💬Want to know how HealthifyMe failed me?

Written by Shweta (app user)*

Customer profile at a glance -

• Age: 35
• Gender: Female
• City: Mumbai
• Average household income: 13 lakhs per annum
• App usage: Extensive

An app that will help me lose my extra kilos and get back in shape! What could be better than this, right? Err, wrong!

I began my journey with HealthifyMe in December 2021. I took a year-long membership knowing that a weight loss journey needs commitment and consistency. In this next line, I wish I could share my success story and tell you how I have achieved my ideal weight, but I will not, because, sadly, I am not much “healthier” than when I started.

What went wrong for me? - The customer experience HealthifyMe offered.

All inputs were needed from my end

Once I purchased the plan, my journey began with me selecting my coaches for training. First the health coach and then the diet coach. Once this was done, a call was scheduled with my coaches, who would soon mentor me.

I was as excited as one could be! The next day, I got a call from my diet coach and I was told that now whatever I eat, I have to log in to the app. Soon, my diet coach chalked out an extensive diet plan for me.

Honestly, none of this sounded too realistic.

As a mother of a toddler, to not only yank out time to feed in inputs but also do a daily workout and make special diet meals for myself was too cumbersome an ask.

So I found myself eating whatever was made at home while monitoring my intake and making easy changes that I could manage.

Therefore, their diet plan was not too helpful for me.

Unavailability of coaches

Now let’s talk about the workouts. After the diet chart was shared, a workout regime got updated where I had to follow a 40-minute routine - all exercises were pre-recorded. I tried this too. I would follow the workout diligently but then, I had doubts.

Some exercises I just could not perform. Some were simply boring and others were too tough.

But there was no way to instantly get on a call and discuss this with the trainer. I had to book a call and pick a time slot only then could I get her on call.

Therefore, soon, this regime flopped too.

Coaches constantly selling me upgrades

Once I dropped a few kgs and my interest in the plan, my coaches would regularly call me for motivation. Once or twice, I tried to get back on track with their encouragement. But now with every call, the coaches try to sell me something or another. An upgraded plan, a smart scale, a live session, and whatnot.

This left me really demotivated.

On one such call, I asked my health coach how many days of my membership remained, as I really was done with it all. She told me a few months were left. In the same breath, she asked me to renew my membership. I clearly told her I did not have the time or the money to invest in this to which she replied that if I purchased right away I would get a discount. I politely declined.

Next, she added the benefits of the new plan she was selling, and I declined again. Now she told me they had a new policy whereby I could take the plan and pay later, an easy EMI of sorts.

This broke my heart. As a coach, she should be invested in my well-being. She should care about my feelings and what I want from her. Instead, she is selling me a plan on EMI when I am clearly telling her I am in no position to invest. This crossed the limit.

With this, I had run out of reasons to return. I did not even care anymore about the money I had already invested. I just wanted it to end. For good. And this is how my relationship with HealthifyMe ended, on a rather unhealthy note.

*We anonymize participant names to protect their identities and encourage more honest dialogue.