ComplaintsforBurn Fat Orlando, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  06/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On December 6, 2022, I was sold a weight loss program by Burn Fat Orlando, operating as "Health Solutions Of Waterford" for $1,700 that was advertised to guarantee a weight loss of 40 lbs in 40 days via supplements catered to my own body analysis, weekly visits in office with trained staff, and a host of other false promises that did not materialize. Once I was charged the $1,700, I saw online that the real price was $1,300 and demanded the difference in price be refunded to me. They did refund me $400 to correct their initial price gouging but this "program" is not worth anything more than the price of the scale and vitamins they sent me, all of which cost less than $50 to buy online. After payment is processed, they then told me that the office visits are not actually office visits, but rather phone calls that provide no value whatsoever since there is no in-person accountability nor physical evaluation of participant progress. This was a direct marketing lie told in order to make a sale. Another such lie is the fact that their supplements are at all catered to your individual body. They sent standard vitamins available on amazon in their same exact labels and quantities for $30. They had no information about my body in order to cater any supplements to its measurements and the generic pills they send are just your average OTC vitamins. That constitutes advertising lie number 2. They also let me know that the program only actually guarantees a 20-lb weight loss over 90 days and the guarantee that was first stated to be a money back guarantee became a guarantee that they'll let you remain in the program once again if you do not lose 20 lbs in 90 days. Their genius method of weight loss is to tell you to eat 800 calories a day lol. I paid $1,300 (that they tried to scam $400 more on top of) for them to send me a scale I can't even see the values of, over the counter vitamins, and a weekly spam call. I asked for a refund to no reply for months. Next, I will sue.

  Business response

  06/08/2023

  In response, not much of what the claimant, Ms. *******, is sharing is factual in nature.  Let's start with the facts that the claimant, Ms. ***** ******* worked for Burn Fat Orlando from August 0f August, 2015 through February, 2016. Thus, she would have been quite versed at what we do, you would think she would know enough in 6 months of training to understand our program.  Thus, the reason Mr. ******* engaged our company years later is because she knew our program worked based on her prior employment, not a referenced marketing advertisement.   Next, in our marketing, we do market our personalized weight loss program on radio and social media, however, it NEVER claims to "guarantee" weight loss of 40 pounds albeit many of our patients do lose 40 pounds and some even more.  There are numerous rules applied to weigh loss advertisements, and we are careful to specifically NOT make claims we cannot substantiate.  Thus, that reference is not accurate, and the claimant was quite aware since she was a prior employee.  To add, Ms. ******* signed an agreement that clearly states 2 separate "guarantees"; the first, a 10-day money back guarantee, the second being a 20 pound guarantee at the end of her program which she never completed.  Again, as a prior employee, she would have been very knowledgeable of bot these claims.  As it relates to price, we NEVER advertise a price, therefore there would NEVER be a reference to a price regardless of the price paid and "yes", clients do pay different prices based on their individual and personalized needs.  As I shared, we NEVER advertise a price, nonetheless if a prior patient posted a price on-line, we cannot control that, so something may be out there for the public to see.   I believe strongly we modelled complete professionalism matching a lower price and refunding the $400 difference upon her request.  We did not have to as Ms. ******* signed a non-refundable, all sales final, agreement.   In response to the products and services provided, I will start by sharing that we manufacture our own products, and they have absolutely NEVER been sold on ****** or any other outside retailer, again a fact Ms. ******* would know being a prior employee.  Thus, the mention that our scale and standard vitamins can be found on-line for $50 is just FALSE.  We, AGAIN, have NEVER sold any of our products on ****** or any other outside retailer, so again, to say our exact products with labels can be found is silly and that claim is severely FALSE and a lie.  Now to address "client support", we have 3 local Orlando offices that have always seen patients, albeit since Covid, most of our clients prefer TELEPHONE consultations.  While we are open to see clients 5 days a week, we are able to manage telephone consultations, because the "scale" supplied works and is integrated with our Ios and Android app, so we would have complete visibility into the progress our patients have, the foods they eat, the fluids they drink, and any activities performed.  Thus, the alleged claim from the claimant Ms. ******* is again just FALSE.  Ms. ******* did not utilize the scale and app.  Ms. ******* did not answer to or attend any of her scheduled in-office or telephone consultations.  Ms. ******* did not return calls, numerous calls over numerous weeks.  So, what you have is an individual modelling "buyer's remorse", who did not follow the program she intended to and is now blaming us in order to get her money back.  As it relates to her refund request, Ms. ******* signed a non-refundable agreement, one she was versed at, again as a past employee.  She knew exactly what she was signing.  We have tried on a number of occasions to serve Ms. ****** and support her weight loss efforts, however, again, she has avoided ALL forms of communication e-mail and telephone, she doesn't answer calls and she does not return calls.  The claims that she has made effort is false, she wants a refund and only a refund, one she is not entitled to, based on the written document she signed in December of 2022.  In conclusion, Ms. ******* is a past employee, who knows what she purchased, and she knows how to play this game in order to manipulate things in her favor.  She purchased our program, we refunded $400, albeit we did not have to, as a model of the professionalism of our company.  Ms. ******* chose not to utilize our program and has "buyer's remorse" and is now lying about our company in the public eye in an effort to hurt us and get her money back.  Again, she signed all agreements stating she knew exactly what she was getting into and she knew it from her past 6 months of employment.  She lied about the marketing claims and false statement about 3rd party retailers, again, all in an effort to smear us so she gets her money back.  We are an honorable and reputable company and have been for over 13 years as Burn Fat Orlando.  With that, we would offer to help Ms. ******* and support her on the weight loss program and honor our program.  We do not have intentions at this time to negotiate any further refunds.  

  I have included as an example, copies of the documents Ms. ******* signed back in December of 2022 which will clearly substantiate the facts we are outlining and debunk the falsehoods of the claimant.  If necessary, I do have the exact documents with her signature if needed to provide.

  Customer response

  06/19/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Unfortunately I do not have time to repeat myself over and over and go in circles with this scamming company. They have repeated themselves over and over and ignored my responses to their lies. I won't be repeating myself as you can refer to my previous reply to see that they ignored all the facts which I am preparing to file a lawsuit shortly against them for if the BBB is going to entertain this circular evasion of responsibility much longer. There is the possibility of a class action as many people are in my same position. 

  As they themselves stated in their reply, I was first sold the program under the pretense that it was the same program that I was familiar with when I briefly worked there (minus the illegal hormones they were forced to remove not just by the FDA, which I can provide my complaint to--that I filed upon quitting after I alerted a patient who was in the hospital due to using the hormone-infused product that she was indeed consuming hormones which were causing her symptoms like I previously explained, but also by various entities that also sued them at the same time). AFTER they'd sold me the program, like they state, a week later, they went over the actual program and told me that it was NOT the program I was familiar with when I worked there and the changes made are:

  1. no in person appointments (the biggest one and the reason the program now fails and if I was told this prior to purchasing, I would never have purchased so this is false advertisement. The lie they told me to get me to give my credit card info over the phone is that the program "is exactly the same one as when you worked here". I was not told till after payment (which they refuse to refund and will cost them way more in legal fees as a result) that the program is not the same one as when I worked there. There's really no way around this false advertisement. Check the dates in their last reply which proves I was first made to pay and then called later to explain the program.

  2. no body scan of biomarkers in office like previous program

  3. no assessment of body hydration status and water balancing component like previous program

  4. no individualized weight loss formulas that would be created after body scan completion and mixed with the water in the daily required amount that they used to calculate and make in store previously

  5. no access to the alkaline water that patients used to come in and be able to fill their containers with like before

  6. no 40 lb guarantee in 40 days as before (SECOND BIGGEST SHOCKER AS THIS WAS NOT DISCLOSED ON THE CALL WHERE I WAS TOLD THE PROGRAM IS THE SAME AS WHEN I WORKED THERE--A FLAT OUT FALSE ADVERTISING LIE). They said they now only guarantee 20 lbs in 90 days and by "guarantee", they mean they let u "stay on the program" till you lose the weight lol, which means you can continue eating the 800 calories a day in their journal for as long as you want. This is a scam. 

  I did not complete the program because it was not the program that I thought I was purchasing. Had I been told the details of this program honestly before purchasing, I would have never purchased it as its not worth $20 dollars now. I was sold this program under false pretenses and will be receiving a refund. Its a matter of how much they want to spend in legal fees as a lawyer in my family is prepared to file suit as soon as I tell them to. 

  Lastly, I am requesting the company to produce the signed contract they allegedly have that I signed. I did not sign any documents nor contracts with them as a matter of fact and this is why they did not provide it, but rather sent an unsigned generic version of their contract. Please provide my signed contract in reply and prepare for a lawsuit if you still refuse to refund me and if the BBB doesn't have jurisdiction to elicit my refund. 
  

   

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *******

  Business response

  06/19/2023

  In response, we have clearly outlined and articulated our position.  The claimant is not accurately depicting things and we feel we are not at any fault.  Regardless of what we explain, the claimant Ms. ******* is going to "reject" it in an effort to twist things to her favor albeit much if not all of what she is sharing has been debunked and not true.  With that, we do not have any intentions of proceeding in this process.  At the threat of legal action by the claimant we will no longer be partaking.  I will reiterate, the BBB has an obligation to be fair and to protect the company as much as the consumer.  In this case, it our expectation that the BBB does just that and protects our interest.  Reminder, the claimant was employed by BFO and clearly knew our program, she signed a NON-REFUNDABLE AGREEMENT, and she failed to properly execute her program by not following the program and missing almost ALL her scheduled appointments and somehow that is our issue by spreading nothing but made-up excuses, none of which are our fault, well, we think not.   The resolution we will offer is to re-instate Ms. ******* with her program so she can properly follow and achieve the intended outcome she desired. 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩