Weight Watchers Thieves

I'm kinda pissed at WW right now. Their practices seem questionable, heavy-handed and a little bit like extortion. First of all, weekly attendence is mandatory. It doesn't matter whether a person has some reason to miss the meeting. That person owes the weekly fee anyway.

For members that do not choose the monthly subscription, the weekly fee is $12. The workers/salespeople badger a person before the start of every meeting to subscribe if they haven't, touting all the fantastic benefits like web access, e-tools, and a monthly fee of $39.99, so you save a couple of bucks if you skip a week.

Michelle and I resisted a couple of weeks' pressure to subscribe, but then a pass for one free month arrived in the mail. The sales lady at our meeting hall ensured us we would not be billed until October. Two days later, two charges of $39.99 each were extracted from my checking account.

I e-mailed WW (no phone numbers listed anywhere on their website) to see if they could reverse the charges. Instead of a response to my concerns, I received back some generic canned response that my online account was up and running. As I was annoyed at the total lack of personal service, I replied back that I wanted a resolution to my problem, and restated the issue. Then I said if they were unable to resolve the issue to my satisfaction, just cancel the accounts and refund the money.

And that's what they did. Kind of. Without another word. They cancelled my account, but left Michelle's active. No clue if a refund is pending. I sent an extremely grouchy note after that letting them know I am disgusted with their customer service and that I would like some kind of explanation -- will they be cancelling both accounts? Is a refund forthcoming?

At this point, I don't plan to give WW another penny ever. In addition, I plan to spread the word far and wide that they are thieves.