(FranchisePick.Com) In the wake of continued complaints and allegations regarding the closing of more than Pure Weight Loss locations (formerly branded as L.A. Weight Loss), rumors and complaints are mounting that L.A. Weight Loss Centers may be following close behind. On Rip-off Report alone, more than 30 negative “reports”* have been posted since the first of the year.
3/18/2008 “Rita” from Memphis, Tennessee wrote:
[Name withheld] at the Germantown Center (she was the assistant manager) confirmed they are closing the Germantown market if they cannot find anyone to buy the market under re-sale in the next 30 days. Not only are the centers closed now on Thursdays, but they have added Tuesdays to the closed days. And now an ‘INVENTORY BLOW OUT’ sale due to overstock??? Come on…Same exact tactics used by PURE [weight Loss]…
To back up the fact that the LA Weight Loss Franchises are shutting down in Memphis, Bartlett and Germantown—here is a quote from a fellow co-worker of yours, Diane:
‘As a current employee of LA Weight Loss Franchise Company, I feel it is my duty to warn consumers that you absolutely DO NOT want to waste your money because the company will be CLOSING it DOORS!! As of Friday, we were told, like the employees of Pure Weight Loss, that the company is having financial trouble and will be restructuring. I was one of the lucky ones who did not yet lose their job. They have closed many franchises and will continue to close them. If Harold [Katz] (the owner) shuts down, then the franchise owners will have no support or supplies to offer their clients.
_______________ Weight Loss Franchise Links_______________
Beauty & Fitness Franchises, Liberty Weight Loss, TrimDiet
Healthy Inspirations, Hy-Tech Weight Loss, Inches-A-Weigh
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3/19/2008 “Sara” from Manhattan, Kansas wrote:
I am a former employee from the Columbus, GA center. SAME franchise owner as the ones in the Memphis area. Before we opened the store, there was a previous LA Weightloss center in the area, it shut down…didn’t tell the clients ANYTHING. They simply locked the doors. No money back…nothing.
Well, we open up & tell former clients ‘Don’t worry, that won’t happen here.’ Well, it was open less than a year and did the EXACT same thing!
Thankfully, I quit long before they shut their doors. Shady sales tactics! … the Care Credit is a joke. How can you morally put someone who cant afford the $500- $1000+ plans to begin with on a payment plan thats around 21- 25%?!
* Rip-off Report allegations are made by unverified, anonymous posters. Always scrutinize their authenticity for yourself.
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LA tells their employees to look for sites like this in their local market and to post “rebuttal” replies posing as clients of the centers. So, if a center is closing and clients bring it up–you will always see a reply that says something to the effect “my center that I attend is fine and that is not happening”. I truly hope LAWL can repair their reputation, but throwing more money at advertising I do not think is the right move. If they change their “slick” ways, they need to re-train and publicize that they have regrouped and things are different.
Are there any reports out there that tell how many centers have actually closed in the last 2 months???
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[...] Pure Weight Loss / LA Weight Loss Rumors, Complaints [...]
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I was an employee of LA and I can tell you that I am very concerned that the entire company is folding. I recently quit, because I was so unhappy with their business practices and found it a depressing environment. Clients have NO idea what the counselors go through and it is not good. When I was hired, I was not clearly told that it was a sales position or I would have never taken the job. It is ALL about sales and you must meet your quota daily and weekly. Managers tried all kinds of ways to get you to sell. I saw managers cheating the system because of the pressure they were put under. There’s got to be a better way. Look at all the centers closing all over the US. NO ONE should sign up at the company at this point. Maybe they are re-structuring, but I wouldn’t sign up until they stop closing door after door. Careful anyone…
The program in itself is awesome and I fully support, it’s just the business tactics are unethical in my opinion.
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I have heard ads on the radio encouraging people to spend their $600 check from the gov’t. to join L A Weightloss – How can this be happening if they have closed store fronts in our area? Are they re-opening sites in some communities? I would be interested since they owe me more than $200.00 in product. Thanks.
Jane
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Beware… over 100 more LA Centers are about to close. this is from an inside source. not even the employees are aware yet. don’t spend money at LA, even if the employees say they aren’t closing… again they have not been informed.
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I paid A LOT for my LA WEIGHT LOSS MEMBERSHIP and had a few months left. I had some stressors and stopped going for a few months, then decided to get jump started now that summer is here. Went to the store, and was shocked to see there was no sign, the store was empty, no sign on the door, and then I called and the phone rang and there was not even a message! And to think that last week I received a card in the mail to “Come back to LA for free”! I know the stores in Illinois closed, and I am over the border in Wisconsin. Right before I left, the store hours changed twice, and corporate was in there. I had a bad feeling about it and that also made me stop going. I am mad,feel like I got taken for a ride, and wonder how many may have just joined and got ripped off! These people need to be sued!
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Watch for the ‘Closing’ signs of all LA Weight loss centers. First they start cutting back store hours, let go of some employee’s, then they begin to have a difficult time getting all their product. The biggest clue is that the local advertising slows way down. In my area I saw advertisements daily on many T.V. stations and heard them constantly on the radio. They rarely advertise now and they are quoting no prices. I believe, after being a former employee, that they are now near the end. They are doing all they can to get ANY business at this point in order to hang on until the end. This has been the pattern in other parts of the county. GET OUT NOW!!!!
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I was a member of LA Weightloss in Pensacola, Florida. I went by one day for a usual weigh in and the doors were locked, office empty, no sign on door, nothing. I was told to call the LA Weightloss in Mobile, Alabama about my products I had already paid for and a refund on weeks I had just bought. I did receive the product I had paid for but it did take about a month. I am going on 2 months waiting for my refund. I call the office and lady I need to speak to is mysteriously never there and doesn’t return her calls.
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