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Parapraxis
March 18, 2009 5:04 PM
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The e-mail is irrefutable proof that the acai berry is made from the dingleberries of Satan himself.

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cuchanu
March 18, 2009 5:21 PM
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@Parapraxis: Acai berries are made of star dust like everything else, except scam artists, which are made in hell. That's why they will give her the refund in hell.

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puka_pai
March 18, 2009 5:04 PM
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\"You can get your refund in hell. haahah\"

I received a temporary refund from my bank 24 hours later and have yet to hear anything from Acai.

I can't imagine showing something like this to a bank and getting only a \"temporary\" refund. This looks like pretty clear evidence of intent to defraud to me.

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rhys1882
March 18, 2009 5:58 PM
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@puka_pai: The refunds are always \"temporary,\" meaning they reserve the right to revoke it down the road. They would never in a million years guarantee your refund without doing a full investigation on their end.

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FuryOfFirestorm
March 18, 2009 5:10 PM
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But she did lose weight...her bank account is $107.36 lighter!

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Amy Alkon
March 18, 2009 5:11 PM
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Fad diets are idiotic. Also, much of what we consider dietary science is actually \"science.\" An investigative science journalist I know -- one of the finest out there -- spent seven years researching the reality of our dietary \"wisdom.\" His name is Gary Taubes, and his book is \"Good Calories, Bad Calories.\" I wrote about his findings (based on evidence-based research -- researchers who do good science) in a recent column:

[www.ocregister.com]

I'll post the essential bit here:

The sad thing is, many women who are fat aren't that way due to a diet that's high in cupcakes, or because their fitness goal is avoiding ever going to the gym. In fact, their attempts to lose weight might be making them fat. Award-winning investigative science journalist Gary Taubes has discovered that we've been sold a bill of goods by the medical establishment, which based its advice to follow high-carb, low-fat diets on \"science\" instead of science. In Taubes' exhaustively researched book, \"Good Calories, Bad Calories,\" he lays out substantive evidence that obesity is caused by carbs - from flour, sugars, and easily digested starches like potatoes - that cause insulin levels to rise. When insulin levels rise, we stockpile calories as fat. Eating foods with very low (or no) carbs - meat, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs, butter, and non-starchy veggies - decreases appetite and increases fat loss and weight loss.
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sirwired
March 19, 2009 3:44 AM
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@Amy Alkon: The biggest problem I have with the \"Carbs are bad\" theory is that the majority of the population of the entire world has carbohydrates as their main source of calories; Grain (Rice, Wheat, Corn), Tubers (potatoes and yams), Plantains, and, to a lesser extent, Legumes (which are a mix of starch and protein, depending on variety.) The diabetes epidemic is rather new, despite starch being the staple of mankind since the dawn of agriculture. (Dairy, meat, and veggies are important parts of modern man's diet, but the majority of calories have almost always come from carbs for the majority of people. Meat and dairy are expensive to produce, and consume quite a lot of grain that could be used more efficiently through direct consumption. Veggies are so low in calories, they are approx. a rounding error. Filling, yes, healthy, yes, a good source of calories for a hard-working peasant, no.)

Now, if you combine high carbs, excess caloric intake, and inactivity, then yes, I could understand a diabetic connection. But to say \"carbs cause obseity\" is to mis-state and oversimplify the problem.

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cabjf
March 18, 2009 6:02 PM
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@Amy Alkon: Actually, dietary science has much more to do with the conglomeration of the results of studies. That is just about the only thing we can base Dietary Science around. The history goes that studies showed that diets low in fat cut heart disease risk. So they started pushing low fat diets. Then it is realized that the relationship is more complex than that; there are different kinds of fats, some actually good for your body. Also, it was found that high carbohydrate intake is also bad. Basically, the recommendations from Dietitians and Nutritionists will change over time as more is revealed about how our bodies react to the foods we eat. Then they have to distill it down to something people can actually follow, which removes detail. What most fad diets tend to do is over distill. They will latch on to one or two study results and take it to the extreme.

I think the common sense approach is the best when it comes to weight management. Stay as close to the way food grows (less refined and processed foods) and make sure to get a good mix of fruits, veggies, and meats or other protein source in your diet. Oh, and physical activity is just as important as diet (since it will be the deciding factor in what your body does with the nutrients you take in). It's pretty simple and doesn't require following a strict program.

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floraposte
March 18, 2009 5:37 PM
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@Amy Alkon: I like Taubes, and I'm in agreement with him about science's tendency toward herd mentality (Judith Rich Harris' The Nurture Assumption is an interesting book on developmental psychology that addresses the same issue). But he's pretty imperfect in his own right, most notably the disappearance of the Mediterranean, etc. diets that confound his low-carb theory from his considerations after the start of the book.

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ilves
March 18, 2009 5:23 PM
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@Amy Alkon:


isn't that advocating the atkin's diet? which is another fad diet....

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speedwell (!)
March 18, 2009 6:46 PM
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@ilves: I was diagnosed with diabetes six months ago. I got my blood sugar down to normal by doing Atkins (not just below 7.0, which is \"controlled,\" but well below 6.0, which is in the \"nondiabetic\" range). I'm already starting to come off medications. My doctor told me, \"Whatever you're doing, keep doing it.\" I guess this is one fad I'll be following even when it's out of style, ma'am.

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floraposte
March 18, 2009 8:12 PM
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@speedwell, avatar of snark: I think there's definite evidence that there are people (and I don't mean freakishly rare individuals) who are highly reactive to carbohydrates and metabolize them poorly; a good friend is one, and she's found that limiting their intake helps terrifically with her PCOS as well. I also think it's pretty clear that Americans tend to eat a lot of crap, including carb crap, and that fats aren't necessarily the villain they were portrayed to be.

Overall, though, I think it's misleading to paint any particular food group as uniformly villainous, be it carbohydrates or fats, or any single diet as the best for everybody. I'm glad that the U.S. guidelines are finally doing away with the \"one-size-fits-all\" approach. Some of the low-carb advocacy, including Taubes, pushes the pendulum too far the other way for my liking, ignoring research to the contrary and insisting that only draconian modification has value (a recent Journal of Nutrition study found beneficial results in a dieting population that limited their carbs to roughly 140 grams a day--that was their low-carb group). So what I'm inclined to support is your kind of thoughtful individual consideration of your own nutrition. Which was pleasingly absent of any suggestion that everybody else needs to do the same :-).

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LandruBek
March 18, 2009 7:16 PM
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@speedwell, avatar of snark: Congratulations about geting your diabetes under control. That's awesome. Pay no attention to the current modish craze of eschewing fad diets.

@Amy Alkon: Your second sentence confused me, until I realized that you were using quotation marks (\"science\") to indicate a word's opposite, or something like that. Please, \"continue to do so as often as possible,\" because it is so \"crystal clear.\"

(Sorry to be a punctuation nazi.)

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Segador
March 18, 2009 5:17 PM
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@Amy Alkon: I have an amazing fad diet that's guaranteed to work. It's 2 simple steps.


1. Eat less
2. Move more


Tada!

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LandShark
March 18, 2009 5:12 PM
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Diet and exercise are free.

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Kishi
March 18, 2009 6:35 PM
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@LandShark: Only sort of. I mean, food that's good for you always costs more than cheap crap that'll make you fat and eventually kill you.

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syzygy
March 18, 2009 5:18 PM
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@LandShark: Yes, but they're so much work! Can't I just take a magic pill or drink a magic elixir and wake up thin the next day? C'mon, science, help me out here.

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Sam Lehman
March 18, 2009 5:17 PM
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Just buy real fruits from your food store for the same 'health benefits'...

[skeptoid.com]

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drjayphd
March 19, 2009 4:41 AM
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@Sam Lehman: (grumble grumble) Gee thanks, now I have a new podcast to listen to. (harumph)

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SpaceBat_GitEmSteveDave
March 18, 2009 6:02 PM
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@Sam Lehman: Damn, beat me to it. The best was the guy who complained, and said that Brian should only judge MonaVie after buying a case from him. A CASE!

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nakedscience
March 18, 2009 5:18 PM
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Um, those above? This post had to do with this women getting scammed, not about hre diet choices...


And prag? Not everyone who is overweight is overweight because they eat bon bons. Way to judge based on no information.

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prag
March 18, 2009 6:31 PM
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@nakedscience: This story has as much to do with looking for a shortcut to weight loss as anything else. There's a good chance (even with no information) that that is the case here. Eat less, exercise more and you won't need to worry about the scammers in the diet industry.

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squinko
March 18, 2009 7:43 PM
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@prag: Acai berries are touted as a general \"feel good\" product, as well as for weight loss. You don't need to make pointless generalizations about someone's weight. It has no bearing on the story, and even if the OP bought it to lose weight, it doesn't change the facts of the story (i.e. that she's getting ripped off).

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SpaceBat_GitEmSteveDave
March 18, 2009 6:05 PM
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@nakedscience: True, not EVERYONE. But there are a vast majority that are. I count myself as one of them. When I slack off on exercising, and start eating from the peanut butter jar, SURPRISE!, I start packing on lbs. When I complain about welfare/unemployment/, I don't mean the people who are truly need it. I complain about the scammers and lazy people. The exceptions don't disprove the rule.

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floraposte
March 18, 2009 5:38 PM
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@nakedscience: And people get interested in this stuff for more reasons than weight loss. I don't buy those reasons either, but that doesn't relieve the company of their responsibility to treat their customers ethically.

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geeky_reader
March 18, 2009 5:19 PM
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There's also a yelp review from someone who had similar issues with ABU:

[www.yelp.com]

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Outrun1986
March 18, 2009 5:24 PM
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If weight loss was really as easy as taking some magical pill or eating some magical berry then very few people in this country would have weight problems.

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wgrune
March 18, 2009 5:25 PM
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My fiance fell for this scheme but from a different company (Acai Berry Detox).


Her - \"I got the free trial! It was only $2.95\"
Me - \"You know that's a scam, right? They will probably charge your bank acount a whole ton a money on some recurring cycle schem\"
Her - \"No, it's a free trial. Why do you have to rain on my parade.\"


The next day:


She's freaking out, because she finally read the TOS and sees that she did in fact agree to a recurring shipment and $84 monthly payments. She cancelled her credit card, and called them several times. They jerked her around, wouldn't send a confirmation that she cancelled and actually send 3 months worth of pills to our house in a matter of days.


SCAM SCAM SCAM

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Tiber
March 18, 2009 5:27 PM
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I'm not trying to blame the OP. However, beyond any comments about researching web sites or fad diets, don't pay for anything online directly your bank account. If you're not that safety-conscious, utilities probably won't scam you (though double check that you closed accounts when you moved). But never use debit with a site you have not done business with in the past, or is by its very nature vulnerable to scams (such as online auctions).

I'm not a stickler for taking every protection imaginable, but this is one of the important ones, and rarely does it require extra work.

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Oleg Chetverikov
March 18, 2009 5:28 PM
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And in the next installment, someone sends his bank account information to an Algerian prince, but fails to receive commission for helping to transfer $30 million.

Why is anybody still surprised at this outcome?

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TexasBelle
March 18, 2009 5:30 PM
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If you really feel you must order from a dodgy site like that one (and we all do so from time to time), use a disposable credit card number that lets you assign a maximum charge amount. (I know Citibank does this, but others might do the same.) Set the charge limit for the amount of the purchase (or round up to the nearest dollar). If the store declines the card -- and they sometimes do -- take that as a sign that the store has nefarious intent, and just don't make the purchase.

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LandruBek
March 18, 2009 7:27 PM
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@TexasBelle: I loves me those disposable card numbers. They are the best, at least for online purchases. And I wish I could buy my groceries and fuel with them too. But what is up with Discover Card, which doesn't let you set the amount or the expiration date on their one-time numbers? That's why I never use my Discover Card online. Hey Discover Card, this is (opportunity-) costing you money!

I've heard unsubstantiated stories that the time and dollar \"limits\" assigned to those charge numbers are not, in fact, hard limits: that is, a bank will sometimes let a charge go through on a number that ought to be dead, if the merchant knows just what to say. Has anyone actually experienced this, or is it just a rumor?

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TexasBelle
March 20, 2009 12:40 AM
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@LandruBek: I've heard one rumor about someone whose dollar limit wasn't honored. Not sure how frequent an occurrence that might be.

I don't like Discover's virtual account numbers, either. I, too, would use my Discover card online more if they gave the cardholder more control. As it is, I only use it often enough to keep the card active, since it's my oldest open account.

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mikedt
March 18, 2009 5:31 PM
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Another perfect instance of when I'd use the one-time-only numbers some credit card companies will generate for you. (BankofAmerica is one). One time use, and you set the dollar value so if they try to come back for more money they get zip.

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samchristian
March 18, 2009 5:55 PM
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@mikedt: unfortunetly, BoA now charges for this service.

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scoosdad
March 18, 2009 6:23 PM
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@samchristian: Must be your particular account setup that charges for use of a Shopsafe number. Mine doesn't, just went in and did one. No charge.

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SpaceBat_GitEmSteveDave
March 18, 2009 6:06 PM
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@samchristian: I'm sure it's less than the 98.00 this lady was charged. I'm willing to pay $2.00 to save a lot more.

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csdiego
March 18, 2009 5:31 PM
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Without passing judgment on the value of acai as a dietary strategy, why do people \"subscribe\" to something from a company they've never heard of, then act surprised when it turns out to be a scam? There's no such thing as a free trial, people.

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nekussa
March 18, 2009 5:36 PM
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Recently my credit card number was stolen, and for some bizarre reason the thief used it to sign me up for acai berries and colon cleansers and other \"trial\" offers just like the one described here. I've been calling up and cancelling \"my\" subscriptions for a few days now; we'll see how it goes in the long run. The card's been cancelled so they aren't going to get any money out of me anyway. What I can't figure out is what the thief would get out of signing me up for all this crap other than purely being annoying?

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ScottCh
March 18, 2009 9:57 PM
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@nekussa: Ok, this is definitely not a coincidence. I had the same thing happen to my charge account, so this sure looks like a coordinated effort.

I've been attempting to find a postal address for ACAI ENERGY so that I can send their product back to them. But after reading this, I wonder if they'd even accept it...

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nekussa
March 19, 2009 12:18 AM
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@ScottCh: So far the companies I've received products from have all provided customer service contact information and haven't given me any trouble about cancelling. However this trouble only started last week so we'll see if any of them continue to try to charge me in the long run.

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SuryaGlabrio
March 18, 2009 8:44 PM
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@nekussa: Chances are they are affiliates attempting to up their orders through their trackclick links. They steal your credit card, place the order, they get a cut when the order is placed. Idiots don't realize that any affiliate program worth it's salt will easily filter out fraud like this, especially when there are chargebacks.

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nekussa
March 19, 2009 12:20 AM
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@SuryaGlabrio: Thanks - that's the first possible explanation for all this that's made sense to me!

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Tedicles
March 18, 2009 6:36 PM
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@nekussa:
To launder the money...CC payments, that wind up in a bank account offshore somewhere. It looks like legitimate income from a commercial website, but is in fact fraud (and then the CC can't go abroad to contest the charges).

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Anonymous
March 18, 2009 6:09 PM
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@nekussa:

This same exact thing happened to me. I got about 4 'trial' packages within 2 days. It confused me as to why someone would steal my credit card, and then sign me up for things and use my address...

I've had no luck contacting the companies to cancel, but like you said, the card is canceled anyway, so they aren't getting any ore of my money...

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meechybee
March 18, 2009 5:36 PM
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All you have to do is wait a few weeks and all this crap will end up at your local GNC.

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wardawg
March 18, 2009 5:40 PM
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SO what exactly is in acai berries that isn't in blueberries?

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h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes
March 18, 2009 5:49 PM
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@wardawg: It's actually the packaging that's magic and makes you lose weight. And each bottle costs $84 to make.

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FriarJohn
March 18, 2009 5:50 PM
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Do business with snake(oil salesmen)s eventually you get bit.

(okay so that phrase didn't work out as well as I'd hoped)

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samchristian
March 18, 2009 5:57 PM
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Not all these diets are (money) scams. We tried the Lipozene diet, and got our money back. Lose weight? Not so much.

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Julia789
March 18, 2009 5:58 PM
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I had read that blueberries and other regular berries available in the supermarket have more healthy properties than these silly scam-berries. This is the same scam as that noni fruit, and whatever fruit it was five years before that.


Every few years, someone claims to \"discover\" an exotic fruit or berry from far away. They market the hell out of it. Usually they use pyramid schemes (multi-level marketing) but now they are using the \"new pyramid scheme\" which is the subscription-hell-cycle that cannot be broken free from.

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orlo
March 18, 2009 6:19 PM
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@Julia789: Even legitimate farmers fund advertising campaigns to promote fads. See the blueberry, cranberry, pomegranate, etc. promotions. Key gimmick: antioxidants.

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rhys1882
March 18, 2009 6:08 PM
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I have yet to see a legitimate acai berry company. I have run into three separate companies, all different from those mentioned here, simply through people I know directly. My impression is that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of these scam companies operating across the company. They are akin to the \"sell crap on the internet from home\" pyramid schemes. I wouldn't classify this as a \"fad diet scam,\" I would give acai berry scammers their own category, on par with Nigerian e-mail scammers. I am surprised there hasn't been more in-depth coverage of the issue here. The acai berry is only \"famed\" because of the proliferation of these companies.

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CoarseLive
March 18, 2009 6:12 PM
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GO TO THEIR WEBSITE'S LIFE CHAT PAGE!

I'm chatting with one now. Let's force this story up their asses!

[www.acaiberryultimate.com]

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Anonymous
March 18, 2009 6:14 PM
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My girlfriend tried some of these and got them in the mail, with the plan to cancel before the trial period ended. A couple of days later her debit card stopped working. She went to the bank and they had canceled her card because of unauthorized charges, we assume from the site she ordered from. Fortunately they weren't able to get to her, and she got a new card with a new number.

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usa_gatekeeper
March 18, 2009 6:18 PM
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I guess they're saying you can pick up your refund in Hell, Michigan (take M-36 west into Pinckney, turn south on Dexter-Pinckney, then west on Patterson Lake Road.\" Hell is located in Livingston County, MI.)

Or maybe not...

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Cupajo
March 18, 2009 6:25 PM
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Eat less. Move more.

Only diet you need.

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SillyinPhilly
March 18, 2009 6:28 PM
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Can we see a scan of the infamous email?

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Amy Alkon
March 18, 2009 6:38 PM
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I have an amazing fad diet that's guaranteed to work. It's 2 simple steps.

1. Eat less
2. Move more

Actually, this is not what the science says, and I'm always amazed by people who pontificate while not really knowing anything.

You can call the Atkins diet a \"fad diet,\" but read what I posted above.

I am not a typical columnist. My column is based in serious science -- although it's written as humor. I have learned to read studies in a way few journalists have, and get help when I'm above my pay grade.

The commonly held \"wisdom\" -- even by doctors, is wrong. Taubes is a skeptic's skeptic, with a physics background, and the first to spot limitations and flaws in a study.

Read his book instead of hauling off and saying \"eat less/move more.\"

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Saboth
March 18, 2009 7:05 PM
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Burn more calories than you take in, and unless you have some kind of ongoing medical factors, you will lose weight. The problem is, everyone wants to blame it on something besides themselves...genes, work, etc. Ever seen the \"half ton so and so\" shows on tv? Those people weigh 800-1,000 lbs and yet still think they aren't doing anything wrong, and they aren't to blame. Then they want to go to the doctor for surgery for an easy fix rather than taking matters into their own hands, even when at death's door.

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YourTechSupport
March 18, 2009 7:07 PM
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ON THAT NOTE: She's lucky she's only wrestling with them over money, and not the health of her kidneys or liver!

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Subsound
March 18, 2009 7:08 PM
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Why does anyone pay the \"free trials\" with shipping to those scam commercials, they have been doing this shit for years. You can buy this crap at so many stores there is no reason to try it by these things.

On another note, I have yet to find any product that actually has Acai Berries in it. Even those with 100% juice have juice, just not from this fruit. These are the biggest scam anyways, as they can label these things Acai products that have none of it in their product.

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eXo
March 18, 2009 7:55 PM
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A few years back I tried out several of those \"sign up for 10 offers and get a free xbox/ps3/whatever\". The key to doing it was to always write down exact cancellation dates, cancellation phone numbers, confirmation numbers, and the like. Even with rigorous attention, some of those companies are outright looking to scam you. One product I had to sign up for was a \"super sonic bush\" that made bald men magically grow their hair back. It also came with a small shaker full of fake hair... lmao. I guess you were to comb your hair, and then sprinkle the fake hair on. I neevr actually tried any of these products, I would just recieve them, open them, re-address the package, and then call 3-4 days before the cancellation time.

In this case they charged me the full amount for the brush before it has even arrived ($395.. for a brush...lmao). When I called them about this they tried to give me this huge run around, and eventually, the best they could do was to offer to send me another brush for free....lmfao. The refused to take the return and told me I could never get my money back.

A quick call to my bank, and all charges were reversed. A few days later another brush showed up...lmao. So I have two $400 brushes if anyone wants one (oh, and 2 shakers of fake hair too!), lol.

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CandyRaver
March 18, 2009 8:09 PM
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Did you ever get the free xbox/p23/whatever?

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Outrun1986
March 18, 2009 8:16 PM
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@CandyRaver: I think there was a post on the Consumerist at some point about how a guy actually got a free laptop using one of those sites. Yes they probably do work, but you will have to pay for products you don't want, and a lot will revoke your credits from doing offers if you cancel before the trial period is up, provided that these websites actually allow you to cancel. Overall its not something I would try, as you will spend more time and money on it than if you were to make the money legitimately to get the item they are offering.

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Adhominem
March 18, 2009 8:31 PM
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@CandyRaver:

I have gotten a free 20g Ipod and a free Canon digital camera. You need to be really careful though.

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Alan Stuart
March 18, 2009 8:48 PM
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If I were the poster, I would take that fax number and I would run a roll of black paper taped into a cylinder through a fax machine, if they did that to me.

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oneandone
March 18, 2009 8:57 PM
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I think the OP showed a lot of tenacity and good sense in dealing with this, and stories like this remind me of the importance of keeping records and being persistant on the phone. She refused to allow them to complete the scam, and I admire that.

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jake7294
March 18, 2009 9:48 PM
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@ exo : Dude, relax on the lmao and the lol...

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michelsondl
March 18, 2009 11:28 PM
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I'm with the other guy who thinks that the OP should be faxing them black paper all damn day long until they do something.

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s35flyer
March 19, 2009 12:51 AM
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I had this same exact experience.

I finally called my CreditCard company and filed a complaint and they said we have about 50,000 complaints against them just like yours. They stopped the scam. Oh by the way, I went on a diet and started walking 5 miles every day, have lost 22lbs since Feb 1. Who needs a berry-it is simple eat less and exercise more, if you cant do that you aren't serious anyway and deserve to lose your money

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Victor Sanchez
March 19, 2009 1:07 AM
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I work for a bank, and weekly i do around 20 or 30 fraud claims for customers that get conned by these people. they usually sign up for some trial, then get hit with charges on their card (usually around $80).

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Anonymous
March 19, 2009 1:17 AM
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These berries are a superfruit like pomegranites or blueberries. For anyone that REALLY wants to try the stuff (It's good for you-- but not for losing weight) you can get it in large bottles at Sam's club for like $20.

Don't get taken.

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Marc Anthony McClain
March 19, 2009 5:22 AM
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I work at a call center that used to do these calls. It was a different company though. So many people copied this business model and opened up shop shipping out snake oil in the form of acai pills. The story sounded SO familiar. We had no supervisors, no way to contact the guys who were behind everything, don't give out anything unless pushed, then give away the farm to avoid a BBB dispute or a charge back. You would be shocked at how many people just rolled over and ate the $80-100 bucks. My friend always used to tell me that the easiest way to open a business and make money is to just be able to send bills out to people. So many just pay with little regard to their validity or to the recourse they may have.

PS. My girlfriend is in med-school and looked at these acai pills and found that you would get similar (if not better) results by eating a few grapes and taking an aspirin.

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adamwinn
March 19, 2009 7:45 AM
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KTVU 10 (San Francisco) did a story on this exact site on the news tonight.

The owner of the site maintains at least 255 alternate domains, essentially pitching the same $3.95 shipping bait & switch deal.

Everyone they talked to had been charged $89.xx and given a full bottle with the 'trial' bottle. No one could get more than $0.89 refunded.

They contacted the owner (in another state), and he magically got the complaining people refunds. He also offered them free products for life...

An aside, his previous company was sued and shutdown by the feds for all sorts of similar misbehavior.

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Makrel
March 19, 2009 3:22 PM
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Sounds like The 300 are using her money to dine this evening...

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duncanblackthorne
March 19, 2009 3:51 PM
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Want to lose weight and get fit? Do the work! Want to be more motivated to do that and have fun in the process? Find a sport you really like and train for it! Personally I highly recommend endurance sports like running or cycling. Dieting alone won't make you lose excess fat, and exercise without proper nutrition will just frustrate and exhaust you, you have to do it ALL! :)

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prag
March 19, 2009 3:58 PM
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Why d ppl by ths crp? f y'r ft pt dwn th bn bns nd g tk wlk.

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Kishi
March 18, 2009 6:36 PM
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@dark_inchworm: Yes, that's the only reason anyone would ever be fat. Nothing else could possibly influence it.

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Costner
March 18, 2009 8:10 PM
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@Kishi:


Well, cold as it might sound... he is right.


Yes genetics are of some influence and ensures some individuals are predispositioned to be heavy versus thin, but nobody gets fat without a food intake issue and/or a lack of activity issue.


Honestly - this is why those lap-band and stomach stapling surgeries work so well...because they control intake. If you took a 800lb man and restricted his diet he would shed hundreds of pounds in no time - it is all just a matter of urge control and addiction.


Miracle pills will never get the job done, but a little exercise and a healthy diet always do. Last I checked, making excuses never reduced a waistline either, so the energy spent defending the fatties would be more useful on a treadmill.

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floraposte
March 18, 2009 11:31 PM
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@Costner: The problem is that a simple reversal of the situation is rarely enough to get the food back off. We're biologically predisposed to be easy keepers; we're not machines, and we don't burn and retain at a neatly constant rate. So eat more and do less puts the weight on very nicely, but the other way isn't an automatic ticket to weight loss.

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LostTurntable
March 18, 2009 5:47 PM
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@prag:Really? THANK YOU!! I've been trying to figure out how to loose that excess weight and I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT.

True this stuff is crap, but some times it's not as easy as all that.

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harlock_JDS
March 19, 2009 3:59 PM
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Grntd t's t bd sh ws 'scmd' bt ppl shld rb fw brn cls tgthr nd vd fllng fr smthng tht s clrly scm n th frst plc.

Srsly ll f ths frst mnth fr rfnd yr mny thngs r BD! Dn't sgn p fr thm.

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Consumerist-Moderator-Roz
March 19, 2009 4:01 PM
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Folks, just a friendly reminder:

Keep your posts ON TOPIC.

Mocking fat people is definitely inappropriate (e.g. 'put down the bonbons'). Helpful advice is allowed, but keep it relevant and civil.

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Haltingpoint
March 20, 2009 3:52 PM
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The problem w/ these sites is that they are having their sales driven by intelligent affiliates who know what works to get a sale. You may have seen those annoying \"Marias Diet Blog\" ads all over the place. That is an affiliate pushing a combination of two negative billing programs, one for Acai crap and another for colon cleansing. These are huge things in the affiliate marketing world right now but will hopefully dry up sooner rather than later.

Remember, not all affiliates are bad and evil, just the ones that push bad or evil products for bad or evil companies.

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Anonymous
March 22, 2009 4:53 AM
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I too thought I would try this product, after all it was only $3.95 for a trial bottle. Then I began getting charged $87 and some change, and called to cancel. when I called to complain, my question was \"For 60 pills is there platinum in this product?\" I got hung up on.

My bank instructed me to send the bottles back return receipt and in 3 days I got an email saying my account has been credited. I also sent a letter to the attorney general of California to report this scam.

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