Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be wary of free trial offers online for diet pills, work at home jobs and teeth whiteners among other products and services. In this year alone, BBB has received thousands of complaints from consumers across the country who thought they were getting a free trial, but ended up losing hundreds of dollars in recurring credit or debit card charges.

Ubiquitous, deceptive online ads for “free trials” of various products and services can be found on popular sites like MSN.com, ESPN.com, and Weather.com. Often the ads link to websites of phony news outlets which, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, commonly feature the photo of a well-known French journalist—without her permission—under various names.

“Fighting deceptive free trial offers seems insurmountable at times,” said Kim States, BBB President. “Just as soon as one company is put out of business it’s replaced by another with the same model of ripping consumers off under the guise of a no-risk, free trial offer.”

One company behind these not-so-free trials is XM Brands which has an F rating with BBB. According to the nearly 2,000 complaints to the West Palm Beach BBB, the company sells roughly 40 teeth whiteners, acai diet pills and colon cleansers online.  Complainants say they agreed to pay anywhere from $1.49 to $3.87 to cover shipping for the product trial but were (more…)

Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is warning consumers about Healthy Online Services, a company which sells weight loss supplements and other health products over the Internet. The company has an F rating with BBB due to a pattern of complaints involving billing and customer service issues. BBB has received over 300 customer complaints against the company since the beginning of this year.

Complaints filed through BBB state customers are suddenly being billed months after signing up online for a free 14-day trial. Customers who have signed up to receive products at various Web sites operated by the company state that after paying shipping and handling, they were supposed to get their products and have the option of continuing on with their agreement after the trial period ended – incurring monthly charges – or canceling the agreement during the free trial period.

Many complainants allege Healthy Online Services is billing them even though they contacted the company during the trial period to cancel their agreement, and adding a $50 late charge despite the fact they had received no prior billings or contact from the company in the months since they opted out of the agreement. These customers also say the company is threatening to turn their accounts over to a collection agency. Some customers state they’re being billed for products they ordered and paid shipping and handling on, but never received.

Other customers who state they canceled their agreement during their trial period say in their (more…)