Recently while sitting down and watching Rip Off Britain we were shocked to find a cosmetics company openly taking money from unsuspecting potential customers by way of product samples. The product involved “Pure Collagen” had a number of online adverts, usually pop-up adverts, that informed users of samples of their products.

The Scam

Users clicking on these ads were asked if they would like samples of the products and asked tofill in their details, including bank details. Days later the unsuspecting user would receive a full bottle (not a sample) of the product and this would continue each month, unbeknownst to the user a monthly £96 would also be deducted from their bank account. The poor woman on the show then had to fight tooth and nail to get her money returned with the bank not able to help she turned to her local trading standards.

Our Advice

It goes without saying that whenever you are trying something on a sample basis that you aren’t expecting to be charged, but even if you are we would highly recommend checking up on the following items before you commit;

  • Research the product: A good tip is to search (via Google) for the product name and simply see if there are any genuine reviews out there from customers. To be extra safe try searching for the product name coupled with scam to see if you receive any clues as to any bad practices.
  • Payment Security: It is important to make sure when buying anything online to make checks on security, is the website SSL protected, are MasterCard and VISA secure codes used? More information on staying safe online can be found here.
  • Don’t Trust, Don’t Buy: Sometimes you just get the feeling that something is wrong, if this is the case and you have any doubts it is sometimes best to just walk away.

 

Final Thoughts

We were quite disappointed in this as it gives the collagen industry a bad reputation, especially with millions tuning into BBC2 to see the program. Unlike “Pure Collagen” we offer our users free samples and thats exactly what they are: FREE. Hopefully more of these sorts of scams can be found out and eradicated, leaving only genuine retailers who stock authentic products. As a side note if anyone is interested in a free collagen sample from Collagen UK, simply send us an email via romanowska@collagenuk.co.uk declaring your interest and your address.

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