Revitalife Sleep Solutions - complaints

Some time ago I apparently took part in a telephone survey that claimed to be about seniors’ health. I just had a phone call following up that survey wanting to make an appointment for a snake oil salesperson to come and sell me some “alternative health” products from a company called something like “revitalife”.

My own fault, of course, for imagining that this survey was legitimate. As George W Bush said, “Fool me once, shame on…me…fool me twice, you…don’t get fooled again.”

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I had a similar experience, at least with the survey phone call (despite my being on the do-not-call register). A follow-up call resulted in a visit from a salesman, whose focus was solely on adjustable beds (therapeutic sleep systems) as a potential aid for those with musculoskeletal problems. There was no mention of any other products and, whilst I sent the man away with no commitment from me and any future contact to be left up to me (I don’t answer the phone to numbers I don’t recognise), I felt that the time spent was not wasted. There is another company called Vital Life involved with homeopathy, naturopathy etc. Both companies have web sites.

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I received a phone call in response to a survey I apparently did who knows when and was promised Health and Wellbeing company who would advise me of all the services available in our area that we would need as we are both disabled.
As I have been having trouble finding out what services we may have access to, I thought this sounded like a reasonable option. The Rep came and wrote down all our medical conditions and their consequences. After an hour and a bit, he brought out brochures for a tilting bed at $7500 each. No mention of community or Heath and Wellbeing services on our area. We were promised support for our health needs and were only a captive audience to sell us two expensive beds. The Rep had no medical qualifications but he had an opinion on our current medical treatments and of Doctors in general. He was trying to act much cleverer than he is and so came over as completely fake…

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Thanks for the report @debera. Can you let me know the name of the company selling the beds? My email is bmays@choice.com.au if you’d prefer to keep the info private.

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Hi Brendan, the company was Revitalife. I can scan and email you the documents he left us if you like.

Deb

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Hi @debera

This is there website: https://revitalife.com.au/

Did Revitalife during the initial phone ‘survey’ indicate that they were a major retailer of Therapeutic Adjustable Beds / Sleep Systems?

If they didn’t, this would be very poor business practice as they not only wasted your time, but their own.

Also, do you know where they get your contact details from? It appears that they may have targeted you because of your medical condition as this would have improved their likelihood of a sale.

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Revitalife did not contact me re the home visit. A woman who said she was from a company called “Health and Wellbeing” rang me and said that that I had completed a survery a couple of months earlier and would I like a home visit from one of their people to discuss service providers in my area who could provide services relevant to our needs.

Revitalife was never mentioned by her and only by the rep at the home visit after he had ‘medically assessed’ us, 5 minutes before he left.

I agree it was a complete waste of his time and ours and very disheartening for us. There are others on the Choice site under Revitalife who have reported the same approach as we had. I don’t know how they got our phone number, although I do some feedback on some sites

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Just wondering if you can recall what the survey was that you did a couple of months earlier.

Also, no need to answer on this forum but for you to answer at home, is there a chance that this part of the NDIS program/plan or another government service which may have been provided say by the local healthcare service? The reason for this question is if it is it may be worth providing feedback to the agency who has prepared the NDIS plan or the local healthcare provider about the company. This is something they should know to hopefully prevent them being ‘referred’ to others.

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My elderly parents in Victoria were led to believe that they were completing a phone survey from a government pension agency. A few days later they were visited by a rep from Revitalife who sold them a bed for close to $8,000.00

Luckily my sister was able to stop the sale. I really feel for vulnerable elderly who fall prey to these scammers.

After numerous requests and even more excuses, [redacted] refused to divulge the name / contact of the organisation Revitalife gets their client contact details from.
She refused to give me the the phone scammers and became aggressive and then evasive.

I truly wonder what she tells her family / friends what she does for a living.

Revitalife are an organisation who prey on the elderly, lonely and vulnerable. Their products and services have little to do with the well-being of the elderly.

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Their use of the word “wellbeing” should have sounded loud alarm bells.

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Perhaps not?

One Industry Superfund traded under the same banner

https://www.superguide.com.au/super-funds-guide/mine-wealth-and-wellbeing-superannuation-fund

There are so many dodgy calls these days, using language borrowed from everyday business.

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Not if it is ‘quantum wellbeing’.

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Yes I have had the same experience with Revitalife. Purchased a bed for $6,000 as was told would be good for my bronchial problems. Absolute rubbish. I have had 3 different mattresses. 1st one faulty, 2nd too soft & 3rd hard. Made of Foam with no cushioning. Have contacted to try to have bed returned to no avail. 1st email was never answered, so re-sent & still got no satisfaction. So, stuck with a ridiculously expensive bed which is so uncomfortable & I hate.

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Welcome to the communtiy @Cooper4344

It may be worth your while to read about the Australian Consumer Law and citing their advertising, the T&C on your purchase contract, and any other relevant factors, send them a formal ‘letter of complaint’.

Perseverance may pay off but depending on how and when you purchased, questions you asked, claims the salespersons made, and so on, you may have ‘bought the farm’ and the ACL might not apply. It may be categorised as a change of mind or that you were sold an inappropriate product depending on your answers.

Start by reading your sales contract for any satisfaction guarantee or return privilege and then the consumer guarantees that apply.

Although it is linked to many topics it seems yet to be added so here is Choice’s ‘intro’

When writing a letter of complaint it has to be written as if you are a silk explaining to a judge what the law is, what you are entitled to, the problem, and exactly what you want and by when. Anything else is ‘idle chit chat’ as regards potential resolution. The templates (tools) available on the various web sites are very helpful to get it right.

If you believe you have a case under the ACL or Revitalife’s T&C, email your letter of complaint to info@revitalife.com.au with the subject line Attn: Mr. Clive van Deventer (he is the CEO) and if your email supports it, set ‘return recipt requested’ (not all mailers honour it). If Revitalife sends an autoreply when they receive an incoming email that is sufficient to prove they received it. You can also send a real mail letter to him c/o their Gold Coast head office or you can ask for a supervisor via their 800 number and discuss your rights under the ACL (if they appear to apply).

If Revitalife does not engage you can then use your attempts as evidence with a formal complaint to your state Fair Trading Office.

If you pursue the matter please let us know how you go.

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My Mother bought one of these beds and loves it. The staff were very helpful and understanding. It has helped my Mum with her sore knee. . This company was amazing to Mum.

They took advantage of my elderly father and sold him an $8000 bed. Then even though they had a cooling off period, they made it very difficult for us to cancel the order. I made a cold call pretending to be a new customer and over the course of the conversation managed to negotiate the same mattress my father had bought, for $3000… a $5000 discount. Disturbing and disgusting behaviour.

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Welcome to the community @AJ27

That outcome reflects Choice’s experience with mattress buying, and possibly then some. Shops of all sorts rarely if ever differentiate how they deal with seniors, juniors, negotiators, or naive buyers. Their deal is the one you can make.

Unfortunately when the sales target are seniors, many oldies are either not equipped or disinclined to negotiate, and as you noted, it costs them dearly.

That is perhaps worse in itself than their pricing. It should be simple and straightforward to cancel anything in the cooling off period.

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Here’s our investigation into Revitalife, one of this year’s Shonky recipients:

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Wow, they certainly are one to avoid like the plague. The last items about the contract terms should be warning enough not to use them and those should be being looked at carefully by the ACCC. I would hope severe action would be taken, not the normal smack over the wrist with a limp lettuce leaf approach that seems to occur an awful lot. Has CHOICE referred the Company to the ACCC over at least this issue?

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Revitalife Electric Bed. Cooling off period? The Bed I bought got stuck in the upright position 2nd night. I had to sleep on the lounge. After much denial they took it back. Now want to keep $370. of my money for delivery fees.

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