Who says it doesn’t work? I once saw somewhere (I don’t remember where) that the ta’ava for a”z was that it worked – through koach hatumah. Not ch”v a separate r’shus, but rather allowed by Hashem to to give us s’char for following His will even if it means foregoing the benefits.
You are referring to the Machloqes Rebbi Yosi and Rebbi Akiva in Sanhedrin 90.