7-25-2002 Archived In
Reverse Order
Troubled Body Solutions
'Has No Plans For Bankruptcy'
Attorney JD Pauerstein Denies
Rumors SA Diet Company 'Going Belly Up';
Owner Harry Siskind's Last Bankruptcy In 1998
With 'Diet Cookie' Company;
Attorney Asks Florida Court To
Stay Consumer Litigation Because Of 'Too Many
Lawsuits At Once'
RG Griffing, SAL Commentary Copyright July
25, 2002 By San Antonio Lightning
In an exclusive
interview with the Lightning, JD Pauerstein,
attorney for Mark Nutritionals/Body Solutions
and owner Harry Siskind, insisted that
Bankruptcy for the troubled company is not
under consideration.
"We have no plans
to seek bankruptcy protection,"
Pauerstein told the Lightning in a short
interview Thursday morning. Pauerstein said
he could not comment further, due to
client-attorney privlege.
Pauerstein answered the
question in response to rampant speculation,
fueled by widespread consumer litigation
against the firm, and a recent inability or
lack of desire to pay an outstanding
advertising bill to Cox radio for more than
$450,000. (See stories below)
Siskind's previous
enterprise was a mail-order "diet
cookie'' in San Antonio called Texas D'Lites.
That business went belly-up in 1998.
Undaunted, Siskind
started Body Shapers, which morphed into Body
Solutions. It was a huge success.
Siskind has been a high
profile personality SA, well known Spurs fan
and celebrated friend of the North Side
Chamber Of Commerce. He paisted the Body
Solution's logo on virtually everything in
sight, from a race car, the Spurs basketball
court, to thousands of billboards across the
country.
His strategy was
simple. Pay TV and Radio personalities to
give testimonials about his product. He paid
them to say how much weight they had lost. It
was very effective.
All that has apparently
changed. The billboards are gone locally, the
constant flood of Radio spots have dried up.
The Better Business Bureau has called Body
Solution's record "unsatisfactory."
(See stories below)
The company reportedly
told a Florida court it was being sued in so
many places at once that it required a stay
to continue to be "productive."
Time will tell what the
future holds for Body Solutions.
Lean times, or fat
city?
* * *
One other observation
we would make, and it deals with SA media,
not Body Solutions.
With the exception of
KSAT TV and San Antonio Lightning, which
featured the story early in the week, few
other local news organizations touched this
story.
Express-News, though
aware of the facts since Monday, chose to sit
on it until Thursday's edition, when
apparently it either had to ignore the story,
or run it.
Does money mean a free
pass from the free press?
Could it be that there
is some embarrassment on the part of those
media personalities that shilled for the
company?
Is it possible that
there is a fear of offending a local big
spender by printing a true story?
We hope not.
That is, after all, our
job.
That's what we are
supposed to do.
-Developing-
* * *
-Previous Stories-
7-24-2002
What Ever Happened To
Body Solutions?
Radio Ads Disappear From SA
Stations; Cox Broadcasting 'Stiffed' For
$450,000; BBB Reissues 'Unsatisfactory
Rating' Due To Unanswered Complaints; Florida
Attorney Seeks Litigants Against Company's
Diet Product
SAL Staff
Is Body Solutions In
Financial Trouble?
No one at the Company
will give comment on that, but the question
arose when the multi-million dollar diet
giant was accused of not paying their
advertising bill to Cox Broadcast stations in
SA.
According to a lawsuit
filed last week by Cox Radio Inc., Body
Solutions has failed to pay that company to
the tune of more than $450,000. Body
Solutions has spent heavily in the past,
buying advertisements and endorsements on
local airwaves.
Cox properties include
local radio stations KCJZ, KONO, KISS, KSMG,
KCYY, and KKYX.
Neither Cox, nor Mark
Nutritionals, parent company to Body
Solutions offered comment to the Lightning.
However, JD Pauerstein,
an attorney who represents gave a written
statement to KSAT TV. It reads, in part that
"Body Solutions regrets that the parties
were not able to come to an agreement before
the suit was filed."
Pauerstein also told
KSAT in the written statement that he expects
"disagreements over the amount of money
involved will be resolved without further
legal proceedings."
It isn't the first time
Body Solutions has drawn legal action (See
stories below), but it is the first time they
have been sued over nonpayment.
Meanwhile, the Better
Business Bureau has
renewed an "unsatisfactory rating' for
body solutions, noting "unanswered
complaints" from consumers. An earlier
such rating was lifted following a Lightning
story which disclosed that fact, when the
Company took care of previous complaints.
Apparently, new complaints have been filed
with the BBB.
On top of all this,
Florida law firm James
Hoyer is seeking litigants
to determine whether Mark Nutritionals and
Body Solutions "committed fraud" by
failing to tell consumers the full truth that
"they'd need to buy additional products,
in effect giving consumers a bait and
switch."
-Developing-
* * *
-Previous Story-
Last Updated 4-7-2002
San Antonio Based
Body Solutions Draws Third
Lawsuit
Latest Suit Filed In Florida;
Class Action Alleges Fraud; BBB Calls
Company's Record 'Unsatisfactory'
SAL Staff
"People really do
lose weight with Body Solutions." That's
the company's trademarked promise.
You can hardly turn on
a radio or tv coast-to-coast without hearing
or seeing one of their commercials. Huge
numbers of billboards also tout the diet
program.
Body Solutions.
"New clothes sold separately."
But the companies
maker, San Antonio Based Mark Nutritionals,
has run into more legal problems, and lean
times could be ahead.
Last summer a class
action lawsuit was filed by Detroit man
Michael Emch. He charges that he lost no
weight after months of using the product. The
lawsuit alleges that Body Solutions' claims
violate the Michigan Consumer Protection Act
and the Michigan Pricing and Advertising of
Consumer Items Act. Body Solutions officials
were ordered to turn over the names of all
Michigan customers.
Another lawsuit against
Body Solutions was filed by Wayne, Michigan
resident Bob Miller seeking status as a
national class action. Company lawyers call
the claims "frivolous."
Now comes Janet
Makinen, A 51-year-old Dade City, Florida
resident who says she was defrauded by the
advertising and the company in Texas. She
used the product for 3 months and gained 6
pounds. No response has come from the
company, so far.
Body Solutions has been
a high profile presence in San Antonio. Mark
Nutritionals president and CEO Harry Siskind
is a big Spurs booster. He also was the
largest contributor to the North Side Chamber
Of Commerce's construction initiative. He
donated $150,000 to the project. Overall he
has a reputation for being a good corporate
citizen.
Yet, questions arise.
The Better Business
Bureau rates Mark Nutritionals as having an
unsatisfactory customer experience record,
because of a "pattern of unanswered
complaints." (Editor's
Note: Since this report Mark Nutiritionals
has resolved all complaints.)
The Federal Trade
Commission has also taken an interest in the
situation. Spokeswoman
Brenda Mack told the Saint Petersburg Times
that no action has been taken against Body
Solutions, but she said the FTC is aware of
it.
She also suggested that
concerned customers can register complaints
at the Internet site, www.FTC.gov, or by
calling toll-free 1-877-382-4357.
Mark Nutritionals, has
300 plus San Antonio employees, and uses a
virtual army of radio disc jockeys and talk
show hosts nationwide to market its product.
On-air personalities at more than 1,000 radio
stations across the US give testimonials to
the success of the program.
* * *
