Kim’s Catch of the Day: Fiorvano Jewels

Here’s the catch:  Fiorvano Jewelsoffers a piece of jewelry, such as a necklace or earrings, free.  Those who accept realize that they’ll be charged $5.99 for postage and handling.  What they don’t realize is, first, that they’re really buying only the opportunity to try out a $98 piece of jewelry, and second, that uninvited additional charges are going to show up and keep showing up on their credit card.  Fiorvano’s new “Sparkle” collection dulls as customers’ sparks fly and tempers flare.  Those who expected a free trinket now find almost every facet of the company’s business practices to be more than slightly flawed.

Fiorvano Jewels, of Burbank, California, attracts viewers to its web page through pop-up ads on other websites that promise a free (free except for postage and handling) piece of Fiorvano jewelry, sometimes for taking a brief survey.  Fiorvano’s web page identifies itself with its name, above which is its logo–a faceted gemstone–below which is stated, “Finest Jewelry.”  The page invites you to “Celebrate our new 2013 Sparkle line of jewelery [sic]–for the discerning connoisseur RISK FREE for only $0.”

Although Fiorvano claims that its jewelry is made with the “finest workmanship and materials,” nowhere on its website could I find out just what those materials are.  From illustrations, it would seem that the jewelry items contain diamonds, but no gemstones are mentioned, nor is the metal of the settings.

I recently completed the online order form up to the point of having to enter my credit card number.  At that time, at least, in a not-too-lengthy section of fine type on that page, I learned that, by ordering, I would be enrolling in a 14-day trial offer for the product offered and that my credit card would be billed $5.99 for its shipping and handling.  I would have 14 days to cancel, and if I didn’t cancel within that time period I would be automatically enrolled in Fiorvano’s Auto Delivery Program and my credit card charged $98 for the product I’d accepted just now.  Thereafter I would receive another product from their collection, along with continuing charges of $49, every 30 days thereafter.  I also learned that by ordering, I would be agreeing to all of Fiorvano’s terms and conditions.

Despite these disclosures, which I think were not too easy to overlook, but were also not too easy to notice, the most commonly asserted allegation in the 17 complaints we’ve received in the five-month period from November to March is that complainants didn’t know they would be charged the $98 and continuing $49 charges.  One complainant, in fact, incurred $60 in bank charges because the surprise $98 charge caused other checks to bounce.

Nevertheless, there are still other problems with the company’s practices that have drawn complaints.  One of those is the quality of the jewelry, which a Wisconsin complainant says is not only “not ‘fine’,” but “not even worth the shipping cost.”

Another is the company’s terms and conditions. For example, even though I’ve already mentioned that certain disclosures were made before I could have placed my order, you do have to scrutinize the Terms and Conditions if you don’t want to miss anything else that could be important.  Here you are told you may telephone or email to cancel your autoship participation or to obtain an RMA, which you must have in order to cancel or return an item.  If you cancel and do not receive cancellation confirmation within three business days, you are to contact their support staff for confirmation.

An Ohio complainant, though, who “won” a “free” necklace for taking a survey, tried to contact Fiorvano after his debit card was charged the $98 and another $49 the following month but could not get a response.  And an Arizona complainant who first called, then emailed four times to request the required RMA, also received no response.

This complainant’s experience brings up another potential problem disclosed only in the fine print of the Terms and Conditions:  that the 14-day trial period includes transit time, after which the company has a strict no refund policy.

Fiorvano says customers usually receive their product within three to five days of ordering. Although the Terms and Conditions tell you that cancellation notification of your trial product will be emailed “immediately after the cancellation is created,” you are, twice later in the document, to allow three business days to receive it.  (And, of course, you won’t know just how long it will take to “create” the cancellation.)

The Arizona complainant points out that by Fiorvano’s not answering emails, the return time can lapse and the customer can get stuck having to pay for the product.  And taking the return transit time into consideration as well, you have very little time in which to return your product for any reason.

Kim’s advice:  Don’t get caught.  Here are some tips to help you avoid the continuity caper:

1. Check the company’s rating with Business Consumer Alliance.  Fiorvano’s “F” should be your first clue that your transaction with them might not be satisfactory.
2. Read the Terms and Conditions and anything else in print, fine or otherwise.  Though tedious reading, most complainants, had they made the effort, would likely have realized what was in store for them and not given their credit or debit card number out for an expensive “free” gift.
3. Fiorvano’s Privacy Policy, also, has information you should know before you order.  If you complete a survey for example, the company may ask you to provide them such personal information as, besides name, address, phone number, etc., your birth date, salary range, education, marital status, occupation, employment information, social security number, and more.  They may, indeed, offer you incentives to provide that information.

Furthermore, Fiorvano says it may provide information you supply to third parties, which may include those items above, plus credit card information.  Fiorvano may also disclose, transfer or sell individual information to entities affiliated with them “in Fiorvano Jewelry’s discretion.”

Finally, the company tells you that although an advertiser’s name will appear in the “From:” line of certain commercial messages Fiorvano may send you, hitting “Reply” will cause a reply email to be sent to Fiorvano. In other words, you’ll think the message is from the advertiser, but you’ll be unknowingly responding to Fiorvano.

You can see that policies like these have “Beware!” written all over them, and I hope you will beware.

4.  If you really want to respond to an offer like this one, pay by credit card.  Then, if you later want to dispute the charge, be sure to do it before the time allowed expires.

This company is located at the same address as several other companies whose names include, but may not be limited to Marinella Rose, MIU Milano,Markmax, Maxnaim, NMC Watches, Naraomax, Kate Winston, Donna Klanand Omaximus.  They operate from the same address, same suite number, and have an almost identical offer.   On May 23, 2013 we called this company to inquire about what relationship, if any these companies share.  The company advised us that there were several vendors operating out of the 1200 South Brand address, and that they were not otherwise related.   Separate reports on the above named companies are available by clicking their respective company names.

Kim Burge is Business Consumer Alliance’s Vice President of Business Practice.  For media inquiries, Kim can be reached by phone at (909) 835-6094.