Complaint Review: La Weight Loss - Pure Weight Loss - Nationwide

I started going to LA Weight Loss in 2006 (Oak Lawn and Skokie, Illinois) and have successfully lost 70 lbs. I achieved my goal weight and am currently working to keep the weight off. The counselors at ooth centers were caring and knew what they were talking about. I followed their advice and it worked every time. Yes, I purchased the supplements and lites, and no, I am not rich. However, my life and health were more than worth the money. Now that I am off all meds (thanks to the weight loss), the money I am now saving more than pays for the cost of this wonderful program. The program gave me structure and kept me accountable. No other program has ever worked as well for me. I found the program easy to follow and I was not hungry. At 51 years of age, I've never felt or looked better in my life. Others I recommended to the program had varying degrees of success. Some did very well. Others cheated from the day they started and then wanted to blame the program for their lack of success. This program is definitely not a rip off. I am saddened and upset to see them maligned in this way to the point that they have to close their doors. I still depend on them for help in my life-long weight control struggle, and now this effective support system is gone.

I too worked for LA Weight Loss and throughout the change over to Pure Weight Loss. My experience is a bit of both very good and very bad. The company it's self is only out to get the consumer to spend as much money as possible. I did however work with many great people, both employee's and customers. During classroom training I was taught us to have two goals help people and make money. During actual center training It was made clear the real goal was to make the client spend as much money as possible each and every time they came in. My center was a part time location. The center manger told me that they operated much less aggressively than the full time centers. This was definitely something that was only shared by our center staff and disregarded when we had Area or District Manager in the office. I became very good at counseling through my own personal experience. I lost 20lbs and helped many people to do the same with counseling not selling products. I seen people never loose a pound but they gained self confidence and I also seen people loose over 100 lbs. I tried to getting customers to see the value in the product and only suggested large amount of product when I knew that the customer would one, be able to benefit from the bulk savings, and could actually afford to do so. Every time I had a client tell me it was just too much I would back off and give them much smaller options to still try to help them save money. This is definitely looked down upon by the company and you will be rep-remanded by a manager if they don't think you were aggressive enough. It depends on the Manager also I had one who was great at selling and not too hard on us if we didn't do the same and then I had one who was so money driven she would make people cry if they gained one pound and force them into buying hundreds of dollars worth of products. Never once did I have anyone feel they were forced into something they couldn't afford unless it was by a district or area manager. Clients would comment when they had to see one of the managers. Their agressiveness was obvious and customers would ask to never talk to those people ever again. When they changed the name to Pure Weight Loss thing defiantly went down hill. My center was doing wonderful before the switch, the number one part time center in the nation. This was during the beginning of summer which was supposed to be the slowest time of year. At only $3 a week we signed at lest 4-6 new people up every week. As soon as the name changed the price did as well. From $3 to $6, doubling the price of each and every program! This made it almost impossible to sign up at least one new person a week. Of course the blame came down on my center manager. The district manager would call every day and hound her about every single call that came in, and make accusations that we were the reason revenue had drastically fallen. She even went so far as to ask if there were things in our personal lives effecting our productivity. Then one day the area manager called and said due to low revenue they had to make cut backs. Our center would be going from 32 hrs a week to 25. Then the following week the district manager called and said that they were making even more cut backs, now down to 20hrs a week, and the managers position being was eliminated. I was then expected to work 12 less hours a week and do both my job and the managers. The compensation was a ridiculous 1 dollar an hour raise. I declined and quit as well. Customers were lied to and told that the center manager was taking a leave to handle personal obligations. They were told the hour cut backs were just fall hours and not to worry about any further cut backs or closing. This was just one month ago, and I have heard from customers that the center is now closing. The corporation itself cares only about money, not weight loss, but the program does work and there are some really great people who work there. The company is definitely going through changes not for the employee's best interest so I would encourage people not to apply. And consumers should be prepared to spend a lot of money and be very aware of the fine print and when someones giving them the run-around.

I too am an Ex-Employee of LA Weight Loss, and I had the exact opposite experience as the one stated in this report. I had the opportunity to work for the Madison, WI, Rockford, IL and Des Moines, IA markets. I was a couselor, Manager, and eventually Franchise Trainer. Not only was I paid exactly what I was promised, I was offered opportunity for advancement. Despite what some may believe, the owner and management of the markets I worked for were concerned with 2 numbers (not revenue, not products sold). These numbers were Average Pounds Lost and Client Retention... basically... Are our clients losing weight and are they happy and motivated enough to continue returning to the center? I have seen ten individuals lose over 100 lbs, and thousands of people achieve their goals in the 4 years I worked for LA Weight Loss. I would work for LA in a heartbeat again, and I will not hesitate to envest in their services if I ever need to. Sometimes... you get what you give to your employer. In my case, I certainly came out ahead!

This company is sneaky!!! I went to work for them after a friend of mine was hired. They told me I would be an Asst Mgr at a certain center not far from where I lived. After training, I was informed that I would not be going to that center, instead, I would be going to one that was 30 min further away! That should have been my first clue, but I had already spent 2 weeks training for this job, I felt I had no choice. What they tell you you will be paid is a lie. Trust me, there were many times I received a paycheck for an amt that was greatly less than what it should have been. I started out as an Asst Mgr and then moved up to a Mgr position. Worst mistake ever! I was working 10 hr days, minimum...(mon-fri) and then another 5-6 hrs on Saturday. I once worked 98 hrs in 2 weeks. Even though the centers close at 7pm, you won't leave until closer to 8pm. Mad is correct, Mgrs are overworked and underpaid. In training, you don't learn how to help people, you learn how to squeeze every dime you can out of clients. If you don't bulk a client during their Personal Success Visit (PSV), you get a stern talking too and can even recieve a write up because of this! Same goes for consultations...I once had a client come in for a consultaion and she truly could not afford that program. She had 6 pounds to lose and when I quoted her something near 400.00 for her program, she about flipped. (her PSV would have easily been double that amt.) I remember getting in sooo much trouble for letting her walk. That's when I realized that the company was not for me. By the way, right before you are about to be fired/terminated, you will be demoted! This way, they won't have to pay you as much unemployment. I witnessed this 6 times during my time there.