REVIEW: Beware Zoom Wellness' Overpriced Products - San Diego Consumers' Action Network

Zoom Wellness is an Idaho-based health provider that claims to solve “health problems that mainstream methods have failed to do.” It talks about providing unique “cutting edge” health solutions that allow everyone to live “life free from pain”. In fact, it is a website created by a chiropractor and naturopath dedicated to selling medical products to customers. We conducted an investigation of the products sold by Zoom Wellness and compared them to very similar products sold by reputable Internet retailers. If you are considering buying from Zoom Wellness, we encourage you to read on and perhaps save yourself some money.

Zoom Wellness’ Shady Advisory Board

But first, a little about Zoom Wellness’ “advisory board”. It consists of a chiropractor, two personal trainers and a man named Ryan Shelton. We’ve investigated Shelton and have found that he engages in shady sales practices. Zoom Wellness describes Shelton as a licensed primary care physician and the head physician at University Compounding Pharmacy. We’ve been unable to establish that Shelton is current associated with that pharmacy. But we have established that he’s violating California law by describing himself as a physician. He’s not. We’ve also established that he’s not a medical doctor. Zoom claims that Shelton has “best selling books” that have helped hundreds of thousands of people. We’ve documented that Amazon Books finds no book authored or sold by Ryan Shelton. Similarly, a search of the Library of Congress shows no book by Shelton. Even Google comes up snake eyes. Not only has Shelton not published any books, but whatever ebooks he has sold on the Internet can hardly be called “best selling”. Why is Zoom Wellness lying about Shelton?

There’s good reason to lie. Our investigation found that over the past decade, Shelton has been developing an Internet marketing machine to sell overpriced supplements that purport to cure obesity, tinnitus, vision impairment, premature aging, diabetes, joint health, heart disease and digestive diseases. Ever hear about the now-discredited Spark Health Media? Shelton was involved in that. If you’ve stumbled across Zenith Labs, you’ll find a host of cure-alls for just about anything that ills you. While some of what Shelton preaches is scientifically-validated common sense, his sites are really all about trying to sell you overpriced pills that will likely not cure you any better than a placebo. We don’t know why Zoom Wellness invited Shelton to be a high-profile advisor, but it doesn’t bode well.

Zoom Wellness’ Products

This marketer sells six products, all priced between $59.95 to $99.95. All of them appear to be overpriced, relative to similar products sold by other online retailers. We did some price comparisons that you should check out, if you are considering buying a product from Zoom Wellness.

CopperZen Compression Socks for $59.95. Let’s put aside that legitimate scientific studies are scant or non-existent to support the claim that copper-infused fabrics offer any pain relief via a “pressure gradient”. If you wanted to buy copper-infused compression socks, they are available at Amazon and at Walgreens for about $10. An internet retailer who specializes in copper-infused clothing sells them for about $15. To pay 600% more for the Zoom socks qualifies as a rip-off.

HyperWhite Teeth Whitening for $59. Zoom doesn’t indicate that this whitening kit is different from any other whitening kit…..nor does it explain how it is a cutting-edge cure for pain or discomfort. But teeth whitening kits are easy to overprice because they cost so little to make. So Zoom is just trying to pad its profits by selling such a common product. In truth, for about $15, a consumer can buy an activated charcoal powder and achieve dramatic whitening. But if you are looking for a quicker whitener, Amazon sells over 50 products, most of which run between $25-40. Only a few come anywhere close to Zoom’s asking price. What makes Zoom’s product better? Zoom doesn’t say.

Nirvana Neck Rest for $79.95. Apparently, if you add Nirvana or Zen to a product, it suddenly becomes worth double or triple the price. In this case, the “chiropractor-approved neck hammock” will run you close to $80. Or, you could do a simple Google shopping search and find neck hammocks that are about 10 times cheaper. These medically-approved hammocks run from $8-$50. We couldn’t find one that approached $80.

Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor for $99.95. No surprise that a writst blood pressure monitor purchased from pretty much any other Internet retailer will run you between $14-$30 dollars. But for an additional $75, you get “accu-color technology”. (interpretation: the readings are in different colors). But wait, you can buy a color-system monitor for $14 at eBay. So why is Zoom charging almost $100 for substantially the same device? Because they can.

Support Straps for $59.95-$79.95. It also sells you sleep and support posture straps at similarly high prices. Identical straps can be found at Amazon for about $10.