Anyone tried Propolene?
 

I just saw last night yet another new diet pill out there that has the same claims as Leptoprin but says it's ephedrine free and is a heck of a lot cheaper. Has anyone heard of it or tried it. I tried looking it up and didn't find anything about it.

I purchased Propolene from their 800 number about 45 days ago. I used it according to their acceleration instructions and didn't lose a single pound after 20 days. In addition, ten days after the original purchase they charged my credit card again (20 days before my 30-day trial was up) and ten days later sent another shipment with an invoice saying I STILL owe them $30!

Their customer service number has stayed busy - they say because of the current popularity of the product. Even my credit card company says they have received numerous complaints of the same nature and I had to cancel that card to preclude anymore charges. Needless to say I'm now in it for the goodfight with the Better Business Bureau and am turning in a mail fraud complaint with the Postal Service.

I feel sorry for anyone else who's purchased from them.... Buy generic from a reputable company!

Mary in Tejas

My friend that i work with bought some and she lost 10 pounds in two weeks. I dunno? I guess they have different results for everyone. She said that they were 89.95 a month, hmmm, i guess if they worked for her its worth it, but like mary if they dont work a total waste! Have a nice afternoon and happy dieting! =)

-Courtney

Originally Posted by liebchen:
I purchased Propolene from their 800 number about 45 days ago. I used it according to their acceleration instructions and didn't lose a single pound after 20 days. In addition, ten days after the original purchase they charged my credit card again (20 days before my 30-day trial was up) and ten days later sent another shipment with an invoice saying I STILL owe them $30!

Their customer service number has stayed busy - they say because of the current popularity of the product. Even my credit card company says they have received numerous complaints of the same nature and I had to cancel that card to preclude anymore charges. Needless to say I'm now in it for the goodfight with the Better Business Bureau and am turning in a mail fraud complaint with the Postal Service.

I feel sorry for anyone else who's purchased from them.... Buy generic from a reputable company!

Mary in Tejas

Mary - rather than cancelling your credit card, did the issuer suggest that you do a chargeback for the amount they charged you? Such a hassle to cancel a card...

I posted this at Buyer Beware yesterday in response to a post by Jiff:

Quote:

Originally Posted by :
Originally Posted by jiffypop
and don't hesitate to file a complaint with the bank!!!! i had a problem with a return from some wackos who insisted that they NEVER gave refunds. i got the credit card company involved, and TRUST ME... they paid up!!!!

Yup - it's all part of the securities built into the payment card system. Doesn't matter if it's a credit or debit transaction...if you have the Visa logo on your card, you still have the right to file a chargeback.

From the Visa website:

Quote:

Originally Posted by :
Cardholders have long relied on Visa to guarantee their satisfaction whenever they make a purchase. When a vendor fails to provide satisfactory product or services, cardholders know that they have recourse for getting their money back. They also know that if their cards are ever stolen or their card numbers compromised in any way, they only have to notify their Issuers to have any fraudulent charges removed from their statement. The right of the cardholder to dispute charges is part of what makes Visa a globally trusted brand.

And while you're at it, make sure to file a complaint with the BBB:

http://www.bbbonline.org/consumer/complaint.asp

Oh and on the product itself...their 'official website' doesn't give much information other than it's 100% fiber and it's "all natural" (like every other OTC majic pill out there).

$90 is a lot of money to pay for a fiber pill. I think I paid something like $7.00 for a package of FiberCon at the drugstore...

OH and I just LOVE the fact that they're using the good old Fat Trapping explanation. Kind of reminds ya of Chitosan, doesn't it? And that stuff didn't work either, did it??

Incidentally, the active ingredient they tout in this product as such a miracle (Konjac/Glucomannan) is in a BUNCH of other - CHEAPER - diet pills. I just checked Netrition.com and you can get Glucomannan made by Nature's Way (a reputable company!) for....10.95 plus shipping. But I guess it doesn't 'work' as well as Propolene, since their ad doesn't have some model dressed in a doctor's white coat.

This just KILLS me - from their website:

Originally Posted by :
- Propolene works!
- It's easy!
- You'll feel full!
- No dieting!

And right under "No Dieting!" they state:

Originally Posted by :
In order to optimize your body’s thermic (fat burning) effect, you should eat five times daily: Breakfast, AM Snack, Lunch, PM Snack, and Dinner, and remember, your portion sizes should be no larger than your fist.

The diet plan (which was included as a PDF on their website) is just that - a low-calorie diet plan. Even without the pills, if you followed it, you'd lose weight.

Hmm...portion sizes no larger than your fist - I dunno but that sounds like a DIET to ME!!!

And one more thought - if this pill, and the hundreds of others on the market, REALLY worked - the New York Times, all the national newspapers, along with the Journal of the American Medical Association would have it as FRONT PAGE NEWS. Obesity is the biggest health problem in the US (and the world) today - a pill that TRULY worked would be HUGE national and worldwide news.

Sorry to sound, um, sarcastic here, but I can't believe that companies can still get away with this crap. But it's all marketing and packaging. Underneath it all, you're just basically getting the same stuff that's in the $10.95 Nature's Way bottle.

PS - on the Leporatin (sp) - they won't be able to sell the stuff after next Thursday anyway (FDA's cutoff date on ephedra products is 15 April) so it's kind of a moot point whether it's cheaper or 'ephedra free'. BTW that was/is overpriced crap too...just a WAY overpriced ECA stack that you could buy under 100 or so different brand names for less than 1/4 the price...

Propolene
 

Originally Posted by MrsJim:
Mary - rather than cancelling your credit card, did the issuer suggest that you do a chargeback for the amount they charged you? Such a hassle to cancel a card...

When I called Visa the rep and I both agreed it was prudent to cancel the card to preclude further charges that seemed imminent. I am in the process of charging back the second one, but have to fight the first thru the BBB because I authorized that one, but they aren't honouring their 30-day guarantee. (BTW: I was only supposed to be charged $29.95/2bottles.)

The rep also stated that he had several of the same complaints from other customers recently and even a friend of his was scammed.

I hope the other great info you posted helps someone else to avoid the situation I'm in now.

Mary

No problem :) (BTW I fixed the 'quote' tag in your post...those can be so pesky sometimes...

To all: It's REALLY important whenever you do business with a merchant that isn't on the up-and-up or is playing 'games' with you, that you report it right away both to the BBB and to your issuing bank (i.e. whoever issued your payment card).

Also, check www.visa.com - there are some really good tips there regarding shopping on the Web - not to mention some really terrific "Practical Money Skills" guidelines. Here's the US links:

http://www.usa.visa.com/personal/pra...ure_with_visa/

Regarding the claims by Leptoprin or similar products, never believe the informercials. Remember, they are a business and it's their job to make their product appear as appealing as possible. Everything they tell you will be with the purpose of making a sale. You may be familiar with our own article on Leptoprin. Leptoprin customer service even created a "canned message" about us because they were getting such a huge response, all of it negative, and all we did was publish their ingredient labels so people wouldn't purchase it without knowing what was in it.

However, we aren't the only ones that have pointed out the flaws in their advertising. O Magazine, run by Oprah Winfrey, published an article in November and pointed out some very interesting things about the Leptoprin advertisements, and make you realize just how little you can believe any manufacturer these days.

Originally Posted by :
In the case of Leptoprin-SF, another diet formula, the promotional copy boasts that during a double-blind clinical trial "the Leptoprin-SF group experienced a significant decrease in overall body weight--an incredible 830 percent greater than the group who participated in the diet and exercise program alone." But the actual study, published in a journal called Current Therapeutic Research, concludes that although people lost weight on the regimen, "between-group differences in weight loss were not statistically significant."

OTHER HOT CONTENDERS FOR A piece of the post-ephedra weight loss dollar are Anorex-SF (the same formulation as Leptoprin-SF), advertised as "the most advanced, most powerful stimulant-free fat-loss formula available today," and Zantrex-3. The latter, which contains large amounts of caffeine-rich herbs mixed with what is described as a patented compound that speeds absorption, claims "more than five times the weight loss of America's number one selling ephedra-based diet pill." Zantrex-3 and Anorex-SF cost up to $90 to $163 respectively for a one-month supply, and both are marketed by Basic Research, which has links to a number of companies including Klein-Becker, a self-described industry leader in patented and exclusive weight control products. It's unclear whether these are one and the same company, but they seem to share headquarters in Salt Lake City. Calls to Daniel Mowrey, PhD, identified as the director of scientific affairs for Klein-Becker (as of a year ago, he held the same title at Basic Research), were referred to Louis Rinaldi, PhD, who identified himself as a consultant to the company. On the phone, Rinaldi said that Zantrex-3 was expected to be the company's hottest seller and insisted that he had at hand clinical studies supporting its effectiveness. Unfortunately, he said he was not free at this time to share those studies with the public.

"We've already spent millions in advertising for Zantrex-3," he said. "We play it pretty close to the vest because we don't want to get knocked off [by imitators] and lose our shirts. When you have a new product, you have a small window of opportunity to sell it, so we are not very forthcoming about what's in it or what the dosage should be." A check of the company's Web site, however, provides a link to the very same small trial cited by Zotrin. Perhaps it will come as no surprise that Rinaldi's doctorate in nutrition was issued by Donsbach University, a nonaccredited correspondence school that closed its doors years ago.

Thanks for the warning!
 

Mary In Tejas -

I really appreciate the warning. I just received the Propolene and took 2 doses that gave me a really bad headache. After reading your post, I will return it right away so they don't pull any funny business!

I knew it was too good to be true, but what can I say, they caught me at a weak moment. Now I'm on Weight Watchers and loving it!

SandyNJax