Moray Council’s trading standards service is warning local residents to beware of internet-based ‘free trial’ offers for slimming and other cosmetic products.
The service has received a number of complaints from people who have signed up online for what they believe to be free trial offers, believing they were only being asked to pay a small amount for postage and packaging.
However, it later emerged that they had signed up to a monthly supply costing between £70 and £80.
Investigations by trading standards revealed that the adverts – often found on social media sites or online pop-ups – did not make it clear to the consumer that for a free trial they would be required to cancel the offer within 14 days, otherwise they were agreeing to ongoing monthly payments for each individual product.
