Weight Watchers International
reviews & complaints

Today Traci H told me they would not issue a refund after I had cancelled online.

Seems WW does everything they can to continue charging an account after a cancellation. They billed me for an additional six months! I did not receive a cancelation notice from WW since I assumed they had already cancelled me.

Never again will I use WW even though I've been a fan for decades.;

I have been a lifetime member for years. Last spring, we were told we didn't have to weigh in monthly until 2024 (Feb or Mar) while WW was looking for new, less expensive studio locations. Apparently, an email was sent telling people they had to start weighing in sometime in July or August. I was unsubscribed to emails so I didn't receive the notice. I only found out when they contacted me (somehow!) because they couldn't process the Etools payment from me not weighing in. (my credit card number has been changed by AMEX many times due to fraud). TODAY, I weighed in at the Farmington Hills location and the woman there told me my etools were renewed. When I tried to log in and use the etools app today, it says I do not have a membership and have to sign up and pay! WTH? I've been a loyal customer of Weight watchers for almost 50 years. Please fix this. My email is [protected]@gmail.com

I tried to cancel the subscription before the end of the trial period and could not access the account. I could not get a live person to talk to. After the subscription period I was able to get in the app and cancel the subscription. However, I received a notice that my account will continue to be drafted for a period of one year. I have never used the service. There is no personalization. It's just a big rip off.

I have attended weight watchers for 16 years and have been very successful. I’ve had my last 3 of 7 pregnancies during this time and have returned to lifetime /goal each time. I still go to meetings mostly to maintain. What I am displeased with is the cancellation of half of the meetings and being relocated to inconvenient locations. The meetings are the only thing that keep me at WW. Personally I prefer the Healthi app. The meetings are the only thing that set weight watchers apart. Many of the people who attend meetings, especially the coaches have been incredibly loyal. It seems weight watchers doesn’t give a hoot about the client base. It’s as if you are trying to be rid of us! How about some customer loyalty!

I have been being charged $44.95 a month for 2-3 years for a WW membership I cancelled online. I spoke with my bank today and was completely unaware my card was being charged. I have cancelled the card so WW cannot continue to do this fraud! I just read on Yelp reviews that a woman named Marina had the same issue but caught it within six months. I spoke to WW and they refuse to give my money back! My bank is going to dispute 3 months worth of charges. That is all they can do. I have two cancellations from WW, one from 2011 and one from 2016, which indicates I cancel when I am through with the program. They were cancellations I called in by phone. The woman who wrote the bad review on Yelp for WW had also cancelled online as I did this last time in 2019. She stated there was something wrong with their website. WW is a bunch of crooks and I am furiour. Please help if you can. Thank You!

Sincerely,

Marianne Hinkhouse

[protected]@gmail.com

BEWARE if you are on the Lifetime program (reached and maintained your goal weight) and are not currently attending live meetings.

During Covid times you were allowed to check in and report your current weight using the app rather than going to in-person meetings. That option apparently ended in the fall of 2021. Two emails were sent to members with the information that in person meetings were now required. For those of you that, like me, had requested no emails you would not have been informed of this change in policy. The app did nothing as far as notifications and they sent nothing by mail. So, no mail and no notice within the app. Your only notice would have been if you reviewed every line item on your credit card and started seeing the monthly charge appearing again.

These charges were made even though your weight was still within the range of your lifetime goal. IF you go back and now notice all these charges on your credit card you may be able to get a month refunded but you are out your remaining money.

If you call WW they will tell you they could not send out mail notices about the policy change due to HIPAA privacy rules. Had they done the research I am very sure that a general notice that in-person meetings were now being held and are required they would fit within the guidlines and they would have only needed to mail to those Lifetime members that opted out of emails.

Bad customer relations.

I cannot find an email to use to contact Weight Watchers. I have looked all over their website for a Customer Service email without results.

The website offers contact phone numbers or directs you to use your online account to contact them.

I do not use the phone due to the difficulty I have in keeping my thoughts concise/straight over the period of my conversations. I do not use my Weight Watchers online account due to the fact Weight Watchers has monthly been double-dipping for their fees. TWO of my bank accounts have been charged by Weight Watcher fees ever since my enrollment, YEARS ago!

I can no longer drive to Weight Watchers meetings; I do not have a smart phone and am missing out on the Weight Watcher apps; I'm not able to follow my Weight Watchers plan due to my disability.

Please contact me VIA EMAIL soon.

They sold me a program for fresh meal delivery. WW collected my money and their partner never returned calls.
WW refused to refund the $80+ they (WW) collected.
I have tried since 2019. They cannot use COVID as an excuse.
Then they have false advertising. They claim to have programs for everyone, but there are LIMITED options that you only learn after you enroll. It took multiple phone calls to finally get that money refunded.
They seem to have a lot of false advertising

I have been a lifetime member since 1986. The "rule" was always weigh in anytime once per month below goal weight and it is free. Now, it seems this rule has changed. I must now weigh in before my next billing date or I am charged. I weighed in at a studio in September, October, November and December. My billing date was the first of the month. So, I didn't weigh in on or before the first, and I got charged. Especially, with the limited hours of studios, this is ridiculous. But, even when this isn't the case, as a lifetime member, I should be able to weigh in on any day during the month and not have to pay. I have had to work with Customer Service and my studio every single month (with different answers from whomever I was talking to). But, if I understand the person today, if I don't weigh in before my billing date, I will be charged. She changed my billing date from the first to the 14th. But, if I weigh in before the 14th (say the 5th), then my new date will be 30 days from the 5th and I am again stuck with trying to weighed in before the 5th. And if I can only weigh in on the 2nd (because of the very short hours of the studio), my new billing date with be the 2nd. I will try this for one more month, but, if I am stuck again, I am quitting WW after a very long association. Make the rule what it was before.

I am a long term Samsung phone, fitness, health and smartwatch user. I've been extremely disappointed I cannot earn points for my steps and workouts.

You finally add apple connection, but I'm still out in the cold. Without my fitness connection, I hate this new program. More tracking, less points and absolutely no incentive to keep it up. I've had great success, but won't renew unless I can get old plan back!

When I order multiple boxes they are sent in one big box. This is fine but in some bags there is say 40 chips and in some I have gotten only 15 or 20. I weighed the bags and the smaller one is nowhere near the stated weight.

Also ordering anything chocolate in the summer is a joke. Everything is totally melted.
I spend a lot of money on these products and expect more from WW.

[protected]@infowest.com

I signed up for a month free service December 2020. I was unable to log into my account. I tried calling the number provided on the website. I got a message saying due to covid cancellations were to be handled on line. Every time I tried to go online and use my email, the site stated it did not recognize my account, However the site and company had no problem deducting $49.00 from my bank account every month once the free month had expired. I just called today and got a real person to cancel my account. I asked for a refund of the $49.00 that had been deducted from my account ( 6/30/2021) for the month of July. I was told that since there was no record of my ever calling in to cancel my account they could not refund the $49.00. No kidding, there is no record all I got was a recording,
I have been a loyal weight watchers customer for the last 28 years, taking a few years off here and there. I feel Weight Watchers has become highly disreputable as to their customer service and customer problem resolutions.
I basically have been charged $49.00 per month for March. April, May, June snd July with no avenue to cancel my subscription nor any means to obtain a refund. I am retired and on a fixed income. This is a great deal of money to me. This is a shoddy way to do business. After 28 years and referring 5-6 people to Weight Watchers, I will never use or recommend them again. The program may work but the problem resolution team takes care of Weight Watchers bank account and not their customers.

Disgusted in Tennessee
Rosemary Elkins

When I signed up on April 25th, I had spoken with a rep prior to signing up and I spoke to one on the day of, I believe. Both reps indicated that I would receive a welcome kit with coupons and a small waffle iron or something like that. When I went to the in person meeting, they confirmed that I should receive it and that it would come in the mail. I should have known something was wrong because I have waited almost a month. When I didn't receive anything, I called WW and that was the first time I was told that the promotion was Saturday and Monday and I signed up on the Sunday between, why did none of the reps tell me this, yet told me to expect the kit. I am hurt, livid and I feel misled. Customer Service is EVERYTHING, I have worked in public fields and customer relations since a teenager and into my adulthood, it still baffles me and enrages me that representatives can do such a poor job at showing care, courtesy and looking out for the customer. It is upsetting and misleading, I am very angry, I joined WW during a promotion and yet I was done a disservice by the representatives omitting information that would have been beneficial to me. I was so looking forward to my kit, I even told friends about it. I am so disappointed and feel like maybe it is intentional so that WW doesn't have to give out too many kits. It's cruel and misleading, ESPECIALLY because I was told to expect the kit in the mail. If I didn't call I would have just kept waiting wondering what happened. And to be told there is nothing that can be done. This is WW, I find that preposterous! I am truly hurt, disappointed and upset! Shame on WW and the reps!

I am writing to complain about WW Intl. I have been trying for SEVERAL MONTHS about trying to cancel my account. I can never get in contact with anyone and they keep charging my account even though I have gone one the site and tried to cancel that way as well. This is very frustrating that I may have to close my account just so that they stop taking funds out. I would like this resolved as soon as possible and the money to be returned to my account for at least the last 6 months that I have been trying to cancel.

In January 2019, I joined WWI under a special promotion, so I could encourage my mom (already a member), as she prepared for hip surgery. Upon joining, I agreed for WWI to make (3) consecutive monthly charges to my Visa debit card in the amount of $29.96. My account was charged in January, February and March, 2019. Needless to say, I was only able to attend 1 Weight Watcher's meeting.

In March 2019, my mother's friend informed us that Weight Watchers had charged her credit card, without her permission, for and entire year and REFUSED to refund her. My mom then checked her statements to find charges she did not authorize either. She withdrew her membership and Weight Watchers REFUSED to refund her too. My mom went to her bank to dispute the charges. Upon learning this, I immediately called Weight Watchers and told them they were no longer allowed to charge my account. Since they did not charge my account in April 2019, I assume the issue was resolved.

Fast forward to 2020. I am a 54yo widower with an 11yo Autistic child, work full time, and usually make plenty of money in my career. Since all my banking is online, I honestly don't have time to review my statements. I became unemployed due to Covid-19, and am now in my 11th week of unemployment that has still not paid. When my bank account became overdrawn, the bank reversed their service charges so my account could remain at a zero balance until I had some kind of income.

In the beginning of September 2020, my bank notified me that my account was overdrawn. Confused, I called the bank and found that Weight Watchers International made an UNAUTHORIZED charge to my account in the amount of $44.95. Upon further investigation, I discovered they have been charging my account $44.95 a month, since MAY 2019! For 15 months, Weight Watchers International has made UNAUTHORIZED charges to my account, totaling $674.25, and all because I WENT TO ONE MEETING. My bank has blocked them from making any further charges and told me to call WWI for a refund.

Today I spoke with a Weight Watchers International representative who did have a record of my phone call in March 2019, but no record of me cancelling my membership (of course!). Interestingly it took her a while to find my account because my date of birth WWI had on file was incorrect. Although the representative cancelled my account AGAIN, I was told I could not get ANY refund. I will NEVER use Weight Watchers again.

Tomorrow I go my bank to contest the charges with Visa, and at this point am pondering a lawsuit.

We are a group of 20 approx seniors in pennsylvania. Ambridge, we had a beautiful at work type group for seniors whom could not travel, had disabilities and could not drive getting healthy and attending faithfully for one year the meetings suddenly they canceled our group not concern about seniors or people that cannot get to drive or o my god 4 hour trip back and forth on a bus they did not care, just canceled our group so handicapped people cannot go to this organization or what they call workshops.
This is sad that they are so unconcerned to do this. If they truly were in the business to make people healthy they would have kept this open for people like us. They have canceled all the local programs around previous baden, sewickley, now ambridge. We are done with them and now don't buy any of the products or their service and many of our church friends also are boycotting them now. They could have kept this 45-minute program for us.

As a lifetime member from the late 70s early 80s, I attempted to re-enroll on the weight watchers website on 1/23/20. The online enrollment fee included a $20.00 registration fee, which as a lifetime member I should never have to repay! So I made a call to the 800 WW no. and was told I needed to go to a local studio and get some kind of code or voucher in order to get the registration fee waived as a lifetime member! It would have been nice to go through the assessment and fill out information before attending a meeting in the studio, but I couldn't. So on 1/24/20 I went to a local studio with my prior lifetime membership no. and information and told the leader and the other staff person what I had been told by the 800 no. weight watcher staff about needing a code or voucher to waive the registration fee. They had no idea what I was talking about! I had arrived way before the meeting was to start. They spent time trying to sign me up with the current promotion, changed my address in their system, etc., but could not figure out how to get the registration fee waived! I sat through a meeting and then the leader quickly went through some of the book and showed me some of the WW app information. She was in a hurry and neither her or the other staff person provided me with any information to access this app. The other staff member and I called the 800 WW no. to attempt to get the $20.00 registration fee credited back to my credit card. I was told that if I checked back later in the afternoon that whoever I was speaking to would audit my account and as soon as the payment went through, I would be given credit for the $20.00 registration fee. When I left the meeting, I did not realize that I was not given any information to access the WW app until later on that evening when I tried to access the WW app.
I did call back yesterday afternoon to the 800 no. to ensure I was given credit for the $20.00 registration fee. The person I spoke with told me she had to talk to someone higher up and they would call me back. I said I would be gone for a couple hours and they said they would make a note of that. After not hearing back from anyone after several hours, I attempted to call and reached Cody in Nebraska, who said "the studios are always messing things up." He said "they should have given me a lifetime voucher code." I was also unable to access the WW app using my old information from 3-4 years ago in order to get started with assessment, information, etc. Cody said the old account was no longer valid and I would have to set up a new one. He asked if I was given a pass no. at the studio to do this. I said "no, I didn't get anything from the studio." He accessed my account and provided me the pass code no. and we were able to get on the app., changed username/password, but had limited access to the app. He told me to either go into studio in the morning or to call back after 8 am Nebraska time in the morning. I then attempted to access WW app again and the username/password I had just set up would not work. I again called the 800 no. and reached someone else who helped me reset the information again. So then I had 3 different usernames! I asked him to connect me to a supervisor and a woman got on the phone and cancelled my account and wanted me to sign up again by providing my credit card! By this time I had spent over 2 hours on the phone with WW people and was frankly very tired and upset and did not think I should let her recharge my credit card since I was charged earlier in the studio. She tried to tell me that the online prices had the $20.00 registration fee waived, which I could not see in reading the promotion. In fact the pricing was different than the studio pricing. She couldn't tell me why that was and she was quite short with me and I told her I would look at this in the morning. I had received at least 12 emails to reset usernames/passwords, etc. The last email that was sent by WW stated my account had been cancelled!
This morning I went to the local studio after making 5 calls yesterday including one that had both the studio staff and I on, and 1 call the prior day to try to ascertain what the heck was going on. I got to the local studio an hour before the meeting and both the leader and the staff person looked at their system and said I was active! I showed them the WW email about my account being cancelled . They didn't know why that was. I asked the leader to call the 800 no. account people, which she did. She was told my account had been cancelled! Her and I spent 1 hour talking to Mari in accounts trying to straighten this mess out and got nowhere. Mari was supposed to call me on my home phone an hour and fifteen minutes ago after I returned home to see if using my laptop would make a difference in being able to access my account, waiving the registration fee, and accessing the WW app. I have heard nothing back. I tried to call there after an hour to reach Mari and was told I couldn't talk to her cause she was probably in another call center! So here I wait! No calls. I am totally frustrated with Oprah Winfrey's WW program and I haven't even started it yet! It appears that the both the online 800 no. staff as well as the studio staff have not received adequate training! The right hand should know what the left hand is doing at all times. This is not the case. At this point I am not even sure I have be charged, credited back or anything!. Someone needs to address my concerns.

Was a lifetime member. Never ate their brand-name convenience products, just whole food, homemade ingredients. I found that the teacher couldn't answer simple nutritional questions, and the program only accommodates "mainstream" people who eat typical American foods. Teachers in different classrooms dispensed different information and different support materials to us. Mine would tell women with questions about nutrition and vegetarian ingredients, to ask me me in parking lot after class! She didn't know, and wasn't allowed to say, anything beyond the party line! And I talked to them for free! Their TV ads now in 2019/2020, claim they provide "veggie""recipes so I called for clarification, but they don't really, they're still just unimaginative vegetable or fruit side dishes, they just throw us a bone each meeting, how to dress up a vegetable side dish... not satisfying vegetarian main meals with different nationality flavor profiles. They still think you need meat to get complete protein.

Teacher told me apologetically to contact the regional mgr about my questions, who never had the decency to return my calls. Teacher then told me to call NY headquarters, and they also ignored my requests for a callback regarding reasons why we could eat one food but not another that was even better, in terms of flavor and nutrition (for example, why whole wheat spaghetti but not Barilla in the yellow box that has even more fiber and protein; why soy sauce but not tamari, both of which ferment in the same barrel even though tamari has more umami and less sodium, and no gluten...). They really don't know, it doesn't fit the party line, and I lost weight on my own while attending the classes weekly, basically, and paid for the privilege. And those uncomfortable weigh-ins! The instructor once told the entire class, that I was a perfect example that proved you can lose weight on WW without having much money, and without eating WW foods, and being vegetarian. And it was true. But I had to research my own answers, and some of my ingredients weren't ever in their resource books, the one with fat/fiber/point values, can't remember the name...

Their WW business was flagging, they weren't #1 any more, and they brought Oprah on board to revive them, and she's also the major investor/owner in WW, she's not impartial, has a vested interest. She can be very convincing and inspiring, her staff knows how to make her look fabulous in front of a camera, but it's still a profit-making business fighting to revive itself. In strictly business terms, they're dishonest and aggressive, imho. They delay or won't give refunds, they resist complaints, continue charging credit cards when asked by customers to disenroll them (I suggest they call the credit card company or bank, and tell them the bill is "in dispute" to stop charges). They often treat callers with the same cold rudeness and ignorance with which they treated me, from what my online research shows. As a returning lifetime member, I'd be penalized by having to pay all over again for a certain period of time, and the amount I'd have to pay WW can be better spent buying vegetarian staples and even exotic produce and condiments, as well as whole protein sources that don't involve a WW box or package. And there are so many sources of inexpensive vegan protein, they never tell you that even all vegetables have protein!

They're not really teaching you the kind of information you need to make your own informed decisions for the rest of your life, healthier habits, and they lean heavily on pushing their own brand-name foods: it's more like "monkey see, monkey do." It's very well coordinated in that regard. That makes you dependent upon them, when they do your thinking for you, it's still cookie-cutter dieting. That isn't the kind of tools with which you can gain insight and make informed decisions the rest of your life. And they fall short on consistency between instructors, their online system apparently doesn't work very well, and their only response when I called today, to ask what "veggie" means in their TV ad, was to admit they still don't really help anyone but meat-eating mainstreamers, and they still don't provide nutrition information. They still let you eat foods you should eliminate from any healthy diet, just to keep you on board and not feel deprived, although that has some validity. You'll just keep failing and returning. They've imitated successful strategies from more successful weight loss plans lately, as close as they can get without getting sued. And it's actually true that you can lose on WW... not just because of peer support, but it's proven in studies that when someone pays for a service, they'll work harder to commit to it, whether dieting, or therapy, or meditation, anything else. But that scientific principle will work no matter which program you use. WW is trying to mold themselves to more individual lifestyles, but still not vegetarians, which are two-thirds of the planet. They still miss the boat on real training in basic nutrition, they can't handle vegans or vegetarians, and they don't answer your questions and don't even allow instructors try, in the classroom. They remain a money-making venture, and they're counting on Oprah's celebrity, charisma and lifelong public struggle with weight, to pull in members. I wonder, actually, if another reason they don't provide the option of a vegetarian life is their relationship with industries like beef, pork, fish, dairy, etc. Maybe they don't want to fight in court with them, the way Oprah did with the beef industry in Texas. Remember that? She won. Yet WW still allows beef.

Nah... I'm not gonna return. They still don't know what to do with people who are vegetarian or don't eat frozen foods, and they were still cold and curt on the phone. Actually, the girl I spoke with today at their 800 number was, nice, but she suggested I become an employee like her, and work the phone from my home! To do that, though, I'd have to give up my own volunteer work, which consumes my days and makes me happy, and I'd have to believe in WW, which I just can't do completely based on my negative experiences with administrators. The way I teach citizens is to provide them with information so that they can learn and make informed decisions, and then they teach others, too. No hoarding secrets. Maybe WW acts that way because if they teach people how to think, give them solid imformation, they'd be successful enough to not need WW? Just do your research beforehand about other competing programs, pay close attention to those complaints people have about being ripped off by WW on their credit cards. You'd probably succeed with any major program... for a while. It's a lifelong seesaw, which is why these businesses make so much money. Read up on which programs are rated best, or best for your life. Do your research before you commit. And if you're vegetarian or vegan, or you are intelligent and want to ask "why" about the rules, you can forget about WW. And watch your credit card statements!