Type of Counseling:  one-to-one

Typical Cost:  $575 (average, based on full year’s service, incl. set-up and weekly fees)

Type Program:  commercial weight loss center

Type of Foods Used:  regular grocery store foods, company shakes, bars, supplements are optional

At-Home or Direct Mail Plan Available? Yes

LA Weight Loss Centers, Inc.

747 Dresher Road, Suite 100

Horsham, PA 19044

215-346-4300

Customer service # for the public: 800-331-4035

Website: www.laweightloss.com

Company Summary

CONSUMER ALERT! --- As of mid-December 2008, this is a weight loss company in deep turmoil. LA Weight Loss Centers across the country have been closing in waves this year, often with franchise owners and the Horsham, Pa.-based parent company pointing fingers over who's to blame. When a Southern California franchise suddenly closed in October, for instance, the franchise owner blamed the corporate office, but a senior vice president of LA Weight Loss in Pennsylvania told the local paper that the owner took customers' money and closed without giving notice and refunds as the company requires.

We have removed this company from BestDietForMe.com's database of "Top 60" diet programs. We cannot in good conscience recommend this company to anyone until and if things settle down and the company changes its sales and marketing practices. Phone calls to the headquarters are met with a constant busy signal. We were not able to get through.

An Internet search reveals closures of many centers nationwide, many times abruptly, leaving clients with no way to recoup deposits or receive the products or services they paid for up front. The Attorney General's office in Tennessee is investigating abrupt closures of centers there. Some centers were reportedly selling new memberships a week before closing. The Web is filled with negative reports and complaints by former and current customers.

All 400 company-owned centers, bearing the name Pure Weight Loss, with the exception of 6 centers in a few states (AL, LA, MI, OH, MS, FL) were closed on Jan. 4, 2008 and that company is in bankruptcy. This is a very confusing situation for consumers, since the Pure Weight Loss Centers were formerly called LA Weight Loss, and the TV ads and programs were virtually identical.

The firm began franchising in 1997 and was founded by Vahan Karian  in 1989. Based on information obtained from the company’s management, the company now operates approximately 425 franchised centers, located in the United States, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Canada--350 in the United States. This leaves the chain at half its previous size.

CEO and Chairman Harold Katz used to be affiliated with NutriSystem, which closed hundreds of centers and shifted to a pure Internet operation. LA Weight Loss has used a combination of: 1) simply re-opening many of these closed NutriSystem centers in the Mid-Atlantic states, 2) buying up other troubled weight loss operations, and 3) selling more franchises, to fuel its growth.

Franchised centers are located in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

The company in August 2007 changed the name of its 400 company-owned centers, to Weight Loss Plus, Pure Weight Loss and Family Weight Loss. Franchised centers are still called LA Weight Loss Centers.

That was probably an attempt to wipe the slate clean of customer complaints and unethical business practices alleged by the 20/20 undercover investigation and many customers.  LA Weight Loss Centers had many lawsuits in these areas of the country.

Three years ago the company was divided in half with one owner taking control of all corporate owned and operated centers (L A Weight Loss Centers, Inc.) and the other became the franchisor of the franchise owned centers. Since then the two separate companies have grown in different directions with distinctly different program changes, cultures and business methods. Because of this, the corporate owned and operated centers had changed their name to Pure Weight Loss.

Most personal counselors are not independently trained social workers, but former clients of L.A. Weight Loss  and are paid commissions on the products they sell, which presents a questionable conflict of interest. Based on reviews for Pure Weight Loss or LA Weight Loss, there are considerable differences between individual centers and counselors.

Blogs and comments on the Internet submitted by current and former employees claim that this is a troubled company, with many workers recently being laid off, working long hours for low pay, and under constant pressure to produce revenues with aggressive tactics. Many employees are claimed to be leaving the company and it's claimed that many centers are staffed by only one person and are only open part-time. It's also claimed that many counselors and managers are making less than minimum wage.

Sept. 2007... A federal court has ruled that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission may proceed to trial with its class sex discrimination lawsuit against L.A. Weight Loss Centers, Inc. on behalf of qualified male applicants nationwide.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, decisively rejected LAWL’s court filed motions to dismiss the case. The court held that the testimonial evidence alone that was presented by the EEOC, including discriminatory admissions by various high-level LAWL officials, entitled the EEOC to present its case at trial. The court also granted partial summary judgment to the EEOC regarding LAWL’s failure to maintain relevant employment records.

The LA Weight Loss Plan is based on regular grocery store food, coupled with the use of the company’s vitamins, nutrition bars, supplements, counseling, etc. Weight loss of 2 lbs. per week is the target. Counseling is on a one-to-one approach and purchase of supplements is optional. The company claims to offer more than 40 different kinds of programs, custom tailored to your needs. However, unless you visit a center in person (free consultation) they won’t give you specifics about these programs over the phone.

The company's website does mention a new "Super Food Rx" program, but offers no details about it.

As for the cost of the program, it varies based on your desired weight loss and gender. When you call a local center they’ll tell you that it’s just $7 per week. No mention is made of any "set-up fees" by local centers when you contact them by phone. However, there are holiday specials and unadvertised specials that may lower this cost to $5/week or even $3/week, depending on when you call and which center you contact. Recently, there was a 6-weeks free coupon offer at the website (good until Jan. 13th), if you enroll in a 52-week plan.

The plan is really based on a full year—consisting of a weight loss phase, a stabilization phase, and a maintenance phase. You pay for ALL of these phases up front, although the company says that different payment plans (i.e. monthly payments) can be arranged.

BestDietForMe.com analysts were not able to get anyone to give us a ballpark estimate or range of how much the set-up fee might be. They REALLY want to see you in person. Consequently, you won’t know exactly how much this program will cost you unless you visit a center in person. If you get the regular $7/week rate, you’d most likely pay about $350 plus the "set-up" fee. If you get the $5/week "special rate", you’d pay about $250 plus the set-up fee. If you get the $3/week special, you’d pay about $150 plus the set-up fee. In some cases, the set-up fee may be waived. You are strongly encouraged to buy the company’s bars and supplements. No diet entrees or foods are part of the plan.

A scan of Internet bulletin boards and chat rooms comparing various weight loss plans reveals that the up-front sign-up fee for one year can be anywhere from $350 to $800, depending on how many LA Lites or Nu Lites nutrition bars you purchase. Basically, since centers are franchised, each center is free to cut its own deal on pricing. There is also a "care and share" referral program, whereby you can get a store credit for products for each referral you provide.

The program consists of various nutritional guidance plans that allow a client to eat food purchased at the grocery store and restaurants (including national fast food chains) combined with one-on-one behavior education counseling and specially formulated nutritional supplements, vitamins and herbal products. In the past, clients had to purchase the nutritional supplements, vitamins, and herbal supplements offered by the company as a part of the program, but not today. Clients are expected to come to the center 2-3 times a week, and no appointments are necessary.

This last aspect, NOT having to make an appointment, in our opinion, is a major plus vs. other diet programs. The fact that you can drop in whenever you happen to be in the mood and near one of their centers, is a very good feature. Many customers may feel bad or guilty if they make an appointment and have to cancel at the last minute, so this eliminates that issue. Perhaps this is one factor contributing to its recent popularity and growth.

Counseling is done in-person, ideally 3 times a week at the center. There is no provision for communication with the counselors via email or phone, if you can’t make it to the center. And, the company’s website does not operate any message boards, chat rooms, or email feedback from their team of dietitians. Counselors seem to be clients that were successful on the LA Weight Loss plan and may have some background in nutrition or other healthcare fields (similar to the Weight Watchers model). They have gone through internal company training. However, it sounds to us like most are not degreed healthcare professionals. If you have any tough issues regarding nutrition, psychological aspects of weight loss, medical conditions, these counselors, in our opinion, would have to defer to the company’s medical staff and dietitians. Centers are open from Monday to Saturday.

The Man Plan

LA Weight Loss is going after the men's weight loss market too, with this new plan. At the website, one can find audios from six former NFL football pros, but we weren't able to find any description of what this program entails as of the first week of February.

The LA Weight Loss website, to us, is still kind of skimpy on free information and tools, compared with other diet websites. It’s very light on useable nutrition and exercise information (limited to some articles/links about healthy eating, healthy living and health tools) and has no real interactive tools, unless you become a member of the At Home plan. The FAQs section is skimpy—only  a few typical questions contained there. You can get some basic information about the company and some free recipes.

BestDietForMe.com analysts are of the opinion that LA Weight Loss has a fairly good program that's improved from several years ago. However, based on the sheer volume of negative reports about the company (even if only 50% are accurate), its practices, its true cost, its worker morale and turnover--from 20/20, both customers and former employees, this appears to be a very troubled chain with many pitfalls to avoid. "Let the buyer beware" is our recommendation for any dieter considering this program at this time. We would stay away until and if management gets their act together or is changed. There are too many other well-run weight loss companies out there to choose from.

We think they should be more straightforward about the total costs and fees involved, without a person having to go to their local center for a sales pitch. In our opinion, every person that walks through the door will get a different price, and the better the negotiator you are, the less you’ll pay. We don’t like this. Why not have the same "set-up" fee for everyone?

The company, with its new Man Plan, appears to be copying some of the things that has made NutriSystem innovative and successful.