If you haven’t heard of Ashy Bines, she’s a fitness guru from Australia who became famous for her 12-week Bikini Body Challenge promoting her specially designed workout and diet. She started her fitness program in 2015 after giving birth to her son and posting a photo of herself right after her baby was born then again four months later to show her fitness and diet progress.
Ashy offers several types of fitness and weight loss programs through her website, along with the help of a nutritionist, a holistic medical doctor, several personal trainers, and a couple of coaches. Her Bikini Body Challenge is an online program with her diet plan and 24/7 support from her team available online for just $6.95 a week ($85 for the entire program). Sounds great, right?
Well, there are a few things you may want to know before signing up. For instance, there have been several claims that her bikini photos have been altered to make her look slimmer and that the results are not accurate. There are also several claims that her recipes and articles are plagiarized.
Many of her customers have also claimed that the online support doesn’t offer what they paid for, with Ashy often telling people to Google what they want to know. As for the diet plan, it is a simple PDF sent to your email account upon signing up. Since the money you pay is not going towards video production, materials, or shipping costs, it should be the best diet plan you’ve ever seen! But most online reviewers are not happy, saying the plan is basic and offers the same information they could find in a Google search anyway. It’s not even a professional, well-written document.
What’s worse, many reviewers feel scammed because their bank accounts continue to be charged after the 12-week program and they are having a difficult time stopping the charges as customer support does not respond. One woman said “It’s a scam. Such a rip off. Kept taking money out of my account even after the 12 weeks was over. Over $500 has been taken out without my knowledge.” And another reviewer states “I have been trying since March to cancel this. I have not once been contacted emailed or anything about the program but they still take money out my account. Emailed them 5 times and still no response.” Many of these reviewers have filed formal complaints with their banks and the Better Business Council.
There are even Facebook Groups with over 11,000 members specifically for people who feel they were cheated or scammed by her program. The groups were started to increase awareness and keep other people from being scammed.
While Ashy has managed to become a brand name selling her diet plan along with products like protein powders and tank tops, many people feel that her plan is a breach of the Australian Consumer law because of misleading and deceptive information.
This could explain why she owes over $300,000 in taxes, has filed bankruptcy and has a net worth of less than $150,000. While her program may sound like a great deal, the overall consensus is that it is a rip-off and should be avoided. There are much better programs available.
