Last summer, Gothenburg citizen Mathias Sabel picked up the phone when a seller of the Dentle electric toothbrush called. The seller presented his offer: a one-time cost of SEK 498 for two electric toothbrushes. The subscription to brush heads would be easy to cancel.
- It felt like a great deal. I could join and test that.
The seller pointed out that former middle distance star Malin Ewerlöf was an ambassador for the toothbrush, something that gave former track and field athlete Mathias confidence.
- It feels serious when someone you know stands behind a product, says Mathias Sabel.
After the conversation with the seller, Mathias Sabel says that he received an SMS with a link to confirm the purchase. The message stated that the agreement was a twelve-month subscription that cost SEK 299 a month.
But since the seller had repeatedly assured that the subscription could be canceled at any time, Mathias felt safe in clicking the link.
Then came the bills for an annual subscription of SEK 3,588, which could not be canceled. Mathias Sabel felt cheated and contacted Dentle to cancel the purchase, but according to him the company refused.
Mathias is also dissatisfied with the quality of the toothbrushes, which he describes as loud and worse than the competitors'.
- So it feels incredibly tough now that SEK 300 is deducted every month, he says.
Mathias Sabel is not alone in feeling led behind the light by Dentle. When DN requests statistics from the Swedish Consumer Agency, we find 355 reports of the product since 2019. According to the Swedish Consumer Agency, the number stands out and they say that reports have been received about Dentle for a long time. The General Complaints Board, ARN, has received 80 reports against Dentle since 2019.
According to the brand, there are no problems: The customer pays for two electric toothbrushes and then SEK 299.90 a month for a total of twelve new brush heads in a twelve-month contract.
But the reports about misleading marketing, unreasonable contract terms, invoicing without a contract and unsuitable sales method say otherwise. Complainants write, just like Mathias Sabel, that sellers promised them a trial period, but that the subscription could not then be cancelled.
Lotta Mauritzson is a crime prevention officer at the National Police's operational department. She explains that it is a violation of the Marketing Act when someone promises something in their sales that is then not included in the contract.
- It is a relatively common trick, that sellers say one thing on the phone and then something else is written in the contract. This is done because it is often difficult to prove what has been said, says Lotta Mauritzson.
What should private individuals who have been duped into expensive subscriptions do?
- First they should cancel the subscription. Then they can dispute payment responsibility for the future invoices. If they then receive a debt collection claim, they can contest the claim to the debt collection company.
Claes Julin, CEO of Scandinavian Good Business, which owns Dentle, does not want to participate in an interview with DN. We want answers to the question of whether the company's salesperson is tasked with deceiving customers, how he comments on all reports - and whether he knew the problem with all dissatisfied customers. In an email, Claes Julin writes, among other things:
"Our salespeople are not tasked with misleading customers. They work according to a set script and all agreements are recorded. A subscription with an agreement period must never be described as a one-time purchase or as possible to cancel at any time. Anyone who feels that they have received incorrect information can contact us, and we will go through the voicemail together. If it turns out that the customer received the wrong information, the agreement is canceled immediately and any payments are refunded."
"We go through every notification that comes in and continuously improve our procedures, so that no customer can misunderstand our offer."
"Both Dentle and Sinfrid are sold in two stages. The customer first approves the offer orally in a recorded voice receipt and then receives an SMS containing the entire offer, with price, monthly fee, contract period and right of withdrawal. The contract is only entered into when the customer answers yes or ok to the text message. If the answer is not received, there is no contract or cost."
Malin Ewerlöf, who is an ambassador for Dentle, says she has not heard of any complaints.
- I have no idea how sales are made and what is true in these stories. I want the facts on the table and if something has happened in an incorrect way, I would very much like to know, says the former athletics star, who thinks it is positive if any irregularities come to light.
- If there are dissatisfied people, it is very good that it comes to the surface and the company can look into it. I will definitely contact Dentle, have a dialogue with them and hear their side of this. Then I have to decide what to do, she says.
