Teeth whitening scam bites woman

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A West Michigan woman fell prey to one of the top scams in recent times, but it's turned out to be a reasonably happy ending.

On April 7, Doris Johnson ordered an EverBrite teeth whitening product after seeing testimonials about how quickly and well the product worked. She wanted their free trial because she drinks a lot of tea.

She ordered the product online, but she never received her order, even though her account was charged on April 16.

"They have got $90 out of me that they don't deserve," she told 24 Hour News 8.

She called her bank, but she couldn't do anything because she authorized the withdrawals. She cancelled her debit card so she couldn't be charged again, and she's had a few autopayments that she's had to change.

Johnson needed to cancel within 10 days, but since she never got anything she didn't know if she liked the product or not. That left her no time to cancel within the time period. And the fine print notes EverBrite will continually refill the order each month -- for $87 each time -- until you cancel.

She was told she'd get an e-mail from the company on how to cancel, but never got one.

"I just hope that other people don't fall for it. I figure I have had a $90 lesson to not order anything on the Internet unless I am very familiar with the company," she said. "I have ordered things before and never had a problem. I wasn't looking that I was going to have a problem. It looked very legitimate and I know these products are out there and so I just felt it was a good idea to try it."

There are many complaints online about EverBrite, and the Better Business Burea gives it an F rating because of 117 complaints the company has not responded to. And despite the best efforts of 24 Hour News 8, the only number we could find was an 800- number to a call center.

Johnson lives on Social Security and $90 is a "good sized" dent in her budget.

"It certainly looked very good, looked like a great deal," she said, but added, "I mean, this has got to be a real scam."

She wasn't able to get a refund. But, after being contacted by 24 Hour News 8, a company representative said they would refund her money back into her bank account within 10 business days.

On the Net:

Complaints about EverBrite