Why Lipotrim is more expensive in Ireland

DiscPete

Motivated by you lot!
To anyone who was wondering...

As mentioned in another thread I wrote a letter of complaint to Lipotrim letting them know I and others weren't happy with the higher prices in Ireland (North and South) and that they had lost me as a customer. My complaint wasn't necessarily directed at Liptotrim, but rather at the pharmacists, or perhaps a combination of both. Anyhow, this was their reply; read into it what you may, but it sort of makes sense to me (not that it makes it any better) and it was decent of them to take the time to reply...

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your letter. It is always a pleasure to hear feedback (good and bad) from our dieters, and I appreciate your taking the time to write to us. Congratulations as well on your successful weight loss. I am very pleased to hear that you are doing so well.
Your concerns about the cost of Lipotrim in Northern Ireland are perfectly understandable, and I do sympathise with the situation of you and other Irish dieters. Please be assured that it is not our intention to take financial advantage of the Irish Market.
The reason for the price discrepancy is simply because Lipotrim in Northern Ireland is distributed exclusively through a supplier based in The Republic of Ireland. As the ROI is not part of the UK, there are extra costs involved in the export, training and monitoring which is why the price is slightly higher. Many Irish Pharmacies have outlets across the whole of Ireland, which is one of the reasons the Irish distribution is not completely straightforward.
There are of course many competing Very Low Calorie Diets (VLCDs) on the market at present, and the ease of selling online allows many companies to cut their costs to a bare minimum. We have chosen to distribute Lipotrim through Pharmacies chiefly because Total Food Replacement really needs to be conducted under competent professional supervision. It is very important to monitor the dieter continuously throughout the process, especially if there are any underlying medical issues. TFR with Lipotrim cuts the calorie intake to the lowest safe minimum as you know, while providing the body with its daily nutritional requirements. This should not be done casually, and there are many situations in which this sort of regime is neither appropriate nor advisable. A company selling VLCDs over the internet has no control over the way its product is used, or by whom. We feel that this practice is irresponsible and puts would-be dieters at unnecessary risk. Even private councillors, while usually sincere, will generally not have the medical expertise that is needed.
For this reason, Lipotrim is made available exclusively through qualified pharmacists who are given additional specific training in the particulars of Very Low Calorie Dieting. We expect a great deal of our pharmacists, and if we find that they are not providing their patients with the proper care and supervision, we stop their permission to supply. In our view it is very important that profit should not be put ahead of the safety of the dieters.
As I say, I have every sympathy with the situation of dieters in Northern Ireland; I realise that it seems as if you are being asked to pay for an imported product in your own country. For the reasons above, however, we are not able to make Lipotrim available direct to the consumer; such a move would be unethical and dangerous. We are also currently unable to provide Lipotrim to pharmacists in Northern Ireland directly from England. While I realise this doesn’t do much to help you financially, I hope it at least explains the situation, and reassures you that we are not callously squeezing money from Northern Irish dieters.
Once again, thank you for contacting us. I wish you every success with your continuing weight management.

Kind regards

S. Kreitzman Ph.D (Nutritional Biochemistry)
R.Nutr (UK registered nutritionist)
 
sounds a reasonable explanation for the price difference.
still sucks though x
 
Yup it sucks but its understandable!

Its a good explination to be honest

Pete are you not continuing LT anymore? xx
 
Hi Pete,
thanks for printing that response. It is so nice to see a pleasantly written corespondance from LT. Without trying to rake up old ground, some on here will be aware that another letter was written some time back carrying the views of some of us on here that there was some misguided information being received and worried about the discrepencies between pharmacies. The reply received appeared defensive and cutting. Hopefully they have learned from this and now deal with queries in a more pleasant manner.
Thanks again and well done for writing to them.
Doirin
 
Thanks for the replies all, hope this sheds some light on things.

Chelcie, I am trying Exante this week - as it is mail order I had to plan in advance rather than have to wait several days with no shakes etc.

I am having a shake, a soup and a bar, rather than 2 shakes a day on Lipotrim. The shake doesn't seem so nice but it's ok, also it doesn't fill me up as much as LT did, but it's early days yet.

The soups are similar to LT - not fantastic but again palatable. The bars are actually a lot nicer than LT, so that's the only real difference. I'm sure it will take a while to get used to it (this is only my second day).

I am currently saving £18 a week (more than £72 a calendar month!) compared to LT, so there's something to be said for that. I got my delivery on the day they said, which only took 2 days to arrive - their site says 2-5 days, so that was good.

If I'm not happy with this diet I will switch to the CD sole source as I have heard really good things about that too.

I would have no qualms about going back on LT either as I got on really well with that. At least now I have more options.
 
I was thinking of trying Exante!

Ive to drive from bangor to the falls to get my shakes otherwise and ive piled on soooo much weight recently its unreal!!

Are the shakes really bad?
 
No they aren't bad, they are just bland, slightly more bland than Lipotrim I think, but everyone has different tastes. Also there are more flavours, plus you can add ice, coffee etc as per LT shakes.
 
pete
i have considered giving up l/t because it is so expensive for me 65 euro for tfr (21 packets) and 50 euro for 14 packets of the maintenance - the chemist won't let me use the tfr packets on the maintenance which is so unfair - my mind is in two places at the moment what to do ??? I done the refeed and maintenance - at the moment finding it very hard to eat at all and have started to skip meals, and don't enjoy eating anymore as food just tastes so salty and different - taken a total dislike to chicken i need the l/t shakes but chemist won't let me back on them - maybe i should try another chemist - but its all computerised now. i don't want to end up putting on the 2 stone ive lost!!! love irish munchies
 
Hi Munchies,
sorry to hear you so low, are you at goal, is that why the chemist won't give you the shakes?
Perhaps you need to look at foods you never tried before, your palate is clean and this could be why things taste different. Are you cooking for yourself? can you experiment?
If you posted this on the refeed or maintenance then perhaps they may be more knowledgeable and you may get the help you need.
wishing you all the best.
Doirin
 
hiya doirin
another 5 stone to lose to be respectable:sigh::sigh: !! yes i was on the refeed and maintenance forum followed "scotsmist","mary"and "jans" all their advice, but can't get my head around it
don't know why - gone of chinese, chips etc. at the moment on egg and toast, and beef stir fry loosing weight though - think i have eating disorder - but being over 40 dont think so - only the young ones are like this :eek::eek::eek:
 
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