FTC Mails Refund Checks For Deceptive Marketing

The avergae payout to consumers may have been less than $23, but all told deceptive practices are costing skin care companies a hefty sum. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is mailing 79,771 refund checks totaling more than $1.8 million to consumers who signed up for “risk-free” trial offers for skin care products, but were enrolled in negative option programs with recurring monthly charges.
 
The agency’s complaint, filed in June 2015, charged seven individuals and 15 companies with selling Auravie, Dellure, LéOR Skincare, and Miracle Face Kit branded skincare products through deceptive “risk-free trials.” According to the FTC, the defendants convinced consumers to provide their credit card information, purportedly to pay nominal shipping fees, but instead used it to impose unauthorized monthly charges for unordered products.
 
The agency also charged defendants with misrepresenting themselves as accredited by the Better Business Bureau, in violation of the FTC Act.
 
The FTC approved separate settlement orders with two sets of related defendants. First, in October 2016, 10 individual and corporate defendants settled the FTC’s charges. These orders barred the defendants from the conduct alleged in the complaint and required them to pay money to provide refunds to affected consumers. The second settlement, approved in June 2018, resolved the FTC’s charges against the remaining defendants. In addition, the court entered default judgments against 19 other corporate defendants and one individual defendant.
Rust Consulting, Inc., the refund administrator for this matter, will begin mailing checks today. 
 
The average check amount is $22.95, according to the agency.