DENVER — Who doesn’t want to look 20 years younger? A kiosk at an area mall promises to erase years of aging simply by using their skin care line of lotions, salts and scrubs.
But, dozens of women claim they were duped and paid hundreds of dollars, even thousands of dollars for skin care products that did not deliver.
Vine Vera skin care products cover a full daily regimen of cleansers, moisturizers and body butter. Consumers complain their sales people are pushy, prey on women and make false claims about where some of their products are manufactured.
We wanted to know what a sales person would tell us, so we went undercover with our hidden cameras to capture a Vine Vera employee in action.
A female salesperson approached our producer immediately with her sales pitch. She said, “This product is the best product you can get for your face. It’s for acne, for bags, spots, black heads, white heads, everything goes away and you only use once a week. By itself is usually $149.”
Our producer was told it slows the aging process. The salesperson said it’s loaded with antioxidants and “…get(s) rid of the lines.”
Jennifer Burch said her son bought several products and she thinks he was duped. Burch said, “My son wanted something nice for his mom and they took advantage of him … he is a sweet, sweet kid and he worked really hard for that money.”
When Burch looked up the Vine Vera salt scrub online and found it cost $8 online, she knew her son had paid too much. “They took him and took his money like scavengers.” Burch said. She also said she tried to return the unopened products, but the sales person refused to take it back.
Burch is not the only unhappy customer.
We found dozens of consumers who have filed complaints online. Those customers said they were “lied to…” “…ripped off…” and “scammed.”
Licensed esthetician Tracy Bolsinger said there is another problem with the products. The labels say they contain oil which can cause acne. Bolsinger said, “It’s going to sit on your skin. It’s going to clog your pores.”
Some of the products contain resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, but Bolsinger said there are no active ingredients that could cause the antioxidants to penetrate the skin.
Bolsinger said, “An active ingredient is something that’s going to go in and make a change or a difference on a cellular level.”
The skin expert said the ingredients in the Vine Vera line are comparable to over-the-counter products.
We called and emailed Vine Vera’s customer service lines repeatedly, but got a recorded message every time.
We received the following statement which failed to answer our questions. “We are not part of the hiring and training process and truly regret you having this experience with the staff…”
No one regrets it more than Burch. “The company needs to be stopped,” she said.
Skin experts recommend having your skin analyzed by a professional. Also, consumers should look for products that use active ingredients like vitamins and Retinol.