Local News

Weight Loss Centers Leave Customers In The Dark

MIAMI (CBS4) ― A few years back you couldn't turn on the TV without seeing an advertisement for LA Weight Loss Centers.

Suddenly, more than 400 corporate centers nationwide closed up leaving their clients in a lurch.

"All girls want to look nice and I got a couple of pounds extra," said Yaumary Rodriguez who originally signed up with an LA Weight Loss Center several years ago, and she's still paying for counseling, nutritional supplements and diet bars.

Rodriguez said by staying on the plan she lost 24 pounds in the past year.

"My goal was 30 pounds but when I got down to 24," said Rodriguez, "I decided not to keep losing more"

At the beginning of the year, Rodriguez said she decided she needed to go back on the LA Weight Loss Center plan to help her drop a couple of pounds she picked up over the holidays. When she went to her local LA Weight Loss Center in Cutler Bay on January 4th to pick up her next shipment of weight loss bars, she said she was stunned to find that it had changed it's name to Pure Weight Loss. 

She received her second shock when she was informed that the store, which was still filled with LA Weight Loss products, was closing down.

"The companies were closing," Rodriguez said she was told, "it was the last date of work for the whole company. They just closed and they never sent a notice to the people they never say anything."

Click Here to read more about why Pure Weight Loss Centers shut down.

Rodriguez said the company still owes her about $200 worth of counseling sessions and about $400 worth of diet bars.

"They stole my money," said Rodriguez, "if they don't send people's money back they are stealing their money."

CBS4 investigative consumer reporter Al Sunshine visited the Pure Weight Loss Center in Cutler Bay. He found the store closed, with no listing of whether it would ever open in the future.

On their website, Pure Weight Loss apologizes for inconveniencing it's customers and refers them to several other national diet and nutrition centers.

Rodriguez said she's sure the other companies listed on the Pure Weight Loss site won't give her the diet food she's already paid for, but instead charge her for their own products.

As for a refund, Pure Weight Loss has posted claim forms on their website, but CBS4's Al Sunshine found out that's not the only place they are. He found dozens of refund claim forms thrown out in a dumpster behind the vacant Pure Weight Loss Center off Sunset Drive and Southwest 117th Avenue. Many of these forms were completely filled out with the customer's name and personal information including their address, their medical histories and their weight. In some cases, the forms even included medical reasons why they wanted to cancel their diet contracts and stop paying for them.

State prosecutors said by disposing of the forms in this manner, the defunct company may have violated a new law designed to prevent identity theft.

Long time diet clinic critic Dr. Sidney Wolfe, with the Washington consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, says he's not surprised by the demise of the centers.

"They don't even think enough, respect enough the people who paid them good money to go there to keep their records private," said Wolfe. "No one is surprised at anything one hears about businesses such as these that really have one main concern; make as much money as possible and when it starts looking bad, just get out and run and leave everyone in the lurch."

Unlike health clubs, diet and weight-loss businesses in the state are not covered by any special consumer protection laws or required to maintain special bonds for refunds if they go out of business.

The state's consumer protection office said it will process local complaints against LA Weight Loss Center and Pure Weight Loss Center and try to get Florida customers their money back.

If you've been a victim of LA Weight Loss Centers or Pure Weight Centers closure, CLICK HERE to file a complaint with the state.

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