Avoiding the Scam Factor when Purchasing Your Home Gym Equipment
As you flip through the TV channels late one night, an infomercial catches your attention. It’s an ad for the latest trend in fitness, an exercise machine that will give you the physique of a supermodel or bodybuilder in “just minutes a day!” For the next half hour, various doctors, celebrities, and “people just like you” all offer their personal testimonies and expert opinions on why and how the machine gets such miraculous results. As you watch the dramatic “Before” and “After” pictures, you wonder, “Is this too good to be true?”
Unfortunately, it probably is. While some very reliable and successful products got their start on TV infomercials, some are simply a waste of money, or even outright scams. And scams are not limited to the “As Seen on TV” products. They can be found in magazine and newspaper ads, in personal encounters, and occasionally even in stores. However, you don’t have to live in fear of being scammed. A little homework and common sense are usually enough to decide if the equipment is worth what you’ll be paying for it. Here are some things to look out for when considering a product:
- Check their sources. If the salesperson mentions a research study that supports their product, find out where it was published, who it was written by, and who funded the study and why. Look for reputable sources, such as the Journal of the American Medical Association. Also check the factors involved in the study, such as the number of subjects involved, and whether any key variables were left out.
- Add up the numbers. “Just $29.95 a month” sounds great– until you multiply it by ten months, add in the shipping and set-up fees, and calculate the sales tax…
- Warranties are usually a sign of reliability. After all, if a company puts that much faith in its product, it must be pretty good, right? Still, you need to read the fine print. Money-back guarantees and warranties aren’t so great if you’re the one stuck paying hefty shipping fees. You might also try calling the company’s customer service representatives to see how helpful they really are.
- Be wary of celebrity endorsements. Just because they’re famous doesn’t automatically make them an expert, and even if it actually works for them, it doesn’t automatically mean it will work for you. And the celebrity may not be the only actor in the commercial. Not all who claim to be doctors on TV ever went to med school.
- Be skeptical of testimonials from satisfied customers. Remember that “results not typical” means “probably won’t be you”, and those results probably came from a program that included a full workout along with a change in diet.
- When you read a review of the product, check to make sure the reviewer is unbiased. The ideal reviewer should not have been paid to promote the product, or be selling the product himself. For that matter, you should make sure that isn’t getting paid to give an unfairly poor review of the product in order to sell a rivaling product.
- Check websites such as the Federal Trade Commission or the Better Business Bureau to see if the person or company selling the product has been involved in previous scams, or if there have already been numerous complaints about this product.
- While specific muscle groups can be targeted for strengthening, fat is distributed evenly across the body, and it is lost the same way. You cannot lose fat in just one part of your body. You just can’t. If a product claims to do so, be skeptical.
- Losing weight and getting in shape takes effort and time. Don’t believe claims that a particular machine can do otherwise.
- Finally, before you buy anything, ask yourself if you will actually use it. It doesn’t matter how spectacular, how reliable, or how good of a deal a piece of equipment is; if the only exercise you get is from dusting it every week, then it was a waste of money.
Remember, the best way to get in shape and to stay healthy is a long-term lifestyle commitment, with a healthy, reasonable diet, and an exercise routine that works out your entire body. If, after all these reality checks, the product in question still seems like the perfect fit to your lifestyle, then go ahead and give it a try.
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