The Journey of a 1000 miles begins with one really stupid step

Why Take this Journey at all?

That is a very good question. The decision to try out Acai Berry crap started scientifically enough (ha ha)... It was August the 8th. I was feeling, well, PMS-ish. In other words, achy, crampy, bloated and not in a good mood... Overall, just feeling gross and unattractive. I was on my computer and saw the add - follow one simple rule and life will be nervana... Okay, perhaps it was a little more subtle then that - but the message was there. Do this one thing and you will have more energy, feel more healthy, lose weight, and, as a result, be more confident, gain friends, influence people and have a mane of glorious hair... Okay, I may be exagerating just a bit (but really only a bit). Regardless, it was magic in a pill and, if you order in the next 2 minutes, you can try it for free - only 3.95 for shipping and handling.

Well, you can imagine my glee... and yet, even in my weakened emotional state I was skeptical. So I googled Acai Berry. There were many reports on the benefits of the Acai Berry and it was on the top ten foods just before blueberries... so this must be good. I hastily pulled out my credit card and ordered the free Acai Berry and accompanying Colon Clenser...

It took less then five minutes for buyers remorse to set in. What had I done? A seemingly intelligent person, I had just fed my credit card number into an unsecured, unknown site... Was I completely insane? Or just an idiot? Perhaps both.

Then started the daily vigil of my credit card account on line. I checked regularly for any mysterious charges... Fortunately, I just paid for two trips, so the card is, essetially maxed, but after several days there were two charges from the company... not 3.95 as they advertised, but 7.95 each. My scam detector was now in full alert. I was sure that there was no bottle of Acai Berry crap on its way and that I was heading into a long and arduous battle against fraud.

However, within a week, one of the bottles did arrive. The invoice inside the package indicated that I was charged 3.95, but not Canadian dollars - British pounds. Hmm... I went back and checked the site. Canadian flags everywhere but no mention of the currency the 3.95 was in...

As I was becoming more and more leary, I googled the company name and found several reports to consumer groups on people doing the same idiotic thing I did and then being charged hundreds of dollars after the 15 day trial period while the company sent more and more product... I immediately searched for the cancellation number.

Finding it, I dialed - it rang... and rang... and rang... crap! Next call - to my credit card company. Admiting my foolishness, I pleaded for someway to halt all further charges. Unfortunately, they informed me, unless I made an effort to contact the company, they would be unable to do anything. Apparantely calling the provided phone number isn't enough unless someone actually answers. Sigh!

As I spent the next couple days, reading various consumer complaints, a very sick feeling settling in my stomach... I finally found an email address and sent them a notice that I wished to cancel. I hope that would be sufficent effort for my credit card company to cancel any additional charges...

The email came back...

I consider registered mail...

It was then that I thought to look up the country code for the UK in the phone book. The number I had started 044, but apparantly you must dial 011 first from Canada. I hestitated. What if this is one of those things where they keep you on hold forever and a day and you get a million dollars charged to your phone bill. I decided it was worth the risk and set my timer. If I was on hold for more the thirty seconds, I was hanging up.

Fortunately, I actually spoke to someone right away. They took my order number, found the order number of the bottle that hadn't arrived and assured me that no further product or charges would be coming. That was on August 21st and, to date, there have been no further charges... though I still check daily and I'm seriously considering cancelling my card and having a new number issued.

Shortly after that, the second bottle arrived. So now, here I am, with two bottles of stuff and not sure whether I should just toss them or what...

So I do some more on-line research. I learn what to look for on the lables. There is apparantly some independent sites that do indicate some benefit, though warn of the 15 day trial period scam and recommend cancelling right away...

So, now that I have the stuff - do I try it, or chuck it out? That question weighed on my mind for the past week, when I decided, what the heck - I'll give it a shot and see what's up... I figure, maybe I can live up to my Dad's old adage that no one is completely useless, you can always serve as a bad example... perhaps that will be my purpose here. Who knows.