Oprah and Acai Berry have been linked throughout the internet in the latest diet craze. The problem is, Neither Oprah or Dr Oz ever endorsed ANY brand of Acai Berry products. They DID talk about the Acai Berry itself, and what wonderful nutritional properties it has. But not the processed Acai Berry pills and juices. But that doesn’t stop fly by night internet marketers from using Oprahs enormous appeal to push false claims for the various products.
To make matters worse, most of these scam artists that use Oprah’s name are pushing the “free trial offers” that promise to ship a miracle diet pill for free. Users just pay for shipping. But when users give their credit card number up to pay for the “shipping”, they are unknowingly signed up for a monthly subscription at $80 a month or more. Of course the scammers make it very difficult to cancel the subscription, and send a near worthless product to boot!
Oprah has sued 40 companies selling acai berry or related products, with their name endorsements on them.
According to their complaint, such companies are “fabricating quotes or falsely purporting to speak in Dr. Oz’s and/or Ms. Winfrey’s voice about specific brands and products that neither of them has endorsed.”
“Consumers should be aware that neither Oprah Winfrey nor Dr. Oz are associated with nor do they endorse any açaí berry product, company or online solicitation of such products, including MonaVie juice products,” a statement read on Winfrey’s Web site. “Neither Oprah nor Dr. Oz are associated with nor do they endorse any specific resveratrol product, company or online solicitation of such products. Any companies that misrepresent their affiliation are making false claims.”
Attorney General Lisa Madigan has also filed suit on behalf of consumers allegedly tricked by the fake endorsement scam.
“For thousands of dieters, the quest for a miracle product has become a nightmare,” Madigan said in a press release. “Far too often, consumers end up losing their money — not weight — in these deals.”
And make no mistake about it – these scammers have been very successful in tricking MILLIONS of DOLLARS out of people. These people are very upset. You can read some of their outraged comments about the acai berry free trial scams. These people often believe Oprah did in fact endorse the products these scammers push and are sometimes very upset with Oprah as well, and can’t understand why she would be behind such a scam.
So, for many months now, Oprahs lawyers have been chasing after these scammers. But much like the whack-a-mole game, as soon as one is shut down, another pops up. The latest step is publicizing the lawsuits to hope the general public realizes Oprah does not endorse ANY brand of Acai Berry products. This is a great example of too much fame being more of a problem than us little people ever quite realize.
so does this product work for weight loss? has anyone had any results? can you please reply? thanks for your help oct 6th comment above this the bactaria stomach thing? sound very interesting,anybody else have these problems.
I am by no means over weight, I just thought It was a good product, so I ordered the trial product and they send it within a reasonble time period. The problem is that they charged my credit card for the 3.95 trial price and than a week or so later the charged the full price, like 85.00. I could get no satisfaction at the co so luckly my bank got results for me. That was a valuable lesson for me.
i had a weird feeling when i ordered the free trial and did not get an email confirming my purchase. my account was also charged twice for the shipping charges. i got my bottle in the mail today, with no reciept or anything, just the product and some very vague brochure. i called and reported my mastercard as stolen and had them issue me a new card which will have a new number on it. after reading everyones hopeless attempts, this was the best step i could take, before those bastards could rape me over and over again.
SWM ACAI 3007 Greene Street Hollywood, Florida 33020-1037
is the company that has been stealing from me. They picked on the wrong senior citizen. I am familiar with the laws. They think we can not do anything. It will not be just the company that is going to be in troable but the employes also. I am filling a class action suit. here is some extra info. Florida consumer hotline, attorney general, BB burea,federal trade commision . the commissioner is Charles H. Bronson.
I have not spoke to him yet. This old lady will not give up. Good luck everyone I hope you the best. Keep on trying.
Hey guys i am concerned. i have been on the product for exactly one week and i have not had any changes to my weight.in fact my weight is exactly the same. Please give me tips and advice on how to get the most out of the product. i am taking the acai burn and the colon cleaning product from this site and i have a ton of weight to lose. How long does it take before you get results. i understand that working out and eating correctly is important and i have those to areas down to a science but want a jump start from this product.
I ordered Acai through the free trial and I am out of $256.00 and only got one month supply. They kept charging my account and not mailing anything. I am sure these people are getting very rich by scamming people! I finally had to cancel my check card and get a new one. I, too reported these individuals to different agencies and I am waiting to see what happens (probably nothing). Now, I try to just order on a one time basis and pay in advance. I am searching for a distributor who let’s me pay through PayPal (safer). I lost almost 11 pounds that month but I think it was due to the stress of the situation since the charges started piling up within 2 weeks. Good luck!
I signed up for a 30 day free trial for 3.95 s/h only to be charged 79.95 twice 11 days after I placed my order my account was overdrawn 185.11. When I called to ask why I was charged I was then told that it was a 19 day trial and it started the day I placed my order how can you try a product and actually know how it works within 19 days and it took 8 days to get here so only 11 days to try it and cancel. I would have never ordered if it was 19 days thats ridiculous. Of course everyone you talk to barely speaks English and they are reading off a paper oh and I was charged an exchange fee for every transaction they made on my account cause its not in the USD. They also charged the shipping and handling before even confirming my order how does that work? 3007 Greene St. Hollywood Fl 33020-1037 this is where my order came from.
Happened to me also. Ordered a free trial and returned within the 30 day trial. Two monthes later I get billed for $81.53 to my credit card. Tried to cancel again and couln’t get anyone on the phone I could understand and they wouldn’t cancel. Said they needed more info. This is nothing but a big scam. It says in their Refund Policy if you don’t like the product, Just Cancel. How!!
Has anyone taken Acai berry and gotten Hplylori bacteria in their stomaach? I took Acai berry and felt very crampy and diarrehea. This bacterial is from out of the country per my doctor and I have not been out of this country (USA).
SUSAN – PLEASE try and speak clearly. When you say “this is not a credible company” it sounds like you are talking about us.
You DID NOT order from us here at Acaiberrysite.
We DO NOT make any free trial offers.
There are MORE THAN ONE company dealing in acai berry on the internet. Many of them are scams, and we try our best to educate people to stay away from them. We are not related to those scam sites.
For more info, read this
I am also a victim of this scam. I have called and get no one on the phone after waiting 15 minutes. I sent the product back and they are still charging me. This is a mess. i sent the product back on 9/10/09 asking them to credit my account. They have done nothing. I called my credit card company to dispute this charge. WHAT A RIP.
i was also a victim of this scam… i started to order last february ’09. they charge me twice, around $80. until now, i keep on calling them about my refund (they charge me even i receive nothing of their product)… and still… nothing happen… they always forward me to call a lot of numbers… the people that will answer me were always from call center (india and philippines). i’m sure, the people behind this will pay there price soon…. watch out you guys !!!
i ordered. acci berry and was charged sev small charges, and 87.13 ande then again 83.18 i called and spoke to someone in india. and literally had to scream to get a supervisor. the rep is told to keep people on the line as long as poss. so the cust wil;l get frustrated and hang up.. after 1.5 hours i finnally got to orlando hernandez a supv in the billing dept. at 3007 greene st. hollywood fl, 33020 which is also where there legal dept is located.
owner of this company is barry foldgers at 314 dana beach blvd dana beach fl #117 33004 this is their main office.. these companies nature cleanse, heath cleanse, and detox cleanse, are all run by this man
myshipmentshelp.com shipmentassitance.com
8668297198, i got no answer… 8002209825 (detox) is when i reached a human..after 4 calls my cell min being used, and now i told the only way i can get my money back is to pay to ship these products back and then cross my fingers and hope they return my money!! i have allerted my bank, as well as BBB, FBI, internet fraud companies.. there should be a class action suit brought against this man and his scam.!