It's a familiar experience for anyone who has walked through an American shopping mall: A friendly salesperson approaches with a free sample of skincare cream, offering the promise of younger-looking skin.As you pass, they launch into a stream of chatter — a compliment on your handbag or a question about what's in your shopping bag.
It's the kind of encounter that shoppers often walk away from without a second thought.But behind this familiar mall ritual, NPR uncovered something far more costly: customers hit with thousands of dollars in charges they never authorized and products they didn't want and can't return.In Michigan, an elderly man with dementia was charged $42,000 for skincare products and devices.His family didn't realize the situation until his credit score dropped, his son told NPR.In New Mexico, a spa employee sold a woman a $30,000 red-light therapy device.
She alleged in a lawsuit that he also charged $78,000 for what he said was sales tax without her consent.In Hawaii, a disabled woman was shown to the back room of a spa for a "free" facial.The salesperson took her walker, she wrote in a complaint to the state, and refused to let her leave for hours until she spent $2,600.These stories share a common thread: The stores they visited have contracts to buy skincare products from Mazal Group, a California-based company managing dozens of brands sold in thousands of stores worldwide.
And those brands are all owned by one family.Credit: Bronson Arcuri/NPROver the past year, NPR spoke with more than 50 people impacted by this enterprise, including customers who say they were taken advantage of, their family members and former employees.This investigation draws from state and federal court lawsuits, hundreds of online reviews and nearly 500 consumer complaints that NPR obtained from agencies via Freedom of Information Act requests.
NPR staff visited stores selling products from Mazal Group in Virginia, Maryland and California, as well as the company'...