ITV Direct - Natural Cures
20 Oakpoint Road Ext.
Saugus Massachusetts 01906
U.S.A.
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ITV Direct - Natural Cures Once you order their fraudulent books, you can't get your money back. Visa won't help you either! Saugus Massachusetts
1Author
1Consumer
0Employee/Owner
After watching Kevin Trudeau's "infomercial," I mistakenly ordered the "free" natural cures book and the "half-price" weight loss book after being told I would be charged $9.95 each shipping and handling for all three books, plus $14.95 for the half-price book. I declined all offers on the phone for "free" gasoline, trips, etc. as I told them I didn't want to receive endless telemarketer calls. (I have since been inundated with such calls daily.)
After hanging up from placing the order, I had second thoughts, and quickly did a web search on Kevin Trudeau and ITV Direct. As I saw numerous consumer complaints and a current lawsuit against him and his business partners by the Federal Trade Commission, I immediately called back to cancel the order. The person who answered told me I couldn't cancel the order, but I could call customer service. When I asked for that number, I was told their computers were having trouble and they couldn't find the number. I said I'd wait on hold until they could get the number.
After a few minutes, she gave me their customer service number and the website address. When I called customer service (this was on a Saturday morning while the infomercial was on air), I got an answering machine saying the office was closed, and to call back Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm. As I knew time was of the essence to cancel this order before it got processed, I immediately sent an email to ITVdirect.com notifying them to cancel the order. They did not respond until the following Monday, only to tell me that "orders cannot be canceled."
Prior to receiving the email from ITVdirect, I had phoned my Target Visa office to notify them of my dispute of the charges. They told me they could dispute them once they were posted, and that they would flag my account. When the charges were posted on the Tuesday following the Saturday order and attempted cancellation, I followed up with Target Visa Credit Adjustment, who made a 3way conference call to ITVdirect who told us the order could not be cancelled after processing. I told them I found it difficult to believe they could not cancel an order made less than 30 minutes prior, and I doubted it had been processed in that short a period of time. The Target Visa representative went along with the ITVdirect, and told me my only option was to return the half-price book to obtain a refund for only the $14.95.
I learned from the US Postal Service that you can refuse delivery of a declined offer of merchandise so long as you do not open it or mark on the package. I have since received the books, and put a piece of masking tape on the package indicating "Return To Sender: Declined Offer of Merchandise" and now it is en-route back to ITV. I still have the balance on my Target Visa, which I have closed due to fear of additional unwarranted charges. Please don't get yourself in this consumer nightmare!
Ann
So. Hamilton, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
1Author
1Consumer
0Employee/Owner
Updates & Rebuttals
#1 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Guido - Overland Park (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Friday, April 25, 2008
POSTED: Friday, April 25, 2008
I am one of the people that answers the telephone when someone sees an ITV informercial. I am not an ITV employee. I am an Independent Business Owner.
When I answer the phone, I do my best to listen to the person on the other end and attempt to get them what they need to resolve the issue they are dealing with. It is unfortunate but I don't doubt that there may be others that are more interested in the sale than the service you should provide. However, I am also quite sure that some of the problems come from people that call and for whatever reason, they don't hear some of the points in the presentation, for example, all products are 100% 30 day money back guaranteed. That means that within the 30 days you will get all of the money for the product refunded; but not the shipping and handling. I know of no company that refunds the shipping and handling in any industry. But is also means that if you call and its been 32 days, refunds are no longer due you. That being said, I suspect that some of the complaints have been viable complaints within the 30 day limit. I can't speak as to why they have not gotten better customer service. That is unfortunate. It makes us look bad but in our defense, we have over 13 million customers compared to these 81 complaints. I'm not trying to minimize these folks complaints. They should be resolved and if I were in that department, I would check into each and every one but I'm sorry to say that I do not.
What most folks may not know is that for each and every product, there is a telephone script that we are required to follow. The calls are recorded for the customers protection as well as ours and to insure that the IBO's are following the script which has been designed to give the customer all of the information they need in the shortest amount of time. In regard to the other offers that accompany the calls, that seems to be commonplace these days, not just with ITV. But is that any different from going into a local shop. Everyone tries to make extra sales and if you had any idea what their overhead is, you'd understand why. And if you think because no salesperson actually tried to sell you something extra that I'm wrong, what do you think all those racks of impulse items at the check out are for?
In summary I guess what it is that I am trying to get across is that even though ITV has had some issues, if you take into account human nature, ITV is no better or worse than most companies out there. And it is unfortunate that the products may not work in 100% of the cases. I know they are top notch products in the alternative field. And while I'm on the subject, if you think that the FDA has your best interest at heart, you should educate yourself. Do a google search on abuses of the FDA. They are there to protect the profits of the drug companies. Who do you think pays their salaries?
