Mdh must know…Apologies if this has already been discussed (couldn’t find a topic), but I stumbled across a free trial for Collagenta and wondered if the Beauty Brains had reviewed this product?
The Beauty Brains respond:
Collagenta is a mail order product line from London-based DS Marketing Ltd, the same company that markets the Dead Sea Minerals collection. Their Active Collagen Serum, which retails for $149 for what appears to be a 2 ounce container, seems to be the one offered in the free trial so let’s take a look at the key claims and the ingredients.
Collagenta Serum Claims
- Regular use of Collagenta Active Serum helps the skin stay supple, plump and taut by supplying it with pure marine collagen, rejuvenating minerals and antioxidants.
- Clinical studies show that when applied twice or thrice daily for just 15 days, Collagenta will fill and smooth out wrinkles that have taken years to form.
- After as little as one month of regular usage, deep wrinkles, sun spots and other hard signs of ageing are dramatically reduced.
- Within 3 months, your skin could look 10 to 15 years younger – velvety smooth, glowing and elastic – without painful and expensive Botox injections!
What do these claims really mean?
If you look closely there’s nothing particularly compelling about these claims. Many other (cheaper) products will help moisturize your skin, plumping it up to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. There are also “weasel words” included in some of the claims that make them dubious. Note the phrasing of “your skin could look 10 to 15 years younger.” The words “could look” helps soften the claim. Hey, we said your skin “could look” 15 years younger! We’re sorry that yours still looks like crap!
There are some numerical claims as well. The most seemingly compelling one states that the product delivers “91% deep wrinkle reduction.” While at first glance this seems impressive, what does it really mean? It could mean that 91% of all deep wrinkles were 100% removed. But it could also mean that 91% of deep wrinkles showed SOME degree of reduction. And that degree could be 25%, 5% or less. Without these important details this claim doesn’t seem so compelling.
How does it work?
Unfortunately, we couldn’t find an ingredient list for this product on their website. (That is a huge red flag in our opinion. Companies should be transparent about the ingredients they use and not hide them from potential consumers.) So all we know is that the marketing copy tells us the “unique” formula includes 87 key ingredients: active marine collagen, pure honey, plant extracts, Dead Sea minerals, vitamins and powerful antioxidants.” None of these ingredients have been proven to have radical effects on the skin. Collagen, for example, is too big to penetrate anyway. All it can do it moisturize and plump up wrinkles. There’s no evidence presented here that makes us think this product works better than any other moisturizer.
Collagenta Serum Scam?
In addition, for what it’s worth, this product seems to have a fair number of complaints about people being over charged and not being able to get their money back. You can check it out for yourself on this Complaints Board. Let the buyer beware!
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Based on what we’ve seen there’s no compelling reason to spend $149 on a product like this. Even getting the free sample makes us a little nervous given the problems that others have had.
Image credit: http://pixabay.com
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Good call on this one Beauty Brains! This is the analysis we love you for!
This company uses the scam that is known as forced continuation.
You get a free product and only pay shipping for which you give your credit card info. In the terms and conditions, which of course most people don’t read, there will something about agreeing to get the free trial you will to pay for stuff if you don’t cancel within a short period of time.
The most common scams are only part of what you receive being free or getting the product sent to you on a periodic basis.
DON’T EVER EVER agree to a free trial with you paying the shipping without carefully reading the terms and conditions.
Below are paragraphs pasted from various parts the Collagenta quite lengthy terms and conditions. Note that their email address that is required to cancel is not in the terms or in the contact link on the website.
“You will then have a certain amount of time (Trial Period), normally 2 weeks from the date you receive the trial goods, to sample and evaluate Our Products. If you are not completely satisfied with Products during the trial period, You agree to notify us via email that You wish to return the trial Products. If you do not notify us, your card on file will be charged the discounted cost of Products, typically $138.82. We reserve the right to recharge a declined order at the original purchase value or a lesser amount if your subscription fails to process on the first attempt.
Furthermore, You will be enrolled in Our Beauty Ship program at default replenishment and charge rates.
The default Beauty Ship replenishment frequency is monthly (every 30 calendar days), but in addition to cancelling, customers can modify their preferred Beauty Ship frequency to: 6 weeks (every 45 calendar days), 2 months (every 60 calendar days) or 3 months (every 90 calendar days).
Any returned items must be unused, in their original condition and packaging. We cannot issue refunds for returned items that are damaged, opened, used or tampered with in any way whatsoever evident.
The cost of returning goods is solely yours to bear. Please note that we cannot pay, issue a shipping label or reimburse you in any way whatsoever for the shipping and handling costs of goods that you wish to return.”
I have just fallen for this scam, but something just did’nt seem right , so I looked at the internet & saw all the complaints. I immediately rang my credit card company & cancelled my card before any payments can be taken. I am expecting the Collagen to come tomorrow, but I will not sign for it & tell the postman to return it. How can you have a free trial & not be able to try it as it can only be returned un-opened!
DON’T EVER SAY YES TO THAT OFFER….WHAT A FRAUDE. THEY CHARGE YOU FOR SHIPMENT AND YOU ARE BEING BILLED THE FULL AMOUNT AFTER. BELIEVE ME IT’S NOT WORTH THE MONEY.
AND FURTHERMORE, HOW CAN WE RETURN AN UNUSED PRODUCT AND SAY WE ARE NOT SATISFIED.
A VERY FRUSTRATED CUSTOMER !!!!! Louise
received this and want to return it. Where do i send it??? no return address.
From the terms and conditions on their website. Sorry!!
7. Return and Refund Policies:
As part of our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, if you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, for any reason, you can return the product up to 30 days after delivery of your order for a full refund of the initial purchase price (less any applicable shipping and handling charges for our customers located outside of the European Union member states).
If you wish to return the Products you have purchased, please send them here:
Collagenta
c/o Paloma Dead Sea, Ltd.
PO Box 5381
Caesarea 30889
Israel
A $1.49 restocking fee is be applicable to all returned packages, regardless of their condition. The restocking fee will be charged to the card on file when the returned goods are received, before the refund for the original purchase price is issued.
The cost of returning goods is solely yours to bear. Please note that we cannot pay, issue a shipping label or reimburse you in any way whatsoever for the shipping and handling costs of goods that you wish to return.
After reading this I cancelled my bank card and notified my bank about this scam. I have found details of DS marketing who process this scam and tried to contact them to no avail. Also reported this as fraud. Beware anyone and be careful1
Collagenta along with DeadSeaBlue are a scam, 3 weeks after ordering both kits one company nailed my credit card for $144.15 Canadian and the other company got me for $142.98.
I researched the doain names and found both domain names registered to the same user.
NBC television that first broadcast this scam is now also involved as they feel they were used to purpetrate this
Yes, I just fell for this scam too. After a number of emails to complain about them charging me $138 CAD for a free trial, they finally agreed to either let me keep it for $69 or I can return it for a full refund. Since the cost of shipping the bottle back to Israel with a tracking number is around $80, I guess I will keep my “free” trial for $69.
I hope that they will at least keep their promise of refunding me the difference between $138 and $69. I will have to wait and see.
Though “forced continuation” are nasty sneaky scams, they are legal.
Somewhere it will say that by ordering you agree to the Terms and Conditions.
Got stung. Never noted anything saying ill be billed for the full amount if not returned in 14 days. The amount showed up on my statement too late to take any action. Is there any help one can get?
Nazir or any one of you, never give up email them daily and ignor thir threats meanwhile post all over youtube and twitter and myspace what a scam this is and ask people to repost within 24 hours your blogs can be read by thousands of people and if they repost you will hit a million viewers worldwide withi a week. The internet works for us too and this company will eventually go bankrupt if you put in a small effort to stop them
I was asked to do a quick survey before googeling a website and told that i would recieve a free gift. After the survey was completed, this company offered me their serum for free (value of $69.99 + $3.95 for shipping) A shipping fee of $6.95 was charged to my visa which prompted me to read the details below. After recognizing that this was a scam, i immediatly contacted their customer care department by email to cancel shipment. The reply stated that i would be contacted within 24 hours, but they replied 48 hours later to tell me my order was already being shipped and that it was to late to cancel. I plan to get legal councel and have no intention of picking up thier product from the post office or paying shipping fees to return it back to Isreal. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
if you did not sign for it they have no proof of you receiving the stuff.. cancel your card or ask the bank to stop any further transactions and block any future emails from them.
I dont recall if i clicked any box saying “I agree”. Although I wish I could launch a tirade like William suggests, I think Sandra is right. It seems quite an elaborate scam involving 3 players in Israel, UK and North America. Could possibly be all one company. Thinking about it, I was Xmas shopping online and visiting the Sears.ca site. Anything I would click on, another link would appear hovering above and take me to another site. Later I learned it was some malware called “drop down deals”. So, there seems to be yet another player involved. It would take an international law enforcement effort to bring these guys down.
I got half my money back from both companies and yes both companies are owned by the same owners. The same person at DeadSeaBlue got my refund from both companies. And if you search the domain names you will find out the same. Keep on these companies people until you settle ( for half your money back ) then go to their websites and cancell all future orders or email them and make sure there will be no future charges to your credit card
The page on their website where you are supposed to cancel your future orders is broken. Coincidence?
Thank you William & Vincent for forwarding your data to me.
I cancelled my visa, then called the dispute department at Scotia Bank
to have both shipping charges ($6.95 + $2.95) credited back to my account. I also asked my bank to do a research on DS marketing for
fraudulent activities.
I also fell for this scam. I had a bad nights sleep and the next day I cancelled my credit card. The goods have just arrived, I have paid the shipping costs, which is all I feel responsible for. One positive, I have just put the collegen on the back of my hands and it has most certainly made my skin plumper and smoother. Maybe it is worth the money but not by the marketing ploys which are being used.
There was a clock ticking away when ordering the goods and this did NOT allow time to read the terms and condition.
Yup, I have fallen for this too. I completed a survey apparently sponsored by a reputable brand and was offered a reward for taking part. I certainly didn’t notice any terms such as those shown in other posts but possibly didn’t look hard enough. A charge appeared on my cc for another £87.82 which was a bit of a surprise. I’ll speak with my card issuer tomorrow to start sorting this scam.
I have no idea whether these people are under the impression that they can periodically extract more money so it would be useful to know who to contact to make sure that they know that they won’t be. Does anyone know a reliable contact email to “cancel their services”. Many thanks.
support@collagenta.com.
As I said in my other post I contacted them and they promised to reimburse me $68.87 but that was in early February. They still have not credited my account as they said they would. I just sent them another email, but I don’t trust these people at all.
I am expecting an order any day now. I’m sure if I read all comments above I would know what to do so I don’t end up having to part with money I can’t afford to waste. What shall I do, just return the product?
Lynda return the products, they don’t work anyway. Notify your bank and see if maybe replacing your credit card is an option
Unfortunately Lynda, you will have to pay out of pocket to ship it back to Israel and since I don’t trust these guys I would not do it without a tracking number. Also, to ship via surface would literally take months (if you’re in North America), which gives them plenty of time to bill your credit card a few more times before they receive the return, so you’ll have no choice but to ship it by air which again costs more.
It won’t be cheap to send it back.
Many thanks for the link to the collagenta “customer care” department.
I have put the issue into the hands of my credit card company and their investigations team who are much better equipped to deal with deceptive, fraudulent companies than most individuals.
The objective is to prevent more money being taken, obtain a refund and to liaise with UK Trading Standards..
Hi
I fell for the scam immediately cancelled my card and sent the used stuff rattlling round in an envelope surface mail which cost £4 …. Sent an email to support@collagenta.com with the scan of the proof of postage and they emailed back that all accounts were now cancelled and no payments would be taken from my account ….. Simple just dont stress about the stuff being unused because it has to be used to be trialled and you dont need recorded delivery to send to Israel as long as the company know its been posted … I mean they are not bothered about the return really as i was told most of these packages are destroyed at Israel customs anyway so dont spend a fortune on return ..
log your complaint with trading standards or Advertising standards agency … The more people that do this then the more likely that they will be stopped …
Collagenta is a SCAM! Does not work and DO NOT believe it is a free trial offer. A heavy bill will be charged to you after you accept the “FREE TRIAL OFFER” and sign up for it. You will ACTUALLY be BUYING the product at FULL PRICE after 14 days. READ the TINY print at the end of the offer. Learned it the hard way when over $150 was charged to my bank account. The Customer Care contact number doesn’t work either. I still have the useless full bottle collecting dust on the counter. Throwing over $150 in the garbage. BEWARE!!
Had I only read some of your comments I would not have fallen for this scam .Like many of you after taking part in an online survey ,I was offered a variety of products to choose one from. Unfortunately I chose the collaagenta .I was told to pay for the S&H which cost 4.95. I then realise that another 97.82 was taken out from my account. I immediately called my bank and tried to get in touch with the company. I am currently in the process of trying to get my monet refunded from my bank as I certainly did not authrise this further payment.
I certainly hope that I can be refunded for this and I will never fall for this type of scam ever.
Pls everyone DO NOT fall for this type of advertising gimmick .Its very misleading and its flase advertising.
I have also fallen for this scam — saw it advertised on face book and thought it was genuine .Ordered the free trial of the collagenta serum and 3 small pots of creams .Now find the bank have paid them an extra £98.72
without my authority.
Im another recent scam-faller. thought i would check out the company after recieving the product without any shipping info/ return info and found all the scam info. I am in the Uk and i have contacted my card issuer who inform me that once the first payment is taken, i need to contact the bank to lodge a visa dispute and they will be able to sort it all out on my behalf.
I too fell for this … or rather my husband did. Small trial size arrived and it was only when I checked my bank account this morning that I realised that they had taken £97.82 from my account. I have cancelled my card and opened a dispute with my bank, although they have told me that there are no guarantees. Their listed phone number is a dead line.
Yes – I fell for it too. I was browsing the John Lewis site (reputable surely?) when the so called special offer popped up – and more fool me I signed up for it. As I pressed ‘send’ I saw a line appear in small letters saying I would be charged £90 something per month . I e-mailed them at once to say I wanted to cancel, but what do you know? SO efficient are they that although they tried (desperately I am sure) to cancel for me, it had already been despatched. Love the way it arrived with no address or information about how to return it if one wished to do so. I have just sent it back untouched and have supplied them with proof of postage as requested. I have also spoken to my bank about blocking them. Total scam and as for sending it back to Israel when the company is based in London….polite words fail me.
Update: They did eventually reimburse me the $68.87 as promised (this is only half of the full price) but I had to bug them a few times for it to happen. They told me there was a “technical glitch” so the first time they tried to reimburse me it didn’t work. Ya, right. I have no reason to believe anything they tell me.
I was scammed 3 weeks ago rang them and cancelled via email sent the un-opened product back with tracking number to israel ,i also told them i would deliver it personally if they didnt reply to my email and would contact there priminister ,it did the trick replyed back to me and got confirmation of cancelation ,also changed my account details just to be safe .
Update
I have recently gotten back part of my money from this company after several sending several emails to them. As I have said that I contacted my back and completed a dispute form -today I saw 97.82 back into my account from my bank.I can only assume this was upon investigation of my claim.
To all that was fooled like myself pls contact your bank- complete a dispute form and hopefully you will get your money back and pls dont fall for this type of scam anymore.Its an expensive lesson to learn.
Yes I am one of the many who have been scammed by this so called company, no return address contacted my bank and they have put a stop to any future payments being taken from my account. Surely the more people complain someone has to take notice
This is a real scam! don’t apply!
I went for the FREE 30ml bottle of collagenta and received it! but several weeks later I received another bottle of collagenta which I never ordered and was charged £68. for it; I never received an invoice or any kind of paper work on the computer or by post, it was only when I checked my Bank statement for the past week that I noticed the charge of £68. I am worried that they have charged £68. for the first bottle that was FREE several weeks ago! and did not notice it; how did they obtain my Bank details as the first bottle was FREE and I just had to give my address!
ahh, forgot, in my annoyance of the scam that I actually gave my bank card number for the p. & p. I shall go to the Bank tomorrow to check my account for the past 4 or 6 weeks to find out if there is more damage and have a stop put on the scam company.
Gladstone, this company generally charges you for you free trial 14 days after you were conned into applying for it. Some people have found that the scammers then try to apply periodic charges and send you “top-ups” of the stuff in the bottle (no description of ingredients).
I spoke with my credit card company to help sort the problem and the money was refunded to me very quickly – a day or two. Their investigation team are aware this company and its practices and I discussed every step with them – which they documented. It seems that good banks and card companies take this sort of thing pretty seriously and so I would certainly recommend addressing the problem with them directly.
It would also be interesting to see an analysis of the stuff in the bottle!
I have a R.B.of Scotland Visa Debit Card, I am not sure if a debit card has the same terms & conditions as the credit card. I shall find out on Monday that is if the banks are open!
STAY AWAY from this bunch. I had £97.82 & £97.95 taken from my debit account and they were about to take another £68.00 from my account until I got a text alert from my bank saying a company from Mauritius was trying to take money. After contacting the fraud department at my bank and more than 2 hours on the phone I have managed to block this. I feel sick to the bottom of my stomach that I was such a fool. I cannot get in touch with this company. All e-mails and phone no’s are down. Help anybody know how to contact them and cancel?
Hi everyone, Alastair and Ria Richardson,and others hwo know how to get out of this situation…!!! Could you give me an advise pls, I`m in the same situation, I sent all theirs products back, I e-mail them to confirm me that they canceled any my profile or account. They confirmed that they canceled all and they will refund me 148.82$. However, I canceled my credit card according advise of RBC. Could you tell me pls,what did you do exactly to get your money back? And how the bank can help me,in which way?What I must to do?and what did you do with the products? Did you return to the collagenta? Thank’s a lot guys!
If I have the emails from collagenta and beauty kit, where is written that they will refund me 148.82$ and they won’t charge my credit card and they canceled all my profiles or accounts and they won’t send me theirs products….is this a proof for the bank? In this case the bank will refund me the amount? However, I canceled my credit card. Please HELP ME!!!
I also ordered the free trail and then was charged $148 for it.I phoned my bank and they gave me a new number so they could not bill me again. It kept me awake just thinking about it..
Alice,
So sorry to hear about your plight but fear not. Once you have reported the matter to the bank , the bank inturn (Barclays) sent me a form to complete) and I got my money back. A word to note, keep checking your bank account daily and if you notice any other monies being taken out from your account ,contact the bank immediately.
I bank with Barclays and as soon as I notice what was taking place I contacted them immediately.
I do hope that your bank will be proactive and do something about this.
Ria
Alice
You can certainly use these as proof but please speak with your bank.
All the best.
Ria
Hi Ria, thank you for your advise, I called my bank, I blocked my cc, now I have another cc and I noted that collagenta try to refund me my amount. And you know what is the solution, what i did? Daily I wrote them, I request them to confirm me that they will cancel everything and they will refund my money.I threatened them with Ministry Customer Service, The Police, I gave them 24 hours to answer at each my request exactly. All of you which were scamed by collagenta and beauty kit, must write them daily to the all their support@collagentalux.com , support@deadseabeautykit.com, help@collagenta.com,returns@deadseakit.com . When you write them, be steady, show your fury but without bad words,threatned them that you will make complaines if they won’t refund amount and they won’t confirm at all your requests. Also, when you write to their customer service, write to all their options: general inquiries, order status, billing inquiries, cancel auto-ship, other. And don’t give up! Be steady with them. Now, they asked my kindly: please to replay with 1 email only…so, as you can see, I annoyed them with my emails…Call your bank, and tell your matter with collagenta and beautykit. The bank know about them, they will advice you how to proceed and keep all emails from collagenta like a proof for the bank, the police And ministry customer service. Here you are the address of collagenta and beauty kit: DS Marketing Ltd.
C/O Precision Total Fulfillment
170 Zenway BLVD unit 3
Woodbridge, Ontario
L4H 2Y7, CANADA
But, you can find this address also in their terms &conditions, BUT note that they wrote L4H 2YZ, so as you can see, there is inexistant post code. In my case, I received the products from L4H 2Y7. So, I sent it back to the same address. I wish GOOD LUCK to all of us, and DON’T GIVE UP!
Also, read their terms&conditions very minutely and carefully . You can return the product within 30 days of the date of delivery. I did it like this.
And you know, I have an idea, we must report about that to Mass Media, TV,Radio, create web site concerning scam of collagenta and beauty kit…etc . The more people will know about that, tho most collagenta will lose.
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