19 replies to this topic

[Wheezer]

How can companies like this -:
https://cigirex.co.uk/plate/
Still be allowed to trade ? See the section marked "Try It On Us" Talk about F*****g LIARS !!!
Tony.

Sorry for the F bit, but these kind of people make me SO ANGRY. ( No wonder newbies quickly abandon the idea of e-cigs)

[Rusty]

I agree mate!

[hifistud]

a prime target for ECCA, I'd say...

[jonboywalton]

cringeworthy

[Rusty]

In fact it may be of help to start a thread on here in the ECCA sub-forum to identify the myriad of sellers that still use these types of claims

Rusty

[roadhoguk]

Try putting their name into google... been bitchslapped a few time it appears,

Quote

I ordered an electronic cigarette called cigi-rex on a website, turns out it has three different sites and three different prices, all offereing trial , 30 days, they do not tell you that you can't go to lesser price if you already ordered trial, and they don't tell you you only have 15 days because they take the time off for shipping both to and from, so you are RIPPED OFF five different ways. This has to be illegal somehow

http://www.asa.org.u..._ADJ_49539.aspx

http://www.fmcgnews....banned-cms-1484

[Sparky]

Wheezer, on 07 May 2011 - 04:18 PM, said:

How can companies like this -:
https://cigirex.co.uk/plate/
Still be allowed to trade ? See the section marked "Try It On Us" Talk about F*****g LIARS !!!
Tony.

Sorry for the F bit, but these kind of people make me SO ANGRY. ( No wonder newbies quickly abandon the idea of e-cigs)

In the land of "free" texts for £10 a month and "unlimited" broadband, this sort of silliness should come as no surprise.

[kev]

• Donation of £8.95 to together against cancer and Oasis of Hope Hospital
  
  then their reputation, word of mouth recommendation, etc.
• uksoccerplayer Says:
  September 26th, 2008 at 4:52 amI have been going to the Oasis of Hope Clinic for over 3.5 years now. They have helped me, but I must warn you that I have paid over 300 thousand dollars so far. The $25,000 US that was posted here is just an introductory. If you have a severe case, you will pay a lot of money. I am fortunate to have some money from my aerospace company I founded, but my honest opinion is that this hospital will help you the most and get you better if you have a lot of money. They are in a figurative sense, milking me of my money but, I really have no other choice, while it is costing me a lot of money, they are keeping me alive. So I am grateful for that. They do ozone iv, uv iv, perftec, vitamin c iv, laetrile iv, vit k iv and nurtracuticals. Also they do light chemo too. The light chemo has helped me a little too.
  
  So, again, I will say that in England I cannot get any treatment, even with all my money, the doctors won’t risk losing their license. At Oasis, they
  will keep me alive until I run out of money i guess. The treatment is very expenisive at Oasis. The rates for medicines, surgeries are more expensive than in England. For example, an antibiotic in England cost me about say $30 US. The same at Oasis, they charged me $250 US. To remove a cyst in England I was quoted about $500 US. I paid almost $3000 US at the Oasis of Hope Hospital. That is a much higher rate. A bone scan in England cost me about $400 US through a private company, at Oasis I paid a bloody $1000 US.
  
  My room was on the third floor and had a view of a newly constructed apartment building, really nothing special. There is a chapel near my room, where I like to go and pray. There is also a Chaplin there full time named Bruce. He is a shaved haired American guy, who dresses casually, with shorts and a pink polo shirt. His services were okay, but a lot of patients told me that he stared at them in the eyes too much and they got frightened by him with this rigid eye contact. He is a volunteer, and he does have a good heart though, but he has no idea about the financial side of Oasis.
  
  The owner is Dr. Contreras Jr,, He is a very intelligent guy,first, his intelligence is in the form of being a clever businessman first. He really presents himself as a religious man, but I will say that after 3.5 years of getting acquainted with him, the man’s first priority is money.
  
  He uses religion to hide his somewhat money hungry side. He lives in San Diego in a large estate , just across the border. He also has a large property with maids and expensive furniture and antiques in Tijuana and a house in Vienna, as well as many houses throughout resort cities in Mexico and Europe. Most who work with him, think he is very humble person, who lives a meager lifestyle and is deeply involved in religion. Yet, he lives the life of a wealthy aristocrat. He keeps a very low profile on monetary matters. He does very little there in terms of actual medical practice at Oasis, mainly he just checks on the business and make sure thing are in order. He comes in a few times a week to check up on things. He does meet once a week with his team of doctors and he does evaluate some patients.
  
  But, his role is mostly a PR role and he mostly does question and answer interviews in the Oasis cafeteria and on the third floor in their meeting room. He is very charismatic guy, dressed in expensive Armani suits with slightly grayed hair and skin that has been treated and pampered with facials.
  
  His nephew is named Daniel Kennedy and he is the CEO. I met him many times too. He also presents himself as a religious guy, with a degree in divinity.
  
  He would also tell me stories about how he was working on a doctorate in psychology and that was his passion. He by training has an MBA and is the main person that took Oasis of Hope Hospital from a more Christian based hospital that was originally the plan of the founder Ernesto Contreras Sr (father), who sought to help everyone , to a more business run place with the first priority of making money first then helping.
  
  Having talk to Daniel Kennedy many times, the financial side to Daniel Kennedy came out numerous times.
  
  Actually under the leadership of Daniel Kennedy, Oasis Hospital shifted its business plan from charging marginally fair and competitive rates to charging far more expensive rates, well more than I would pay in the UK. Daniel Kennedy changed the pricing scheme to address the psychological impression that people have on price. His idea was to charge more money, as this would be associated with having better medical care.
  
  Daniel Kennedy also developed a revenue sharing model that allows doctors to acquire a commission of all charges incurred. So, doctors that perform extra tests and extra scans and procedures will get a percentage of these profits. This is perhaps the worse thing that happened to Oasis of Hope Hospital.
  
  Daniel Kennedy’s revenue based sharing has allowed the Oasis of hope hospital to substantially increase their profits. Patients may get extra tests and procedures in the process, depending on the doctor.
  
  His fondness of wealth and business came out. Daniel Kennedy has expensive taste and he talked to me several times because they know I am successful , he talked to me about opening a clinic in England. He talked about the amount of money that could be made there if the proper people were involved. But, he did not mention about the people that could be helped.
  
  He is a business guy who since his involvement with his uncle, has turned Oasis to a money making machine. Oasis profited over $20 million dollars US after expenses in 2006. That is how they can afford to be in Playas de Tijuana, basically on the beach in Tijuana, the most affluent part of Tijuana. It is actually across the street from the beach. There is an arena on the beach where they do bull fighting and other sports.
  
  Considering the low gross domestic product per citizen in Mexico, $10,000 US is considered a good salary salary in Mexico. The low cost of labor, makes Dr. Contreras Jr. and Daniel Kennedy his nephew , very wealthy men.
  
  Oasis Hospital by the way, does not engage in revenue sharing with other employees, from the lower tier rank and file. They earn the bare minimum, which is the a livable wage, but slightly above the poverty line there. As of today, I don’t know their current financials now. But , I would assume that it is in the millions, that is profit too.
  
  Dr. Contreras is a very wealthy man, most do not know this because he presents himself as a devout Christian. He hides this financial side of him through religion and charisma. But, if he indeed were pious, then try walking into his clinic with a little money and sick , service will be refused.
  
  Hence the dominant customer base are folks like myself from the UK. I don’t want to say that Dr. Contreras Jr. is not religious, because he is, but money is his first priority above everything, then comes religion, kind of contradictory to the Christian faith. The money side to Dr. Contreras Jr. takes precedence over health care. The father Dr. Contreras Sr, was more of an altruistic person and believed that money should be secondary to helping people.
  
  It is possible too that because they know I am wealthy, they feel that i should and others like me in my position need to pay more. I met other wealthy people, Oasis had definitely helped them get better, but it cost them some of their hard earned money. But again, I am alive and I guess this is the price to stay alive. I would rather spend $300,000 and be alive, then not be alive. I really thank Oasis for helping me, but don’t go there thinking that you will only spend the bare minimum if you are very sick. Be prepared to pay a lot of money. There are many other clinics in Tijuana that are much cheaper if you can’t afford the large amount you may end up spending. I figure that I will need to spend a total of 700,000 , because I have the next decade for maintanence to stay alive.

Edited by kev, 07 May 2011 - 04:55 PM.

[Trog]

they dont have much to lose.. as long as they do not use the NRT theme there isnt much can be done about them..

i am not condoning them just sayng expect to see more of them.. get in quick.. make a fast buck and get out..

your ECCA will not reach a large enough audience to affect things much Rusty... ECF has been shouting dont buy free trials for a long time..

trog

[Onceupon]

ASA Adjudication

[Wheezer]

TY Andy
Tony.

[Trog]

so they are not small fry and they have changed their add.. there is money behind them..

trog

[SteveMacc]

Kev,

Try the NHS rather than wasting your money in the US.

[kev]

Hi just pointing out who is behind this scam and the money that they hope to make any way they can and i bet the plate is crap to.

SteveMacc, on 07 May 2011 - 06:38 PM, said:

Kev,

Try the NHS rather than wasting your money in the US.

[Crundy]

From the ASA link above:

Quote

We considered that it was clear from the ad that the product contained nicotine and understood that CIGIREX were likely to be less harmful than tobacco cigarettes. However, we also considered that claims, such as "... nicotine is delivered to your bloodstream without tar, tobacco and thousands of carcinogens associated with traditional cigarettes ...", "CIGIREX removes these harmful ingredients associated with traditional cigarettes ...", "... a carcinogen-free nicotine oral delivery system ...", "... none of the tar and tobacco found in a regular tobacco cigarette" and "It is time to say NO to being addicted to tobacco cigarettes", implied that there were no detrimental effects from using CIGIREX. Nonetheless, we understood that nicotine was addictive, raised blood pressure and was a vasoconstrictor, making it harder for the heart to pump through the constricted arteries, and caused the body to release its stores of fat and cholesterol into the blood. We noted that we had not seen any scientific evidence to support the impression created by the ad that CIGIREX had none of the damaging effects of smoking tobacco cigarettes and considered that the ad had exaggerated the benefits of the product. We therefore concluded that, on this point, the ad was misleading.

On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 11) clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 50.1 (Health and beauty products and therapies).

Interesting verdict. So I guess eCig companies are allowed to say "healthier" but not to imply that eCigs are "safe".

[Christophe]

Wheezer, on 07 May 2011 - 04:18 PM, said:

How can companies like this -:
https://cigirex.co.uk/plate/

It is clearly rubbish... but who the hell had the idea of offering a free weeding plate for a starter kit... this is the worst marketing idea ever imagined!!

[VapourPrince]

Quote

General Agreement
By clicking to order, you agree to our terms and conditions and are enrolled in the Cartridge Refill Value Plan. Your credit card will be charged the trial amount indicated at check out and donation of £8.95 (or the promotional shipping amount charged) to cover the shipping & handling of your Trial of the CIGIREX Electronic Cigarette Starter Kit, the trial fee and S&H fee is non refundable. Your products will typically be shipped within 24-48 hours excluding weekends and holidays. The products you order will typically be shipped to the address you designate within three to five days. If after 20 days*** of your order you keep your CIGIREX Electronic Cigarette Starter Kit and have not returned the item with a valid RMA number, your credit card will be billed for the full purchase price of the starter kit (£29.95). The twenty day Trial includes transit time. When enrolled in the Refill Value Plan we will ship you 5 refill cartridges every 30 days until you call customer service and cancel. The monthly charge for the Cartridge Refill Value Plan is £29.95 per month.

[Onceupon]

£5.99 per filled cartridge? Have I read that right?

[PapaLazarou]

Yes that's right. So much for a "free" trial. Plus I suspect they set up recurring card payments which cannot be cancelled by you, they have to agree to cancel them. Even if you cancel your credit card you are still liable for the payments. In other words they are sharks of the highest order and anyone with any sense should not touch them with a barge pole.

EDIT added link on recurring card payments for info.

Edited by PapaLazarou, 10 May 2011 - 02:20 PM.

[acousticvillage]

Onceupon, on 10 May 2011 - 02:06 PM, said:

£5.99 per filled cartridge? Have I read that right?

Yup! And 5 cartidges ...per month!