Weight Watchers International
reviews and complaints

I've been on the Weight Watchers Smart Points Plan for several months, and I can say at this point that the diet sets up you to fail. If you are not careful, the diet can be unhealthily low in calories if you strictly stick to the number of points that they tell you to consume (it can be about 900 calories if you strictly stick to the points assigned). When I strictly stuck to the number of points I was assigned, I was constantly hungry, and I ended up overeating. I kept thinking it was me, until someone in class pointed out that the amount of weight he was losing on the diet per week, was not healthy. He mentioned that he started eating more than the points assigned to him to stabilize his weight loss. I went home, and reviewed how many calories I would had eaten, had I stuck strictly to the points I'd been assigned. I found out that I would have consumed about 900 to 1, 200 calories per day. You don't have to be a nutritionist to know that 900 calories a day is not a healthy way to lose weight. In addition 1, 200 calories a day is still too restrictive for many people --- especially those of us whose life styles and physical makeup would not be supported by such a caloric restriction. I have to consume at least 2/3 more calories, be able to live with a diet and lose weight. So, I started to count calories and completely ignored the points assign to me. Counting calories has been my saving grace. I am no longer hungry, and I am losing weight steadily at a healthy rate. My advice is that if you find that you are not doing well on this diet and/or feel like a failure, that you figure out how many calories you have to consume in order to lose weight and not feel constantly hungry, and then do it that way. I also want to point out that the Smart Points diet is too much like those no-no high protein diets. Those high protein diets don't work because they are too restrictive and require a lot of capital to be able to follow them. Also, the Smart Points diet doesn't teach you how to handle yourself in a variety of eating establishments and situations. In fact, the diet seems to cater more to an elite group of people who can consume a lot of meat, fowl, fish, fruits and vegetables. The diet does NOT cater to the common folk who may be financially restricted to eating pasta with a bit of meat or who may only be able to afford a simple fast food place for their night out on the town. Let's face it, a simple two ounce burger in a bun is not going to break the calorie bank or adversely affect most people's health if they have it once a week. Yet from the number of points assigned to such a simple hamburger meal, you would think that there is something heinous about consuming it. Its clear to me that this diet was not properly vetted...and we know how badly things can turn out when a situation is not properly vetted don't we? It seems that the diet is really geared to an elite group of people that wouldn't even bother showing up at a local WW meeting, and not us common pasta-loving-on-a-financial-budget folk. Yes, we common folk are the ones financing WW, and the ones whose lives and weight loss dreams WW should be catering to. Hopefully, WW will get with the program. Ultimately, WW needs to get some new ideas in (yes, fire people), and revamp this whole program. Perhaps, they can start by surveying their customers. Yes, asking their customers what they want (not the elite) would be a nice start.

Please don't join the online acct with weight watchers they will charge your acct and when you call on go on line to cx it will not cx it and then they will have a rude person on the phone and only give you half of your money back and when you ask for there name they will not give it to and tell you there is no manager avabile to talk to and hang up on this is very un professional to have a big company as big as they are to have such rude people working for them and not wanting to help the customer cause with out the costumer they would not have a business I'm very disappointed in there way of handing things . So I hope they will look into who they have working for them and made teach them better phone voices and not to be so rude /

I signed up initially as a member in 2012, using the online service. In 2014, I wanted to sign up again, and when I attempted to, a duplicate account was somehow created using all of the same information as the first account including the banking information. How I missed this I don't know, but I have been billed twice monthly for the past fifteen months. When I spoke with a representative, I was asked a ton of questions about when I created the account, and when I asked to speak with a supervisor, I was put on hold for over thirty minutes and was never put in touch with a supervisor. Instead, Christian relayed the information from his supervisor named Dalton. To make maters worse, I was only refunded for the past three transactions. I don't understand how a system can't detect a duplicate account, using all of the same information. Oh, I was told my user name was different, which was the reason why they system did not detect the two accounts. At any rate, I paid an extra $300.00 to Weight Watchers, which for them is not even a drop in the bucket. For me, its gas and groceries for a month for a family of six. Needless to say, I will never join Weight Watchers again, and this is just another example of corporate greed.

As a Canadian spending the winter in the United States I wanted to join WW. Last winter while in the States I was unable to register monthly because my US visa was not associated with a US address. I did not know this or was told prior to joining. It took several hours of frustrating calls to find this out and get my money back. I then joined weekly and was not able to use etools. Before joining monthly this winter I called WW and they assured me if I used PayPal I would not have the same issue as last year. This is NOT true as I was not able to join online with PayPal. Yesterday I once again spent hours on the phone with a WW representative that had to always put me on hold to speak to her supervisor about my situation. I still cannot join monthly and have no idea how I will get my money back. The incompetence and lack of knowledge of the phone " help" makes me question joining this winter.

Don't bother joining Weight Watchers. The new electronic food tracking system is not working and just a complete disaster. Since they don't provide a way to manually record your points, you pretty much have to struggle to record your points with this new system, and you spend an inordinate amount of time doing so. In fact, it very much looks like they did minimal testing before the system went live. So, they have our money, but they aren't providing the services. Members were told that all the information from our old system would be transferred, and that hasn't happened. The old food tracking system was presented in a professional compact manner on the screen, that eased navigation and recording of the points. This new food tracking system is so magnified that it looks like it was made for a kindergarten student or for someone who is close to being legally blind. So, on top of the difficulties with recording your food intake (and not having access to your old information like they promised)The magnification makes it difficult to see all your information at one shot (like you could do in the old system). Save your money. Go elsewhere for your weight loss needs. These folks don't give a hoot for their customers.

I purchased a monthly pass at my local meeting and was told to activate this pass at home. I began this process on that very day and was unable to activate this pass using the access code I was given. I continued trying to activate this access code for three days using different computers and was unable to do so. I was constantly in touch with weight watchers using email and was unable to get an agent that understood the problem. Finally on the 4th day of being unable to activate this code and use my monthly pass I called weight watchers (WW). I was told I could mail the pass and receive a refund. I mailed to NY as directed and have a tracking number proving WW received this defective pass along with a letter explaining my situation and a copy of my receipt and I have been totally ignored. WW used to have excellent customer service. Not sure what the problem is, but I will probably not deal with a company again that in my opinion has unresponsive customer service.

Weight watchers is a scam! Do not sign up for online plus. You can't see what you are getting before they take your money (No free trial or way to view pages). Once you do pay and have access to site... It stinks, and you will never see your $ again due to fine print they have included (I tried getting a refund thru paypal with no success). That is $50 I will never see again. Run away from these scammers! Also, I have yet to receive my requested refund (They indicate I will receive $9.99 of my initial $50 payment if I cancel early. Still no $9.99!)

I joined Weight Watchers in 2014 hoping to lose weight. I attended meetings every week and followed their program religiously. However losing weight has not been the problem because the program does work and I did lose weight. It was the leader at a specific location I was going to that was the major problem. She was rude to me at every meeting, calling me out specifically about things she did not agree with and as most people who attend these meeting know this time is for sharing ideas and give helpful information that has worked for some but this leader would not let me speak without being rude or interrupting. She would let others share their ideas, but, not me. Furthermore, she was allowing one member in particular to self promote and take 20 minutes of the meeting to teach about the affects of yoga and how she was going to be a yoga instructor in 9 months. Is this what we pay for here at Weight Watchers? It is definitely poor judgement and behavior on the leaders part and Weight Watchers needs to screen their leaders a little better.

I bought weight watchers individual wrapped cheese slices. I made a grilled cheese sandwich and the cheese burnt the roof of my mouth. I was making turkey burgers for diner and the cheese from burger fell off and severely burnt my lip. I don't have this problem with any other cheese except the weight watchers cheese. I will never buy again and will need to see a doctor to take care of the burns to my lips which is a hard area to heal.

I had a stroke 3 years ago and having physical therapy since then off and own. I can't move my left arm at all. I am hoping it will improve with more therapy. Any way, I have been going to WW meetings in Zachary, Louisiana on Tuesdays at 12:15 for the past three weeks. I do not want to cause any trouble, but I will not be attending them at Zachary anymore. I find the people that work there rude and very unhelpful. I do not expect to be treated like and invalid, but sometimes I do need some help ie. opening doors, pick up the things that I purchase, so I can bring them to the car. Trust me, since I have a monthly pass, I will continue my meetings, just somewhere else. Thanks for listening to me vent. As I said, I do not want to stir up trouble, just that you should know.
Thanks, Debbie

I joined weight watchers online program for the mobile app to track my weight. 3 or 4 months ago the app stopped working and I thought my membership had ended. Last month I discovered weight watchers was taking the fee out of my checking account. I called today and was told my account was active and the agreement states they automatically renew unless you cancel. My problem is I was unable to use the mobile app and therefore did not want the program. The customer service associate would not give me an address to send a written complaint to and tried to justify their actions by saying it was a technical glitch of some sort. He did state I could send an email to [protected]@weightwatchers.com. I want to warn others to be mindful of these applications. If something happens to it, call in to inform them of the problem. If the problem is not fixed, cancel the program right away or they will continue to withdraw money from your account.

In May of 2012 The Franklin Lakes, NJ location was informed that they were moving, in July, to a new location in the next town of Wyckoff, NJ at the Boulder Run Shopping Center. We were informed that "ONLY " the location was changing. The Thursday meeting, day, time and leader would remain the same. After a very difficult July 4th holiday for many of us, We arrive at the new location to find about 4 members of the original support group, and not may others, and no sign of our meeting leader. Assuming that our leader Carol Carey, was ill or taking a vaction day, we stayed for very uninspiring meeting. We were then informed that Carol would be in Parmus, NJ on Thursday and would not be holding meetings at the new location. I go out of my way to attend this meeting and I am currently attending the Paramus meetings, which is even further out of my way. Carol is an excelent leader and motivator. this is not only my opinion but many, many others. Most meeting that I have been to of hers have at at least 30 people.
They are now moving the Paramus meeting to another location on Forest Ave, I don't understand WW's reasons and I don't really care other than they are purposely trying to destroy Carol's very sucessful support groups. They have taken away several of her weekly meeting and making it more and more difficult to find her, and she has a huge following. The current Paramus location is horrible, it's right off of Rte 4 and the noise is more than annoying! I want to see Carol reinstated at the Wykoff Center and with more meeting times. For a business that advertises community support as an important part of weight loss. THIS DOESN"T WORK!

I joined Weight Watchers less than 1 month ago. I paid a $20.00 registration fee and $13.00 for my first meeting. All went well and I decided after the first meeting that it would be cheaper to pay thru what they call a "monthly pass". That is $42.95 a month for unlimited meetings. I gave them my credit card and they deducted the $42.95 for my first month in advance. On the 15th of this month (2 weeks later) they deducted yet another payment of $42.95! I called them and they claimed that they had a 15 day "billing cycle"...but I had paid a month in advance! I asked to speak to a supervisor and they kept me on hold for an hour. After that time I said is the supervisor "chicken to speak to me?" After that they somehow disconnected me! I called back and got another person. She said I could cancel my account and just pay whenever I went. I asked if "cancelling my account" meant I would have to pay the original $20.00 registration fee. She seemed very vague and said that was at the discretion of the WW meeting place I was going to! What the hell kind of business eithic is this? So far, I'm out $118 for less than a month at Weight Watchers. BEWARE! This seems to be their normal way of doing business!

When I first started going to weight watchers in dover my weight loss was about even. Then they moved to a new office and I had a really really good week. Turns out that their system was all f'd up when they swithched centers and didn't bother to tell anyone until I complained. They fixed my record, but now im so depressed. I thought I was loosing weight and I wasnt'

I signed up for a 3 month trial of Weight Watchers last summer. I thought (obviously I was wrong in my thinking I admit) that after the 3 months my subscription would end. Or at least that I would be notified before any renewal or invoicing would occur.

Again, I was wrong.

The problem is that I rarely use credit cards. I only check my bills on-line periodically - which I did last week. I was shocked and horrified to find that my account was past due - with late charges! When I investigated, i found that they were all due to continuous billing by Weight Watchers.

To date, I have had a perfect credit history - I have NEVER paid late fees, nor have I ever missed any payments.

I am absolutely horrified that because of Weight Watchers, my good name and credit scores are in jeopardy. Weight Watchers refuses to refund or cancel any of it's charges.

I purchased three boxes of discontinued Weight Watchers Sweet and Salty Bars. The seller used a picture of the discontinued bars on her website. However, when I received the bars, she had substituted the new Weight Watchers "Oh, So Nuts!" bars that are available at every Weight Watchers meetiing site at a much lower price. I paid for the discontinued bars, not the new bars that are readily available. She is still offering the "Sweet and Salty" bars on her website. This is false advertising and is very deceitful.

Web site is down and has been down all day. You pay for access to this website so they really should refund everyone who has a member ship their money for every day the site is down. It is very irritating because you can not use the service without the site. Very very disappointed in this company and service.

I joined WW beginning of April 2011 and signed up to have my Visa Credit Card charged for the $39.95 Monthly Pass amount. Due to a personal situation, I needed to cancel and called them on 8/24/11 when I saw that charge appear on my Visa Statement. I explained I wanted the charge credited as I was NOT going to renew my monthly pass which was due to expire 9/05/11. The Customer Service Rep (CSR) I spoke with at their Jericho, Long Island, NY facility told me she could not credit that amount UNTIL they received back the Monthly Pass they had JUST mailed out with the expiration date of 10/05/11. And additionally, they told me if that new Monthly Pass was not mailed back with a Post Office stamp date of 9/12, they would NOT refund the $39.95. I did NOT receive that new Monthly Pass in my mail until 9/07/11. I was furious because I saw that it had been mailed out two solid weeks AFTER I called and asked to credit my Chase Account for that $39.95. I immediately drove to the PO and mailed back that new Monthly Pass on 9/7/11 (same date received). Do you know when I finally got the $39.95 credit? Today, 9/17/11 I finally saw it on my online Visa statement. BUT I was forced to cancel a trip just so I could stay home and wait for that WW Monthly Pass to arrive so I could immediately mail it back on time to meet that 9/12/11 deadline, and to finally get my $39.95 back. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! WEIGHT WATCHERS is a HUGE FINANCIAL RIPOFF! I absolutely should NOT have had to jump through hoops to have my monthly membership cancelled! The onus was TOTALLY on me and that is NOT RIGHT! And remember - I called and cancelled my Monthly Pass Membership on 8/24/11 - therefore, they could have very simply cancelled my membership and NOT mailed out the Monthly Pass. I will NEVER join WW again! Oh they will take your money alright, but they will NOT refund if you cancel! I am actually doing it on my own, exercising at home on my Elliptical, losing weight, and saving a ton of $$$. Oh and that $480 yearly membership fee I would have forked over to WW is going towards a cruise for myself and my husband! Thank you for allowing me to post.

Since weight watchers has changed their program, my key board has trouble recognizing the letters or numbers that I type. I have to type the same letter or number several times before it is recognizable. I have contact weight watchers via telephone and internet several times with no results. I was told via internet to delete cache and or cookies from my program, none exist. I am quite tire of typing the same letter or number several times until the program can recognize what is being typed. Some how the last email was sent to Australia. Their system is dysfunctional and I am a paying customer that wants to lose a few more pounds, but the system wants to make you quit and lose the remaining pounds on your own. Please fix your system and don't ignore this complaint. Thank you. Maria Calabro