LIFECELL LIFECELL CREAM LIFECELL WHAT A FRAUD AND RIPOFF SOUTH BEACH Internet

 Let me tell you how this SCAM works.  They suck you in with the offer of a free trial for $4.25 with a mountain of detail buried in the fine print.  In reality, you are agreeing to pay them $189 for it if the unused portion is not returned within 30 days.  To prevent this, you are supposed to return it within 30 days if you are not satisified. 

The real trickery is when they charge you the $4.25, they also do a pending authorization of $189 on your credit card to establish themselves as a recurrent bill with your credit card company.  (I had noticed this.) The pending charge will disappear in a few days so you are not aware of it on your bill.  You are aware of this only if you check your account frequently and review pending charges too.  But if you notice the pending charge of $189 and  you call to ask them about this, you get a recording that says it is a temporary charge 'to prevent fraud'.  What a joke that one is;  they are the fraudulent ones.  In their recording, they do not say anything about how the $189 is going to be (re)billed in 30 days. 

If you try to return the sample, they expect that you will complete a long and onerous return form that is only intended to prevent the return. 

If you call them and say you want to return (if you can get through to a live person during their very limited hours of M-F 9-5), they offer for you to keep it for $94 (about half price).  There must be real mark up in this item if they can cut the price in half just for calling. 

Once you realize you've been scammed, you better plan to close and ask your bank for re-issuance of your debit card to prevent re-occurrence.  Using debt cards are big mistakes in general, as they are good as cash, so you better hope you used your credit card and you can get at least somebody with some clout to help you. 

And once you realize you've been scammed and have used your credit card, you might try to prevent future charges by closing the account and asking for re-issue of the account number.  However, since they've done the $189 pre-authorization and have set themselves up with your credit card company as a recurrent charge, some credit card companies will just charge your NEW account.  If you are closing the credit card account for this reason, you may have to specifically ask for a 'block' against this merchant to prevent future charges.  This company is that invasive and insidious that you have to do all this not to keep getting charged. 

In my case, I've returned the sample within 30 days but the $189 charge came in anyway.  Not a suprise since the fine print is their return form/policy even forewarns of extended times to process a return (so that they can justify continued charges). 

Also, I cannot believe that reputable companies like Amazon are also selling this product.