Stephen Rees's blog

I am pretty sure that you must see the same kind of adverts that I see. Every so often I see something that seems like a Good Idea. Unfortunately I seem to be a bit gullible. I tend to trust people. They tell me they have something that will be useful, and present some details, and I think that I would like that. On this blog I documented the great electric bicycle wheel disaster. You would have thought that would have inoculated me to some extent. But I have also fallen for the fake nutritional supplement scam – and more than once.

I saw an advert for a device that said you could reduce your electricity bills “Stabilize Your Current, Remove Dirty Electricity, Slash Your Power Bill Today!” The device is sold as Voltex. It comes with a 60 day money back guarantee.

I bought two devices and neither of them actually works. When plugged into a live receptacle they are supposed to light up a Green LED. Neither of these actually managed that.

As you can see there is a green plastic track across each device, and that dull green line is supposed to light up when there is power present.

When it did not light up I did what I should have done before sending them my credit card information. I did a Google search and the first hit was this one “Is Voltex a scam?” on reddit. From that I found links to two YouTube videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD7M_tJ-SwM

I must warn you that Voltex continues to advertise on the internet. I have seen ads that pop up when playing games. The claims made in these advertisements are unsupported by science. As those two videos above demonstrate Voltex cannot do what they say it does.

I went to the Voltex site to find out about returns. There is also a contact page.

This is the reply that I got

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for getting back to us and sorry for the disappointment you have with our product. I understand how frustrating it must be.

I’d love to help you out with this. I just need a little more information before you can return the product back to us.

Before we go ahead and arrange a return, could you please send us some clear photos of the entire item along with the packaging, if possible? Could you also let us know the reason you’re returning the item?

In order to be eligible for a refund, you have to return the product within 30 calendar days of your purchase. The product must be in the same condition that you receive it and undamaged in any way.

Once we receive more details, we will be in touch with you shortly to discuss further steps.

We do not require an RMA number upon returning the unit. Please email us a photo of the postage receipt or the tracking number once you drop the package.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please let me know. I’m here to help.

Thank you so much for your patience.

Best,

Connie ll Customer Service
Representative

——

Did you notice how the 60 day guarantee on the ad has now shrunk to 30 days?

I sent her the same picture that I used for the top of this post. Then I repacked the bag it came in and took it to UPS.

Here is the second email I received after I had supplied the picture

——–

Hi Stephen,

Thank you for sending the photo and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

In order to solve this issue, we have a few options we can offer:
1.    According to our Returns Policy, we do not provide a return slip, and all of the costs of returning the product(s) have to be covered by the buyer. To avoid this, we would like to offer you a CA$62.00 discount and you can keep the product(s) that you bought.
2.    If that is not an option and you would like to get a full refund, you will first have to send the item(s) back to our returns center.

Here is the return’s address the item should be shipped to:

Returns Depo
451 Mirror Ct. Ste 106
Henderson NV 89011

After you ship the products, please don’t forget to send us a receipt with a tracking number. Once the parcel is delivered, we will refund you within 3-5 business days period.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

——-

I looked up the cheapest way of shipping that would still get delivered in the now 29 day period which appeared to cost ~$20.

I must admit that I was a bit surprised at the address given in that last email since the package it came in had a return address in Burnaby. My partner suggested I take it there myself, but of course that would void the conditions laid out. I also called the number on my credit card: I was told to return the unsatisfactory items but to make sure I got a tracking number for the parcel. In the event that I do not get my refund, the credit card company will use the tracking number on the shipping receipt as evidence that the charge on my card should be reversed.

Below is the product information supplied with the device.

On the other side of the document photographed below it states:
ELECTRICITY SAVING SPIKE BUSTER

UPDATE May 20, 2021

I got my VISA statement today which shows a refund from the vendor which was posted on May 10.

So yes I did get back what I paid, except that I had to spend money and time shipping back the nonworking product sent to me. Sometimes when I see ads during games there is a way to block them – for example Google ads have a little device in the top right corner of the ad where you can ask for that ad not to be shown. But there seems to be no way to complain about downright fraudulent claims. And obviously Voltex manages to find enough people who don’t bother with trying to get a refund that they can afford to buy more ad time. So this is the best I can do to try and get the message across. See title at top of page.