Smiles Coffee promotion - USA

[horizonod]

Smiles Coffee revisited

Their SPAM is intolerable, as others. I've received several a day at times and refuse to patronize people that think it's fine to use a service I PAY FOR and EQUIPMENT I PAY to own and maintain to send their self serving and dishonest offers.

I fell for it once and got stiffed on the camera that was clearly included on the face of the offer. After outing them they agreed to send the camera and I rescinded my complaint.

When the camera finally arrived it didn't work. I wasn't expecting an Olympus but I was expecting something that worked.

Bottom line is that the tricksters are working overtime these days in every possible field and they are doing their best to part you from your money however they can.

My new STRICT RULE is that if a SPAMMER or PHONE SOLICITOR contacts me WITH ANY OFFER AT ALL, I tell them that we don't patronize companies that are selfish and rude enough to resort to invading our privacy to sell their wares. NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!

It's a good rule:^)

 

[JavaHound]

DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH SMILES COFFEE - YOU WON'T BE!

I had the misfortune of signing up for this service, and have regretted it from day one.

1. The product arrived, basically on schedule, but the amount billed to my card was NOT what I signed up for.

2. The company is IMPOSSIBLE to reach! Emails have NEVER been returned, and they NEVER answer their 866 number. (I have sent almost a dozen emails. NO REPLY.

3. Instant update: As I'm writing this, my husband emailed to say that he just got off the phone with them -- after making 30 attempts to reach them today (he logged his attempts: ALL BUSY SIGNALS until he finally did reach them.)

Here is their "solution" -- They did ALLOW us to cancel (thanks, guys) BUT they're charging us $4.95 for the priviledge of not doing business with them. They WILL credit our card (in 60 days) IF we return ALL the product (WE NEVER WANTED AND COULDN"T CONTACT THEM TO CANCEL) AT OUR OWN EXPENSE.

I'm furious. I URGE EVERYONE TO BOYCOTT THIS COMPANY. The "customer service" rep my husband dealt with was VERY RUDE, and the info he gave out was no more helpful.

(Oh, and by the way, their product SUCKS!)

I'm filing a complaint with the BBB.

 

[JavaHound]

UPDATE from JavaHound

Well, THANKS TO YOU FINE FOLKS I have resolution!

After WEEKS of emails and busy signals, I got a call back from the CEO himself in less than five minutes of hitting send, and within ten minutes of negotiating, I'm satisfied....well, no longer irritated is more accurate. I'm STILL irritated that it took detective work to REACH a human...but you get the idea.

As I'm an inherently fair human, let me share THEIR side of the story: the marketing they have in place (yeah, that includes all those spams) was FAR more effective than they might have wished for. So this relatively small company is overwhelmed and struggling to keep up with demand. A situation every start up envies...up until the INSTANT they find themsleves in over their heads. My gut instinct is that the CEO IS a decent fellow, a businessman who wasn't prepared for the response. If they can survive the considerable rage this engenders in the masses, they may become a player. Who knows?

There is light at the end of this tunnel, at least for me. But I had to work WAAAAAY too hard to see it.

 

[chesler]

Update on my dealings with Smiles

Besides writing to my bank, I wrote to my state's Attorney General, and things got bounced around until it reached their appropriate consumer protection division, who bounced it around some more, but eventually sent it to some pre-law student who is doing some sort of internship I think. All she can do is ask nicely, but it will be coming from the AG; however she called me back and said she hasn't been able to get through on the toll-free number.

I'll give her that private e-mail, thanks Javahound, but the story about the promotion being too successful doesn't ring true, and not just because it's the same reason Staples' rebate house gave as to why "8 to 10 weeks" (way too long anyway) is now taking 3 to 4 months. Their web site clearly funneled one promotion into another's acceptance area, and enough of the squirrely-ness has been brought to their attention over too long a period of time. They've got a scam going, and they know for $10 most people aren't going to fight something colorable as non-fraud.

 

[kenlccke]

I HATE SMILES COFFEE

I am NOT smiling. Smiles Coffee is the WORST company I have dealt with in years. They got me on the initial offer, and the coffee was pretty good, but not worth the monthly fee they were going to charge me. I called to cancel before the initial offer period expired, and the rep convinced me to have my account put on indefinite hold while she sent me more free samples. I reluctantly agreed, but I figured it was safe. Wow was I wrong. They proceeded to send me 6 free samples, and the a week later 26 in another box. They charged me over $36 TWICE on my credit card. I emailed them and auto response told me to call. GOOD LUCK CALLING. First, it sounds like you are re-routed to somewhere in India, and you can barely understand anything the person is saying. The connnection is so bad its pathetic, and then the rep's accent is so thick you have to have them spell everything. I called three different times with horrible people- rude people- to have to deal with. They denied ever offering me the free sample; and they said that they could still charge my account as often as they wanted even if it was on hold! They said I should send everything back and then maybe they would refund my money! I didn't even receive everything I was supposed to, I didn't authorize them to charge my card once I called to cancel, and then they want back the stuff they said they were giving to me for FREE!! The rep was literally yelling at me, telling me I should not have drank the coffee if I didn't plan on paying for it! I told her she was nuts, that I wanted to cancel and didn't want the stupid "free" samples anyway. I asked for a supervisor and she said there wasn't one she could get. I insisted and she refused telling me to call back and ask for a different rep. I spent nearly an hour with this "Carol" who was so obnoxious- I disputed the charges with my credit card company and they refunded me at least one charge for now. I HATE THIS COMPANY. STAY FAR AWAY. The only good thing is that I know they won't be in business for long when they treat people like this. Good riddance!!!

 

[Susan Anderson]

I like it!!!!!

I've been receiving coffee from Smiles for 3 months and have been quite happy with it. It beats my daily trips to a certain high-priced coffee house which produces an inconsistent product. Also, I checked and the domain has been registered for almost 2 years. They must be doing something right.

 

[MrJerry]

They sure have a very sick way of doing business! Sorry to hear that several of you had such a rough time dealing with them.

I guess my big idea of running a huge spam campaign offering to come over to your house and make you dinner will just have to wait until the dust from this "smiles" thingy is over!

By the way, dinner is going to be a box of under cooked Mac-N-Cheese!

 

[schoon123]

this stuff was sooooo bad. I sent it all back. No matter how long you cook it in the microwave it tastes bad. Now you know why they are giving away free stuff. And anyone should know that you never roast coffee beans in a microwave.

 

[billdog]

Response to Schoon 123

You're not supposed to "COOK" the beans - you are finishing off the roasting process for a few seconds!!! It's no wonder that you didn't like the coffee, you probably cremated the beans. I've been receiving Smiles coffee for several months and think it's some of the best that I've ever had. I personally think that the new technology of fresh roasted coffee right from your own microwave is a great idea. Also, any time I have been in touch with customer service, they have been very courteous and helpful.

 

[topher]

Not only am I a customer...I own the company :roll:

 

[notmuffy]

Re: I like it!!!!!

.....Also, I checked and the domain has been registered for almost 2 years. They must be doing something right.

Yeah, um, like paying their monthly webhosting bill? :roll:

 

[notmuffy]

Re: funny comment

....My host went down the other day, the reason behind it,....Some spammer signed up with a stolen credit card, installed his spamming tools and tried to send out a fake paypal username/password spoof site. This is typical of spammers, he got a whole 150 email's out before we shut him down, he tried it at least 14 times so far and we have had to change our policy to insure it never happens again......

That sucks in so many way, man! Sorry to hear that!

....Along to the original topic, some companies think that since you purchased from them, then you automatically should receive product updates, and even though you made sure you checked off you don't want to receive them, some unscrupilous or incompetent web designers will just lump you right in with the ones that opted in, so that could be something that has gone into play here. Ebay did that to me, and I had to get rude with them about it, but I think they got the point, hell I even offered to fix their script if this was the case.

This happened to me with Amazon.com! After signing up so I could purchase something, I made damn sure that I un-checked every box they had. Later I must have gotten 4 emails in 2 days from them, and I've never sent a nastier responding email in my life :evil:
It worked, because I've never gotten an email since, though I refuse to buy anything further.

 

[rocky2]

:evil: Smiles Coffee has to be the biggest scam on the internet that I have ever dealt with. First of all, they charged my credit card for items that I had not received. I had to fight and fight to get my money back by placing the charge in dispute with the credit card company. After another four months later (now over 6 months since the order) I received it with a bill that showed I was overdue. I attempted to email them to tell them that I had cancelled the order since they did not ever send it to begin with but had charged my credit card. They stated that they had never received an order from me. I asked them how did they then have the guts to charge my card at that time. I also asked them how did I now get an order IF I had not ordered previously. They are either the greater scammers on the net at the most or the most disorganzied and negligent at the least. By the way, the coffee did not roast well with their "microwave" system nor did it taste well either. I would highly warn anyone of dealing with this company.