Resveratrol Scam: Warning and Consumer Alert!

Before you buy resveratrol read this article!

On November 13th, 2008 I wrote an article discussing whether or not resveratrol was a scam.  The article, "Resveratrol Scam - Take the Money and Run," was written prior to the "Free Trial" scam that has taken over the market.  While there are a few companies souring the industry it does not mean ALL companies and their products are bad.

These "Free Trial Offers" are not a new scam.  They have been around for years and prior to resveratrol they were focusing on the Acai Berry supplement industry.  It has gotten so bad that Attorney Generals from multiple states, including Florida and Connecticut, have begun investigations into the companies offering these trials.  They are also evaluating the claims some of these companies are making about their products. (Read: ABC News - Beware Acai Berry Free Offers)

The AG's are not only investigating the free offers, but the fraudulent celebrity endorsements used by the companies.  Oprah Winfrey's company, HARPO Productions, has stated they do not support or endorse these products offered by the companies using her photos and video clips.

While Oprah, Dr. Oz, and programs like 60-Minutes have run segments on the benefits of Acai and Resveratrol, they do not commercially endorse these products.  Companies using their photos and video clips do so without the approval of the respective individuals.

A look at the Free Trial Scams...

The setup is typically a glitzy website with flashy colors, bolded text, celebrity endorsements, and unreasonable marketing claims.  "Lose the belly fat you never thought you could!" "Miracle weight loss in a bottle!" "Get your Free Bottle of Resveratrol, you just pay for shipping!"

The problem is your so excited for your free trial offer that you miss the fine print!  The fine print is usually flashed in front of you after you input your credit card information or at a link at the bottom of the web page.  If you don't read the fine print you will end up with a host of surprises in just a few weeks.

After your initial charge for shipping (about two weeks time) you end up getting charged $80 for the months supply you received.  You also get charged another $20-$30 for the "Belly Fat Reducer" supplement that you agreed to buying by entering your information.

Now, if you cancel prior to the 2 week trial period you don't get charged for your order, or do you?  Many people have claimed canceling is next to impossible.  They sat on hold for hours and never had emails returned.  

Then there is the quality of the product itself.  These companies offer so little information about the supplement, you literally have know idea what is actually in the supplement.  What kind of resveratrol is in it? What is the purity? Where does it come from? Is there anything mixed in with it?  The answers to these question are very rarely provided by these companies.

So what should I do if I want a good Resveratrol Product?

The good news is there are many reputable supplement providers out there.  They don't offer free trials, and they make it easy to determine exactly what the product is made of. They provide good customer service and make sure you're satisfied.  Yes, they do charge money for their product, but after all they do have a business to run.

You get what you pay for!  Take your time when choosing supplements and check with the Better Business Bureau or Rip-Off Report on-line.  Call or email the companies and see how fast they respond back to you.  If an offer seems to good to be true, then it probably is!

Related Articles:

    Resveratrol Supplements!

    Resveratrol Side Effects: A User Compilation

 

Comments

[Mike]

Any update on when RevGenetics Nitro 250 will be shipped to subscribers again? Any inside scoop on why they ran short last month?

[Admin]

Hi Mike,
I am being told the shipments will be available June 15th. As for the "running short" I am not certain, but I believe the demand was much greater then expected compared to supply levels. Over the past few months the increase in publicity has really driven up the demand. It is good to know people are eager to use RG's products.

I kept an extra bottle on hand just in case a backorder delay came up. I have enough for the month of June.

[Resveratrol Junkie]

There are always a few rotten apples that cause stigma to be attached to supplements like resveratrol and acai berry.
While I dont condone some of the free trial practices, resveratrol is a terrific supplement, and the future of it is very exciting.

[Mario A. Diaz, M.D.]

I am a physician with 30 years in practice. I haven't seen evidence to convince me the Resveratrol works, although it probably does, if it does contain the chemicals advertised. I was just scammed out of $80 after taking their "free" trial and not being aware of their 15 day limit stated in a document that comes up if you click on a tiny type "Terms & Conditions" tab all the way at the bottom of the page. By the way, you don't need to get even close to the bottom of the page when you place your order so this is intentional and maliciously place so we don't get to see it at all. Stay away from this company!

[Admin]

Hi Mario,

I am sorry to hear you were a victim of this scam. Please don't let it taint your view on the potential benefits of resveratrol. There ARE good companies out there providing quality products.

As a side note, being a Doctor what has drawn you to be interested in taking resveratrol? It would be great to hear the opinion of a medical professional.

[Natasha]

I just got the free trial from www.resvpro.com. I read the fine print prior to the 10 day limit so that I would not be charged that extra money. I got the resvpro for my stretchmarks, I heard that its good for them. But does anyone know if thats true or not?
Thanks...Natasha

[steve]

it's getting worse. now they are shipping EMPTY BOXES. i suppose so they can say they shipped products they don't even have.

[Jerry Elrod]

I just tried one of the "free trial" bottles and they have already charged 87 bucks in my pending charges. I talked with someone within a couple of days of ordering and told them to cancel everything, as it smelled of fish heads when they tried to dupe me into buying some snake oil cure-all. I will, of course, dispute the charge with the bank.

The company is out of Hollywood Florida. I will mention the name but you can block it out if you need to. I just wanted everyone to be aware of these people. It is called Resveratrol Ultra.

To be honest, I am afraid to even put one of these things in my mouth and so will prolly be a paperweight, and a poor one at that.

[Robert Rangel]

Well, in my case I have received not even the empty boxes, but they already charged my credit card 87 bucks twice!, and yes, the company's name is Resveratrol Ultra. This is a scam, don't fall for it.

[Chantal Nadeau-Plunkett]

I bought Miracle brand....the first order no problems but then they charged me for 2 bottles but sent only one and ignored my e-mails. They have no one to answer the phone or to leave a message. Stay away from that company!

[Roxie Thomas]

http://www.resveratrolultra.com/offer/resveratrolultralp2/

I paid $5.95 for product

They they charged me $89 in 14 days.

I sent product back and got a refund.

They then charged me $5.95 for some online website I never found out about.

To cancel this service call 1888-869-4957

They would not give me a refund. Go to your bank to get the refund.

[JIM]

I WAS TOTALLY SCAMMED, I GOT MY FREE SAMPLE AND WHEN THEY SENT THE NEXT PRODUCT I CALLED AND GOT A RETURN NUMBER AND SENT IT BACK. THEY CONTNUED TO BILL ME. I THEN RECEIVED OTHER PRODUCTS AND THEY ALL BILLED ME. I HAD TO CANCEL MY CREDIT CARD TO STOP THE BILLING. I TRIED TO CALL THERE SERVICE NUMBERS BUT THEY WERE VOICE MAIL DEAD ENDS. MY CREDIT CARD COMPANY REMOVED BILLING FROM ONE BUT I HAD TO PAY FOR 2 OTHERS. BE SURE YOU KEEP A RECORD OF ALL CONTACTS.

[Renee]

Believe me the free trials of resveratrol are a hoax just to get your money and don't send the product either.They keep giving me there phone number and none work. I put the $4.95 on my card and had to call my card service. So I'm getting a new card.Just beware.

[Sgt.Sally]

Google is your friend!
The site that runs RevPro also runs about 80 other sites under similar conditions. Work at home, Acai, Penis enlargement, etc. They are located in Utah. Here is the Better Business Beuro report for them - Grade F BTW.
Name: ResvPro
Phone: (866) 982-5122
Address: PO Box 971030
Orem, UT 84097
Website: www.resvpro.com
Principal: Randon J. Morris, Manager
randonmorris@mac.com
Customer Contact: Randon J. Morris, Manager - (866) 982-5122

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-973-210-7591
or
http://www.bbb.org/utah/business-reviews/scientifically-unproven-health-and-medical-product-providers/resvpro-in-orem-ut-22238545

[Resveratrol_NOT]

Too Many People have been ripped off lately by unscrupulous internet scams, Here is one way to fight back!

The BEST way to fight this free trial 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 you don't have a PayPal
account consider creating one, it is probably one of the most secure ways to buy ANYTHING on almost any website.

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) Which is how they "get you", assuming that they will bill you for the next round of product(s) BEFORE you see the credit card/bank statement!!!

* 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)

Since the card was a "single use" card, you have done nothing illegal or wrong by closing this card. You have not violated any terms of agreements or any other convoluted "fine print" that the scammer has made you agree to in the free trial offer.

I assume other bank/credit card companies may have similar types of secure single use credit cards, just check out if they can be processed more than once by a merchant. Then see how to close them as soon as the first charge for the free trial comes in.

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 "dead" credit cards.

Pass this info around, the more who know how to defeat these opportunistic bastards, the better!!!

[Randolf Richardson]

I'm glad you post information like this online. There are too many of these scams in history, and now the internet seems to be a particularly wild breeding ground for scammers because they can post information so easily with a professional appearance.

The single-use credit card idea is a nice one, but if you suspect that a vendor is going to try to use your card more than what you're intending then you really shouldn't be doing business with them in the first place -- if you can't trust them with your credit card, then how can you possibly justify trusting them with something as important as your health?

If they can't charge your credit card accurately, you should really take this as an indicator that they also can't combine the ingredients accurately.

[Resveratrol Skeptic]

The big question is does even the "good" stuff do all that Oz, 60 Minutes, and other celebs tout? So I spring for $50 for a bottle of the highest quality Resveratrol on the market. Will it really extend my life by 10 years and wipe out all those nasty free radicals, or will we we see a report a few decades down the road after having spent $1000's that says "Resveratrol Not Everything It's Cracked Up To Be"?

[Admin]

Resveratrol Skeptic,

I think you ask a very valid question and that people would be naive to think your potential answer, "Resveratrol not Everything It's Cracked Up To Be," is not a possibility. The only thing we know for sure at this point is that we don't know the long term effects of resveratrol use. We don't know if large doses or small doses are better... we don't know if taking resveratrol is actually harming us... we don't know a lot of things at this point. Time will tell for sure and while I hope your answer doesn't come true it certainly is a possibility.

[Minnie]

I was also scammed but I canceled my credit card and put a stop to it. But I still get my free year's subsdcription to Martha Strewart's Magazine. What a crock! Martha's Mag isn't worth the postage However, The Resveratrol ( which I can get online for less than $10 per 60 250 mgs) did something I was not prepared for. It allievated my arthritis pain (along with 1000 gms. of MSM per day) so that I can now walk like a normal human being. When I stopped taking the combo of Resveratrol and MSM the pain came back. It's worth a try folks. Especially if you are about ready for one of those scooter chairs. I have osteoarthritis. and the Dr. was talking about knee replacement. Just remember one doesn't work without the other.