Diet-center customers can get refunds

Investigators disguised as weight-loss shoppers found that two companies operating a chain of franchises in Washington have continued illegal "bait-and-switch" techniques — despite an earlier settlement over the same tactics that cost them $800,000 in refunds.

The operators of LA Weight Loss diet centers have again settled with the state Attorney General's Office, agreeing to provide $100,000 in refunds for customers who were misled by dubious sales tactics to buy energy bars and nutritional supplements that weren't part of the original program.

The companies, LA Weight Loss Centers and NWM, which operate a total of 19 centers that all use LA Weight Loss products, each have agreed to refund $50,000 to Washington customers misled about guarantees or the benefits of protein bars and supplements pushed by employees.

In addition, they will pay a total of $90,000 for attorneys' costs and future monitoring.

Both companies have denied wrongdoing. In a statement, LA Weight Loss Centers said it settled "to go the extra mile to ensure that our clients understand completely all aspects of our program."

The first settlement came last year, after employees in stores operated by LA Weight Loss Centers told customers they could get rebates on enrollment fees for reaching and maintaining weight-loss goals. But they weren't told they had to purchase the company's bars and supplements to qualify.

"The cost of the bars exceeded the rebate," said Jack Zurlini, assistant attorney general.

Since then, the companies have refunded costs to more than 1,500 customers, said Zurlini, and paid $75,000 in legal costs.

But the Attorney General's Office kept getting customer complaints, so it sent out staff members to pretend to shop for weight-loss services.

The secret shoppers witnessed a "classic bait-and-switch routine in which employees pushed the sale of protein bars and nutritional supplements after consumers had enrolled in the program," Attorney General Rob McKenna said in a statement.

Zurlini said the centers also made claims about the products — the bars would "prevent you from getting saggy, baggy skin when you lose weight," for example — that were not scientifically substantiated. Employees also continued to misrepresent the companies' guarantees, he said.

LA Weight Loss Centers, of Horsham, Pa., operates storefronts around Puget Sound; NWM, of Lake Oswego, Ore., operates centers in Southwest and Eastern Washington.

While the earlier settlement covered both enrollment fees and costs of supplements, the latest settlement will cover only enrollment fees.

Carol M. Ostrom: 206-464-2249 or costrom@seattletimes.com