BUYER BEWARE

By Lisa

I became a Real Estate Agent early in 2005. At this time in Phoenix, the market was booming, houses were selling easily and everyone was leaving their jobs in hopes of some fast, easy money. Business were created just to sell products and services to Realtors. You couldn’t open your email or answer your phone without someone trying to sell you something. Most of the products and services weren’t necessary or all that ethical, but everyone was trying to find a way to capitalize on the marketplace.

Ten years later, I can see it happening all over again with CrossFit. We receive so many sales calls each day for everything from soap to T-shirts to supplements to floor cleaners. It’s nuts. CrossFit has become big business.

I received a call yesterday that went like this:

Caller: “Hi, I’m working for a start up company and we’d like to come to your gym and give people injections for weight loss.”

Me: “What kind of injections?”

Caller: “B-12 and Lipo B.”

Me: “How do you know that the people you would be injecting actually need these things injected into them?

Caller: “Well, they sign a waiver and give us permission.”

Me: “But, how do you know that the person needs this stuff in their body? Do you do a blood test before injecting them?

Caller: “No, but they sign a waiver and you receive a certain percentage of each sale”

Me: “Are these drugs dangerous?”

Caller: “The person receiving the injection signs a waiver.”

Me: “But, aren’t you afraid you’re going to hurt someone by injecting something they may not need?”

Caller: “The person receiving the injection signs a waiver so you would never be held liable.”

Me: “Sir, I’m not sure that this is a responsible way to do business. I think I’m going to have to pass. Thank you.”

I got off the phone and immediately did some research into B12 and Lipo B injections. The good news: according to Mayo Clinic, getting large amounts of Vitamin B-12 through B-12 injections isn’t likely to harm your health, but they can interfere with the effectiveness of some of your other medications. The bad news: there’s no solid evidence that Vitamin B-12 injections aid weight loss.

Now, some people do indeed have Vitamin B-12 deficiencies (I am one of them), but that has been confirmed through blood tests. But, why put something in your body that you don’t need? Why put something in your body that might not do what the distributor claims it can do? Especially, if the distributor only cares that you signed a waiver and paid for your injection? Scary stuff.

Sorry. We’re not selling snake oil here. #integritymatters