Deerfield Beach's Vitacost.com files plan to go public

I purchased vitamins and supplements from VITACOST.com . I purchased a large amount of items from them approx over $200. After I finished the order, a screen popped up offering me $10 off my next order. I assumed that this was for VITACOST. I thought it was an offer because the price of my order was high. So, I clicked on it to review it, when I realized that the offer was not from VITACOST, but another Company, etc... I canceled out of that screen and shut it down.

I was reviewing my American Express bill today, and noticed a charge on their from yesterday. Since I knew that I did not charge anything yesterday, I looked into it in more detail. I remember seeing one before, but thought it was for my American Express Rewards memberships. When I reviewed the charge today, I found out that I have been charged since October 2006, between $14.95 to $17.95. I can not get an exact amount from Shopping Essentials, or American Express, for agreeing into a discount gift card program. I hate to go shopping, much less doing any business with Gift Cards, because I always forget about them.

Well, today I called up to Shopping Essentials. I spoke to Ebony today rep # 45912
(supervisor) she told me that even though, I shut down that screen and did not go through it completely, I still committed myself and the charges to be charged to my Credit Card. That for me to have not had the charges to go through my credit card, I would have to have to called them to let them know that I did not want to agree to the terms. WHAT TERMS??

I did not provide them with any information or my credit card, and if I did by closing out of that screen, how would I have known that I was suppose to contact them or how to contact them if that information is not provided to me.
So, since October of last year, 2006, I have been charged about $14.95 -$17.95 per month.
When I asked Shopping Essentials what they did, they told me that they provide gift cards at a discount to consumers. I never received any information about this, or have I ever asked for any services from them.

I spoke to American Express about these charges. They told me that VITACOST provided my credit card information to Shopping Essentials. American Express also advised me that VITACOST, may have an agreement with both of these Companies, and that someway they may have some type of Co-ownership, etc.. to be able to provide my information, my private information to Shopping Essentials.

I also contacted VITACOST. I spoke to Dewana V., Manager, 1-800-793-2601 x 431. He told me that they did not provide my information to shopping essentials, that I had to have provided that to Shopping Essentials. I stated that I know exactly what I did when I was on that website, because I can remember it like it was yesterday. I remember exactly that I did not complete or provide that information, because I realized it was not VITACOST. I also asked why they provided my private contact and credit card information to Shopping Essentials, when they have a Privacy Policy on their website. VITACOST also has a statement on their website regarding Security Protection.

VITACOST also states that this Company is Owned and Managed by Doctors. Dr. Allen S Josephs, Co-Founder & Chairman. So, I feel that I was tricked into a charge on my credit card, by a Company that I trusted. I thought that VITACOST would stand behind their words. If you review the fine print on VITACOST website, it is stated there that they will not provide any of my private information with my consent. Also, if an affiliate is associated with their website, it states that they will still not provide my private information to them. They are not standing by the Law regarding Privacy and I am very disappointed. I only do business with Companies that seem legitimate. It took me a long time to feel like I could trust making a purchase online. And I did my research, and by their advertising, I felt that they were a reputable Company, that would stand for what they print. VITACOST is Company that has Doctors on their Board. They are recognized by INC. 500 Magazine, "HALL OF FAME" Award.

I will not do business with this Company again, and I will be filing further complaints with the BBB, The New Jersey Medical Board, The Florida Medical Board, and The Texas Medical Board. I will also contact the Attorney General Office for Florida, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
I found out from the Texas Attorney General Office that Shopping Essentials has received many complaints. The dollar amounts are starting to pile up. Shopping Essentials is down by a Company that has many DBA’s, that keep on showing up under TriLeGiant Corp., which is based in Connecticut.

Sounds like its time to investigate this! I have used a Private Investigation agency in the nearby town of Boca Raton and they were great! Their website is http://www.acefla.com . I am going to forward the guys at the p.i. agency as see if they can do something about these allegations!

This past October, 2007, I placed my first order to Vitacost for some vitamins. I used a new credit card that had never been used before and this was the only purchase made with this card.

When the bill arrived in November, it listed the Vitacost purchase and I promptly paid it in full. This past week of December, I received my 2nd bill from the credit card company and it listed a $14.95 charge for a December purchase of an item listed as SHOPPING ESSENTIALS. I had no idea what this was, as I did not use this credit card since the previous and only purchase from Vitacost the month earlier.

I contacted the credit card company to dispute the charge and they informed me that not only was there a charge on the December bill which covered purchases to the 15th of the month, there was an additional $14.95 added after the billing date which will appear in my January statement.

It is becoming clear to me after reading about hundreds of similar episodes, that this VITACOST is implicated in providing the link to this scam with SHOPPING ESSENTIALs thru their web order page and that they are fully aware of the fraudulent business pratices and customer abuse being perpetrated against VITACOST customers.
There also seems that VITACOST has continued to allow these activities to continue for quite some time without any effort made to eliminate this problem. VITACOST is responsible for all of the aggravation and fraudulent charges made to their cusomers.

My solution to this problem is to file a dispute with the credit card company, cancel the credit card and NEVER make another purchase from VITACOST again.

My firm is investigating credit card fraud claims against Vita-Cost and Shopping Essentials. Please contact me if you are interested in sharing your experience. I can be reached at madkins@msnattorneys.com. Thank you, Micah Adkins.

DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE BEEN A VICTIM OF SHOPPING ESSENTIALS, RESTAURANTS.COM , VITA-COST OR OTHER ONLINE RETAILERS UNAUTHORIZED DEBIT/CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS?
We are currently investigating consumer complaints regarding Shopping Essentials, Restaurants.com , Vita-Cost and other online retailers for unauthorized credit or debit card transactions. Please read the following important information regarding these complaints:
Consumer makes online purchase with Restaurants.com , Vita-Cost or other online retailer;
Consumer is automatically enrolled into a "membership program;"
Thereafter, consumer receives an unauthorized charge on the credit or debit card from a company called Shopping Essentials;
Consumer calls Shopping Essentials, Vita-Cost, Restaurants.com , bank or other online retailer to dispute charge(s);
Consumer complains of unauthorized credit or debit card charges for membership;
Consumer may or may not ever receive reimbursement for unauthorized charges.
Sound familiar? Do you believe you were scammed by Shopping Essentials or another online retailer? We are investigating complaints across the United States. If you wish to discuss this matter with us, or have any questions concerning your rights and interests with regard to this matter, please contact the following attorney:
Micah S. Adkins
Massey, Stotser and Nichols, P.C.
Email: madkins@msnattorneys.com
Website: http://www.msnattorneys.com
http://www.msnattorneys.com/CM/Custom/Attenti...
Disclaimers:
The Alabama State Bar requires the following disclaimer:
"No Representation is made that the quality of the legal service to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers."
The Tennessee State Bar requires the following disclaimer: "The determination of the need for legal services and the choice of a lawyer are extremely important decisions and should not be based solely upon advertisements, certification, specialization or self-proclaimed expertise. Certifications of specialization are available to Tennessee lawyers in all areas of practice relating to or including in the areas of Civil Trial, Criminal Trial, Business Bankruptcy, Consumer Bankruptcy, Creditor's Rights, Medical Malpractice, Legal Malpractice, Accounting Malpractice, Elder Law, Estate Planning and Family Law. Listing of related or included practice areas herein does not constitute or imply representation of certification of specialization. These disclaimers are required by the Supreme Court of Tennessee"
The Florida State Bar requires the following disclaimer:
"The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask us to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience."

The same thing happened to me after I placed an order with POTPOURRIGIFT.COM in December of 2007 (I was directed to an ad offering me $20 off my order.) After reviewing the ad, I chose NOT to do whatever it was I needed to do to get the discount, and closed out of my browser. Lo and behold, just this week, I realized that SHOPPING ESSENTIALS has been charging my credit card $9.95/mo. for the past 6 months.(January to June 2008). After I researched this "Shopping Essentials" company I realized I'd been scammed, and worse yet, Potpourri was in on it -- they gave Shopping Essentials my personal information. Fortunately,(after getting my credit card company's fraud department involved) I was able to have all the charges reversed. I have made it my personal mission to take down these companies via word of mouth. Type up an e-mail warning people about these fraudulent businesses and forward it to everyone you know. Hopefully they'll forward it to everyone they know, and before long, these guys will be out of business.

I just placed an order today over $200 at Vitacost and got that popup screen about the survey. I didn't even have a chance to read it and it redirected to my confirmation order for my order. I wrote Vitacost asking what it was about. In the meantime, I Googled and to my horror found out Vitacost and this Shopping Essentials company are committing fraud giving out our customer information and authorizing charges without the customer's interaction or consent. I placed the order with PayPal so immediately wrote them to block any charges from Shopping Essentials. This really shocks and disappoints me that Vitacost has gotten so corrupt. I will never let them use my credit cards or bank and will only place orders though PayPal where I have solid legal recourse.
The fact that Vitacost knows they are illegally authorizing this and saying the customers gave the info is disgusting. I just read a recent article by Mike Adams the Health Ranger saying he was going to start promoting Vitacost. I guess he wants his reputation ruined getting in business with a corrupt company.

I have had the same experience with Vita-Cost! I made a purchase and thought everything was cool. The next month I received a charge on my bank account for 9.95 from Shopping Essentials! I never signed up for this and it turns out this law firm is investigating the fraudulent charges:
www.msnattorneys.com email Micah Adkins at madkins@msnattorneys.com with your story and maybe he can help you, too.

Vita-Cost and shopping essentials can't get away with taking my money.

I received an email today from Shopping Essentials "reminding" me that my account would be charged $19.95 for my membership on 1/29/2009. I never subscribed to this service, and didn't even know who they were. After googling them, I realize I have been scammed into what they are claiming is a membership. I never provided them with an account for billing.

Realizing that some vendor I did business with DID provide my account and contact information, I read the reports of similar woes as a result of doing business with Vitacost. My last order to Vitacost was 12/29/2008, which matches up with my "next billing date" for my bogus membership in shopping essentials.

I terminated my membership in Shopping Essentials via their website (we'll see if this takes hold or not), and also removed my billing information from the my Vitacost account. I will contact Vitacost to let them know they have lost my business (I was a long-term customer) and that I will steer others who I know away from their services. What a stupid thing for them to do!

This website is deceiving. They DO NOT ship same day on orders before 2 p.m. If you live close to one of their shipping locations, they make sure it takes at least 3 days. My orders always ship in 48 hours because I live so close. They should state this on their shipping policy, which they do not.

Same story. I ordered $30 worth of items from Vita-cost and a mysterious charge shows up on my credit card statement from Shopping Essential. After getting into it with my wife about buying something without my knowledge I get on Google and find out that this is going on all over. I contact my credit card and they seemed to know all about it asking me if this was the first time they'd done it.
I emailed Vita-Cost on their website (I'd suggest everyone do the same) and demanded an explanation. I also told them to cancel whatever account I have. Never, ever, ever doing business with the lot of crooks. I see where some of these complaints are 6 months old so it is evident they havne't stopped. Really, what kind of people would do such a thing. How do they figure this is good for business?

I've been a victim of this as well. I do think it was represented as a way to receive and additional $25 off my order. And I also know that I did NOT provide my credit card number to Shopping Essentials.

I did not discover this recurrent billing for a whole YEAR. When I first called Vitacost I got a clueless operator who would not credit me the charges. Then I called my credit card company again. They had a SPECIAL DEPARTMENT/OPERATOR JUST FOR VICTIMS OF SHOPPING ESSENTIALS. I was a little confused as to what was happening, but that department then put me through directly to the person at Shopping Essentials. The key once you get this far is to say, "I never authorized these charges." They immediately refunded me the $235 they had bilked me out of. They clearly know it's illegal, but they count on all the people who don't check their statements carefully and don't realize they are being billed each month.

It does make me not want to patronize Vitacost anymore. Too bad because they have good products at good prices.

oops - above I meant to say "when I first called Shopping Essentials I got a clueless operator." (not Vitacost - I did not call them).