Does it Work?Unsure if the latest product or service lives up to it's claims? From popular products to the latest scams, discuss it here before you buy!
My co-worker, who is always looking for the easy way out when it comes to weightloss, saw the add for these on tv and decided to order the trial (I keep trying to tell her diet & exercise). Anyway, she never got the trial but was charged for it anyway; the next month she was charged for a shipment (that she never authorized) at the cost of $80 (that she also never got). Calling the company did no good, they gave her the run around. They insisted they had her signature that she had received them. They then went as far as to email her a copy of the signature. Her first initial and last name, but it wasn't in her handwriting and the date with the signature was a year BEFORE she had ordered anything. She had to call her bank and cancel the card to get the charges to stop. Once she reported them to the Better Business Bureau, she got her money back.
I ordered the first FREE bottle, paying shipping 5.95.
A month later they shipped me 2 bottles and charged me 85.90.
I sent the 2 bottles back, per their instructions, and requested a refund by email. They sent an instruction sheet on how to do this.
Well they credited me (59.96). Do the math, I paid 31.89 for a FREE bottle.
I am not falling/buying any more quick wt loss miracles.
I thought I had posted on this thread, but maybe this is a different one.
I like acai in a smoothie product that used to be sold in my local grocery store and it seemed to be free of any yucky ingredients, was just a fruit smoothie with all natural ingredients, including the acai, assuming that there WAS acai in there, but anyhow it tasted good and did make me feel energized (sugar from berries?). Acai berries have a flavor I like. I've since had some whole berries that a friend had. They have a fruit/chocolate/bitter kind of taste and they do have a lot of antioxidants.
HOWEVER, claims about weight loss seem to me to be not valid other than that any healthy food probably aids in the overall journey because it provides nourishment for the body.
I also thought I had seen somewhere in this thread that according to someone, Oprah (sp?) never made any weight loss claims about acai. I don't care for O but that sounds reasonable as I'd think she would not do anything like that.
To me the horror stories on the thread about credit cards being charged and alleged pay collection practices of this acai supplier somewhat tell the tale. How can any faith re a weight loss claim be placed in the the product whose billing practices are questioned.
No magic pills, no magic berries, but acai in and of itself seems ok to eat or drink, in my opinion, if it can be obtained like any other fruit.
Dr. OZ did talk about it on Oprah as a super food, not a weight loss product. There are also ads claiming he promotes cleansing which is completely opposite of his recommendations. His stance is that the body is self-cleansing with proper diet, ie. fiber. Never trust ads. I can't believe what Madison Ave. is allowed to get away with.
My very best friend ordered it off of myspace. She doesn't have lots of weight to lose like I do but she said that from the first day she took it she's lost weight. It's been about 4 weeks and she's lost 18 lbs with no diet/exercise. She said it just eliminates her hunger completely. At first I was really thinking about it - seeing her results. THEN I found out what it cost!
When she ordered it they told her it was a free trial...yea right... they charged her card 99.00 -- and that is not even a full month supply. She said if she took it as directed it'd be about $200.00 a month!! So she takes half of it (I think she takes 1 pill a day instead of 2).
I am desperate to lose the weight but $200 a month is crazy and for me who has a lot to lose I"d have to be on it for a long time. And then what? Once I lost the weight? I can't afford $200month for life.
But I do get thinking when I see how great she looks and she swears to me it's 100% effortless. Her habits were not that bad (not like mine) she just had about 15-20 post-baby pounds (her baby is 2 but we still call them baby lbs lol) and she was never overweight before in her life. For me I think I need something much more long-term since I have battled obesity and binge eating my whole life.
At this point I really believe gastric bypass is my last resort...and I'm almost there. Years of dieting, journaling and exercise and I'm still sitting at 100+ lbs overweight.
hoosiermama - its possible that they put something in the acai supplements she bought such as fiber. Acai itself won't suppress appetite. I would suggest staying on the forums, they can be very helpful with weight loss Calorie counting is a good, inexpensive method to help keep track of your food and there is a calorie counting forum. There is also a general weight loss support forum that is good. I'd also look at the 100lb club, its for those of us that have had or currently have 100 lbs or more to lose. Many of the 100lb clubbers have lost 100 lbs or more
Hey all! I work at a GNC around here and I hear about the acai berry ALL FREAKIN DAY! So I did my own research on it. Here's what little I know about the acai berry. It has the highest ORAC (antioxidant power) than any other berry that they have found. It boosts your energy levels, helps with your skin, has a good amount of fiber as well as omega fatty acids. So I think in all, you can't go wrong with taking the supplement. It will give you more energy and help "keep things regular" and possibly help suppress your appetite. But I wouldn't buy a lot of the juices, only because they shove so many other things in there with it. So you don't really know how much acai you're actually getting. Acai Max is about the only juice I would recommend because there's not much else in it, and they actually list how much is in there. As far as capsules, I would look for something around 500mg or higher per serving. And no, it shouldn't cost you 80 bucks! Thats just insane.
Last edited by HappyMomma05; 03-03-2009 at 08:41 AM.
HappyMomma - Acai berries may be great antioxidants eating in their natural form but antioxidants don't translate well into pill form. There is a distinct difference between eating a handful of berries and taking a pill. Also, fiber doesn't translate into juice form either because when you juice any fruit, you strip it of its fiber. Also, any fruit tends to lose vitamins once its picked and even more so when its juiced. So it is hard to say how good acai juice would be compared to something such as wild blueberries or green tea which are also great antioxidants. Goji berries are also another recent star in the antioxidant world but you can buy them dried or even frozen. I would leave acai supplements and juice alone until we either see them fresh, frozen or dried in their natural form.
I don't trust free trial ads...sounds like a scam somewhere in there. I stopped taking Acai...not the one seen advertised on myspace though. Just didn't think it was for me.
I read an article that basically said that acai berry is wonderful for you.. great nutrients and antioxidants, so they are healthy for you... HOWEVER... they do not aid in losing weight.
I've taken them, but I didn't pay enough attention to it to really know.
I was suckered into the add (the $1 thing)-aweful mistake. I did it with the Acai Berry and Total Cleanse. Big lesson that I learned.
By they I received my free bottle, they charged me $89 (or something like that) and just sent out the next bottle (before I got my free trial!). They were nice enough about it, said I could return it and get refunded, but I got lazy and never did do it-however haven't had a problem with my credit card from them.
Total Cleanse was an absoulte nightmare. Theirs, I think was $90. I got the $5.95 "free" bottle-I forgot to cancel, they charged the full amount. Then they sent another bottle charged me again. I covered that money by transferring from my checking. I immediately called an cancelled. They said no problem.
Less than 5 days later I had another $90 charge, which put me into a negative (so there's a fee from my bank on that). Called them up and asked what was up, they said they'd refund me within 7 days (but could take as little as 48 hours). I called two days later, they refused to refund me.
I had to go to my bank and file a dispute against the company. I put enough back in to get it into a positive balance (just barely). Luckily my bank gave me a tempory credit for the full amount. This was back Dec 5 when I filed the dispute. Just yesterday I got the approval of the dispute.
Not.Worth.It.
Honestly, if you want to try it, please get it from a store-and if you don't want to pay that price, maybe someone would go in on the price with you?
Yea, they sell acai juice in every grocery store these days in one form or another so it does seem like a good idea to just buy it there. It's just a juice, no magic (I like it, though).
It is not FREE
Calorie counting is a good, inexpensive method to help keep track of your food and there is a calorie counting forum. There is also a general weight loss support forum that is good. I'd also look at the 100lb club, its for those of us that have had or currently have 100 lbs or more to lose. Many of the 100lb clubbers have lost 100 lbs or more 
