Pure Weight Loss to Close All 400 Locations
December 18, 2007 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
(FranchisePick.Com) Visit Pure Weight Loss / LA Weight Loss Complaint site DEAR VAHAN.
Also read: PURE WEIGHT LOSS CUSTOMERS: SHARE NEWS & OPINIONS HERE
Source: Philadelphia Daily News
…Pure Weight Loss, Inc, formerly LA Weight Loss, announced on Wednesday that it would close all of its more than 400 locations nationwide effective Jan. 4.
A statement released by the company on Wednesday said, “Fierce competition from the internet, the introduction of Alli, the over-the-counter weight loss pill, and other commercial diet programs, combined with a difficult economic environment, have forced us to take this action.”
A spokesperson for Pure Weight Loss did not know if the Horsham-based company was filing for bankruptcy…
* * * * *
The diet pill, Alli, endorsed and sold by Pure Weight Loss, has been the target of criticism since the Food and Drug Administration approved it as an over-the-counter version of the prescription weight loss pill orlistat in February. Alli went on sale in July.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of the Public Citizen’s health research group, has spoken out against the drug, both in its prescription and over the counter forms and has testified to the FDA about its harmful effects.
Wolfe said the drug can cause pre-cancerous lesions of the colon and said, like many diet drugs, after an inital spike, sales probably went down.
Pure Weight Loss is currently involved in a class action lawsuit in Tennesse over false claims about its weight loss program and costs. In 2002, the company agreed to pay the State of New York $100,000 plus $10,000 in legal costs in a settlement over falsely advertising the cost of its program.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT PURE WEIGHT LOSS (FORMERLY L.A. WEIGHT LOSS)?
YOUR COMMENTS INVITED.
RELATED POST: ABC’s 20/20 Runs Free LA Weight Loss Franchise Infomercial
The Tennessee centers are not part of the 400 Corporate centers that closed in January – they are a separate company. That is probably why your center didn’t know what you were talking about with the ones that already closed. The Tennessee centers are part of the Franchise company of LA Weightloss. My advice is to call their customer service number right away to get a refund. You may be out of luck if you wait until they close.
I’m in Birmingham, Alabama. I joined in March. ALL of the locations here are closing as well. I had already paid for my program and don’t consider myself ‘out’ anything – although I would love to be able to continue with the plan and bars. However, after my success, several friends & family members signed up in August and September. They are now out several THOUSAND dollars after pre-paying for the entire plan with Care Card. Some of the centers are open a few hours a couple of days each week with signs saying they are expecting deliveries – but no one has details as to what will happen, if they will be back, when they are closing, what do to with the amount of goods/services purchased which now cannot be rendered. WHO DO WE CONTACT? We cannot find a corporate number or website that leads us anywhere. I would appreciate your help in trying to help my family/friends out of their jam. And, if there is word that the company will move more internet-like in operations for purchase of bars and juices, please let me know!!
Allison — I’m really sorry to hear this. We went through this exact same scenario here in January. I was fortunate enough to get the word and to get there in time to get the products owed to me (although they still owe me for services not rendered).
I would advise your friends to call Care Credit QUICKLY — some people have had success with getting refunds that way. I would also suggest calling your State Attorney General’s office and filing a complaint.
In PA, the AG is suing the guy who owned Pure Weight Loss. I don’t know if it will work the same with L.A. since that is a franchise operation.
As to buying bars, etc. — sometimes I see them on e-bay, but have had no luck other than that (oh, and a few slim down drinks were available for a while at Big Lots).
Best of luck to you and your friends and family members.
Allison: Contact the PA attorney general office AND the attorney general office for your state of residence and file a complaint. Also, if anyone has charged it through Care Credit submit a grievance to them for the amount of services and product you are owed. They did credit my account for a substantial amount and the NYS attorney general office notified me in the summer that they had obtained funds that they would be working on distributing to all who filed complaints with their office. I have not seen any money from them yet but people had until 9/30/08 to file with them so I am still hopeful that after all of the legalities are sorted out I may see something. It is worth the time of writing letters to see if you can be reimbursed.
Clover: Are you still monitoring this blog? If so I would like to hear from you
I used to work for a Markham center, I was there to truly help people and make them happy. It was very rewarding, even though the company and I shared different values. They wanted me to sell everything I could to every person that walked through the door. They even had average sales reports every week we’d have a meeting talking about sales taktics. If i wante dto sell stuff I would have gone back t oretail. I was let go after 3 months for not having a good sales average. I was really sad to lose touch with all the people that I really cared about. Too bad the company shared different values, and they deserve to be closing.
I used to work for the company in Markham and I really cared about helping people, but after 3 months I was let go for not having enough sales. I was really sad to lose all those people I cared about i really wante dto help and make a difference, not sell useless product like they only wanted.
Leena: If you are sincere that you really cared about helping people, I’d like to chat with you about becoming a health coach. It’s not about selling; it’s about providing coaching support to clients to help them lose weight and learn to keep it off. You can email me at pathtohealth @ comcast.net.
By the way, the co-founder of our organization has a book that was just published called, “Dr A’s Habits of Health.” As a result, our business is growing and we are looking to add health coaches.
Joan
Joan: If you don’t sell anything, am I to assume that “Dr. A’s” is a charitable/non profit organization? Thanks.
Dexter – why would that be your assumption. Do non-profit organizations not make money from their fund-raising or from sales? One doesn’t have anything to do with the other. My statement is completely true (not sure where you are coming from). I don’t sell. What do you do? I’m curious.
Joan: In your words to Leena,” It’s not about selling; it’s about providing coaching support “. My interpretation… there is no selling involved. I did not suggest that you were being less than truthful. Never heard of your company …just asking a question. I’m an MD.
I just found out a few weeks ago that all centers in Oklahoma were closed. I had taken several weeks off for family reasons and when I called to set up an appointment the phone was disconnected. When I was finally able to reach a human being I was told that someone would contact me regarding the products that we still due me, not to mention the program that I am paying for on Care Credit that I will be able to use. I went on vacation for 2 weeks and when I came home two cases of Take Off were on my porch. Not sure this is going to be of any use to me without Lites. I tried to call customer service today and the “mailbox is full and can not accept messages”! No wonder! I will pursue a class action law suite against this company. I am furious!
I also joined in Colorado and when I transferred to Las Vegas I went to the center one time and the center closed it’s doors…No Comment and no way to get my money back or money for bars. I too would like to know how to recoup my hard earned money.
Any one else notice that if you try to call the 1-800 # for the company, you get an automated message that there are no centers in your area and no other options? Does anyone have a number or address for their corporate offices? We’ll need that for our state attorney generals office so we can do ~ something. Thanks!
I know that the PA Attorney General’s Office was filing a suit against the owner, but I don’t know if it’s too late to become a participant in that action. I suggest calling the AG’s offices of both PA and the state where you live.
My sister tells me that she saw a blurb in the local paper here (outside of Philly) the other day with a reference to the suit, but I couldn’t find it and haven’t heard more.
Good luck. This guy owes a lot of us!
Editor’s Note: Here’s contact info for all state Attorney Generals
Here’s the story on the Pure Weight Loss settlement: Pure Weight Loss Members to Receive $700,000 in Refunds
I was a member i was only five months in and lost 22 lbs, but i am owed over $500 and several boxes of bars, i was never in a situation – where that money was easily given. I have a family and wish there was a way to get the money owed to me!
Jynni:
If you paid Pure Weight Loss, click on the link to the story in my last comment. The PA AG has $700K earmarked for refunds to Pure Weight Loss customers owed refunds. Some states have funds escrowed (MD, NY).
If it is LA Weight Loss & you paid with a Care Credit Card or other credit card, get in touch with them asap and request a chargeback. You will have to fill out a form and furnish documentation, but many have been successful with Care Credit. Be persistent. Their contact info and form is posted here.
If you paid cash, can’t get a chargeback or refund from the company itself, you can file consumer complaints with both your state Attorney General and the AG of Pennsylvania. The PA Attorney General was very aggressive in seeking refunds in the case of Pure Weight Loss customers, and will likely do the same with LA Weight Loss. Contact info for all AGs is here:
Contact List of State Attorneys General
Please keep us posted on your progress, and have a happy new year.
Also check out the posts on Weight Loss Complaints
Read about a related case here: Pure Weight Loss Members to Receive $700,000 in Refunds
Hi:
This is just a word of encouragement to all those affected by the abrupt closings of the LA Weight Loss Centers. Never give up, Never quit! You may not be able to continue weight loss with LA Weight Loss, but you are still in the game.
Sincerely,
Anita Gibson
Advanced Weight Loss Centers
It is 3rd of January, 2009, and I am completely in awe of all that was going on with LA weight Loss for over a year! I had no idea!
Being in my 1yr maintenance program I used to stop at the center only to pick up my bars weekly or every other week. At both centers I have been to (Wilsonville and Tigard, OR), the counselors were always very friendly and supportive and trying their best to get me reach my goal. Truly! Now I am still 5 months to go at a LA Lite bar a day, but I skipped a couple of months of visits due to vacations, Christmas preps, and some guilty pounds, and I am astonished to find out the store closed and that all this story was going on for over a year already!
I am very sorry for all the people that have been given hope and then abandoned, particularly because the program works. I think this hurts more than the money owed to them, but getting the money back would help cope with this kind of loss. I am sorry for the nice counselors too, because it must be hard to befriend people and then be obliged to betray them with silence about the truth in order to save a bit longer the job that pays the family bills.
I also know that these counselors have been trained to give support to their clients, and they could help these people continue with their struggle to loose or maintain the weight even without the LA Lites. If anyone out there knows how to establish a LA blog where people/ex-clients could ask and receive help from these counselors without the fear of a witch hunt, I think this would help alleviate a bit of the hurt and and the guilt for the parts involved.
As for the company, by my calculations it owes me 22 weeks of LA Lites which is $385. Who is keeping the list for legal action against this company?
I too registered last summer and lost 15 pounds. I had bought for over 20 boxes of LA Lites, which I can’t get back. What’s more, the LA Weight Loss where I went (in Gatineau) did a 75% sale on everything the week before they closed, and they were advertizing that they would not store and merchandize they were selling out of this sale. Which means they probably knew they were closing. If I had known, I would have asked all of my LA Lites back then. I sure hope there will be a class action!
Hi,
PASCALE, me too I went in gatineau!
I was wondering if ANYBODY know what food do we replace the 2 LA Lights? is it 1 portion of protein & 1 portion of fruit? what do we do when we get to maintenance??
I was wondering if anyone knows what you would add to the program if I can not get the lites.
I did a lot of reading of nutrition labels for other kinds of bars, using calories, carbs, fat, and protein as my basic guidelines. I found that Luna bars (which were also suggested by my counselors as they were going out of business), some Pria bars, and Kashi Go Lean Crunch (not the rolls or chewy ones) are all between about 140 – 190 calories and seem to have a similar “make up” so I’ve been using those Atkins and EAS also have some that fall into those numbers — I’m not as fond of the taste of them, but do use them from time to time.
You could also skip the bars and up your proteins to the amount in the next program “up” from yours (if you know it). For example, if you’re on the gold plan, you would use the protein portions from the purple plan. Of course, you would need to know what plan is one “up” from yours in terms of protein sizes.
Best of luck to you.
ANY OLD COUNSELORS ON HERE?
I need to know if you have gotten our 2008 W-2 yet or if not, do you know where to contact someone to give them my current address?
Some Government documents will not be forwarded by mail. Does anyone know if W-2s are forwarded?
In replacement of LA Lites, I decided to buy chewy bars with Soya (i.e. Kashi bars). Since they told me these bars were high with soya, I guess this is why they were helping in the weight loss.
For Gatineau residents, you can contact the “Office de la protection du consommateur”. LA Weight Loss paid them $30′000 ($15′000 for each office) when they openned in Gatineau, and the Office will use this amount to reimburse us.
Kathy, Sue & Pascale: You might want to look at Medifast’s new Crunch bars. They come in 10 flavors (Chocolate Mint, Caramel, Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Oatmeal Raisin, S’mores, Strawberry, Cinnamon Roll, Fruit & Nut and Lemon Meringue. All have 110 calories, 11 g of Protein, 13 g Carbs, 3-5 g sugar 3-5 g Fiber, 3-4 g fat and 24 vitamins and minerals. Not to mention that they are DELICIOUS!!! You can order them on www. pathtohealth.tsfl. com. A box of 7 is $16.25. We have other bars that have a higher calorie (140-170) & sugar count as well, but these new bars are great and you can eat 5 of them as your 5 Medifast meals every day (but our other food is so good, who would want to do that). Thought this might be helpful info for you.
NY has forced LA Weight Loss to repay $275,000 to its former members:
http://weightloss.franbest.com/2009/02/la-weight-loss-to-pay-refunds-to-new-york-members/
Here’s a link to Attorney General contact info:
http://www.franchisepick.com/resources/list-of-state-attorney-generals/
I just found out that you can buy the LA lites on ebay if you are interested in still trying to use the bars. There are a ton of products from LA on ebay I would just look for an expiration date before you buy them.
Where is the expiration date on the La Weight Loss bars. I have several boxes but cannot find an expiration date.
I was one of the many people that lost money when the centers closed. Fortunately, I did not lose money on products, just services. Just for something to do I googled LA Weightloss this evening. To my surprise I have discovered that they have an online program where you can buy product! I’m sure that they are doing this so that they can repay the millions of dollars that they owe to all of us!!!!! It doesn’t seem fair!
I have lost over a 1,ooo dollars to LA weight Loss and pure Weight Loss. I feel i should get my money back I put a lot of money in this plan and got 6 boxes of my bars I want my money back may 8 2009
I must say I’m not surprised about the closing and all the funny business going on here. I lost 35 pounds on the program, and every single time I went in for my meetings the “counselors” would be astonished by the fact that I’d actually weight (NOT very encouraging). And then the fact that they were always trying to sell me some new thing (in ADDITION to those LA Lites I was already paying for) just made it all too much to handle. Too bad after I quit I gained all the weight back, plus some.
I want to find out if there is a class action lawsuit for the Oklahoma customers of LA Weight loss. I am due money from the company, too.
My sisters and I joined and I would like to see what they are going to do to make it up to their upset Oklahoma Customers.
Lee:
Another good site to check is http://weightloss.franbest.com
Also contact the Attorney Generals in OK and PA. The PA Attorney General has recovered money for Pure Weight Loss/LA Weight Loss customers, and you may be eligible.
Search this site for LA Weight Loss PA attorney General
Actually…what the representatives failed to tell you is that you are NOT required to use the LA lites in the program. If you chose to opt out they configured a meal plan without them and actually achieved BETTER results when not substituting them in between meals. My mother and I went to the office nearby our home and she was set up on a plan where she bought the LA lites, and I did not. When we both weighed in I typically lost more weight than her–I think the lites was a scam to make people spend more money. My sister went to join the program and they had told her that she HAD to buy them in order for the diet to work (completely untrue). I can tell you what MY plan consisted of; however, apparently that was created for my particular weight so I’m not quite sure if it would work for you…but I was eating 2 1/2 proteins, 4 fruits, 4 vegetables, 4 starches, 2 dairy, 1 fat, and 4 condiments… hope this helps…
The bars will get hard and impossible to chew before they actually expire. This sounds like terrible advice, but I did the program myself and a few years later, I worked there. The bars from the centers were always fresh and should be good anywhere from 6 months to 1 1/2 years, depending on the flavor. Open it up and check one out. If it isn’t dried out, it is still good. (I had a box in my cupboard for 18 months and they were hard as a rock, but not moldy, when I stumbled upon them).
I was very sad to know that Pure Weight Loss was closing. I did very good on the Program an dwould like to continue with a program like the at Pur Weight Loss. Is there any other program out there simular to Pure Weight Loss/LA Weight Loss?