Have you ever filed a complaint with the BBB?

[DisneyFan32WI]

(and no, not Bippity Boppity Boutique).

I have had 2 major problems with Proactiv Solutions over the past 30 days. To make a long story short, they were charging my debit card without my permission. This happened even after my account was closed. The agent said there was nothing he could do to reverse the $100 charge until I mailed back the product they were sending me. It would take an additional 4-6 weeks to get a refund. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Anyway, I was so fed up with going back and forth with e-mails and phone calls, so I filed an online claim with the BBB. Just wondering if anyone had any experience with them and if you had a successful outcome.

I really didn't want this to go so far, but I felt like I had no choice.

 

[eliz603]

I'm very underwhelmed by the BBB. Did you know that being a paying member will give you a higher rating? Anyway, I have filed a complaint through them. They are mediators, nothing more. My fight was with Rooms to Go. Nothing happened. Nothing was resolved. BBB was really of little help.

If you feel that a business is acting fraudulently, you should look to see if your state Attorney General's office has a consumer affairs division. They do here in NC. They take complaints like the one you described and investigate them. I filed once against AT&T back in the days of paying per minute for long distance. Had a quote, got the bill, charged something else. Was straight up called a liar when I called to question the bill. AT&T wouldn't hold up their end of our agreement, so I filed a complaint with the above described office. Within a few weeks, AT&T sent me a check (I had to pay the bill or lose phone service) for the difference between the quoted and charged rate.

 

[Tozzie]

(and no, not Bippity Boppity Boutique).

I have had 2 major problems with Proactiv Solutions over the past 30 days. To make a long story short, they were charging my debit card without my permission. This happened even after my account was closed. The agent said there was nothing he could do to reverse the $100 charge until I mailed back the product they were sending me. It would take an additional 4-6 weeks to get a refund. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Anyway, I was so fed up with going back and forth with e-mails and phone calls, so I filed an online claim with the BBB. Just wondering if anyone had any experience with them and if you had a successful outcome.

I really didn't want this to go so far, but I felt like I had no choice.

The BBB is useless, they have no legal authority, can't force a company to do anything and companies don't have to respond to them. You would be better off filing a complaint with the consumer affairs dept of your city or state. I have a question, are you sure you didn't fail to cancel an order? Companies like that usually have fine print that states you have xxx amount of days to cancel or they will auto ship something.

This is also why you are better off using a credit card when ordering on line instead of a debit card.

 

[Katlyn]

(and no, not Bippity Boppity Boutique).

I have had 2 major problems with Proactiv Solutions over the past 30 days. To make a long story short, they were charging my debit card without my permission. This happened even after my account was closed. The agent said there was nothing he could do to reverse the $100 charge until I mailed back the product they were sending me. It would take an additional 4-6 weeks to get a refund. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Anyway, I was so fed up with going back and forth with e-mails and phone calls, so I filed an online claim with the BBB. Just wondering if anyone had any experience with them and if you had a successful outcome.

I really didn't want this to go so far, but I felt like I had no choice.

I did years ago and while BBB didn't really do anything but contact the company, I did receive a call from the owner and boy was he p'od that I filed a complaint. By that time I was so fed up with them I let the owner have it. It made me feel better to know he was upset about the complaint and maybe the next customer that had a problem, he wouldn't treat them so shoddy. I sort of doubt that, I think the whole company was shady. GL

 

[Art 1]

The BBB is a joke. If the general public only knew how they operate.

 

[lauradis]

BBB is so old school, out dated. you want reviews on a product just Google complaints on said product.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I think you'd get a better response by complaining to my cat.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Oh my. Thanks for all of the replies. I simply had no idea that the BBB wouldn't be much help. I guess when this is all said and done, I will post an update.

Thanks so much!

 

[Chin Chin]

Off topic: Proactiv has the absolute worst customer service I know what you are going through.

My son now uses Benzoyl Peroxide (10%) from Wal Mart and it works better than Proactiv. The WalMart brand sells out often, so you may have to pay a bit more and get Neutrogena. Still cheaper than Proactiv.

 

[marius97]

Yep...BBB is a complete scam. Numerous shows like 20/20, Dateline, etc. have done stories on businesses with top ratings canceled their membership and were suddenly downgraded to a low rating. The same thing happened in the reverse direction too.

You can dispute charges with your debit card company too. We did the same thing when DW got makeup from an automatic shipping company like that. We canceled but they kept shipping anyway. They wanted us to ship stuff back before giving a refund. I disputed with my bank and they sided with me and gave me my money back. Weeks later, the company gave me my money back too so the bank went in and took their refund back.

 

[RitaE]

I had that problem with Proactive and I just disputed the charges with American Express. After a couple of months have having the charge reversed they quit sending me the boxes.

 

[NewRVLady]

The BBB is old school, usually a local agency that just files papers and does NOTHING.
I have used them twice-never again


We had a problem with an alarm/ personal alarm device for an elderly relative and actually wrote the State Attorney's Office , got a WONDERFUL response and were able to get out of the long contract.

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

I was talking to our air conditioning repairman and he said online reviews and Angie's list have taken the place the bbb used to hold. He said many companies don't bother with it anymore.

 

[HM]

I had that problem with Proactive and I just disputed the charges with American Express. After a couple of months have having the charge reversed they quit sending me the boxes.

But, the OP said it was her Debit Card, not a CC.

I feel for your OP. My DD tried Proactiv for a couple weeks and did not like it at all. We did have some problems getting the return taken care of, but we did not have any more charges after the fact. They definitely made it hard to deal with them.

 

[marius97]

But, the OP said it was her Debit Card, not a CC.

I feel for your OP. My DD tried Proactiv for a couple weeks and did not like it at all. We did have some problems getting the return taken care of, but we did not have any more charges after the fact. They definitely made it hard to deal with them.

Disputes on debit cards work the same as credit cards. The only difference is that you may not have access to that money while the dispute is taking place. My bank though puts the money back in my account provisionally until the dispute is resolved. I get full access to that money, but if the dispute were denied, they would take the money back.

 

[Stitchfans]

The BBB is useless, they have no legal authority, can't force a company to do anything and companies don't have to respond to them. You would be better off filing a complaint with the consumer affairs dept of your city or state. I have a question, are you sure you didn't fail to cancel an order? Companies like that usually have fine print that states you have xxx amount of days to cancel or they will auto ship something.

This is also why you are better off using a credit card when ordering on line instead of a debit card.

Exactly. It is a big waste of time to file a complaint with them.

 

[ford family]

We had the same experience.
After failing to get our $2,200 deposit back from a company called Granite Transformations, when they failed to complete our kitchen refurbishment, we complained to the BBB.
They wrote to the company HQ in Miami who didn't bother to respond at all.
After a few months the BBB said they could do no more.
Complete waste of time.
That was a deposit paid by cheque. Since then we only pay by credit card even if we have to pay a premium to do so.

ford family

 

[NaLisa]

Honestly, after reading this thread, I'm far more likely to seek out reviews on the DISboards than to check BBB ratings. Sad to see that BBB has become so useless, and I will definitely not be ordering any Proavtiv.

 

[scrapquitler]

(and no, not Bippity Boppity Boutique).

I have had 2 major problems with Proactiv Solutions over the past 30 days. To make a long story short, they were charging my debit card without my permission. This happened even after my account was closed. The agent said there was nothing he could do to reverse the $100 charge until I mailed back the product they were sending me. It would take an additional 4-6 weeks to get a refund. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Anyway, I was so fed up with going back and forth with e-mails and phone calls, so I filed an online claim with the BBB. Just wondering if anyone had any experience with them and if you had a successful outcome.

I really didn't want this to go so far, but I felt like I had no choice.

Fille a dispute with the credit card company.,

 

[Stitchfans]

Fille a dispute with the credit card company.,

I think it can't work because it is a debit card they have been charging. I am surprised the bank that issued the card can't do something about it, to stop this. I know if it was an actual credit card they can and do help. I had a driveway put in and to make a long story short the owner tried to charge me for extra gravel that was never delivered. I called my credit card and they took the charges off and took the money out of his account. He never disputed it. Guess he figured he was caught.