The Plant Macerat Diet Scam!

Posted By Paul on Oct 21, 2012 | 4 comments

Note: The Plant Macerat scam is old news – at least, the product itself is. Unfortunately, the tactics used to market this product are still alive and well. Thus, we’ve left this review up as a cautionary tale. The conclusion, “If it sounds too good to be true, it ALWAYS is! Outrageous claims of weight loss are never (yes, never) true” – is just as relevant today, as it was a decade ago.

The “plant macerat scam” is actually much more complicated than your typical diet fraud. In fact, Canadian CTV’s award winning W5 program (similar to the American 60 minutes) first ran an expose on Plant Macerat on Jan 6, 2001.

In an effort to track down the manufacturers of Plant Macerat, W5’s reporters discovered a complex series of call centers, shipping centers, post office boxes, drop boxes, hidden trails, but no *real* head office.

The closest they came to the top of the organization was a man in Montreal named David Sousse — a man who has been charged on previous occasions for performing “deceptive marketing via mail.” But this fraud isn’t just restricted to the Canadian borders — 6 countries in total were involved in the scam.

Plant Macerat is not sold in any stores… it’s sold via direct marketing campaigns, and advertised in magazines, newspapers, and various other publications (the listing magazine provided by a popular Canadian satellite-TV company almost always carries one such ad).

Unfortunately, the Plant Macerat scam is also advertised in some pretty credible publications. And guess what? The product gains the credibility of the advertising source — often people believe it’s been endorsed in some way or another by the publication. Pity… it isn’t!

To buy this product one orders toll free by phone, or mails in an order complete with credit card number. In the W5 expose reporters found that telemarketers for Plant Macerat were in direct violation of The Canadian Competition Act, which in general states “…no telemarketer can make a false statement…”

In a documented phone call with reporters, telemarketers were taped making outrageous statements — to the effect that no exercise was required, and no changes to the diet were needed for this product to function properly.

The product, of course, does nothing at all — it contains a few herbal diuretics that flush out water from the body, supporting the illusion that one is in fact losing weight. Unfortunately, Plant Macerat can also make some people rather ill.

Bottom line?

Although Plant Macerat offers a “money-back guarantee” you’ll have a very difficult time getting a refund. Since the entire operation (from shipping, to ordering, to advertising) is performed by different independent contractors, it is very difficult to hunt down the people responsible for a refund.

The moral of this story?

If it sounds too good to be true, it ALWAYS is! Outrageous claims of weight lossare never (yes, never) true. Fat is a fuel source, each gram containing 9 calories, and each pound containing over 3,500 calories. The only way to rid your body of fuel is to burn it as an energy source.