Diet Divas dishonest, disrespectful, juvenile, rude interactions Internet
I agree with Brenda whole-heartedly. I had the same problems with DietDivas earlier this year. After two or three phone calls to them to ask specific questions, one of which was if I needed to purchase their snacks and was told no, I decided to join. It was a Friday, and as I didn't have a computer at my house to use over the weekend, I printed out the diet plan and brought it home to read over the weekend.
I discovered that the snacks have to be bought for the plan to work and there was no way I could justify spending $25 a week on diet bars. Monday morning I wrote to them to tell them that I had to hold off on starting the diet plan (since I didn't have the money to start it right then if those snacks were required) and asked what substitutions could be used for their snacks (since I was told that nothing else would have to be purchased from them, I assumed there would be substitutions available).
I received a reply telling me that there are no substitutions and that "If you are not using them you are defeating the purpose of the plan" and that "successful Divas all use their snacks."
Well, that definitely changed my mind about the program. I knew I couldn't afford that. I wrote back and asked for a refund stating that in the future (when I have $25 a week to spend on their diet bars) maybe I could join again. Since what I had been told on the phone was obviously incorrect, I didn't think there would be a problem.
I received a reply saying that there are no refunds and until they heard back from me to start the program, my account would be put on hold. I wrote back and never heard back from them. I wrote again asking for a reply and after them accusing me of having their emails sent to my spam folder (Hello, I got their other ones, why would they suddenly start going to spam?)they told me they would reactivate my account.
I responded that I didn't want my account reactivated, I wanted a refund. Paula herself wrote to me and told me "There are no refunds at all. I will deactivate your account right now." This went on for a while with Paula becoming more rude with each email. She even wrote that they would retaliate if I slandered them. Since telling the truth is not slander, I want everyone to know what this company does and how they treat people.
I then contacted my bank and had the charges reversed, contacted the BBB and Internet Fraud Complaint Center. This is not the way any customer should ever have to be treated, and unfortunately it looks as if they do this often.
Maybe there have been some people who have had success on this diet, but just be aware that you HAVE to buy their food for the diet (even though they tell you at first that you don't). If you have the money to stay on this program and be successful, that's great. But just know what you're getting into before you spend the money signing up.
Pam
Bangor, Maine
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Sandy
Boston,Massachusetts,
U.S.A.
Diet worked, but shipping was awful. Now the company appears to have gone out of business.
#5Consumer Comment
Fri, December 17, 2004
I've been a customer of this company for about a year and half. Although the diet worked--I lost almost 20 lbs in the first few months--the product shipments were almost always late or partial. I was constantly sending e-mails to find out what happened to my order, then they'd say they were on the way, or backordered. Eventually, I did get all my products EXCEPT my last order placed on November 8. When the products did not arrive after almost a month, I attempted to go to their website. It was down....I tried for four days (because they would often write e-mails that their server might be down if you couldn't get on)so I tried to be patient. Then I tried calling the toll-free number and got a canned operator message that the number couldn't be dialed and to check the number. Because I used an online check when I ordered the products, I checked my bank statement and found another toll-free number with the transaction. I called that number and discovered it was the electronic funds transfer company that facilitated the transaction between my bank and DietDivas account. I explained my dilemma to the the service rep at the EFT company. She tried the website to no avail, then called a direct dial line to Paula Altare that this company had. The number was disconnected. After several days investigation, they were unable to get any response from Paula Altare. I found this ripoffreport website as a result of talking with the EFT service rep. I have now reported DietDivas and Paula Altare to the BBB, to my bank which has initiated a transaction dispute and asked me to provide a police report, which has also now been filed, and to the Attorney General's office of my state. In addition, I've searched the web for more information to see what happened to DietDivas and have read several bulletin boards (see TroyandGay.com, search DietDivas.com) where more people are complaining that they have had money taken from their accounts, or charged to their credit cards, and no products were delivered in the last 30-45 days, all discovering that the company appears to have disappeared off the face of the earth without any notification to its members. It's a shame that this happened, because I think the diet did work and I lost weight and saw real results for the first time in several years. I liked the protein supplements very much...they did assist with weight loss and between-meal hunger. In fact, I'm more sorry about not getting the products than even the $108 I originally lost (I certainly am not suggesting that losing the money was fun, however!) Fortunately, my bank has already reinstated the money into my account, even though they will continue with their investigation. I have very mixed feelings about this company. I think the concept was good and I think they tried to be helpful to people trying to lose weight (they often offered specials on their products, such as extra boxes of the supplements, so the cost per box was considerably reduced), but their business practices (particularly their shipping service) left much to be desired.
Annelie
Hovaas,Europe,
Sweden
DietDivas cheating people
#5Consumer Comment
Thu, December 02, 2004
The comments from Pam and Melissa are so true. They aren't the only persons being mishandled by Paula Altare. Every word they say about dealing with DietDivas, is exactly the same as a group of friends and I, too, have gone through.
Janices' answer is so typical to all those answers a lot of members of DietDivas got during the last two years.
The diet really works and if only Paula Altare and her, so called, counselors had treated us like adults, she would still have had a flourishing business.
When you pay for a lifetime membership, you think the basic rules from when you sign up, will last. Not so in DietDivas! I can't even say, how many times members' rules were altered, but they always changed to suit Ms Altare.
For instance, suddenly all email addresses were gone and we were told that it wasn't safe to share addresses over the net!!!! In reality, she didn't want us to talk privately, but sometimes you don't want to share special, delicate matters on a chat board and it felt safer for us to do that via an email.
I think Paula Altare believed, that we were discussing her outside the chat board. Guess she had a bad conscience, as the shipping of supplements (those, you didn't have to have before signing up) were handled in a very poor way. The packages took ages to reach her customers, if they ever arrived. When members talked about that and asked if other members had the same experience, you got a new rule!!! We were forbidden to talk about poor shipping.
The list of forbidden things to talk over, can be made long, but the truth is that the way Ms Altare treated her customers shouldn't be allowed. We are a lot, who got so nasty emails, that they could be ground for a legal procedure.
I'm one of the divas, that was banned from my, so called, lifetime membership it lasted about one year - and I was banned for posting my email addy. After that I couldn't login, but I sure could order supplements, that still would give the company an income.
Melissa
Ludlow,Massachusetts,
U.S.A.
Inappropriate Attack
#5Consumer Comment
Wed, November 24, 2004
I think it was inappropriate for you to say that the consumer who was ripped off was unhappy with herself. Wanting to improve on the exterior of one's physique does not necessarily mean that they are insecure or upset with themselves.
I must say that it sounds to me that you are an EMPLOYEE of Diet Divas. I am sure I'm not the only one who has gotten that vibe and I think that only speaks further for there dishonest practices!
Janice
Asheville,North Carolina,
U.S.A.
DIETDIVAS, NOT A RIPOFF!
#5Consumer Comment
Tue, October 26, 2004
I just wanted to say that DietDivas saved my life. I guess you can't make everyone happy all the time especially when your dealing with people who aren't so happy with themselves to begin with. But this is such a harsh letter and may be true for this person, but for me DietDivas was the best thing that I could have found searching the web. I lost 69lbs on the program!! You do NOT have to buy the products, of course they push the importance of them, as with any program there are special foods involved. For good reason, these protein snacks are the best and really helped me stay focused and I always felt like I was cheating when I ate them because they were so tasty. I had several dealings with Paula as well as my personal counselor and both were very lovely women who really seemed to care about me as a person as much as a client.