page Website does Not a Website Make
If in your travels you come across an Acai website that is just one long page - be very scared, wise warrior. Most Acai Scam sites are just one long page - no Supplement Fact Information, no Company History and no detailed information on the ingredients. Do you know any legitimate companies that have just a one page website?
Lesson 7: If You Can’t Find’em Don’t Buy’em
Here is the final riddle you need to solve to become a Acai Berry Scam Spotting Black Belt -
Q - If a company has no address, phone number or means to be found - does it exist?
A - Yes… as a shadowy site to take your hard earned money!
If you find yourself looking at an Acai Berry site and you can’t find a local phone number or street address you are in a dangerous place. Let’s face it, companies that are looking to scam you want to remain anonymous. If you can’t find contact information on the Acai site, hold on to your wallet and quickly retreat.
Congratulations Warrior - You Are Now a Acai Scam Spotting Black Belt
Upon completion of these 7 Lessons we now pronounce you a true Black Belt in Acai Scam spotting. Feels good doesn’t it? If you want to further enhance your skills, here are some other resources:
Acai Pure Manufacturer agrees to pay back $1.4 Million
Acai Berry Scams and What Oprah Really Said
Great post on how Google plays a role in all this - Read the Google Money post at SEOBook
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
The BEST way to fight this scam is to be PROACTIVE!! Here is the scenario:
If you have a PayPal account (or any other type of account like PayPal) look for their product/service called a “SINGLE USE SECURE CREDIT CARD” (you may have to download and install the PayPal plug-in for your browser).
If they have one (as PayPal does) when ordering the free trial USE THIS SECURE SINGLE USE CREDIT CARD!!! It will not be attached or be identified to your bank/charge card accounts and will prevent unauthorized charges to your account!!! * (see below) Don’t forget to save your receipt for the transaction.
You will be able to obtain the free trial, and not have to cancel the account as the Credit Card will be dead *. (see below) Or in my case, fail to cancel the subscription BEFORE the 19 day trial period for a 30 day trial of the product! * (see below)
* NOTICE: PayPal SECURE SINGLE USE CREDIT CARDS can be processed by a merchant more than one time!!! I found this out the hard way.
It seems that a “single use” card can be “hit” up to FOUR times by the same merchant for things like multiple ship orders, or SUBSCRIPTIONS!!!
Since the free trial is considered a subscription, the merchant was able to “hit” the card again 19 days after the first charge of 99 cents (for the free trial offer).
THE WAY AROUND THIS is to log on to your PayPal account and CLOSE the SECURE SINGLE USE CREDIT CARD as soon as it has been charged the first time for the 99 cents!!! (On PayPal, just click on the menu item on the right side of the page that says “PayPal Plugin”, then there will be new menus on the left side that will enable you to view secure cards and close any open ones)
I assume other companies may have similar types of secure credit cards, just check out if they can be processed more than once by a merchant.
Good Luck, and if we do this right, we can put these scammers out of business, because they won’t be able to exist selling their product for 99 cents and wasting time trying to collect from a dead credit cards.
I am one of these people who was scammed by a \"free\" trial. The product is AcaiBerry Detox. A free trial was offerd –I did have to pay for shipping. I placed the order by phone to make sure i was spaeking to aperson. I tried the product and it made me jittery so I didn\’t order any more. The following month a bottle arrived and the company had charged my credit card.
I call ed and they maintained that i had an active accont because I had placed an order on the internet. That is a lie pure and simple.
In my opinion this is fraud; mail and credit card. i am reporting these folks to all the relevant agencies.
Hi Coco,
So sorry to hear about your horrible experience with Acai Berry Detox. All I can say is you are not alone in your anger and frustration. Harpo Productions (Oprah’s company) has sued them. Take a look at our article - Oprah Throws the Book at Acai Scammers and click on the link to the whole 267 page legal report. It will take a little while to download, but when it does jump to page 55 and you will see FWM Laboratories Inc - makers of Acai Berry Detox listed right on top.
Good luck,
Dan
Oh man i just ordered a few free trials!!
if i remember to cancel it on time before the “20 day free trial evaluation”
do i still get charged for the full price?
Hi Lala,
While legally you should be able to cancel and return the product within the trial period, they often make this close to impossible to do! We have heard all the tricks - when you call to cancel they say their computers are down or they put you on hold for 80 minutes and then hang up on you. It is pretty incredible what these companies will do to make sure you can’t cancel and return in the 20 day period.
Good luck,
Dan