Ashy Bines can’t seem to catch a break.
The 29-year-old Gold Coast model, personal trainer and queen of her very own bikini body-built empire has made headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past twelve months (getting caught parking her Range Rovers in a disabled car spot among one of them).
The latest? According to news.com.au, Bines has been slammed by customers who allege her company has been making ‘unauthorised deductions’ from their credit cards and bank accounts.
Customers accuse Ashy Bines’ company of ‘unauthorised deductions’, censorship https://t.co/i6GGuaKSKg @newscomauHQ pic.twitter.com/v5bWF2k3co
— Alexis Carey (@carey_alexis) January 8, 2018
A number of women have come forward to claim they’ve been ripped off after paying for Bines’ fitness programs they were later denied access to. Others say that when they tried to flag this feedback online with the company, they were censored by staff.
It doesn’t end there; even more women say they’ve encountered significant delays or issues when trying to return activewear from the company’s clothing line.
Claire Oakley, who contacted news.com.au reporter Alexis Carey, downloaded Bines’ ‘Booty‘ app in 2016 when the program was on sale.
She did all the things you do when purchasing an app, including providing her banking deets and unticking a pre-ticked box signing her up for promotions. She didn’t receive any correspondence from the brand after this, and only used the app a few times before deleting it.
Over 12 months later, Ms Oakley looked up her bank statement after her card was declined while grocery shopping.
“I immediately looked at my bank, to see a transaction of around $40 for ‘Ashy Bines’. I had absolutely no idea what this was for, knowing that I hadn’t signed up for anything,” she said.
“I went back through my transaction history, to find that every month, a similar amount had come out, never the same amount but around the $40 mark, totalling over $600.
“At first, I was so disappointed in myself for not picking it up. I blamed myself for being stupid enough to not notice that coming out of my bank.”
She contacted the company, and was told that the deductions had been for a subscription to ‘The Life‘ program; something she’s sure she didn’t sign up for.
“I still to this day have absolutely no idea what ‘The Life’ is, or how I was supposed to log in, or access it,” she said.
“I then found out through research that ‘The Life’ doesn’t actually exist anymore, and hasn’t for several months, even while I was paying for the program. Again, no email or correspondence that would advise me of this.
“After several emails back and forth, it was evident that I was never going to get my money back.”
She is now taking her case to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Another customer, Ashley Nicholls, shared a similar story after purchasing the ‘Finishers’ app.
She paid $7 for the app straight up, but several months later her access was blocked after Finishers was absorbed by the ‘Squad’ app. She alleges she was not able to access the product unless she signed up for the Squad, which cost $19.95 per month.
There are plenty more scenarios not dissimilar to these, many of which have been chronicled on an Insta called @ashybinescompanytruths.
The account is currently set to private, but if you give it a follow you’ll see hundreds of other stories alleging Bines’ company effectively scammed them outta their hard earned.
A representative of Ashy Bines has released a statement and said the company was “an open book with nothing to hide”.
“Out of the hundreds of thousands of happy and long term customers, sometimes the loudest are a very small percentage that may not be happy with the service or those that have not read the Terms and Conditions when signing up/purchasing,” the representative said.
“Our T and Cs are clearly laid out and accessible on the appropriate website and in the Apple and Android App stores. A number of the concerns raised seem to be centred around misinformation without all of the facts of each individual customer/purchase.
“As a business, our number one focus is giving our clients a positive experience. Our strong community is built from repeat customers. Our intention is to always build our community and provide customers with the best possible service.
“If there has been any wrongdoing or mistakes, we will own up to that. In saying that, we are highly confident in our customer service and support teams ability. They are passionate individuals whose end goal aligns with ours, all wanting to make a difference by helping girls to lead and live a healthier and happier life.”
The representative said comments were only deleted if they violated the company’s anti-discrimination policies.
“If it is misused, or if people are mistreated, then those individuals will be removed so not to ruin it for the rest of them,” the representative concluded.
If you’re reading this and have any queries or complaints, you can sound off at info@ashybines.com.
