‘Scam Me Once – Shame on You – Scam Me Twice, Shame on Me’

By Judi Curry

There is no question that I am an insomniac. I have been for over 13 years and it started when my husband Bob was diagnosed with lung cancer.  As the cancer advanced, it was difficult for him to speak, and so we developed a method of communication by turning on a light whenever he needed anything.  It didn’t matter what time of day it was – the light went on.

But insomniacs seem to “run” in my family.  My mother and her sister were sleeping pill addicts; My three daughters all have trouble sleeping and one of them takes one or two Benedryl at night to get to sleep.  We have been looking for sleep remedies for a very long time.

(Once I suggested to my daughter Michele that we open up an “Insomniac Café” – open from midnight to 6:00  in the morning.  The attire would be pajamas, robes, other nightwear, etc.  Michele is an excellent baker, and her muffins and cookies and cakes would be enough to help a person go home and go to bed because they would be full.  Obviously we haven’t done it, but as she gets closer to retirement age, it might not be a bad idea!)

I seldom, if ever, purchase anything that I see as an advertisement on line.  But I fell for it this time.  There was an ad for a FREE two week trial for “Peptiva” – a sleep support supplement.  All I needed to do was pay the $5.99 shipping fee.  Sounded so good.  A full night’s sleep is a dream, if you excuse the pun!  But before I was going to do that I looked up the reviews, on Amazon, for this product, and they were wonderful.  There were too many (?) to be fake ones, and except for the high cost of the pill, people had fantastic things to say about it. So good, that I couldn’t resist trying it myself.

I sent in my order, with my credit card to pay for the shipping.  And when it arrived there was another digestive enzyme formula – “Prodigest” as a free sample.

After Shadow died, I had even a harder time going to sleep.  He used to cuddle next to me at night, and feeling his warmth against me gave me comfort that I was lacking.  The nights were terrible and it seemed like the only way I could get to sleep was to cry until I was exhausted. And even then I would sleep for a few hours and wake up unable to go back to sleep.

I remembered the Peptiva that was still on my desk unopened and decided to try it.  At this point I was willing to try anything, and I informed my daughters that I was going to try this great new product.

Ha!  It did absolutely NOTHING for me.  In fact, I was awakened more times than usual.  I thought it might be because I was thinking that this was the miracle  I was looking for and my mind was keeping me awake, so I took it  the next night.  Same result.  Slept worse than I did the first night.  I quietly closed the box and put it back on my desk to be taken to the drug store to dispose of it.

Yesterday, to my surprise, I received a box of Peptiva in the mail – this time with 30 tablets.  I was surprised and thought that somehow my name must have come up and they didn’t realize they had already sent me the sample I ordered.  It just so happened that one of my daughters – Lynn – called to see how things were going and when I asked her how she was she told me she was very tired, that she didn’t sleep well the night before.  So I told her that I received another box of Peptiva and I’d be glad to send it to her so she could try it.  It’s so nice to have intelligent children, because she said, “MOM!  Check your credit card statement.  You were billed for that second box!”  I couldn’t believe that.  All I ordered was a “free sample” for shipping costs.  So….I pulled up my statement that I had just received that morning. And guess what?  Yep!  I was billed $5.99 for shipping on January 3, and on January 17th I was billed $70.63 from Peptiva!

I immediately looked up the Peptiva phone number and called them in Utah.  And I have to say that I had one of the snottiest people I have talked to in some time.  Her attitude, of course, allowed me to also show off my best colors, and we actually got into a shouting match. She told me that it said in fine print that if I didn’t cancel my order within 2 weeks, that I would be sent a monthly supply of this sleep formula every month.  She said that I didn’t cancel the order so they were right in sending it – and billing it – to me.  I have to admit that after our conversation, when she made sure to remove me from the mailing list, I looked at the offer again, and it is there in very small print.

I then called my bank and told them that this was an unauthorized purchase and they said they would look into it.  The woman I spoke to did not seem surprised at what happened.  I also told her I was sending the box back, certified mail and return receipt requested. We’ll see if I was scammed again or not, because they might accept the package which will show that I returned it, but whether or not I get a refund is still questionable.

I never thought that the old adage – “Buyer Beware” would pertain to me, because I am usually so careful about how I spend my money. But this is twice this month – one with the purchase of a dog – Max – that I never got, and then this one.  The year 2023 has not started out good for me, for several reasons.  These are only two of those reasons. Maybe I can sleep tonight instead of writing a blog about what is happening in my life.  I wouldn’t count on it.