An Arvada company which allegedly led consumers to believe they were getting free samples of nutritional supplements — including Acai Berry Edge, Acai Berry Elite and Slim Reduction — has agreed to reimburse consumers who signed up for the supplements.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, who announced the settlement today, said more than a 1,000 complaints were received from consumers about the company.
Under the settlement with Nutra Pills Inc., the company, which did business under the names of Golf Nutritional Sciences and GNS, has four months to contact and offer to reimburse consumers who submitted written complaints about the companies from Dec. 1, 2006 to April 30, 2010.
The company also has four months to reimburse consumers who asked for their money back, but were instead given nonmonetary refunds such as credit or coupons for other products from the company.
The period covered for these individuals is Dec. 1, 2008 to April 30, 2010.
According to allegations filed by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, consumers who signed for the nutritional supplements believed at the time they placed their order they were authorizing only the shipping and handling charges for a “free trial”.
However, when the free trial arrived, consumers received a two-month supply of the product and were given a limited amount of time to return the product or face nearly an $80 charge within 30 days, according to the allegations.
If the consumers failed to take any action to cancel their order and send back the two-month supply, they were allegedly enrolled in the company’s “continuity” plan, which meant the company continued to send products to the consumer and charge the consumer nearly $80 for each shipment.
Suthers said the consumers who complained had no idea they were agreeing to the additional charge associated with the free trial offer. Once they did realize, it was often too difficult or too late to get a refund from the company, the Colorado Attorney General said.
Investigators alleged that the company generated $40 million in sales in 2009, nearly all of that as a direct result of “free-to-pay conversion sales.”
Since the Attorney General launched his investigation into Nutra Pills one year ago, the company has refunded nearly $9 million to consumers, said Suthers.
In the settlement, Joshua D. Bezoni, the owner of the companies, expressly denied any wrongdoing on his part or the part of his companies.
Bezoni personally guaranteed in the settlement that the reimbursements would be made to the consumers.
Under the terms of the settlement, Bezoni and his businesses are prohibited from marketing “free” products unless they are free and not part of a free-to-pay conversion plan.
Bezoni and his businesses are also barred from enrolling consumers into continuity plans unless the terms of the plans, including the cancellation policy, are “clearly and conspicuously” disclosed to consumers before they sign and receive the product.
The agrement requires Bezoni and Nutra Pills to pay a $100,000 fine, half of which will be suspended for five years barring any violation of the settlement.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
