Description

I was misled by a fraudulent funnel disguised as a fitness and wellness offer. I clicked on a $9.99 USD trial for a Tai Chi training program from a company called MadMuscles, after seeing their ad through Instagram. I was looking for peace, balance, and a simple way to reconnect with my body — not to be tricked. Immediately after paying the $9.99 trial via PayPal, I was redirected to an aggressive, chaotic upsell page. The layout was misleading and designed to push extra offers with confusing buttons and time-pressure tactics. Despite my intention to decline, a second charge of $49.95 USD was processed, without clear confirmation from me. That is not a mistake — it’s a dark pattern. When I reached out to MadMuscles for a refund, they responded with generic emails offering "3 months for free" but never acknowledged the issue or provided reimbursement. After that, silence. I reported this to PayPal — and despite my efforts to explain, they ruled in favor of the seller, stating the product had been “delivered.” This is a serious blind spot in PayPal’s dispute system. A product being "sent" does not mean it was authorized, desired, or transparent. I later discovered many others had the exact same experience. On Reddit, Trustpilot, and App Store reviews, dozens of people describe being charged for products or services they never knowingly agreed to, with no refund, no real support, and no accountability. This is not just a bad customer experience — this is a business model based on confusion, misleading design, and forced upsells. They prey on people who just wanted to get healthy, only to trap them in a billing nightmare. ?? I strongly urge others to avoid MadMuscles. And I encourage BBB to document and investigate this pattern.