Hair Away by Body EQ
Hair Away is a depilatory and topical hair inhibitor sold by BodyEQ.com.
Hair Away or any other hair-related products sold by Body EQ should be avoided by all consumers.
Given that there is no published proof of this claim and given their history of pushing cut-rate products, this is definitely one to avoid. It’s just an Epil-Stop wannabe.
Contact information
Address: 834 S. Broadway 5th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90014
Phone: 213 243-1503
Phone: 213-243-1505 ext 111
Fax: 213 243-1509
Email: custserv@BodyEQ.com
Email: makfirst@AOL.COMOld address: P.O. Box 79097 Los Angeles, CA 90015-9998
Old address: 834 S Broadway, 4/F Los Angeles, CA 90014
Old address: Textile Post Office P.O. Box 555370 Los Angeles, CA 90055
Old phone: 213-622-0327 (Unitex)
Old fax: 213-622-0692
Names associated with this product
John Leper: Chief Marketing Officer JohnL@stanfordintl.com
“Michael Mak” (probably a pseudonym)
“Michael Ng”
“Marisa H.”
Company names used:
Stanford International Holding Corporation
Unitex Trading Corp
MegaMooch (beauty and bath products)
Other domains:
iwatchclub.com
stylefoundry.com
megamooch.com
stanfordintl.com
Background
As I noted with many hair removal scams, the real business is affiliate commission, not the product sold. From AffiliateFirst.com:
"BodyEQ affiliates use our highly effective links and banners. Exciting sweepstakes and gift-with-purchase offers drive a high volume of traffic to generate sales and commissions. To earn 22% commission, sign up as a BodyEQ.com affiliate at Commission Junction. And send your visitors to the ultimate skincare, bath & body, beauty and nutrition center!"
The Body EQ people have also been involved in the sale of dirt-cheap wristwatches of questionable quality and the generation of mailing lists through sites that offer free junk like their cheap stopwatches. They are now moving into the bigger world of cosmetics, as evidenced by the Hair Away product.
These kind of affiliate programs are frequently used by questionable companies. They allow them to do aggressive marketing by making others do the selling for them. Unfortunately, "rogue affiliates" often rersort to unsavory activities in order to make the sale. One of their affiliates has been doing some spamming to a South Dakota ISP as of summer 2002, which is certain to bring them to the attention of some anti-spam people they would rather not meet.
Stanford International Holding Corporation
834 S. Broadway, 5th Floor, Los Angeles, California, 90014
TEL (213) 243-1505 FAX (213) 243-1509
BodyEq spams me
To demonstrate the problem of scum like BodyEQ using rogue affiliates, On February 6, 2003, a BodyEq affiliate spammed me. The spamboy affiliate involved had the code name t933o.
Received: from BodyEq.com ([64.201.128.11])
From: Delivery@BodyEq.com
Subject: NOTICE OF SHIPMENT. YOUR REPLY IS REQUESTED.
http://www.bodyeq.com/t933o/
Legal threat
I received the following from John Leper in December 2002:
December 11, 2002
Andrea James
Hairfacts.com
Post Office box 13217
Chicago, IL 60613Subject: Slanderous depiction of BodyEQ on HairFacts.com website
Ms. James:
This letter is in regard to your website and your slanderous depiction of our company BodyEQ, it’s product line, and affiliations. We’d like to give you this opportunity to rectify the situation before we proceed with legal action.
Your following derogatory statements are without merit and unjustifiable:1. “… and given their history of pushing cut-rate products, …”
2. “The BodyEQ people have also been involved in the sale of dirt-cheap wristwatches of questionable quality and the generation of mailing lists through sites that offer free junk like their cheap stopwatches.”
3. “Unfortunately, “rogue affiliates” often resort to unsavory activities in order to make the sale. One of their affiliates has been doing some spamming though a South Dakota ISP as of summer 2002, which is certain to bring them to the attention of some anti-spam people they would rather not meet.”Our merchandizers go to great lengths to find the best products available. All of our products are researched and tested thoroughly.
Our watch line is made by the same manufacturers who supply major brands. As well, our skin and body care products are manufactured by the same laboratories and suppliers that provide products for companies such as Bath and Body Works and Marshall’s stores.
Your practice of defaming products without proer research and investigation is in turn providing your readers with nothing more than unjustifiable opinion without foundation.
Your association of a south Dakota ISP with our company is and additional unmerited slanderous remark. We send email only to individuals who have opted to receive such communication.
If the above-mentioned remarks are not rectified immediately we will be forced to analyze the amount of damage your slanderous comments and website have caused to our corporate image and sales revenues and proceed with legal action to recoup those losses.
We hope to be able to resolve this matter expediently. Please notify me of your corrective actions by December 20, 2002 to avoid legal action.
Regards,
[signed]
John Leper
Chief Marketing Officer
Tel: 213-243-1505 ext 111
Fax: 213-243-1509
Email: JohnL@stanfordintl.com
My emailed reply (this wasn’t even worth wasting a stamp and envelope on):
Mr. Leper:
I am in receipt of your letter dated December 11, 2002 regarding comments on my website hairfacts.com about your company Stanford International Holding Corporation.
I have addressed your objections in order:
1. You have a history of pushing cut-rate products, including “unlimited free watches” and other marketing gimmicks. I see nothing erroneous in this statement.
2. Your watches are sold at dirt-cheap prices and even given away free, according to your own marketing materials. My examination of your promotional materials led me to the opinion that they are of questionable quality. Again, nothing erroneous, and I am legally entitled to express my opinion regarding the quality of your products and your marketing tactics.
3. There are currently dozens of emails promoting bodyeq.com designated as spam by their recipients. Many are recorded on the newsgroup news.admin.net-abuse.sightings, which usually only represents a tiny fraction of actual abusive email sent out. I have changed the word “through” to “to” in the sentence in question. These spams promoting your company begin in late 2001 with affiliate http://www.bodyeq.com/a383d and continue through this year with http://www.bodyeq.com/h112702a.
I have added your name to the page and will make any other changes as warranted. I hope I have addressed your concerns.
Please contact me if I can be of further assistance.
Andrea James
Conclusion
Would you expect something legitimate from a company that promotes products with a name like megamooch? I wouldn’t.
Bottom line: Consumers should consider this Hair Away product the same way they would if someone on the street came up and said, "Hey buddy, wanna buy a watch?"