Colopure (affiliate FitFactory) Aka Central Coast Nutraceuticals, Inc. Was charged by affiliate for service I never signed up for, product doesn't work, charged another fee as well. Phoenix Arizona

I ordered the trial offer on November 15, 2008. Funny me, I should have visited ripoffreport.com sooner or else I would have known about how many people have been ripped off by Colopure and its affiliates.

Received the product two weeks later (on December 5, 2008), but I read somewhere in the confirmation e-mail that it would arrive at my house the week after I placed the order. During the waiting period, I sent an inquiry to the company via their "customer service" page online...three inquiries (the third was one asking to RESCIND my previous two pleas to cancel the trial offer).

After 10 days (and no type of results from the 'product'), I called their customer service line on December 15, 2008 so that I could cancel the trial offer. I was told that my hold time on the phone would be about 74 minutes in length; the customer service representative at that time was a young man named Kevin, who came on the line with 26 minutes to spare (total wait time: 48 minutes).

I told him my desire to send back the rest of my trial offer and his response was, (and I quote): "Are you sure?"

Regardless of his response, he gave me a return merchandise authorization number, which I put in the mail along with a short note and the unused portion of my useless, worthless "trial offer" via USPS Express Mail. The day after I sent the product back, I checked on the package using the confirmation number given to me at the post office, and it stated that the package was delivered at the Fulfillment Center on December 16, 2008 at 9:20AM, approximately THREE days before my trial offer would have expired.

Little did I know, until the day after (on December 17, 2008), that Colopure's affiliate, FitFactory, charged me $29.95 for a product I would have NO interest in using on the EXACT same day that the remainder of my trial offer arrived at the Fulfillment Center (12/16/2008)! So, when I discovered this, I called FitFactory and told them to refund me the fee and cancel my account with them (which I obviously DID NOT create). The woman who assisted me tried to get me to reconsider, but I insisted. She granted my request that morning and on the day after that (12/18/2008), the refund appeared on my account.

On 12/19/2008, I discovered that Colopure had deducted $38.95 from my account without my authorization! So I visited my bank the day after and explained the situation to a customer service rep there, but she informed me that since it was a pending charge, I had two options: cancel the card and get a new one; or wait until the charge cleared on the 23rd. I had already made some other purchases using the card, so I opted for option B. Until today, that is.

Today (12/22/2008), after I came home from work, I called the number for Colopure and after 4 attempts to get in contact with them (I accidentally hung up three times while on hold), I was able to speak with a young lady about the charge. I let her know that I had sent the trial offer back to the fulfillment center and she told me that there was supposed to be a 20-digit confirmation number (which is NOT what the U.S. Postal Service uses.) I let her know that I shipped it via USPS and after I had given her the entire confirmation number for them (meanwhile I pulled up the USPS tracking page myself and printed out a copy for my records), she put me on hold for a few minutes while she contacted the shipping department.

After she returned to the line, she told me that she would process my refund today. I informed her that I would no longer do business with the company, ans she stated that the refund would be processed and that my membership would be canceled.

I will be keeping a very, very close eye on my account over the next few weeks or so...the SECOND I find that a charge from Colopure or ANY of its affiliates clears my account without my authorization, I will file an affidavit with my bank. I will also cancel the card if it comes to that. But I will wait and see.

Three morals to be learned from this:

1) As usual, buyer beware. Make sure you look up the company online (especially on a website such as rip-off report.com) and GET THE FACTS!!

2) Make a note of EVERYTHING and keep all receipts. When it comes time to put charlatans like Colopure and its affiliates in prison for fraud, every single piece of evidence you have will make ALL the difference (and I'm not just saying this because I am a criminal justice major in college, either.) Make two copies (or more) if you need to. Also, write EVERYTHING down on paper while you're on hold with customer service (that also means keeping tracks of dates, too.)

3) Even if you DO get a full refund, file a complaint anyway. The more people that file complaints, the more the Better Business Bureau will look into it.

Leia I.
Hyattsville, Maryland
U.S.A.