As it turns out, Proactiv Solution is NOT the solution for my less-than-perfect skin. So, per their advertised 60-day-money-back-satisfaction-guarantee, I sent the product back and requested a refund. And that's when the horror began... In order to get my money back, I have to prove to Proactiv (via an affidavit, complete with proof of shipment) that I returned the product within their allotted window... Thank God they require you to return the items via certified mail, because they claim I didn't return the items within the time frame allowed. The following email was sent in response to my THIRD request for said required affidavit to be sent to me so I could prove I was owed my refund...
Here is said email:
Dear Girl,
Thank you for your email. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Your affidavit was sent on March 1, 2011. Please confirm the complete address that should
be on your Proactiv Solution account and I will be happy resend the affidavit to you. The
expected delivery time for affidavits is 2-3 weeks.
Again, we are sorry for the inconvenience. If I can be of further service, please feel free to
contact me. You may also contact customer service at 1-800-950-4695.
Sincerely,
The Man (I added that bit) :-)
Adrian (real name... apparently he/she's like Madonna or Cher)
Correspondence Specialist
Proactiv Solution
***
But more importantly... Here is MY response to THEIR email (which I literally sent moments ago...)
Hello-
Please send the affidavit.... for the THIRD time now... to the address below:
My address is:
Girl
(insert address here)
And now, as a side note, I have to be honest. This whole situation is getting out of hand. Am I the only one who thinks it's ridiculous that A) The affidavit somehow can only be "mailed" and not sent via email or fax and B) That the affidavit mail goes through the mail slower than regular mail. Regular mail doesn't even take 2-3 weeks. That is insane. It is April 22nd. There was a time where I actually believed that Proactiv stood behind it's product and actually honored it's satisfaction-guarantees. But I apparently was naive in believing the claims of this corporation. I'm sure you've been successful at giving other people the run-around... as you've almost tired me out as well. Make people jump through hoops, right? I understand that. It shouldn't be too easy to get your money back. I get that. You're a business. But, seriously, in order to have said claim, there actually need to be hoops - regardless of how annoying they are to jump through - they still need to be there. You can't say you're sending an affidavit and then hope that I forget about it.... twice. (This would be the third time - if it doesn't make it my way... again.) No... those are not "hoops". Those are lies. And it is wrong.
Again... I feel my struggle needs to be reiterated. So here is my now six-month battle with Proactiv - a company that was RECOMMENDED to me by my aunt and cousin. A company that I understood to be reputable.
Here is the sequence of events:
I originally ordered Proactiv - and was charged $35.94 on 9/14/10. Ok. This is the ONE AND ONLY charge that I accept and willingly paid. I ordered your product at the promotional rate of $29.95 plus shipping in order to try it out and see if it worked for me.
And then I received my first additional shipment in October. And honestly, as a side note, this was never obviously stated - neither in your ads nor your printed materials - that the "promotional" shipment was actually a start of a membership. I, obviously incorrectly, assumed that the catalog that came with my promotional shipment was so that if I LIKED the product, I could choose from there what I would like to order more of. But apparently, Proactiv makes that decision for you in small print, somewhere along the line. And on 10/11/10, I was charged $39.94... and on 11/5/10, I was charged $29.95.... and on 12/3/10, I was charged $29.95.
But luckily, in large bold print, AND in the ads, Proactiv promises to give a money-back guarantee if your results are unsatisfactory. So, after trying to give it some time to work (as I really would've been happy to pay for a product that worked - as that was why I ordered it in the first place), unfortunately, I realized that Proactiv just wasn't working for me. And so on November 14, 2010, I called customer service and spoke with Ron - he said to send it all back for a full refund and he would cancel my membership and as soon as he received the items back (I was told that if I shipped them back by December 17th I would be within the 60-day refund-guaranteed period). My shipment was mailed on December 8th via certified mail. I checked online and saw that no one signed for it until December 20th. However, I also know that there were several snow storms around that time that could have delayed shipment - which is an act of God and the USPS. Not MY fault. I returned it well within the 60 days. I can provide documentation as proof. I expected a prompt refund asap. However...
On 1/21/11, I was charged $24.95 for an ADDITIONAL shipment I was sent in January AFTER I had CANCELLED my account in NOVEMBER. I did not even OPEN the package, I just returned-to-sender.
When I inquired on 2/21/11 on the status of both refunds, I was FINALLY replied to on 2/24/11 with the information that I would NOT be getting a refund on the barely-used, satisfaction-guaranteed-but-I-wasn't-satisfied-so-I-sent-it-back-per-PROACTIV's-customer-service-rep-Ron October shipment - and that I would ONLY be getting a product refund on the January shipment - and not the shipping. Even though I had CANCELLED my account and they sent it anyway. The one and only refund I have EVER seen was $16.60 on 2/18/11.
I have tried on three separate occasions now to get my refund for both the October shipment and the January shipping charge, but was told that I needed to fill out an affidavit that can apparently only be sent via snail-mail. TWICE now - on 3/1/11 (when I spoke to Jennifer, who reconfirmed the refund and originally promised to send the affidavit) and again on 3/18/11 (when I had still not yet received said affidavit) - I have been promised that the stated affidavit was "in the mail on it's way to me" and that my refund could not be processed until they received it back there via fax. Well.... I can't fax something that is never actually sent (and therefore can't be received).
And now I'm being told that you're going to mail it again.... because apparently you might have my address incorrect?!?! Which is absurd because apparently SHIPMENTS can be sent to me without a problem.... but AFFIDAVITS, somehow, just can't seem to make it to my mailbox. Funny how that works....
So to recap, through this entire ordeal, I have been charged $160.37 - $35.94 was a valid charge - and $16.60 was refunded.
The total refund Proactiv currently owes to me is $107.83.
Which, really, if you are the company you (and my aunt and cousin and thousands of acne-free, happy customers you currently have - which I honestly wish I was included in) believe you to be... why would you even bothering to continue to give me the run around, when I'm sure there are many other eyes, of which you've pulled the wool over, who will continue to let them be charged ridiculously or won't follow up on their "guaranteed" refunds? Please just return my money as soon as possible, because I really have better things to do than fight a major corporation over 100-and-something measly dollars...
But guess what... Even though I do have better things to do, and I know you're counting on that fact, I am a rule-follower through and through. And I followed your rules. And you don't play fair. And I don't like when people don't play fair.
So it looks like I might have to move things around and make some room in my planner... because I'm going to make the time to fight for what is mine.
And I'll be sure to make sure EVERYONE I know is aware of my struggles with Proactiv via complaint boards, the BBB, blogs, you name it. And on a more personal note, I'll be sure to tell your loyal customers - my family members - who I've held off telling about my struggles as if the product worked for them and they're happy, who am I to steer them away? But now they need to know.
Or you can promptly send me my $107.83.
Thanks!
-Girl
***
Verbatim.... that was what I sent. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
If you think this may be an isolated incident or I'm overreacting, google "Proactiv Complaints".
