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Trial offer caution: woman gets billed, but no product

Scentbird perfume service gets hundreds of complaints
Posted at 11:22 AM, Dec 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-13 12:09:04-05

"Beauty boxes" are hottest new trend for women (and some men) who like receiving new cosmetics samples, lipstick, or perfume every month, for a small monthly fee.

Abbie and Eric Volande of Goshen, Ohio are among those who like trying new trends. So after seeing an ad on social media, they gave their credit card number for a trial of a monthly fragrance club called "Scentbird."

"They offer men's cologne as well as fragrances," Abbie Volande said. "So my husband would pick one one month, and then I would pick the next one."

Their first fragrance order looked and smelled great, she says. But the excitement wore off as soon as the scent did. "It took us five weeks to get the first product. But then we did not receive anything since the initial shipment," she said.

Unfortunately, while the product stopped arriving, the bills, for $14.95 a month, didn't. "They billed us on September 11th, then again on October 13th,and in November they billed around the17th," Volande said.

Where is the product?

We contacted Scentbird, where a spokeswoman apologized, saying "we moved fulfillment centers and had some unexpected hurdles, which led to some delays on our end. We truly value all of our customers and are working to get things back up and running. "

But Volande wants to cancel her subscription, after seeing hundreds of similar complaints online.

The Better Business Bureau gives Scentbird an "F" rating, withover 400 customer complaints in just the past 12 months about late deliveries, missed deliveries, unexpected bills, and other issues.

"Everybody seems to be complaining," she said. "If you look at the comments it seems every person has the same problem."

The Scentbird spokeswoman tells us they will refund Volande's money, and hope to resolve all those complaints from other customers, blaming growing pains of a new company.

But this is a reminder to check any mail order company for reviews before, not after, you place an order. And remember that trial offers are often very hard to cancel, once a company has your credit card number.

As always, don't waste your money.
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