Bill Bumgarner

In the course of a routine check of our credit card statements, my wife discovered a charge from MWI Essentials for about $150 that she didn't recognize. Neither did I.

A quick Google Search displayed the word scam in most of the results. Not a good sign.

As it turns out, MWI Essentials is but one of many MWI* organizations of the "opt out" variety. That is, the various companies will "opt you in" to annual or monthly charges against your credit card with zero notification to you. It is up to you to "opt out". Opting out is apparently quite difficult and, of course, you have already been nailed for at least one charge by the time you discover these assholes have stolen your money.

We are just now starting the process of excising the charge from the credit card and having the CC company block all future charges from MWI*. It appears that MWI* is fairly responsive to dealing with such complaints, but will simultaneously "opt in" your CC to other MWI* "programs". We are going to see if we can't get the CC company to just block all charges from any form of MWI* once and for all.

A bit more goosearch reveals that it is likely MWI* glommed onto my wife's credit card after she ordered Tae-Bo tapes during that particular craze (to her credit, she used the tapes quite to her physical benefit). Apparently, the fulfillment company has some kind of connection with MWI and the company that actual produces the Tae-Bo tapes

This seems to be one of the better sources of information in regards to this scam.

The only other item we have purchased through a infomercial type channel was Oxi-Clean before it had become available through regular retail channels. It was purchased out of desperation as my dog had made a grease stain on a carpet of a magnitude that was truly awe inspiring. The stuff actually worked.

In any case, check those CC statements closely....