Have you gotten any free-after-rebate Right Guard antiperspirant? A “try me free” offer that began earlier this year has been extended several times, so coupon blogs have mentioned the offer on many occasions, and plenty of shoppers have cashed in.
But one shopper claims it’s all a fraud.
New Jersey resident John Sacchi has sued Right Guard maker Dial and its corporate owner Henkel, after his rebate check bounced. Now he’s seeking thousands of dollars in damages for himself, and for anyone else who never got their money.
In his federal lawsuit, Sacchi says he bought a can of Right Guard Xtreme Precision Dry Spray Antiperspirant after seeing a sign in the store that promised he could try it for free. He sent in his rebate form and eventually received a check in the mail for $5.49.
After depositing it in his bank, though, he says the check was returned “unpaid”, with a notice that the check had been “drawn on a closed account”. Then, adding insult to injury, his bank charged him a $12 “returned deposit item fee”.
He complained to the company, which he says was no help. “Henkel has done nothing to compensate Consumer for his increasing damages although months have passed since it issued the worthless check,” the lawsuit reads.
So he felt his only recourse was to sue, in a proposed class action that would cover anyone else whose checks bounced. Sacchi’s lawsuit calls the offer a “fraudulent product rebate campaign” and claims Henkel “issued worthless rebate checks drawn on an Arizona bank account that it knowingly closed and yet continues to solicit purchases of the subject product with the promise that a rebate will be paid.”
A search of online posts about the deal shows that many people have received and cashed their checks with no problems. Sacchi’s lawsuit offers no specific evidence that Henkel is scamming people on a massive scale – it merely assumes he couldn’t have been the only one who wasn’t able to cash his check.
The lawsuit accuses Henkel of fraud, breach of contract and violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, which could result in penalties of up to $30,000 per violation.
In the meantime, the “try me free” offer, which last expired a few weeks ago, has been extended again through September 15th.
So if you’re the trusting type, you can buy a can of Right Guard, submit for a rebate and cross your fingers. Or, you can wait to see how the lawsuit turns out. Sacchi’s “free” Right Guard ended up being more expensive than he anticipated. And if he has his way, the offer will end up being a whole lot more expensive for Henkel as well.
Hmmm, I got mine returned due to stale dated. The check itself was dated 4/19/17 but I did not realize that it was “void if not presented before 06/17/17” when I went to bank to deposit it on 6/19. I thought it was within 60 days. Unusual for it to be cashed before the exact date where most rebate checks say “void after 90 or 120 days”. Since I was two day late, it was my fault even thought it was within 60 days.
Had the same experience with another rebate. I actually sent to my bank on the day it was “void if not presented before” but because it was a friday night, the bank didn’t process it till after the deadline. got stale dated return AND a fee 🙁
Thankfully my bank is awesome and waived the fee when I called, but I was sad I got a product at full price I ended up donating and never even used myself! C’est la vie!