Complaint Review: ediets.com - Nationwide

I happened to check back on this complaint and saw the editor make a comment about my rebuttal. I re-read it back and I guess maybe it does sound a bit bland but does he think I work for ediets? I used ediets for 2 months to help me lose weight and was a satisfied customer so I was just commenting on her complaint. I found the ediets website really detailed and easy to use. Thats it, I do not work for them. Thanks Kim

Spoken like the CEO or Dedicated REP of the company. They cover it all, just as if they were selling you the product.

Rip-off Report critics usually say, "anyone can report a company falsely, and ruin them."

Consumers who are victimized by a company or individual have already exhausted all remedies before coming to the Rip-off Report. They've tried to negotiate with the business to no avail, they then get the run-a-round from the BBB, then maybe even try their State Attorney Generals office or other government agencies to no avail.

The legal system favors businesses. Quite often the victim hears, "If you don't like it, go ahead and sue me." They know full well that they can afford to string out resolution and when they finally do settle a confidentiality agreement bars the victim from telling anyone. There are some companies that even put pressure on those who have filed reports on this website to remove them or to say something nice about them as a precondition for settlement. A good example of this, Bernard Haldane (employment career opportunity) with over 200 Rip-off Reports has been coercing their victims with having to write something nice about them or to get their Rip-off Report removed to get a refund, in most cases these refunds are over $5,000, according to the victims.

Reading the Rip-off Reports, you have to see they are sincere, no questioning the Rip-off Reports with mutable complaints..

In many cases, more times than not, submitted REBUTTALS are instigated or created by the company themselves or their employees that have been reported.

ED Magedson
[email protected]
badbusinessbureau.com
www.ripoffreport.com

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I joined E-diets about 1 1/2 years ago after my sister sugggested them. I found them extremely convenient and knowledgable about weight loss. Whenever I emailed a dietician I got a response back within 24 hours. I joined their "lose 10 lbs in 30 days" and lost 10 lbs then used what I had learned through them to lose another 10 lbs.

This company is not a ripoff and I would recommend them to anyone.

They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report:

Their email: [email protected]
Their name: Merilee Kern
Their phone number: 702-562-0064
Their relationship to the company: Advocate

Rebuttal:
While we at eDiets.com regret that your experience did not meet your personal expectations, we feel that it's important to clarify the many incorrect statements issued in your report relative to our company. Before I speak to the financial issues, let me first make it crystal clear that one CANNOT glean the 100% custom-tailored and personalized diet programs that eDiets issues for each and every member from "any diet book at any bookstore". This would simply be impossible, since eDiets.com
creates unique, custom diet programs based on information provided in response to a comprehensive INTERACTIVE personal profile questionnaire, which elicits information on each member's specific weight-loss goals, lifestyle, food preferences and/or restrictions, pertinent medical conditions, fitness level and attitude.

Responses to this personal diet profile questionnaire allow eDiets.com to generate a professional diet program, developed by its team of registered and licensed dietitians, that is unique to each member's unique and differing needs. A generalized book
intended for use and interpretation by the masses will not do this.

Moreover, rather than simply disseminating diet and nutrition-related information to our members, albeit customized, our members are further enabled and encouraged to not only interact with on-staff dietitians, psychologists and other health professionals, but each other as well. Interactive, personalized support is the key to a successful weight-loss program. Constantly being in touch with other people who understand how
difficult dieting can be, and that have the same goals and objectives, is an important factor for maintaining one's motivation and stamina. This is why the eDiets.com "Support Central" area - Support Boards, Chats, Online Meetings, Mentor Programs, Polls, and other interactive features - are so
important. We've created a variety of forums where members can get the support they need, when they need it (24/7/365) from both our extensive community as well as trained staff professionals, in the privacy and comfort of their home or office and while maintaining complete anonymity, if desired.

Regarding your non-receipt of your diet plan, were you to have read both the online welcome screen that displays immediately post-registration as well as the welcome emails that you indicated you received, you would have discovered quite clear instructions on how to log on to eDiets using the username and password you specified during registration to access your
personalized program information (meal plan, recipes, grocery shopping list, etc.), as all of this information is availed via the eDiets Web site...it is not emailed to you directly. Before you publicly fault a company for not meeting its obligations, you should first ensure that no fault lies on your end. Such misinformation is misleading and unfair to the consumer population, as it is to the company, itself.

As for the financial situation that you described, eDiets' terms and conditions regarding our refund policy are quite clear, and read as follows: "As of July 1, 1999, all new memberships are for a minimum three (3) month term. Members can cancel at any time after 3 months. One-time registration fee for the initial generation of member's custom diet program is non-refundable."

However, it seems that in your situation that you were provided with a prorated refund of the WEEKLY, NOT DAILY, fee of $2.50, outside of the non-refundable registration/account initiation fee. As this was against our program terms, the refund you were given should have actually been appreciated since the member services representative was not obligated to do this. As you can imagine, with over 300,000 paid members throughout
the third quarter of 2001, it would become cost prohibitive for our company to grant refunds in a manner that is inconsistent with our published terms and conditions. Doing so would, in fact, negate our program terms, rendering them futile while also compromising our commitment to treating all of our members equitably. I would also like to point out that our program terms and conditions are made available to each and every member IN ADVANCE of membership acceptance, to ensure that he/she has every opportunity to read, understand and agree to the program
terms before signing on. In fact, before a new member is accepted to eDiets, he/she is first delivered our Terms and Conditions in a highly
visible scroll box on our registration page located at
https://www.ediets.com/dietprofile/profileregistration09.cfm . When the member clicks on the "submit registration" button, it indicates that he/she has agreed to these clearly disclosed program terms. In addition, our program terms are linked from within the "Company" section on eDiets' public Web site (accessible to both paid members and non-members) at
https://www.ediets.com/company/legal.cfm .

eDiets is most assuredly a moral and ethical company that offers an effective solution for someone wanting to lose weight healthfully, conveniently, privately, and cost-effectively, and through a program that's completely customized based on their unique needs, goal and lifestyle.

Regards,

Merilee Kern
Manager, Marketing Communications
eDiets.com, Inc. (OTCBB:EDET)
E: [email protected]
W: www.eDiets.com

They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report:

Their email: [email protected]
Their name: Rebecca Gavin

Their relationship to the company: Supporter

Rebuttal:
This complaint is totally unfair. I have been a member of ediets.com for over a year and a half, and while I have had minor issues and/or complaints from time to time, I know that the claims made here have no merit.

In the first place, Ediets is a web based weight loss plan. You are never emailed a diet. Each week you weigh in (or not, once you learn the system) and a new meal plan is generated for you. You can then print out the meal plan as well as a grocery list. The plan is healthy and balanced and includes recipes. It is designed by a dietician. You can make changes to it if you don't like any of the meals. You can also specify if you want
a recipe or convenience plan. You can specify if you want kosher or vegetarian, low sodium or sugar-free. The charge is only $9.95 a month. Customer service is available 24 hours a day. Ediets dieticians always answer emails promptly. Ediets has probably 50 on-line support boards for individuals with countless special issues.

True, you can get a diet out of a diet book, but the advantage here is that a new plan is designed for you, every week. The plan is computer generated, but designed so that it is nutritionally balanced and the amounts are adjusted as your caloric needs change as you lose (or gain) weight.

About the cancellation of membership issue...it has been a long time since I joined, so I don't remember the details. But I know that ediets has always been honest and up front in all my dealings with them.

A free tour is available before joining, and, individuals can log on anytime as a guest. Guests, obviously, don't have access to as much of the site as
members do, but you can get a pretty good idea of site before joining.

If the person making this complaint thought they were going to be emailed a diet, then they seem not to have a very clear understanding of the material provided both before and after joining. Without knowing the details, I can only say that I have never suspected ediets of any dishonesty, and I am a fairly skeptical person.