How to Avoid an Acai Berry Scam

Acai Palms

Scammers always try to profit from the latest craze. One popular scam involves the acai berry. The acai berry itself is not a hoax. It has similar health benefits to other berries, and might even be of greater benefit. What it does not do is help you lose weight without diet and exercise.

Unfortunately not only do scammers try to present the acai berry as a miracle weight loss supplement, they also just cheat people in general through various trickery involving hard-to-cancel recurring orders on your credit card. This article offers some steps that will help you avoid scams involving the acai berry (and scams in general).

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. First of all, understand that the acai berry itself is not the problem. The acai berry is high in antioxidants, fiber, and heart-healthy fats. All of this is very good. All of these things are certainly components of a typical weight loss and/or detoxification program. However, the acai berry will simply not do what the hoax ads promise it will, which is to help you lose a tremendous amount of weight in a short time.

   A healthy weight loss goal (other than initial water weight loss) is to lose 1% of your body weight each week. A 200-pound person should aim for 2 pounds per week. This is only accomplished by eating fewer calories each day than you burn. Any supplements that you take may aid in the process to some extent, but do not take the place of this. Even powerful prescription appetite suppressants do not work miracles.

2. Next, understand that the documented health benefits of the acai berry can also be obtained from many other sources. There are many foods that are high in antioxidants. In particular, studies have shown that pure cranberry juice has just about the same antioxidant capacity as acai berry juice. That is why fitness guru Jillian Michaels includes cranberry juice in her detox water recipe. Pomegranate juice and even red wine have been shown to have an even greater antioxidant capacity than the acai berry.

   As far as fiber, plenty of foods are high in fiber, and there are plenty of delicious fiber-rich supplements available. As far as heart-healthy-fats, many doctors recommend taking fish oil capsules that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, and there are certainly many other foods that offer this. The acai berry is simply not a miracle food.

3. The first step for avoiding an acai berry scam is recognizing that acai berry products are readily available from your local pharmacy, or through reputable online drugstores. There is no reason to order any acai berry products via some cheesy website, from a company that you never heard of. These are simply all hoaxes. They do not have access to any special acai berry product that cannot be found elsewhere. You don't have to patronize the website of a scammer whose website says in huge letters that you will lose 25 pounds in 10 days if you buy their product.

4. Assuming you find an online retailer that seems somewhat trustworthy, the next step in avoiding a scam is to read all the fine print on the site. You might have to click one or more links to get to it. If it mentions anything about recurring billing, it's a scam. If it mentions anything about a free trial, but requiring you to cancel by a certain time in your billing cycle, it's a scam. If it involves the inclusion of some unrelated product which has its own recurring billing plan, it's a scam.

5. Assuming you are at the point where you found what you really think is an honest online retailer, the next step is to research the company. One easy way to do this is to just Google the company's name. You could also tack on the word "scam" or "hoax" or "complaints", and see what comes up. Of course every company has unsatisfied customers who complain, but if you see nothing but people claiming that they were cheated, and you don't see any rebuttals to the contrary, that is a bad sign.

   Also try Googleing the company's phone number. If people claim that they have difficulty getting through to it, they will often include that number in their posting. Finally, you can also look up the company on the website of the BBB. If they have many complaints against them, or aren't listed at all, then avoid them.

6. Understand that what happens with these acai berry scams is that they offer you a free trial of the product, but they ask for your credit card number. They then say that if you cancel in 14 days, nothing happens, and you can keep the free trial. They then ship the free trial such that you get it after the 14 days have passed, and then they bill your credit card around $80, as part of their monthly recurring billing program. You then try to call and cancel, and find that the number is either disconnected, or they say that have no record of your order number so they can't cancel the order, or they put you on hold forever, or similar.

   In some cases they may say that they will cancel you for the future, but that your next month's order already shipped, and cannot be canceled or returned. Many times they will simply lie to you and say that billing will stop, but they still continue to bill. Many people can only resolve these problems through lengthy disputes with their credit card company, followed by canceling their credit cards.

7. Understand that you will never have these problems with a large, reputable company. Sure, they could make a billing mistake, or there could be a misunderstanding, but it is always quickly resolved with a simple letter. Big companies don't want trouble like that. It isn't worth it for them. These small hoax companies just operate above the law, and it is difficult for the government to keep up with them. Don't become a victim of these hoaxes!

Resources

• How to Lose Weight Each Week
• How to Make Jillian Michaels' Detox Water
• Better Business Bureau Online