Free? Free?! It must be a scam!

I know I've talked about having left a lot of money and store credit behind in Japan, but what little I had left in my bank account here at home has just been consumed by a company that goes by Vital Basics, Inc. I had serious difficulties with this past semester's courseload, getting the worst grades of my college career thus far, for all sorts of reasons:

• my natural auditory deficiency -- I can post more details on this, but you might compare this to ADD or dyslexia in terms of contribution to study difficulties
• fatigue from going straight into the fall semester from my summer semester in japan
• inability to sleep due to my roommate and his girlfriend arguing every night at the top of their lungs until 3am
• reverse culture shock
  

So, it occurred to me that I could use some extra help focusing in class. Every day my roommate wuld turn on The Daily Show or just leave the TV on while making dinner and I'd see commercials for this supplement, Focus Factor. The original Focus Factor TV ad went something like this:

Free? Free?! You're giving it away free?

Hi I'm Rob Gray; I'm the president of Vital Basics, and I wanna give you a bottle of Focus Factor, one of our best-selling supplements, absolutely free. Why would we give away a free bottle of Focus Factor? Because we know that if you'll try it, you'll buy it. Focus Factor contains nutrients that work with your natural brain chemistry to support focus, concentration, and memory. Simply call ... and we'll you a full-size bottle of Focus Factor, absolutely free. You simply provide $4.95 to help cover the cost of shipping.

They let you try it FREE?! It must be good!

After seeing this ad for over a month, I thought I'd give it a try. Sure enough, it turned out to be similar to one of those trial magazine subscriptions where you get a few free before they start charging at the normal rate. The woman on the phone explained to me "If you want to continue receiving bottles of FocusFactor, simply do nothing and we will send out your next shipment in 3 weeks."

One week later, I receive the bottle of Focus Factor. Those pills are huge, impossible to swallow, and have no noticeable affect (unless I can blame the pills for the headaches I got at that time). Just 3 days later, I get a credit statement that I've received two charges from Vital Basics already -- one for $4.95 and one for $69.95. A few days later I try to call, but customer service doesn't have the same hours as the 24-hour promotional number to buy the pills. So I wait another few days and call during their service hours and the guy tells me the next shipment of bottles is on its way and so he can't refund any money until I send them back. So I send back the pills and check my bank statement. An additional $159.85 has been charged to my account. Now nearly a month has passed and still no refund. All I have from Vital Basics is the one "free" bottle, and yet they have not refunded a dime of the $234.75 charged to my credit card.