“Products priced at 499 yuan can reduce weight by 35-40 catties” “No dieting, no exercise” “Ensuring 100% healthy weight loss” … Due to believing the promises of weight loss consultants, Ms. Shi from Shandong recently became embroiled in a controversy over weight loss products.
A sales consultant promised that 499 yuan could help lose 35-40 catties.
In the past three months, following the advice of the “Lu Shou” brand weight loss consultant, Ms. Shi spent 170,000 yuan on buying hundreds of weight loss health products from the “Lu Shou” brand, “I have to eat at least 8-9 kinds every day, sometimes they ask me not to eat anything for three meals a day, and can only eat their products.” Ms. Shi said that the other party would induce her to continue buying by claiming that if she didn’t eat the products, the decomposed fat would cause irreparable damage to her body.
However, after successfully losing 21 catties, Ms. Shi’s originally healthy body started to have various problems, systemic joint pain, and was ultimately diagnosed by the hospital with immune system disorders and abnormal liver function.
Ms. Shi attributed the abnormality of her body to taking weight loss products and demanded a full refund from the Guangzhou Lu Shou Health Consulting Co., Ltd., involved in the matter, but was refused. The other party was willing to refund only about 32,000 yuan for the unopened products. Ms. Shi could not accept this proposal, and to this day, the two parties have yet to reach an agreement.
Regarding the above situation, an employee of the parent company of the company involved, Guangdong Yijian Health Industry Group Co., Ltd., responded to Pengpai News, stating that all products sold by the company have undergone third-party testing and are qualified products, therefore a full refund is not possible, and negotiations will continue.
Buying weight loss products for 170,000 yuan in three months
In December 2023, Ms. Shi saw a short video while browsing Taobao, in which a woman ate a product called “Forever Berry Plant Fiber Pressed Candy,” and the weight loss effect was obvious, which made her who was planning to lose weight very tempted, “I think it’s less than 40 yuan a box, trying won’t hurt.”
She told Pengpai News that a few days after receiving the product, she received a call from a staff member of Guangdong Yijian Health Industry Group Co., Ltd., claiming to be a consultant for the “Lu Shou” brand, saying that the Forever Berry Candy needs to be taken in conjunction with other products from the Lu Shou company for better weight loss results, and asked Ms. Shi to add her WeChat.
“She recommended a 499 yuan Lu Shou package product, saying that in 40 days, in combination with the pressed candy, you could lose 20-25 catties of weight.” Ms. Shi said that after adding WeChat, the other party would send her product recommendations, before and after use comparison pictures, screenshots of others placing orders, and promotional weight loss packages on WeChat every day.
Chat records provided by Ms. Shi show that the other party often used phrases such as “6-8 days to slim down,” “No dieting, no exercise, plant-based ingredients, no side effects,” “Vicious fat cycle, affecting health,” and combined them with promotional activities to sell weight loss products.
On January 28, 2024, after the consultant repeatedly sent information about weight loss product packages and emphasized that it was the “last day of the emergency activity,” Ms. Shi decided to buy and try it out, “I asked her how many catties you could lose at least by buying the 499 product? She said 35-40 catties, and there was no need to eat any other products afterwards.” said Ms. Shi.
She said that she finished the 499 yuan product in 3 days as requested by the other party, but soon received a call from a Lu Shou company health consultant, “The other party said that the next step would be to start decomposing the fat, and asked me to buy a 3,000 yuan product from the Lu Shou Company. I thought 3,000 wasn’t a small amount, so I hesitated, and then the other party said that my fat had started to decompose and needed to be expelled, otherwise, it would flow throughout the body with the blood and cause harm to the body.”
At the persuasion of the consultant, Ms. Shi began to frequently purchase Lu Shou products. Chat records show that starting from March 2024, Ms. Shi’s three meals a day were matched and supervised by Lu Shou’s nutrition consultant, with her being required to eat 8-9 different Lu Shou company products each day, and by the end of April, the nutrition consultant prescribed as many as 15 different Lu Shou company products for her three daily meals.
“As long as I eat a little bit of vegetables or meat, the scale won’t drop or even rise, and if my weight goes up or remains the same, the consultant will make me ‘lightly fast,’ and all three meals are to be eaten with their products.” Ms. Shi said that besides the products, she was only allowed to eat small amounts of meat and vegetables, and had to accompany it with exercise, “This weight loss method can make even the fattest person slim down.”
At the same time, the prices quoted by the health consultant to Ms. Shi were gradually increasing, with the products costing between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan per stage in the later stages. Transfer records show that only from March to April, she remitted over 80,000 yuan to the Lu Shou company. Ms. Shi said that whenever she expressed that the prices of the products were too high and difficult to afford, the consultant would warn her that if the decomposed fat was not expelled from the body, it would cause irreparable harm to the body. “Every time I hear this, I start to worry in my heart, afraid that my body will have problems.”
According to the delivery list provided by Ms. Shi, the total amount she spent on Lu Shou company products exceeded 170,000 yuan, “Before I finished one set, I was asked to buy the next set, and when I ran out of money in the later stages, the teacher asked me to borrow some money, I dared not tell my family that I spent so much, I could only secretly borrow from friends.”
Body showed abnormality, requested full refund but was refused
During the weight loss period, Ms. Shi’s discomfort gradually increased, with multiple incidents of leg pain, “I told the consultant about this situation, and the consultant said that there had been a similar case with another customer before, and after the weight loss ended, everything went back to normal.” After hearing this, Ms. Shi didn’t pay much attention. In mid-May, the pain for Ms. Shi continued to intensify and spread throughout her body, with pain in her arms and hands becoming numb, making it difficult for her to lift them, feeling like she could no longer take care of herself.
On May 18, Ms. Shi went to the hospital for a full-body checkup. The results showed partial liver function, and she was subsequently hospitalized for treatment. “The doctor told me that I have an immune system disease and that my liver function is not normal, and asked me to stop taking the weight loss products first.” At this point, Ms. Shi realized that her previously regular monthly menstruation had become irregular after finishing the Lu Shou products, perhaps already causing an impact on her body. However, during her hospital stay, the consultant told Ms. Shi, “The doctor said that you can’t take the products during your hospital stay, but once you’re off the medication after leaving the hospital, you can take them again, our products are health supplements with no side effects.”
According to the medical records provided by Ms. Shi, several indicators she tested showed abnormalities, and the admission diagnosis indicated “partial liver dysfunction.” Ms. Shi said that shortly after giving birth, all the health checks she took before giving birth showed no problems, suspecting that weight loss products caused the abnormalities in her body.
During her hospitalization, Ms. Shi had explained her situation to the Lu Shou health consultant, believing that the products had an impact on her health and hoped that the Lu Shou company could provide a full refund. However, the other party stated that the Lu Shou company’s products were not so-called “weight loss drugs,” but health products, and that the issues with Ms. Shi’s body were unrelated to the products. If Ms. Shi insisted that the product affected her health, she could have the product’s ingredients tested at a testing center. If the test results showed problems with the products, the Lu Shou company would take full responsibility, otherwise, no refund would be given.
After several negotiations, Lu Shou company offered to refund the unopened products totaling 32,000 yuan, Ms. Shi did not accept it, believing that consuming a large amount of the company’s products had caused issues in her body, and besides a refund, the Lu Shou company should also compensate her to some extent.
According to Ms. Shi, immune system diseases cannot be cured and require continuous medication. After a 15-day hospitalization, Ms. Shi was hospitalized again in July due to body pain.
Company claims products are qualified
Pictures provided by Ms. Shi show that in the past three months, she purchased products such as protein bars, lactose probiotic solid beverage powder, Wu Mei Qing Mei mixed fruit juice, low-fructose beverage, and other products, all labeled with the “Lu Shou” brand.
Business information shows that the Lu Shou brand company, Guangzhou Lu Shou Health Consulting Co., Ltd., was established in July 2015, with a scope of operation covering health food (pre-packaged), online food sales, and food operations. The company is wholly owned by the Guangdong Yijian Health Industry Group Co., Ltd.
Pengpai News reporters noted that on March 15 this year, a former sales consultant from the Lu Shou company disclosed to the media the insider information of selling products. The company attracted consumers with promises of weight loss effects, and in the communication process with customers, sales staff had scripts provided by the company for brainwashing and dialogues, “The first time had a script for making sales, the second time was a script for decomposing fat, and later there were scripts for metabolizing fat, correcting various customer issues, and the company provides all the scripts.” Additionally, the former consultant also revealed that the so-called weight loss products sold by Lu Shou were ordinary foods such as probiotics, enzymes, and plums, and after probing customers’ economic situations, the prices of packages were adjusted accordingly.
There are also many users on social platforms who claim that the Lu Shou brand poses a threat to consumers. Some netizens who claimed to have purchased Lu Shou company products stated that when they refused to continue buying Lu Shou company products, the consultant stated that the netizen’s fat cell membranes had already fallen off, and if they did not continue using the products for metabolism, they would later absorb food tenfold, continue getting fatter, be incurable at the hospital, and only liposuction could solve it.
Pengpai News reporters searched the keyword “Lu Shou” on consumer complaint and rights protection platforms, and found a total of 1,299 complaints, mainly revolving around issues such as “inducing consumption,” “false marketing,” “unprofessional medical advice,” “ineffective products,” etc., which are similar to the chat scripts and methods described by Ms. Shi.
In response to the above situation, on July 26, Pengpai News reporters contacted relevant employees of the Guangdong Yijian Health Industry Group Co., Ltd. The employee stated that the products sold by the company had all undergone third-party testing and obtained the necessary qualifications, with the test results being qualified, “We can provide a detailed list of tests, and the market supervision bureau also regularly samples products for inspection, all of which are qualified.”
Regarding whether there was any inducement or coercion during the sales process, the employee stated that to prevent the occurrence of situations where sales staff induce consumer spending, the Lu Shou company has a dedicated monitoring system to monitor employee WeChat accounts. If employees send sensitive words defined by advertising regulations such as “first” or “highest” during the communication process with customers, Lu Shou company will issue a warning immediately and penalize the sales staff; “The first time the employee will be fined publicly, and the second time they will be fired directly.” He stated that the cases of inducing consumer spending as seen in Ms. Shi’s chat records were the actions of individual salespeople, and the company would conduct strict investigations.
To this, Ms. Shi stated that the sales consultants mostly contacted her by phone and communicated with her well over the phone before directly purchasing through WeChat transfer, so she only realized afterward that she had not left complete evidence.
The aforementioned employee stated that the company is currently negotiating with Ms. Shi, and according to the feedback, Ms. Shi has lost 21 catties. According to the company’s rules, some or even part of the money may be refunded to Ms. Shi, but not a full refund, “After all, we are a company that sells products and services, and there is a considerable service fee involved every day keeping track of customer information, so the specific refund amount has to be negotiated with the customer.” (Pengpai News)
