June 16, 2008

Those Free Hoodia Trials May Not Be What You Think

by Reagan Miers

Who doesn't like free stuff? I know the popularity of free hoodia samples is very tempting to people. After all, hoodia is fast becoming one of the top weight loss supplements available. Who wouldn't want a free sample of an all natural weight loss supplement that has virtually no side effects?

There are so many companies making hoodia that it's only a given that many of them would offer free hoodia samples to consumers. They hope people will like their samples so much that they will come back to them and make future purchases. It sounds like a win-win deal for both consumers and companies.

Unfortunately, agreeing to a free hoodia sample isn't always what it's cracked up to be. For starters, most of the hoodia for free is not authentic. One expert believes that the percentage of fake hoodia diet pills on the market today could be as high as eighty percent! Only authentic hoodia gordonii has the potential to suppress appetite so taking a fake product isn't going to do anything. You may be getting your hoodia for free but what good is it if it doesn't help suppress your appetite?

Before you agree to receive free hoodia samples from a company, make sure the hoodia they are offering you is authentic and not fake. The two easiest ways to identify real hoodia from fake hoodia is to view the company's CITES certificates and their lab test results which were completed through an independent lab.

CITES is a certificate that is required by all companies who import and sell authentic hoodia gordonii. If a company doesn't obtain one, they can't legally import and sell hoodia. Since fake hoodia is so prevalent, companies that sell real hoodia gordonii want to make sure that the consumers know that what they are selling is authentic. To do that, they will have their products randomly tested on a regular basis by independent labs for authenticity.

Companies that are on the up-and-up will display their certificates and lab test results. It is there way of assuring consumers that they are using authentic hoodia in their products. If you find yourself on a website and you can't locate a CITES certificates or lab test results, you can be guaranteed they are not dealing in authentic hoodia. Agreeing to receive free hoodia samples from them is a bad idea.

The other thing to be cautious of with these free hoodia trials is the actual cost of accepting them. When you sign up for these free hoodia samples you are usually charged a small shipping and handling fee. You are given a certain amount of time to sample the product. If you don't do anything after the trial period ends, you are charged for the products and are automatically enrolled in an autoship program.

When a company signs you up in an autoship program this means they will send you a supply of their product on a regular basis and charge you for it. Granted, these kinds of programs are very nice for someone if they are dealing with a company that is dealing in authentic hoodia gordonii products. In fact, it can be very cost effective and convenient.

If you sign up for free hoodia samples, make sure you understand how to cancel out of the trial and that you know whether you are being enrolled into an autoship program. Many companies will try to make you believe it's easy to get out of these programs. But, in many cases it's not as easy as they would have you believe.

There are countless individuals who have found their credit is ruined because they naively agreed to receive free hoodia samples. Many of these people didn't know they were going to be autoshipped anything in the future. When they would try to cancel out of the program, they were unable to get in touch with anyone, or their requests to quit were ignored. Yet, month after month their credit card is billed.

You need to do your due diligence before agreeing to these offers by reading the fine print. If you read the terms and conditions, you will see a telephone number or an email address to use when you want to cancel. Before you accept these free hoodia samples, you should call the number to see if you can reach a live person. If you do, ask them questions about the offer and get a feel for the company.

You should go through this same process with any email address you are given as a point of contact with the company. Send an email inquiry with questions. How quickly did you get a response? Were your questions answered sufficiently? If you can't make contact with a live person via email or telephone, it is probably a good idea to decline the offer for free hoodia samples.

Yes, free hoodia samples and hoodia trials are a wonderful way to save money while you sample hoodia products. Just be very cautious about who you hand over your credit card information to and make sure they are a reputable company that isn't full of loopholes. These guidelines should help you find legitimate free hoodia samples without wrecking your credit in the process!

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