ComplaintsforSwanson Health Products, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  While placing an order I got this message:Access Denied You don't have permission to access"http;www.swansonvitamins.com/p/swanson-premium-hishest-potency-vitamins-d-3-5000-iu-250-sgels?" on this server.referenced #**.69a6d17.1710783287.cdfl243a when i called in my order they said they have it but it was not completed.Can I get help from you?

  

  Business response

  03/19/2024

  It appears there was a technical issue. Our website uses a lot of cookies; if they are not allowed on a computer, the website will not work correctly. It could also be that the cookies and cache need to be cleared from the computer. Other than that, I can only say that it may have been a fluke.  I see the order has been placed, processed, and ready to leave the warehouse going out to be delivered.  

• Initial Complaint

  12/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Dear Swanson,The second package of 'Trace Ionic Plant Minerals' (Order# ********) was delivered on December 17, 2023. There's a problem that One bottle had been short from the parcel. There had been packed 'Not 17 bottles But 16 bottles' in the package, although Invoice reads '17 (items Shipped) of 30 (items Ordered)'. Could you check your shipping procedure and send me the missing one, please? Thanks!

  

  Business response

  12/20/2023

  Two boxes were shipped for order #******** total number of items was 30.  13 shipped on the 24 of November. 17 shipped on the 14th of December. The customer stated they were short one bottle. Resolution, we are happy to get the missing item out ASAP at no change to the customer. I would advise the customer to contact us if there are ever any issues with orders in the future. 

  Customer response

  12/29/2023

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

• Initial Complaint

  10/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was charged on October 27th of this year and I never authorized that charge. I only did a one time order. Now my bank is charging me a overdraft fee.

  

  Business response

  10/31/2023

  ***** has placed two orders with ** via the internet both times.  Once on 10/04/23 order #******** and more recently 10/27/23 order # ********. Both internet purchases for the same products. If he did not place these orders, he will want to contact his bank ASAP as Fraud. We do not charge the customer's card until the items have shipped, usually ***** hours after placing the order. If that amount the purchase was not taken into consideration, and other purchases were made prior to shipping that could have caused the overdraft. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Looking for lower prices on just 3 food items. Put them in cart. Was just about to check out when I decided to take advantage of 20% discount as new customer so closed window & opened with "new customer discount." Upon checking out, noted that 2 of 3 items now had higher prices plus $1 additional was added to shipping. Checkout screen reflected the 20% discount but also higher prices so the net effect was no discount. Have long been suspicious of companies inflating prices when offering discounts so, in the end, they get the same money and customer in reality gets no discount. I ultimately emptied cart, unsubscribed and blocked them. The amount of $ was merely pennies but I will not do business with companies who blatantly rip us off.

  

  Business response

  09/28/2023

  There was no order placed for me to review.  However, the 20% discount is only on Swanson Brand products and has a minimum purchase requirement. Without knowing what the products were or how much they cost I have little to go on except the offer. The prices only change when a promotion changes. Whatever promotion the customer came on to our website using was changed when they decided to us a New Customer promotion.

  Customer response

  09/28/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:  Complaint stated that no order was placed.  Am not going to pursue/go into ridiculous details about a non-order.  The issue is/was the fact that prices of the 3 items intended to be ordered increased as soon as I clicked on emailed link.  The email stated the 20% discount applied to entire order and there was no mention it had to be only on Swanson products.  The checkout screen accepted the discount so the response is a complete lie.  The increased prices amounted roughly to the 20% discount so clearly there is no intention to actually give one a discount.  In these difficult times putting food on our tables, a company that is allowed to get away with this stuff is inexcusable. Based on the pages and pages of one star reviews and complaints, it would seem this company engages in a ton of pricing/billing "issues."  What I don't understand is why some government entity, or ICC, or someone doesn't launch an investigation into the tactics of this company.

  You can close this out "with prejudice" as they say in the legal/court system.  Don't intend to pursue over pennies.  I just won't buy anything from them and will advise anyone I know to (not) do the same.
  
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  on 5/22/2023, $39.94 was taken out of my bank account by ********************** for an auto shipment of a product I purchased months ago. I was dissatisfied with my first purchase so, I never signed up for auto shipments. I tried to call Swanson to cancel this order and no one will answer the phone. I tried for a full week to get this cancelled. I used all their options (email, text, phone, chat) and nothing. Today I finally got someone to answer on the chat and they told me to just drop off my purchase at **** with no label and **** will handle the rest. I just have to say "I refuse delivery". I use **** everyday for my business and I have never heard of this before and it sounds dishonest. They're are making me jump through hoops to get the product returned when I never ordered it to begin with. My order number is #********. I am afraid they're going to continue to withdraw funds from my bank account without my knowledge. It seems as they're conducting unlawful business practices. If you call the **** # and you select 'Place an order" a customer service rep answers automatically but for their option for 'Other Inquiry' you're place on a lengthy hold and no-one ever responds or calls back.

  

  Business response

  05/26/2023

  Auto ship is just that an automatic shipment the customer can sign up for to be delivered at a future date of their choice.  The Easy Refill (auto ship) happening been canceled by **** as requested on the 26nd of May. Refusing a package or "return to sender" is a common practice for the postal service. When that happens the customer is refunded the entire amount of the package. As far as contacting **, we respond to text as the come in, email can take anywhere between ***** hours or longer depending on the emails coming in, phone calls are answered with in **** minutes on average.  I am truly apologize if that was not **** experience. 

  In resolution to this situation I would like to refund the order in full for ****.  Please have **** keep the produce for themselves, have someone else try the product, or discard.  There is not need to return the package to **. 

  Customer response

  05/30/2023

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

• Initial Complaint

  11/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am a long time customer and placed a large order with a free shipping promo. WHY the $21.26 fee? If I split the order into several smaller orders would it have been free? I don't have time for that nonsense. I am on a disability income and can't afford that fee. You are being very deceptive and unfair. I will be going back to Puritan Vitamins in the future. If you send me a promo telling me I have free shipping don't add on a fee at the end of the checkout process. I spent 2 hours making that order and didn't have time to split it up into multiple orders just to get the free shipping you promised me.

  

  Business response

  11/28/2022

  The free shipping in Swanson Healths offers will only refer to the $5.99 shipping cost for Standard Delivery, but there could still be additional fees applied if the package(s) are overweight or oversized (bulky). There are a range of factors that determine when the additional shipping fees will apply, such as size (larger item requires larger boxes), weight, container (glass or plastic), and destination. I am unable to determine why your specific order qualified for the additional shipping fee. The consumers order weighs over 23 pounds and that is the primary reason for the additional shipping fee, as well as the box size to send all the items. Swanson Health is only passing on the direct shipping cost we pay as a company, and we are not profiting from this current change at all. Shipping rates have drastically been inflated and continue to rise without stopping. The promotional offers all mention that there could be additional shipping fees applied in the terms and conditions section of the emails we send, on the terms and conditions page of our website, in the promo banner on our website, and it is shown during checkout before payment is applied so that consumers may go back to make any changes they want. Swanson Health opted to have this additional fee apply for the aforementioned parameters, which should only affect around 5% of our consumer base. This was done to prevent a large increase in item costs across the board to account for the increasing shipping costs that would instead impact 100% of our consumer base. Swanson Health has removed $10 off the $21.26 in additional shipping fees as a show of good faith by reducing the order total to $738.11 instead of $748.11. The consumer will not see a refund since the charges for the entire order have not been finalized. The consumer will instead see a total of charges that add up to $738.11 only for the $10 reduction in order cost. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Yesterday I placed an order over $50 and I confirmed with the person on the phone that there was no shipping and handling fee (which is the case for purchases over 50) only the taxes and product price. He said yes. I verified this numerous times. I saw $1.99 added to my bill and immediately emailed them. Their reply to my email was that they are charging a surcharge for an increase on their costs due to gas prices. To me this is not legal and therefore I am reporting this practice to you. I am appalled that they are doing this.

  

  Business response

  09/09/2022

  Swanson Health Products has implemented a temporary fuel surcharge to help reduce our losses in the increased shipping costs. All shippers have increased their shipping rates due to inflation and fluctuating fuel prices nationwide, all of which have not stabilized. The fuel surcharge is only temporary and will stop once things have stabilized. The fuel surcharge prevents us from increasing the base price of the items on our website by a larger amount than we already had to for inflation adjustment. This also allows us to not have to pass along the direct shipping costs to the customer like some other companies have done. Only orders that are over 1 pound in weight or shipping remote addresses within the contiguous ************* would have the applicable surcharge added to the order. The consumer was refunded $2.13 on August 8th, for the fuel surcharge and sales tax that was applied to it. It will take 1-2 business days for the refund to be reflected in their account.

• Initial Complaint

  09/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The company had a special on, a very good special and if you spent $25.00 you got free shipping. Then when I was completing my order I saw a surcharge for Standard Shipping$5.99 FREE + $**** fuel surcharge. when I called the company to explain, I was told by Din that it was a shipping fee. My question to him was, "How can it be free when there is a **** shipping few. He told me, at least it is not $5.99. So to me, it is either free or not. Can't have it both ways. Thank you so much for clarifying this for me.

  

  Business response

  09/06/2022

  Swanson Health Products had a promotion for Up To 40% Off with free standard shipping ($5.99) on a $25+ merchandise order. The consumer did get free standard shipping applied, so the $5.99 fee for that was removed correctly. The free shipping offers would always apply to what the cost we list for the standard shipping is, and not for any additional shipping charges that *** apply. The $1.79 fuel surcharge would still apply to applicable orders that are either over 1 lb. or shipping to certain addresses. The fuel surcharge is a temporary additional fee we had to implement due to the large increase in shipping costs caused by the cost of fuel and fluctuating economy. Swanson Health reluctantly added this surcharge to help offset the much higher cost of shipping we are facing and to minimize the loss of profit that brings. Swanson Health felt it was in the best interest of our consumers to have a temporary fuel surcharge instead of increasing the cost of our products by a large margin. Our terms and conditions will mention the fuel surcharge as not being a part of the free shipping offers, which is also stated in the promotional emails, and on our website. This is only a temporary measure and will come to an end as soon as possible. If the fuel surcharge is still an issue for the consumer, they *** contact us directly to have it waived.

• Initial Complaint

  08/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I received vitamins that I didnt order the invoice said they were free,i called me company and they said they were hacked and offered me a label to return,about three days later received more vitamins that I didnt order,they changed my debit card 17 times from 1 dollar to 90 $ plus for a total of almost 700 dollars

  

  Business response

  08/17/2022

  The consumers name, address, and debit card number were hacked from another source online, not with Swanson Health Products. The hacker used the consumers information to place fraudulent orders to ship to him as a test, which makes it look like a real account due to the required information matching for the debit card. Once the fraudster knew those cleared, they began selling on an online marketplace and placing orders under the consumers name, but shipping to other consumers that assumed they ordered from the company of the online marketplace directly. Several orders were placed before one of the recipients of these orders contacted Swanson and informed us of the situation on July 18th. I was unable to locate a phone call from the number the consumer provided in this case, therefore I am unable to verify when the consumer contacted us. Swanson flagged the account as fraudulent and blocked all new orders from being placed. Unfortunately, these orders made it through our fraud software because the fraudster knew all the consumers information to verify the card. Swanson Health Products and the consumer are both victims of this fraudster's actions. The consumer must contact their financial institution to report the fraud and it will be handled from there. Swanson Health Products is unable to assist further with bank fraud issues. 

  Customer response

  08/18/2022

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

• Initial Complaint

  06/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On June 20, 2022, I placed an order, but I never got a confirmation or a tracking number. My credit card has suddenly been charged $123.19 CAD. There hasn't been any word about my order in more than a week. They just charged me without even delivering my item, which makes me very angry. Swanson marketing messages have started flooding my inbox. Please make sure that going forward, I won't receive those emails. If your inability to fulfil my order. Please issue a prompt reimbursement.

  

  Business response

  06/27/2022

  The consumer placed an order # ******** with us on June 18th, 2022, as a guest on our website. The consumer used a different email address this time (********************), which is where the email confirmation for the order was sent. The consumer should check their spam folder for that email address. As the consumer requested, I have removed the consumers email address from all emails we send as well. The order shipped on June 21st, with *** tracking # 1Z5690756858190443, which indicates it is in ****** currently at a *** warehouse for processing. A delivery estimate should be provided once processing at ***s warehouse is completed.  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩