“NanoNet technology… uses specially-formulated chemicals to bond with and remove the stains.”
“Did not clean ANYTHING.”
It looks like selling magic toilet powder is just a sideline for BowlSparkle. Their main business is credit-card leech.
July 24, 2021: There may be nothing illegal or wrong with the following business practices. But they suggest to me that the seller is not to be trusted. I’m using my Trustworthy scoring system; -1 means true (bad), +1 means false (good), and 0 means undetermined. I penalize the seller for statements made by shills.
Suspicious location: TRUE (-1):
Contact information for BowlSparkle:
Address: 1771 Robson Street / Vancouver, BC V6G 1C9, Canada
Email: support@mybowlsparkle.com
Phone: 1 (949) 391-4039
How interesting to discover another customer of Canada’s Robson Print And Ship. But I was looking for an office within the US dedicated to BowlSparkle.
Ridiculous claims: TRUE (-1):
- “The secret is in the NanoNet technology.” This cleaner contains chemicals; hard to imagine.
- “But hurry, due to extremely high demand, BowlSparkle has sold over 1.25 million packs and is frequently in and out of stock.” Further down; “So far, BowlSparkle has sold over 10 million units.” Are we getting warmer?
Onerous terms: False (+1):
Easy-peasy refunds! But see the “Lying and deception” section below.
- You have 90 days from <?> to return your box for a refund or exchange.
Ads, spam, robocalls: False (+1):
They collect your personal data and everything they can suck out of your browser. They nerd around with it; but they don’t use it for advertising, as far as I can tell.
Lying and deception: TRUE (-1):
BowlSparkle says “Simply send the item back to us for a full refund or replacement, less S&H.”
- But, from TrustPilot; “Despite their guarrantee, they only refunded 65% of product cost and nothing of postage/delivery.”
- “They offer a full money back guarantee, but give only 65% of $19.95. No mention that tax and shipping are added at $7.13 and not refunded. Besides, not refunding tax is illegal.”
- “… they said that they were sorry it didnt work out and to save time , money and hassle, they would refund 65 percent of the order. I told them I wanted my shipping refunded and 65 percent of my order and still waiting to hear. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT, IT DOES NOT WORK, ITS A SCAM!”
Chicanery: TRUE (-1):
- Bulletins about other people snapping up the last boxes of toilet powder keep popping up.
- “There is limited availability and this 50% OFF REGULAR PRICE OFFER may be taken down at any moment!”
- Links to Terms and Conditions, etc. are in pale type on a white background.
- When I try to move my mouse out of the order form, a giant coupon with even more savings pops up.
Phony reviews: TRUE (-1):
I’m charmed to see clip-art model Erika Medie(?) and her wonderful cat again. I hope she’s getting paid for all the web pages that feature her endorsements. Like this one.
Crummy product:. TRUE (-1).
- From TrustPilot: “Did not work like advertised. I purchased 2 boxes My Bowlsparkle and tried it out i put 3 spoon fulls in the toilet like directions say it turned water blue and no foaming and 25 minutes later water still blue but no foaming. I took a stiff bowl brush to see if it would even clean and no it did not clean the stains. So i waited 45 minutes still no foaming so i tried the brush again still would not clean.”
- “Be warned – this is a total scam. It comes in a box that doesn’t say “Bowlsparkle” anywhere on it and nor does it have a return address. The big issue though is the plain and simple fact that it does absolutely nothing. All the claims about its effectiveness are false advertising, but it’s sucking people in and we’re all ending up losing money on a worthless product. Please, don’t do it.”
- “Used as instructed and only change was could smell strong bleach. Did not clean ANYTHING.”
Overpriced: Undetermined (0):
BowlSparkle sells one box (6 treatments) for $20. I couldn’t find it or a similar product for sale anywhere else.
Bad service: TRUE (-1):
- From TrustPilot: “I immediately a request to return and refund but got no response to my email from Bowlsparkle at all then i did research about their contact number and i found this Bowlsparkle help number which is NINE ONE NINE NINE THREE NINE TWO FIVE FOUR FOUR AT FIRST I CONTACTED THE I contacted them when my line was connected they helped me some with instructions so that got my money back thanks for great service This is the best experience I have ever had with this company.”
- “The website to order the product is very confusing. I tried to order only one product and got three. I could not change the order and when I contact support they could not fix my order. Now, I have three crappy products.”
- “I ordered this without reviewing it first. I read the reviews and panicked! I expected to lose my money. I called customer service immediately and she was very kind. I received credit and the transaction was completed happily. Please note…I never tried the item so I cannot comment.”
- Better Business Bureau rates BowlSparkle D+. TrustPilot rates it 1.2 / 5 stars, with the aside “Bad.”
Total score: -5
Unauthorized charges: I found several complaints about this. I’m turning the red light on.
- From BBB: “On September 7, 2020 I purchased a product online called, “Bowl Sparkle.” I bought 3 packages of this product. … Shortly after receiving the first receipt for $63.62 from ****** for Bowl Sparkle; I received a second receipt from ****** for $14.00. I replied to the Merchant Bowl Sparkle via email: support@mybowlsparkle.com. stating that I had not ordered the extra product at $14.00. I did not get a response. When the product arrived in the mail, I knew that I had been *******!”
- From TrustPilot: “Long after receiving 2 packages of this stuff, I received an email invoice for 12packages saying this was an automatic shipment and my credit card was billed $245.00. I called my card people who did not have that transaction. I called the phone number on the invoice, the guy spoke barely English. I told him I didn’t want the stuff and wanted my money back. He said I ordered the automatic reship – I didn’t! Stuff doesn’t work. It just sits there in the bowl. Don’t order it.”
- “Wrote it off as a learning experience…. Till I received the email telling me they are sending me a years supply of Bowl Sparkle and will charge me over $300.00. I had already learned of their false advertising. Then yesterday I received the email. Can they do that? I did not order it at ANY time. A very nice woman from the real Bowl Sparkle assured me the email is a scam.“
- “This is a con. If you purchase it once they claim you signed up for automatic refills at over $300 per month. When you try to cancel the auto-ship that you KNOW you didn’t sign up for, they insist that you either download a file to your computer or allow a screen-sharing on your phone in order to cancel. Obviously it would be foolish to allow either this download or allow them access to your phone. RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN FROM THIS COMPANY.” Is this enough?
Advice: Don’t. If you already did, see my post about how to disengage from this leech.
Bloopers:
- “I sent a whole box of BowlSparkle to my son, so it would last his entire college career!” On page 2 I read that each box contains enough magic toilet powder for six uses, and that you should use it every two weeks.
Web Scammer Jammer 