GNC Consumer Reviews - Page 2

INTERNET, MASSACHUSETTS -- Ordered $100 worth of product which was supposed to be delivered within 5 days. After 7 days I checked tracking and found that it reached my town, only to be returned and then sent back my way and returned again with no explanation.

GNC customer service appear to be run by robots with standard canned responses to any inquiry. When I told them I had run out of the vitamins that never arrived and I would appreciate it if they could get more shipped out immediately for next day delivery their response was "We apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, we are unable to determine why the order was unable to be delivered. Reships take 3 to 5 full business days to process before shipment, then ship with 2nd day shipping. If you would still like the order to be reshipped, please let us know and we would be happy to submit the reship on your behalf."

Clearly in the age of the internet, nothing needs to take 3 to 5 business days to sort out. Therefore I told them that they can keep their vitamins and I will go elsewhere.

GROVE CITY, OHIO -- I ordered a large tub of protein from Amazon last week, but it hasn't gotten here yet, so I decided I was going to buy a small container of protein at GNC to hold myself over until my order from Amazon arrived. I went into GNC, looked around for 2-3 minutes and was about to walk out because of the outrageous prices, when I noticed a "clearance" rack of sorts. There was a small tub of Muscle Milk protein powder on sale for $12.49. I was ecstatic.

The employee ** asked me what I was looking for. I explained my predicament and how thrilled I was that I found what I was looking for and was ready to check out. ** proceeded to tell me that it was a bad choice and tried to talk me into buying a bag of 1 pound GNC protein. When I asked a few questions, I realized that it would only be 7 servings and would cost me $30. I said that I was happy with my purchase and was ready to check out.

The employee seemed irritated and walked straight to the register. He then said that I had to sign up for a Gold Card to get the sale price. I agreed and gave him my information. Once he had my information, he threw my card on the counter and rang out my protein. He then finished the check out process without stating 2 words to me. He definitely did not have the customer's best interest in mind, and for now on, I will drive out of my way to go the Vitamin Shoppe, because the customer service is far superior.

PIQUA, OHIO -- I went to the Piqua store to buy Liquid Fish Oil and left my card on my desk. I was told my card expired and tried looking up my name and phone number and said I was not in the system. I told him my other phone number but I guess when you have 1 other customer in the store that would too much trouble. I came home picked up my card that does not expire until May 2013 and I called him and let him know my card is good and I would NEVER ever purchase from the Piqua store again. I will drive to Troy or order online until May 2013 when my card expires and will no longer be a customer of GNC.

ANTIOCH, TENNESSEE -- I went to GNC in Hickory Hollow Mall in Antioch. I was advised by the salesman, **, the item I wanted to purchase had a special: Buy 1 get 1 half off. The item I purchased had a price sticker of $23.99, which would have added up to $36.00 plus tax. He asked if I had their Gold Card reward program. I advised that I did not. He said that's not a problem and proceeded to hand me one. When he totaled up my bill he charged me $60.86! I asked to explain the charges.

He advised me the items I purchased, the one box was $23.99 but the second box was $32.00 due to the expiration date and he charged me for the Gold Card, that I did not ask for, he never disclosed a price for it or ask if I wanted it. I declined the items and requested the one box for $23.99. Which he gave me a hard time and tried to convince me what a savings I was getting. I finally was able to get my charges refunded. I filed this complaint with the BBB. My advice is to contact the BBB. They will do something about it.

SALINAS, CALIFORNIA -- I was in the store looking for products to purchase with my two year old daughter. I am Mexican and my English is not great. I asked regarding the Muscle Milk product and I noticed at Costco they have cheaper. I was leaving the store and I noticed they have a sign there stating "we price match, we beat by a buck." I went back to the store and the employee or he looked like the manager told me that they don't price match and I told him about the sign posted outside and he told me that I was not reading this accurate.

So we begin with the conversation about the sign, and he told me the way that I read this it was not right and if I wanted to share my opinion with corporate level they will not take a consideration my opinion since it was a multi million corporation and they will not listen a person like me. And I felt really bad because I know that I have contribute to the wealth of this company with my two cents and I told him this and I said to him that I was disappointed because they don't see you then as a valuable customer and I thanked him and I took off.

Is there something you can do to get this issue to corporate level, do they hear your opinion? Any ideas are welcome because I want to show this manager he was no right.

Tried to return a product that was giving me a nausea feeling in my stomach. I was told that I could return it for a full refund when I purchased it. I was even told I would have thirty days to return to. The salesman even told me to avoid other products that they were selling because they are regularly returned. Which led me to believe the return policy was true.

When I tried to return it I was told they couldn't look it up on my card and would only give me the lowest price that the product was sold for and then I would have to use that to buy something else in the store. This guy told me the product I paid them $49 dollars for, sales for as low as $15.95, so that is the store credit I could have. He then told me any employee who told me differently would be fired. I can't find this product anywhere on the web for $15.95. I just left and will never return. You should compare GNC prices to what you can find on the WEB.

RALEIGH, NC 27614 -- On 11/22/10 I was talked into purchasing Silver Biotics by a pushy sales person. After reviewing the information about it online I felt uncomfortable taking such a product. On 11/24/10 I returned the unopened product to GNC wanting only an exchange. Since I could not find the receipt they would do nothing. I could prove it was purchased with my debit card since I have access to those records. They should be able to pull up a recent receipt since the "world" is computerized (except for GNC of course) and I had used my Gold Card.

I called customer service and they too would do nothing to help. Online the return policy states that if it is a GNC brand they will exchange without a receipt under very strict conditions but if it is a third party brand nothing can be done without a receipt. So now I am out $25 and my only recourse is to throw the product in the garbage and never shop at GNC again. They state that satisfaction is guaranteed but it is not.

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA -- This is the most underhanded way to market your products. Each time you purchase vitamins there, the clerk nags you about whether or not you have a "gold card". What they fail to tell you (probably by design) is that the discount is only available for the first 7 days of any month. Most consumers purchase on demand - they do not manage most purchases unless they are large $$ this way.

The underhanded nature of nagging a paying customer into buying one of virtually worthless instruments is the worst marketing ploy in retail. Akin to overdraft fees and foreign ATM fees this ranks as a major debacle. Don't ask me again if I have a 'Gold Card'...

GNC Liquid Multi Colloidal Minerals Dietary Supplement is water that has been leached out from dirt/mud (clay). It contains many dangerous and poisonous heavy metal compounds in unknown (unlisted) concentrations, such as Antimony, Barium, Beryllium, Cesium, Palladium, Thallium, and Uranium (and although not listed, must contain Lead because that is the natural byproduct of Uranium -- you don't see Uranium without Lead in nature).

I started having allergic reactions where my throat would swell and started coughing where I was having problems breathing. So, in addition to the heavy metal poisons, the water extracted from the mud evidently contains other chemicals from the mud that not listed that caused such an allergic reaction.

Also, because I did not have my receipt at the time I first complained they did not refund the $20 price. When I found my receipt it was after the 30-days no-questions-asked refund policy, so they still refused to refund my money for selling me the poison water. Spread the word the GNC is dishonest and sells a mixture of heavy metal poison in the name of nutrition.

GNC offers a Gold Card which you purchase in order to receive discounts on their products. However, there is a catch. The discounts are available only on certain dates each month. This means that if you need to purchase a GNC product on a date that does not coincide with the dates stipulated by the card conditions, you either pay the regular price, or have to wait until the next date is available. The dates, at last notice, are the first ten days of each month BUT, notice that the card conditions state that GNC can change ANY of the benefits of the card or even eliminate them at any moments and without prior notice.

In my particular case, I purchased my card in the country of Chile which has even stranger conditions imposed by the local distributor of GNC. They only allow the discount on the FIRST Tuesday of each month, but they extend the days to include the Monday and Wednesday on either side of the Tuesday. However, sometimes, when one of these three days is a holiday, they will delay the discount period to the next week and you cannot take advantage of the discount until the next week even if you arrive at the store on one of the dates which was originally stipulated in the card conditions.

The GNC headquarters in the USA claims that they take customer satisfaction seriously, but if they did why would they have a discount card which is so restrictive rather than giving loyal customers a genuine advantage and a permanent discount? Before you BUY a Gold Card, make sure you read the fine print. It may not be what GNC marketers have made it look like.