Feb

Better Business Bureau

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A Jackson area woman was among those burned by companies selling acai berry diet pill supplements – the Better Business Bureau issues warning by Danielle Quisenberry of the Jackson Citizen Patriot – Monday February 09, 2009

A White Lake woman ordered in October what she thought was a free trial of an acai berry supplement touted as a weight-loss aid for $5.95 from an online retailer.

Eleven days later, the company, FX Supplements of Arlington, Texas, charged her credit card $79.95 for a monthly pill subscription she had no idea she authorized. “I didn’t see where it said any of that,” said Ricki Morrow, who lives in Lenawee County, just south of U.S. 12.

She is not the only one. The Better Business Bureau, flooded with complaints, is warning consumers to be skeptical of online advertisements that offer weight loss products containing acai berry. Acai berry has been praised on national TV programs for its high level of antioxidants and has been frequently Googled, according to a bureau press release.

“There are concerns about misleading sales and marketing practices,” said Tim Burns, public affairs director at the Better Business Bureau of Detroit and Eastern Michigan.

In order to receive a free trial, people have to enter credit card information to pay shipping and handling. If they do not cancel their subscription, for which they may or may not be aware they signed up, they are charged a monthly rate of as much as $85.90, the bureau reported.

If they do try to cancel their subscription, customers have a hard time contacting the companies, Burns said. Phones are busy and e-mail addresses do not work.

The bureau has fielded many complaints regarding both FX Supplements and Central Coast Nutraceuticals of Phoenix, which sells acai berry; hoodia, a cactus-like plant said to suppress appetite; and male -enhancement products.

Both companies use celebrities, such as Rachel Ray and Oprah Winfrey, to sell their products. Ray and Winfrey have talked about the acai berry, but have not endorsed specific products, Burns said.

When Morrow called FX Supplements after she realized her credit card had been charged, she was told she had subscribed to the product by agreeing to a set of terms and conditions.

She received word last week from the Better Business Bureau her complaint had been settled, but she said she is yet to receive a credit for the $79.95.

“It is a racket. A lot of innocent people are getting caught up in it,” Morrow said, calling it a “hard lessen learned.”

“Anything I buy off there. I always look at terms and conditions now.”

Burns encouraged people to do some research before buying products by reading fine print, searching for a verifiable business address and looking up the company on the bureau Web site, www.bbb.org.