How To Cancel A Supplement Free Trial (And Get A Refund)
By: Rob Miller
Home » Consumer Watchdog » How To Cancel A Supplement Free Trial (And Get A Refund)
It happens suddenly and unexpectedly….
You log in to your credit card or bank account to pay your bills, when all of a sudden you see a charge you don’t recognize.
You run a quick google search for the merchant, and then you realize…
You’ve just been charged for a supplement you “thought” you were getting for free.
In a lot of cases, our site gets mixed up with a lot of these scam free trials.
You may google something like “jacked antler website” and come across our site in the search results.
People will see our site, click on it, and then full out the contact form telling us they want their money back.
Even though we put “3 BIG Reasons To Avoid Jacked Antler” right in the title…
People somehow still think we’re associated with them.
I get about 2 dozen of these emails per week, and it’s beyond frustrating sometimes.
I’ve decided to create this post to help eliminate (or at the very least, reduce) the amount of these emails I get.
I’ve also decided to write it because, like you, I’ve been scammed by free trials in the past.
I know what it feels like to have your hard earned money ripped out of your bank account and into the account of a scammer.
I’m going to show you how to F#$K them (not literally, of course)
Here’s what you need to do to cancel your supplement trial (and possibly get a refund).
Step 1: Identify Who Exactly Charged You
This can be accomplished in a number of ways.
The first way is to check out free list of free trial cancellation phone numbers. We have customer service phone numbers for close to 100 supplement free trials and counting.
If you don’t see the phone number listed there, or the number we have listed doesn’t work…
Google the name of the supplement + website
This is not as easy as just googling the name of the supplement + phone number.
Let’s take the male enhancement supplement Nitridex as an example.
Look what happens when you google “nitridex phone number“.
You have to google the name of the supplement and then the term website to get the closest possible match.
Oftentimes you won’t actually get the ACTUAL website, but you’ll get an affiliate site that’s promoting it.
Just click on one of the banners or links that say “Rush My Trial” and it will take you to their website 50% of the time.
Look on your credit card statement
Sometimes this requires a little digging.
Start by going to the email you might have used and search for the name of the supplement.
If that doesn’t work, search something like “Customer Support”, and look for an email that doesn’t look “normal”.
Once you do that, open the email and look at the date you ordered the product.
Now, go back to your credit card statement and look for your transactions on that date.
Specifically, you’ll be looking for a charge that’s somewhere near $5, so:
- $4.95
- $4.99
- $4.97
- etc.
Now, with Wells Fargo (my bank) you’ll see that they actually list the phone number in the transaction itself.
At first glance it doesn’t exactly “look” like the phone number, but trust me, it is.
If none of the above works…Call your bank
If you’ve tried everything listed above and you STILL can’t find the phone number, call your bank.
You can easily find this number on the back of your credit card.
If you can’t seem to find your card, here’s a list of customer service phone numbers for some of the bigger branches:
Wells Fargo: 866-867-5568
Bank Of America: 888-809-7321
JP Morgan: 800-935-9935
Citibank: 800-627-3999
PNC Bank: 888-762-2265
Capitol One: 800-955-7070
BB&T: 800-226-5228
Sun Trust: 800-786-8787
HSBC: 800-975-4722
TD Bank: 800-937-2000
Note: If your bank isn’t listed here, click here for a full list of 1-800 numbers of all major banks.
Once you get through to them, you’ll want to say something like this:
Hi There, my name is So and So. I was looking over my credit card statement and noticed a suspicious transaction on (insert whatever date the transaction occurred). Can you help?
Not only will the bank operator be able to give you the actual number of the supplement in question, but they may even offer to put you through on a 3-way call.
I’ve had this done in the past with a supplement company that was giving me the run around.
Step 2: Call Them To Cancel Your Trial And Get A Refund
So now that you have the phone number, it’s time to call them up and see what the deal is.
It’s important that you try to remain as calm as possible.
Shouting and / or cursing at them over the phone isn’t going to help your cause.
I know you’re pissed off that you’ve been charged, but trust me on this.
Calling and speaking to them in a pleasant, but firm, tone will give you the best odds at getting a refund.
Here’s how you should proceed with the call:
Tip #1:Tell them that you’re recording the phone conversation for your own records.
There’s 2 ways to go about this:
- You really CAN record the phone call, or
- You bluff that you are
If you want to REALLY record the phone call (which isn’t completely necessary), there are several apps that can help you.
If you have an iPhone, here’s a couple (all free):
If you have a Samsung, here’s a free one available on google play:
Even if you’re not recording the conversation, this will immediately put them on the hook.
If they even THINK you’re recording the conversation, they’ll be less likely to try and up-sell you and / or try to get you to keep the product.
It will make the call MUCH shorter, trust me.
Tip #2: Immediately ask to speak to a manger.
The simple fact is this…
The first person you get on the phone is some low-level customer service rep that couldn’t give 2 shits that you’ve been charged.
They’re provided with a script to try and get you to keep the supplement, and / or will just offer you a discount.
Be polite, but firm…
Tell them that you would like to speak to their manager because you have a specific complaint that needs to be addressed.
Tip #3:Tell them you spoke with your bank and they noted similar complaints from other customers.
Once you get the manager on the phone, now it’s go-time.
Just like with the customer service rep, you need to be calm, cool, and collected.
Shouting at them will just put them on the defensive, and make them not want to honor any of your requests.
Remind him or her that the conversation is being recorded for your own records.
You’ll want to make it clear to them that you’ve spoken to your bank and they have noticed similar transactions coming from their company, and that they are involved in multiple disputes.
Again, this may not necessarily be true, but it will plant the seed in the managers head that you’ve done your research and you mean business.
Tell them that you had no idea you were going to be charged the full price for the supplement, and you would like a full refund.
Tip #4: If the manager won’t budge…
This is where the gloves may have to come off.
Tell them that you will report their company to your states attorney generals office and the FTC.
Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, scares these guys more than the feds. (except maybe the credit card companies)
Pitch it like this:
“Ok (managers first name), here’s what I’m going to do. Since you won’t offer me a refund for this, I’m going to contact my state attorney generals office and tell them about this. Then, once I get off the phone with him, I’m going to call the FTC. I’m sure they would love to know that you’ve been hiding your terms and conditions in very fine print at the bottom of the order page.”
That last part is key because in 99% of the cases, this is true.
The FTC requires that merchants make it CRYSTAL CLEAR how much they’ll be charging you, when they’ll be charging you, and how OFTEN they’ll be charging you.
Slapping the terms and conditions at the bottom of the page in a very light grey font and making it nearly impossible to read isn’t considered “crystal clear”.
By the way, this threat is 100% legit.
If they don’t offer you a refund I REALLY would contact your state attorney generals office and the FTC.
It’s not as scary as it sounds, here’s links to both:
List of states attorney generals: www.Naag.org
FTC: Submit a complaint
90% of the time, just the mere threat of running to the FTC and States Attorney is enough for them to relent and give you a refund.
Sometimes they will offer to just give you 50% of your money back, or extend your trial by another month.
Stick to your guns!
Tell them this charge was completely unexpected, the product did NOT work for you, and you want a full refund.
They may still require you to send the unused product back (which is legal), but you won’t be on the hook for the $100’s you may have possibly been already charged.
Click Here to find out what you should do if you have to send the product back.
Common Problems You May Encounter Along The Way
Problem #1: They won’t put you on the phone with a manager
This is usually the first problem that you’ll encounter.
They’ll say things like:
“Our manager is busy / unavailable / not here at the moment, how can I help?”
Just tell them you’ll wait.
If they put you on hold, give them 5 minutes.
If 5 minutes passes and you’re still not on the phone with the manager, hang up and call back.
In the case where they’re “unavailable” or “not here”, give them your phone number and tell them they expect a call by the end of the day.
Tell them that if you don’t hear from them by the end of the day, you’ll be contacting the FTC and State Attorney General.
Once you utter those words, 95% of the time the manager will mysteriously become available.
Problem #2: The manager won’t budge
Sometimes these companies are located in countries like Panama, Costa Rica, or El Salvador, where the words “FTC” don’t resonate.
They don’t give 2 shits about the FTC, or any other government organization for that matter.
In that case, you’re going to have to tell them that you’ll just handle the matter with your bank. (See below on how to do this)
Give them a second to respond, and if they shrug it off then you’ll proceed to the next step.
How To Get Your Money Back From Your Bank
In the HIGHLY unlikely event that you have a company that refuses to cancel your trial and/or give you a refund, you may have to get your bank or credit card company involved. (for real this time)
In this scenario, you would simply call your bank or credit card company and explain the situation to them.
You would say something like this when you called:
“Hi, my name is (Whatever your first and last name is), I placed an order for a sample of (insert name of supplement here) on (insert date you ordered it) and have contacted for a refund. I would like to file a dispute for this transaction.”
It would also be helpful to have the information on the transaction handy, including:
- The exact amount you were billed and on what dates
- The name of the transaction
- The website url for the company (this can be used to prove that they’re hiding their free trial terms and conditions in very fine print)
If you have any questions on any of this, or need help with cancelling a specific supplement, I’m always here to help.
Just contact me here and I’ll do what I can.
What To Do If You Have To Send The Product Back
In probably close to 70% of the supplement free trials I’ve ordered over the years, I’ve been required to send the remaining or unused portion back to the company I’ve ordered it from.
They will make it explicitly clear when you call to cancel on whether or not you need to do this.
If you have to send it back…
You’ll receive what is called an RMA #, which is short for Return Merchandise Authorization.
This is a series of digits that you WILL have to write on the outside of the package that your sending the supplement back in.
When you’re sending it back, make sure you:
- Use FedEx, UPS, or USPS. The smaller delivery couriers can be notoriously slow to deliver and / or may get lost in transit.
- WRITE THE RMA # on the outside of the box, preferably in more than one spot.
- GET DELIVERY CONFIRMATION AND TRACKING added to your order.
This last step ensures that the supplement company can’t pull a fast one and say they never received the package, and therefore, won’t give you a refund.
If you do NOT have to send it back…
Congratulations….you got yourself a legit free sample of a supplement 🙂
You can toss it in the trash, give it to a friend, take the rest of it, or use the bottle as a stand for your desktop camera like I do.
Just use the experience as a lesson that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is…
How To Fight Back!
If you followed all the steps above, there’s a 9o% chance that you’ll get your money back.
If you’re still looking to stick it to them, there’s a few other things you can do:
Contact The Better Business Bureau
The better business bureau offers a wealth of resources to fight back against scammers like this, including:
Contacting your bank is still your best bet if you want to get your money back, but the BBB can help lessen the financial pain by giving you peace of mind that you are helping to protect others from falling in to the same trap.
Leave A Comment On Our Site
We have reviews of 1,000’s of products, and many of them are free trials.
Use the search function below and look for the company that charged you.
Once you get to the page, scroll down to the bottom or click “Comments” to leave your experience.
Contact A Lawyer
This is usually only reserved for cases where you may have been charged $1,000’s for a supplement.
It’s extremely rare, but it DOES happen.
Keep in mind that contacting a lawyer can be a VERY expensive and time consuming process, and should only be reserved for the worst of the worst cases.
Conclusion
Like the old saying goes….
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
That certainly rings true when it comes to free trials.
If you REALLY want to get your money back, follow the steps above and leave a comment below to let us know how it went!
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Rob Miller
Rob Miller founded SupplementCritique.com over 7 years ago, and has been the chief editor ever since. He has a diploma in Advanced Dietary Supplements Advisor, and worked at GNC for 3 years. He KNOWS supplements, both inside and out. Rob currently resides in Jupiter, FL, with his wife of 4 years. Learn more about him in his Bio here. Follow him on Twitter , Facebook, LinkedIn, or find him on Google +. View all posts by Rob Miller
And this just happened about 2 or 3 monthes ago so i guess there prolly isn’t anything i can do about it now is there. .. Thank you
I Thank You for this very helpful info. .
I sincerely appreciate you posting your very valuable tips on how to go about cancelling a subscription to one of these fraudulent on-line criminals.
A bit of history first: I click on a link from Yahoo.com purporting the Dr. Phil and Denzel Washington endorsement of a men’s product. That was the start of a trip down a long dark tunnel of fraudulent charges to my bank account.
To make a long story short I tried contacting this company right after noticing the charges on my account using their phone number that was associated with them on my bank statement. I was never able to contact them via that number.
I then filed a claim with my bank and after much back and forth in the end the bank denied my claim. The bank suggested I contact the fraudsters and plead with them for a refund.
I eventually was able to locate a working phone number. I called and talked to a young man who sounded very sincere but was unable to do anything except to cancel my subscription.
He sent me a follow-up email to confirm the cancelation of my subscription. I then wrote a follow-up email using his return email address.
I day later I got an email from a fellow named Carlo.
Below are my emails in the order I wrote them with the most recent one at the bottom. That most recent one was written after reading your site.
You’ll notice I basically am using your strategy to get my refund. I’ll let you know the progress.
Again, thanks for all these tips.
John
———————————————-
1st email
To Whom It May Concern:
In early November of this year I responded to an article about your product “HD Testo” featuring the well-know actor Denzel Washington and Dr. Phil and offering a free sample for just shipping costs.
I approved the shipping charge of around $4.90 for the HD product and the near $4.90 for the Nitrate product. I never approved nor did your site acknowledge that I would be charged nearly $95 each for these two “free” products and that I would be put onto a recurring monthly purchase.
Approximately one week later your company put two charges against my Debit card for nearly $200.
I tried calling your number as appears on my bank charge (844-388-7053/6964) but was unable to contact you. I subsequently contacted my bank who then reimbursed me for your charges.
I have tried searching for your website but have not been able to locate one.
In early December you again charged me nearly $95 for another order of HD Testo which, again, I never approved or signed up for. I have contacted my bank once again and they have reimbursed me for the charge.
This email is to inform you that you are to take me off of any further recurring charges to my account and also to let you know that my bank JP Morgan Chase is looking into your activities concerning my account.
John
———————————-
Company’s first reply to my original email
Hello,
Thank you for your e-mail.
We are sorry to see you go as a customer. I did investigate your account and have noticed that there is an active dispute in progress.
Unfortunately once there is an active dispute on file we are unable to process any sort of refunds. Rest assured your account has been cancelled and you will receive no further billings or shipments.
Should you have any further questions please feel free to contact us 24/7 via email as your satisfaction is our priority.
Thank you,
Carlo
Customer Support Team
———————————-
My reply email after reading your article.
Hello Carlo,
I appreciate your timely response to my email.
Just to update you: my bank has informed me that there have been other similar transactions from your company and that they are involved in multiple disputes.
Again, I had no idea you were going to charge the full price for the supplement, and I would like a full refund of all charges over my initial $4.97 and $4.94. A total of $281.01.
I sincerely hope that you will refund the $281.01, that I never agreed to pay. However, in the event that you deny my request for a full refund I plan to contact my state attorney generals office and tell them about this.
Then, once I get off the phone with him/her, I’m going to call the FTC.
I’m sure they (FTC) would love to know that you’ve been hiding your terms and conditions in the very fine print at the bottom of the order page. (See below) As you are well aware the FTC requires that merchants make it CRYSTAL CLEAR how much they’ll be charging, when they will charge, and how OFTEN they will be charging the customer.
Placing the terms and conditions at the bottom of the page in a very light grey or other light color font and making it nearly impossible to read isn’t considered “crystal clear”.
Again, your charges were completely unexpected and I would like a full refund.
Carlo, I hope we can resolve this dispute without me having to take more severe measures. I would love to end this here and now and get on with Christmas and holidays with my family and friends.
Regards,
John
Attached is a screen shot of your website.
HD Testo.pdf
Yeah I saw that Denzel ad as well, I outed the whole thing here: https://www.supplementcritique.com/denzel-washington-ed-pill/
It looks like you got all the bases covered, hopefully you can get it done. Keep us posted on your progress!
I recently purchased alpha titan testo trial pills for just the shipping cost on Oct. 8th and didny get them till Oct. 13th. I look at my card statement and see a charge for $80+ on Oct. 26th.
I emailed them and got the subscription cancelled and asked why i was charged for something i didnt authorize and they told me it was part of the terms i agreed to. On the site there were no terms.
Well i asked for a refund and they told me i have 30days from the date purchased to return the product for a refund. So i guess what im trying to ask is, should i go ahead and return the product without notifying my card company or should i notify them?
Yeah I would at the very least just make your credit company aware that you are returning the product. This way if they (Alpha Titan) tries to pull a fast one and say they didn’t receive it, you’ll have already notified your bank that these guys are scamming you.
And make sure you add tracking to prove that they received the bottle, very important! Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions.
I shit u not, the next day i had an email from someone who seems to be the boss and in that email they try and blame me for not reading the terms i agreed to(there was none) but that they were going to refund me for the 2nd bottle. 1 day later……. money is back in my account and i learned a valuable lesson………… If it seems too good to be real then it probably isn’t. These scammers can take ur money so easy its scary.
I paid for a £4.95 trial with Ultramx. They charged me £24.95 at Lloyds Bank England.
I spoke with Lloyds Bank who cancelled my charge.
What can I do? I would like to contact them directly to cancel this order.
Thank you and best wishes,
George Selby
Hmmm good question. I’m not sure how things work over in the UK, but here in the US we would typically contact the bank and file a fraudulent transaction claim.
I think your best bet would be to contact them directly.
I’m not even sure how you think we’re the ones that charged you. We didn’t even write a review of StackT 360, much less are we associated with them in any way.
I can’t seem to find their website or a phone number for them, so I would recommend you scroll back up and read through the article again. It tells you everything you need to know about finding out who charged you and how to cancel.