Skinology

Victim Location 35401

Total money lost $34.90

Type of a scam Other

I ordered online a "free trial" of a skin cream called Skinology, paying $4.95 for shipping and handling. I had two problems. First, before the final check out, but after giving credit card info, a bunch of pop ups appeared for other products. Each one needed to be declined by clicking on the very small line "no thanks" at the bottom of the page. Above that was a much larger "add to cart" in a rectangle. Apparently by about the third product I accidentally clicked "add to cart" — this is easy to do on a phone or iPad. The site then said "thank you for your order" and the transaction was complete — no chance to "confirm" the order, which is what REPUTABLE online companies will do. I immediately e-mailed the company to cancel the order; they wrote back pretty quickly and wanted more info (I had left off my phone number), and I replied immediately with that info…. and then HEARD NOTHING BACK until the next day when I received shipping confirmation. They clearly had time to cancel the order.

My second problem was that after this bad experience, I googled their name online and came across MANY complaints. People said that about a month after their free trial they received another jar of the skim cream…. and were billed $90! They then were told that in ordering the "free trial" they had signed up for a "subscription" that needed to be canceled. Note that nowhere on the web site does it say anything about such a "subscription," or about a $90 price! Never in a million years would I have intentionally signed up for such a thing. I immediately called the company to cancel, and was told that I would need to call back after 14 days to cancel, because "all we ask is that our customers try the product." I repeated over and over that I did not want a $90 cream, and wanted to cancel NOW, and she kept repeating the same phrase about "all we ask…." Only after I told her I was taping the call did she put me on hold, and then returned and told me that the "subscription" was canceled and I would not be billed or receive further product. We’ll see what happens.

In my opinion, this company is engaging in deceptive business practices, if not outright fraud. They should be investigated and shut down. I have reported them to the FTC.