Balmbare Accused of Trapping Buyers in Hidden Subscription Program

Case Overview: The lawsuit claims Balmbare misled shoppers by hiding automatic renewal terms and charging recurring fees without clear consent.

Consumers Affected: California customers allegedly enrolled in unwanted subscriptions after purchasing Balmbare products.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Balmbare, a company that markets hair-loss supplements through its website and social-media ads, traps customers in undisclosed, automatically renewing subscription plans.

The lawsuit alleges the company uses misleading checkout design, fake discounts, and hidden fees to quietly enroll shoppers in monthly billing cycles without proper notice or consent, violating California’s Automatic Renewal Law.

The complaint says Balmbare’s “Surprise Subscriptions” start the moment a customer buys a product, triggering recurring charges that continue indefinitely until canceled. Shoppers, the suit claims, are never given the clear terms, affirmative opt-in, or cancellation instructions that the law requires.

Plaintiff Says Hair Supplement Purchase Turned Into Ongoing Subscription

The lawsuit is led by Los Angeles resident Karen Soliday, who bought “Hair Revive Gummies” through an Instagram ad in September 2025.

She believed she was making a one-time purchase, especially after seeing a “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” promotion advertised as a limited-time deal. Instead, she was placed into an ongoing subscription and charged $42.42 every month.

The complaint says Soliday only learned she’d been enrolled after spotting the repeated charges on her billing statements. She promptly canceled but says she never would have purchased the product had she known about the subscription or that the advertised sale pricing wasn’t genuine.

She also alleges Balmbare added a mandatory “insured shipping” fee at checkout, raising the price beyond what was displayed earlier in the purchase flow.

Complaint Alleges Hidden Fees and Deceptive “Fake Sales”

According to the filing, Balmbare’s purchase process violates multiple provisions of the Automatic Renewal Law. The company allegedly hides subscription terms in tiny, easy-to-miss text placed below prominent order buttons or tucked behind dropdown menus that shoppers have no reason to open.

Because the disclosures aren’t clear or conspicuous, the complaint argues customers never provide the legally required affirmative consent to recurring charges.

Balmbare also allegedly fails to send post-purchase acknowledgments that include renewal terms or workable cancellation instructions, making it difficult for customers to stop the charges.

In addition to the auto-renewal issues, the lawsuit accuses the company of running deceptive “fake sale” promotions, using countdown timers and phantom discounts that were never real.

The filing further claims Balmbare tacks on a hidden insurance fee at the end of the checkout process — a form of drip pricing that regulators consider deceptive because it obscures the true cost until the last moment.

Auto-Renewal Lawsuits Mount Across Multiple Industries

Balmbare is not the only business under fire for similar practices. Adobe is facing claims that it funnels customers into subscription plans that appear flexible but actually lock them into yearlong commitments with steep early-termination penalties. 

DoorDash and Apple have both been accused of placing customers in automatic renewals without clear consent, and Amazon is under scrutiny for allegedly making its Prime cancellation process confusing by design.

Other industries, from car washes to VPN providers to media platforms, are also contending with lawsuits alleging hard-to-find terms, hidden fees, and recurring charges that keep running even after customers try to cancel.

Soliday aims to represent every subscriber who paid unauthorized renewal fees or was induced by Balmbare’s alleged fake discounts. The suit seeks damages, restitution, and court orders requiring the company to fix its practices.

Case Details

• Lawsuit: Soliday v. Epetah LLC D/B/A Balmbare
• Case Number: 2:25-cv-10792
• Court: U.S. District Court for the Central District of California 

Plaintiffs' Attorney:

• Frank S. Hedin (Hedin LLP)  
• Adrian Gucovschi (Gucovschi Law Firm, PLLC)

Have you been charged for unwanted product renewals? Share your story in the comments below.