Waterloo, Ont. senior on hook for $6K skincare product contract she can’t afford

An Ontario woman says she signed a skincare contract, which she’s obligated to pay even though she returned the products. CTV’s Spencer Turcotte reports.

An elderly Waterloo, Ont. woman is on the hook for nearly $6,000 after she believes she was coerced into buying skincare products she can’t afford.

A recent trip to Conestoga Mall left the 73-year-old walking out with more than she bargained for.

“The woman that worked in there, she waved me to come in,” said Brenda Lampman, recalling what transpired as she passed the skincare products and treatments store Resveralife.

Once inside, Lampman said an employee handed her several products.

“She looked at my neck and says, ‘I can get rid of that turkey neck,’” said Lampman. “She had this wand and she put it on my forehead and says, ‘I can get rid of your wrinkles.’”

Lampman said the employee was friendly and told her she’d drop the price for everything from $200/month down to $195/month.

Lampman said she couldn’t afford that so the employee left, but returned with another offer.

“She says, ‘Just because I like you a lot, [I’m] going to drop the price down to $45 every two weeks,’” said Lampman.

The senior was intrigued but told the employee before making any decision she wanted to speak with her daughter.

That’s when she said the aggressive sales tactics kicked into overdrive.

“She said, ‘No, no, no. I can make this very, very good and easy for you,’” said Lampman. “So like a fool, I guess I listened to her.”

Lampman said the contract she signed wasn’t fully explained to her. That contract was sent via email, but she hasn’t owned a computer in 10 years.

She admits she was originally pleased with the agreement and texted a store employee to thank them. Things changed when she spoke with her daughter, Kimmie Guelck, and she began questioning what she had signed up for and later texted the store employee and asked to cancel the contract.

After they had no luck cancelling the contract over the phone, Lampman and her daughter went back to Resveralife and demanded a copy of the agreement.

“I mean, they have locked everything down for you in order to justify that you are in agreement to give them, and hand over, $6,000,” said Guelck, as she looked over the contract with her mother during their interview with CTV News.

The contract shows a price of $3,390 for the products, but at a 24.90 per cent interest over 60 months, or five years, Lampman would have to pay a total of $5,933.20.

“If [the employee] told me ahead of time, not in a million years would I ever sign for anything like that,” said Lampman.

They did bring the products back and demanded to be released from the contract in-person. But because the products were opened, they were told the contract could not be cancelled.

Fuelling Guelck’s frustrations further, she saw the same aggressive sales tactics used on her mother being used on other customers. So she went to social media and urged people to stay far away from Resveralife.

“Two customers walked in where we saw the sales tactics happening, pressuring them,” Guelck can be heard saying in the video.

Brad Davis, a former associate professor of marketing at Wilfrid Laurier University, said while nothing done here may be illegal, ethics may not have been top of mind.

“At the very best, it’s about as sleazy as you can get in terms of sales tactics,” said Davis.

He added that while the products were unwrapped, most companies in this scenario tend to honour returns.

“Most consumer legislation often does provide a certain grace period, whether that’s 24 or 48 hours, at which point you can get out of that contract,” said Davis.

That does not seem to be the case here, with no resolution in sight by Friday evening.

Guelck said the latest offer from the store’s operator was to void the contract if they agree to pay $2,900 for the products that were opened.

While the store operator declined an interview with CTV News, they did speak with a reporter over the phone. They said their final offer was to cancel the contract if Lampman paid $1,500 since items were opened. The operator claimed those items can’t be re-sold.

No money has been taken from Lampman’s account at this point, in relation to the contract. But the contract is active, meaning she still owes nearly $6,000.

When asked what advice she would give to the next person that walks into Resveralife, Lampman answered abruptly.

“Not to walk in there.”