I was browsing thru the web, and on the ivillage site for LAWL, there is a post by someone in Ontario whose LAWL center is closing without much notice, and she's out a whole bunch of the bars she prepaid for. Was told to deal with LA To Go. I know a lot of the centers in the US are closing, but I had not heard of any in Canada. Does anyone know the scoop on this?
thanks!
I asked the counsellor at the center tonight about Canadian centers closing. She said they have been getting lots of queries, and most people are finding it out on the internet. It sounded like they had been given the "correct" answer to tell clients. She said it is the Canadian centers that were owned by corporate headquarters are closing. Most of the corporate centers are in the TO area she said. The centers that are a franchise operation are not closing.
I know a lot of the centers in the US are closing, but I had not heard of any in Canada. Does anyone know the scoop on this?
thanks!
A friend called last night to tell me that the LA Centre here in Newfoundland was closing. I immediately went to the Centre and the staff confirmed this is true. They said that they were told last night (Nov 24th) around 4:30pm NST that they will be closing on December 5th. I bought a big supply of LA Lites and other people were doing the same. I'm not sure how long their supply will last.
I was also given a sheet suggesting that "LA On-the-Go" would be an online replacement program. The sheet contains two email addresses; to sign up for LA On-the-Go: "laonthego (at) lawlmaritimes (ca)" and for questions about refunds: customerservice (at) lawlmaritimes (ca) --- Sorry, this system won't allow me to post the address correctly. --- I guess maybe that lawlmaritimes address is only for eastern Canada but they didn't say that. The staff seemed as much in the dark about the reason for this as I am. I asked if the U.S. lawsuits had anything to do with the Canadian closings but the staff were not aware of the situation regarding the company in the U.S. The only thing the sheet I was given says is, ".. for reasons beyond our control, and as direct result of the current global economic crisis, we can no longer operate this centre.
Wow...I spoke too soon...this was on our local news website...
Quote:
L.A. Weight Loss closing Atlantic Canadian franchises
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 | 1:50 PM NT Comments5Recommend10
CBC News
A chain of weight loss franchises in Atlantic Canada is closing its doors, with one owner citing the worsening economic crisis.
Nine L.A. Weight Loss franchises in Atlantic Canada are closing their doors.
A St. John's franchise will lock its doors on Dec. 5, putting about 40 people out of work.
Franchise owner David Shneer told CBC News Tuesday that things have been tough for a while, but the ongoing global economic crisis has made it impossible to stay in business.
He added that many consumers do not think weight loss is a necessity when times are tough.
Clients who enrolled for longer-range programs can obtain refunds, he said.
Pennsylvania-based L.A. Weight Loss has seen other franchises close over the past month, including operations in Oregon, Montana and Wisconsin.
I'm not an LA chick but will post the email addies for you.
- to sign up for LA On-the-Go: [email protected]
- for questions about refunds: [email protected]
So has anybody tried to get a refund yet. We just started in September so im hoping to get some money back, also pre bought 40 boxes of bars and only got to use 14 of them so im hoping i can get some money back from that since our store in chtown has nothing left at all. I wonder how hard of a process it is going to be to actually get refunded