Acai Berry Maxx - Texas Attorney General orders refunds and fines to be paid

Last month we reported on the settlement between the Arizona Attorney General and CCN (makers of Acai Pure) and today we find out that the Texas Attorney General has resolved its case with Acai Berry Maxx manufacturer – FXSupplements.Com .

What Did Acai Berry Maxx do wrong?

When customers clicked on the FXsupplements.com or acaiberrymaxx.com advertising links, they were informed that they would have four minutes to place their orders before the free trial of the Acai Berry Maxx product expired. Customers who completed orders were asked to pay a $5.95 shipping and handling fee. To make the required payment, purchasers had to provide their credit or debit card numbers.

The Attorney General’s investigation found that this transaction led customers to a “terms and conditions” page that failed to clearly disclose several problematic provisions. By accepting the “free” 15-day supply valued at $65, customers unwittingly entered into a “negative option” plan with the company. Under this scheme, FXsupplements.com would automatically “renew” orders after the 14-day trial period expired without customers’ express authorization to continue. The renewal forced customers to pay $80 for one-month supplies of Acai Berry Maxx, even after customers demanded cancellation.

Were there other problems with Acai Berry Maxx?

Yes! Let’s see there were the illegal health claims, the deceptive marketing, the failure to ship product in a timely manner, the failure to issue refunds and the list goes on and on. If you want all the details check out the lawsuit that was filed by the Texas Attorney General -

Lawsuit – State of Texas vs AcaiBerryMaxx.Com

Of course FXSupplements.Com does not admit to any wrong doing.

So The Texas Attorney General Threw The Book at Them…Right???

Not exactly the book, maybe a small scrap of paper is a better way to describe it. The good news is that Acai Berry Maxx is no longer being sold and consumers who feel they have been scammed can now try to get a refund. In terms of fines Acai Berry Maxx had to pay… about $6,000.

You Mean $6 Million – right??

Nope – they only had to pay the Texas Attorney General a fine of about $6,000. The owner of the company, Austin Hilton, told the Dallas Business Journal on 7/21/09 that they processed about 4,000 orders a day. As orders resulted in a $80 monthly charge, their sales were about $9.6 Million per month! Clearly a $6,000 fine does not seem like much for a company doing close to $10 million a month in sales.