UPDATE: LA Weight Loss Closing
Now a follow-up to an ABC2 News Investigation. We told you back in January that weight loss giant LA Weight Loss was closing up shop, giving customers little notice before shutting down and holding onto their money. The fight for refunds has since intensified. ABC2 News Investigator Joce Sterman tells us what you need to do now to get back your cash.
A quick look at their website and you'd think LA Weight Loss was a thriving company, ready to take your calls. But that's not the case. As the ABC2 News Investigators told you two months ago, this business dropped a ton of weight by shedding all of its customers, leaving many to wonder how they'd get their money back. Former client Diane Pagliaro told us, "You're not going to, you're not going to. You're totally at a loss."
It's an understandable feeling, considering the weight loss company has also filed for bankruptcy since closing two weeks after Christmas. But that's not stopping Maryland's Assistant Attorney General, Alfreda Cooper. She says, "It really is my fight." Cooper has vowed to take on LA Weight Loss/Pure Weight Loss on behalf of the more than 1,000 customers who used the service here in Maryland. She says, "These were people who wholly put their trust in this company and they didn't deliver what they were supposed to."
LA Weight Loss promised to help customers lose weight, then they went out of business. Just before shutting down, they told customers to come in and fill out refund applications to get their money back. But with the bankruptcy, the Attorney General's office now says those papers are essentially useless. Cooper says, "This (the refund application from LA Weight Loss) is a foreign document to the bankruptcy court."
So if you filled out the company's form in hopes of getting a refund, now what? You've still got a couple of options. Pure Weight Loss has posted claim forms on its website for the US Bankruptcy Court. And the AG's office is also coordinating claims for Maryland victims, using the weight of the state to get results. Their form has been posted on the Attorney General's website. It will also be mailed to all of the LA and Pure Weight Loss customers here. So far only 75 clients have complained to their Consumer Protection Division, leaving hundreds more out of the loop unless they fill out the paperwork. Alfreda Cooper says, "To me, that's almost like throwing money out the window."
It's money the weight loss chain said they'd return. Now the Attorney General's office is making sure they live up to their promise. All you have to do is fill out their form and send it back. They ask you to be concise and be sure to include copies of your contract and proof of payment.
Reported by: Joce Sterman
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