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Aqua Chi Machine

ahoneycutt

Thinker
ahoneycutt
Joined
Feb 24, 2005
Messages
160
Hello, good day to you all. I am putting together a letter to send to the above mentioned company/scam. My friend recently purchased one of these, which was a big blow to her financially and, I believe, emotionally. The machine claims to basically do anything you want it to do to make your body "better". Now, that's not their claim verbatim, but the general idea. Anyway, please take a moment and read the following, it isn't long, and I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks much in advance,
-Andy

-----

To whom it may concern:

Hello, a friend of mine recently purchased an Aqua Chi Machine from your company. I was curious if you were aware that your machine may win you the $1,000,000 (One Million US Dollars) prize provided by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). You can find the information you need to start this process by following the links below:

FAQ (read first): http://randi.org/research/faq.html
Application: http://randi.org/research/challenge.html

If you are able to prove that your product does what it says it does (“...re-balance and amplify [the] body's bio electric field enabling the body to heal itself, by creating specific electromagnetic frequencies and harmonics, which are transmitted to the body through the water medium.”), rather than what it appears to do (basically causing the metal rings to rust at an accelerated rate), please do so and claim your (well earned, I’m sure) one million dollar prize.

You are free to do what you will with the money you receive from the challenge, if you wish, donate it to a worthy cause of your choice.

I by no means am a representative of the JREF, but a concerned individual tired of seeing friends and family ripped off by people lacking the talents required to make an honest living.

Thank you for your time, and good luck with the challenge.
Andy Honeycutt
ahoneycutt@cableone.net
 
At $1595 to lose per customer (for a tub of water - you supply the water!), I wouldn't expect a reply. Good luck though. Might want to make it sound more positive?
 
Does your friend have no claim in law? Surely any goods should perform the advertised function or they can be returned for full refund?
Is there no equivalent of better business bureau , trading standards office, etc?
Send it to mythbusters?
 
BBB / Refund

The unfortunate part of this story, aside from the large waste of money, and the duping of people that don't know better, is that my friend split the price of this item with a co-worker. Sadly, the co-worker even after presented with evidence still feels that the product works "as advertised".

Thanks for the replies so far :)
 
Well, there you go - if the co-worker can tell the difference between this tub of water and the one in my sink, maybe she's eligible for the challenge - if she wins, she has to pay your friend back the $800 she invested. :)
 
Is it UL listed? Is it legal to sell an appliance without a listing?
 
UL is a private organization, they have no legal standing. Companies pay to be listed, and then they can stick the UL seal on the appliance.
 
ChristineR said:
It does do something. It turns the water yellow.
Click to expand...

Indeed. And the water gets looking more and more like rust the longer you reuse the the same set of copper rings.

The company suggests, strongly, that you should replace the rings after every 10-15 uses. Gee, wonder why. Let's see, the more I use this thing the toxins (from my body, of course) are more apparent? If I didn't know better, I would suspect the thing is poisoning me. You would think that using such a device over time would remove toxins from your body and the water would become clearer and clearer...

I can't wait to see if they even honor me with a response.
 
Soapy Sam said:
Does your friend have no claim in law? Surely any goods should perform the advertised function or they can be returned for full refund?
Is there no equivalent of better business bureau , trading standards office, etc?
Send it to mythbusters?
Click to expand...
I looked at the website http://www.waterchi.com/I can't see any claim that the machine does anything. The closest is that it creates "specific electromagnetic frequencies and harmonics, which are transmitted to the body through the water medium. When a person bathes in the Aqua Chi bath, the body absorbs the energy provided to use as needed." Essentially, this could be said for any electronic device. The website does describe it as a "system used to re-balance and amplify your body's bio electric field enabling the body to heal itself". Again, this isn't claiming much. If you scoot youself across the carpet to biuld up a static electrical chare and want to "re-balance your body's bio electric field", you can just toucha doorknob. And of course, the human body already has the capability to heal itself.

And of course, there is the disclaimer:

Disclaimer: None of this information and/or the Aqua-Chi Machine is intended to cure, treat, prevent or diagnose disease of any kind.
The Aqua-Chi Hydro Stimulation spa does not diagnose, treat or cure any disease or condition; nor does it pull , push or force foreign toxins or materials from the body.
None of these statements, research or the Aqua-Chi have been evaluated by the FDA.
Click to expand...
They don't claim to do anything that the machine can't do. Of course, there is nothing that they claim the machine can do that a $5 electric fan can't do either.

I'm not defnding them. Charging over $1000 for a useless peice of crap is insane and they should be shut down immediately. The point is that they are playing the game by the rules (at least as far as I can see). It don't make it right. :boggled:
 
These machines were briefly very popular in spas and treatment salons across the UK, a year or two ago.

New Scientist ran a series of tests on them and proved that it's a reaction between the water and the rings.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18324554.400 This article was the first report they ran (10 July 2004), can't trace the subsequent report right now.
 
Deary me. Oh My! Somebody writes exactly like I do. I swear I could have written this:

5. After contacting one practitioner using the treatment or assessment tool, what are its pros and cons from their perspective, its usefulness, problems encountered and any other feedback? The practitioner is very pleased with its ease of use, minimal direct involvement during the treatment, and has encountered no negative side effects. The patients have reported increased energy and reduction in the symptoms that brought them to the practitioner for treatment. The AQUA-CHI MACHINE was seen to have a very synergistic effect with other treatment modalities performed on patients. The methodology gives patients clear visualization of their body's toxic substance discharge, as scene in the oils and proteins around the parameters of the tub, discoloration and sedimentary deposits that occur during treatment. Using a white basin for the treatment enhances the visual effect. The AQUA-CHI Machine's adaptable adjunctive treatment blends with many different protocols. This enables its use by a diverse field of practitioners thereby allowing the patient to benefit from the synergy's realized by the diverse approaches.
Click to expand...
I'm sure at some point I've written to my boss: "The solution's adaptable adjunctive treatment blends with many different protocols. This enables its use by a diverse field of practitioners thereby allowing the business to benefit from the synergys realized by the diverse approaches." So I need a bigger budget and have to travel to Hawaii for three weeks to make this great stuff happen. Ok? ;)
 
brettDbass said:
Yeah, but I bet you know the difference between SEEN and SCENE, no? ;)
Click to expand...
I was gonna put a [sic] in there, but there are other issues with incorrect possessives and inconsistencies in capitalization and comma usage in a series, so I didn't bother. For business writing I'm very detailed. I don’t think I would ever do "scene" for "seen". I'm not even sure how you could write that. But the spirit is the same as my writing. I particularly like:

Using a white basin for the treatment enhances the visual effect.
Click to expand...
That's totally me. “Hey, we got this thing that you put in water that makes it yellow. Write something that makes it sound like it is a really effective medical cure, but you can’t actually say that it does anything.” Hmmm.. OK. “Using a white basin for the treatment enhances the visual effect.” WOW! I can use a white basin. It will enhance the effect! How cool is that?
 
Expect you might receive a multitude of offers of employment after that post? ;)

"Dear DevlisAdvocate, we are interested in hiring you for a challenging and rewarding role in the Creative Technical Writing department of our profitable and highly succesful business promoting [insert woo here]".

Heh, tell 'em where to shove it (in a techno-jargonistic bafflement statement, naturally)!
 
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