Trying to lose weight using Lean Time Keto? Read this!
What does a keto supplements company and an open source innovation management system have in common?
One helps you feel better, be more energetic and happier every day and the other one puts a couple herbs into a pill and claims to help with weightloss.
Over the last few months we have received an influx of messages such as:
I have been taking Keto pills for over a month with absolutely no results. [..] THEY DON’T WORK! Please advise how to return them & give me a refund! [..] This is a scam & I am so disappointed!
Or
i was supposed to get a 1 time deal instead i was charged 400$ when i called half my money was refunded an i was told to call when i recieved the package but on the 13th my card was carged 199$ an the pills just got here ..i want my money reefunded
To this day we have received over 169 emails from angry customers and a number of phone calls.
What is going on?
Over a year ago a company started selling Keto Weight Loss pills under the name “Lean Time Keto”. They have claimed to be on shark tank; which is simply not true.
From the emails we received I can deduct several two main complains:
- The pills don’t seem to be working (surprise)!
- They seem to subscribe customers to a monthly delivery (sometimes at a price of $199 per month)
There is no mention of a subscription anywhere on their website or in the policies. We received a few screenshots of bank statements and the charge appears as “Lean Time” which adds to the general confusion.
Who is behind this?
The business is registered through a registered agent that is notorious for protecting businesses accused of scam. It seems that this registered agent is connected to a variety of fitness related businesses. The support hotline goes to a call center in india and is utterly useless. I wasn’t able to find an actual person behind this company.
Customer Confusion
Needless to say, this is causing some serious customer confusion. Angry keto customers are reaching out to us asking for refunds and while some might say to just ignore it, I feel bad and end up replying with the same template:
Hi,You have reached the wrong company. We are Leantime™. An open source project management system. I assume you are looking for „Lean Time Keto“ a supplements company.
Feel free to let them know that they are in violation of our trademark policy.Sincerely,Marcel
This usually helps, but I’d rather spend my day writing code than answering emails like that.
Why Us?
Leantime™ has been around since 2014 with our first commit going into GitHub on February 27th 2015. We have established a strong search ranking and while I can only speculate I would assume they are trying to take advantage of that. On the flipside it’d be possible they didn’t know, but a quick search for “Lean Time” shows us clearly on rank one.
What’s next?
At the beginning of this year ,I applied for the trademark Leantime™; which is still pending. I filed a report with the FTC for deceptive practices and hope they will investigate further.
I hope this article puts the public on notice and helps Lean Time Keto customers to find the correct website.
Otherwise, if you’re interested and looking for a project management tool made for non-project managers, take a look at what we’re doing here.
Marcel Folaron
https://leantime.ioMarcel Folaron is Leantime's Technical Co-founder. He's a Full Stack Engineer, previous startup founder, and Technical Program Manager. He's also worked at places like Google, Twilio, and Pinterest. He's been an active open source community member, contributor, and user.
