<div><p>A year ago, the Juicero juicer seemed like a must-have product for health nuts, but now customers are demanding their money back.</p><p>The Juicero was pitched as a high tech version of the traditional juicer. Using a "4-ton" vice, the machine would "cold press" special bags of juice made by the company.</p><p>While the appliance cost $700 at first, the price was lowered to $400, and global tech giant Google believed in the invention enough to invest $120 million in the company.</p><p>But there was one problem: the machine is basically useless.</p><div><div><div><amp-youtube height="9" width="16" layout="responsive" data-videoid="5lutHF5HhVA"></amp-youtube></div></div></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p></p><p>The news outlet Bloomberg were the first to realize that you can just hand-squeeze the packets. The old fashioned method even makes juice faster than the machine.</p><p>While the Juicero can connect to the internet and an app on your phone, it turned out that the "400 custom parts" customers were paying for didn't actually do anything.</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/J3.PNG" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/J3_GH_content_550px.PNG 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/J3_GH_content_650px.PNG 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/J3_GH_content_750px.PNG 750w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>Bloomberg</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>Bloomberg first heard about the truth behind this machine when some of the company's <strong>own investors</strong> complained that it was pointless.</p><p>But when news broke that the juicer was a waste of money, Juicero reacted in exactly the wrong way.</p><p><strong>Click the next page to see the CEO's strange reaction</strong>.</p><p></p><p></p><p>In a bizarre open letter posted online, Juicero CEO Jeff Dunn complained that customers "hacking" his product by squeezing the bags were missing the point.</p><p>He says that the "experience" of the machine is what really matters, along with a handful of extra safety features.</p><p>The Juicero can scan special codes on each bag to check if they are expired, or part of a recall, but the expiry date is also printed on every bag.</p><div><figure><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/juicer-juicer-product-review-2016-4" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/J5.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/J5_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/juicer-juicer-product-review-2016-4" target="_blank">Business Insider</a></cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>In the strangest twist of all Dunn linked to his own video, of Juicero's communications head Chrissy Tramedach cutting a Juicero bag open. It's not clear what exactly this was meant to prove.</p><div><amp-vimeo height="9" width="16" layout="responsive" data-videoid="214030931"></amp-vimeo></div><p></p><p>Juicero says it will offer refunds to any customers who want them - even if they paid full price for the machines - but maybe some customers will be happy to let their Juiceros do the hard work.</p><p><strong>Share this story so no one will accidentally buy one of these!</strong></p></div>