Problem Solver helps woman get full refund from spa

Robin Porter wrote:

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Is that the Washington state AG? Even if you purchased your package in California?

If you purchased in California, file a complaint with the California Attorney General's office. And also, if you are trying to get ahold of Theresa Geibel still, you should email her.

We were contracted to do plumbing work at their Temecula, CA location in 2006. We went out to their location on three different occassions. We have not been paid yet. Dozens of phone calls have been made to what is supposed to be the main office in Santa Clara.....all we have gotten is the run around. First they couldn't find copies of the invoices (four times), then they would have to call us back (that is if we were able to get past their voice mail system. They did not return calls. Finally, we were told the invoices had already been paid....never received their payment. Requests for cancelled checks have fallen on deaf ears. Now, we are back to talking to the voice mail system. I think two years is plenty of time to get paid.

I used to manage a Washington location. Pure Med Spa could be a great place. Emphasis on the word could. I personally received many effective treatments there, but we were fortunate to have a wonderful, educated, caring staff at that time. Since then the turnover has been complete. The pressure to sell is enormous. My store consistently fell short of its numbers goals. It seems the stupider and more shady you are, the further you go in that company. Management is not allowed to give refunds. Any refunds had to go directly through upper management and corporate, and good luck getting in touch with them. As a manager I was told several things. NO refunds. Period. Then it was any refunds have to be approved by corporate. Then again with NO refunds. I was told I should take care of it at the store level. Then when a refund is given, it comes right off your monthly totals. You don't hit your goal, you don't get a bonus. Worse, your job was constantly on the line. It is common practice for someone to come in and clean house, firing half the staff and leaving a store short handed. It is common for days or even weeks of appointments to be called to cancel due to being short staffed, or equipment malfunction. The maintenence on the machines is pushed out as far as possible, to the point of machines breaking down or being ineffective.

To be fair, I have to admit printed in bold on the contract, that there are no refunds on treatments or treatments paid for in advance. Still, I personally would go over the contract and answer any questions with clients or prospective clients. I know for a fact that this wasn't the case in other stores. We were often told to do "whatever it takes," to get the sale. Pretty shady, right? Our staff tried to make our location different, especially in terms of our customer service. But if you arent hitting goal, firings will continue until morale improves! It is really sad, because it could be a wonderful place.
There are exciting and effective treatments available for many skin conditions and beauty concerns. It is too bad that Pure only cares about the customer until they have their money in the till.

I've had both good and bad experiences with the South Center Pure Med Spa. When I first went there for Botox, it was great. By the third treatment, I was either not being given the injection correctly, or it was diluted too much. They also talked me into Restylane (sp?) injections to fill the hollow under my eyes - instead it gave me bags under my eyes. I'm glad it only lasted six months, but still.

Now I've read that some of the Washington State Pure Meds have filed bankruptcy. I'm due to have an IPL treatment on Friday (the two treatments I've had have done little). Since I read that today, I called to see if I could move up my appointment. They say they are closed tomorrow and the next day for training. I'm worried that when I go for my last IPL, they will just be packed up and gone.

Does anyone know which ones filed bankruptcy, and was it a Chapter 11 or are they just going out of business? BTW, I'm glad I paid cash and didn't go for their "let's see if we can get you financed" scam!

Can anyone update me on the action suit against PureMed? I would be interested in joining. I am currently in the process of hiring an attorney for my case against them.
I'm sick to my stomach reading through these same scams that I have been battling with the company. I went to the Washington Square Mall PureMed location and was talked into having 8 mesotherapy treatments performed. The saleswoman had me sign and intial my paperwork before even receiving a test spot to see if I was allergic to what they would inject me with. The only copies of documentation they sent home with me was what I was approved for through Care Credit. They also don't have any price sheets listed or can give you that information because everything is a "special deal".
Once they had me signed up for the treatment they couldn't get me in for months and when I would show up I would wait a good 30 minutes.
I only received one treatment from a "doctor" whom injected my legs incorrectly (into the muscle) and now I have permanent bruises, nodules, swelling and pain to this day. I received one treatment and was told from Jill the Store Manager that I needed to have Botox done or another service because she can't approve a refund. But Colette the mesotherapy therapist told me I would get a full refund and she would write a letter. Colette was genuinely concerned about the condition of my legs and I had to go back several times for her to monitor and check if they were healing.
After months of going round and round with Jill she finally got "approval" from corporate to refund all my money and it would all be taken care of the following week (January). The next week came and went and nothing happened. I have sent certified letters asking for my paperwork and medical records of what they injected me with for my doctor to review and they continue to ignore all requests.
I called Care Credit and they knew nothing about the dispute. I filled out paperwork with them and took photos of my legs and they are three months into the dispute with PureMed.
I can no longer get a hold of anyone at PureMed and CareCredit says my file is in their disputes department and nobody can give me answers.
This has been a hard lesson to learn. These people are crooked and need to be stopped! It's not that I am not happy with a service. My body is now permanently damaged. I tried to work this out with them but am forced now to take legal action.
Please e-mail me if you have information on lawsuit.
pinklady9403@yahoo.com

Teena wrote:

I've had both good and bad experiences with the South Center Pure Med Spa. When I first went there for Botox, it was great. By the third treatment, I was either not being given the injection correctly, or it was diluted too much. They also talked me into Restylane (sp?) injections to fill the hollow under my eyes - instead it gave me bags under my eyes. I'm glad it only lasted six months, but still.
Now I've read that some of the Washington State Pure Meds have filed bankruptcy. I'm due to have an IPL treatment on Friday (the two treatments I've had have done little). Since I read that today, I called to see if I could move up my appointment. They say they are closed tomorrow and the next day for training. I'm worried that when I go for my last IPL, they will just be packed up and gone.
Does anyone know which ones filed bankruptcy, and was it a Chapter 11 or are they just going out of business? BTW, I'm glad I paid cash and didn't go for their "let's see if we can get you financed" scam!

Yea, if i were you i'd be worried about the whole "closed for training" thing because the Tukwila location is one of the 4 locations from Western Washington that is in bankruptcy right now. I'm guessing you saw the komo 4 problem solvers story?

Unfortunately I purchased an extended bikini package with this company. Long story shortened - the first location I went to was shut down without notice. Then I went to the Beverly Center where the receptionist was disgusted that I could "wrinkle" my forehead with a "surprised" expression and insisted that I needed botox because "that is just disgusting". The customer service on the phone with this clinic was also appalling so I decided to switch to the Sherman Oaks clinic.

I live 2 hours north in Bakersfield, so I have to have weekend appointments. My first appointment was great, I spoke with the manager and she proclaimed she was trying very hard to give her location a very professional image since she understood so many other locations were giving the company a bad reputation. When it came time for my next appointment I was called a few days prior and asked if I could reschedule for the following saturday instead. Okay, fine I switched my weekend plans around a bit. The next friday I was called and told that they were cancelling all appointments for that date (April 12, 2008) due to their nurse being in a car accident. Okay, I completely understand!

What I don't understand is why now, over a month later I still have not been rescheduled, I've called numerous times and asked to speak to a manager, and have tried to contact corporate to no avail.

The receptionist is friendly and helpful on the phone, but I'm under the impression she is just talk on the phone, a professional situation diffuser and nothing gets done. I then called all the surrounding clinics to see if I could get into one of them. What I've been told is that all the clinics are booked, they have a shortage of nurses, are trying to get nurses trained and that I will be called because I'm on the cancellation list, when they can finally begin booking appointments again.

I'm sorry, this is totally unacceptable customer service. Now that my town has a local laser hair removal center I have paid another $750 to have my final 3 treatments finished there, at least I know they have wonderful customer service and I've had many other areas already zapped by them.

Don't use Pure Med Spa unless your life depends on it.

Have anyone of you actually done research yourself? If you look at the SEC filings for the Pure Medspa, You'll notice that they don't exist... That is becuase it is not under the name Pure Medspa, it is a Canadian company name. They are not in bankruptcy, they have actually turned a profit for the last 3 quarters, the previous owners of the company were bankrupt. I know this becuase I work for the law firm that is suing Komo for defamation of character.

As far as the Brandy from above... I would use caution when speaking with any of the former managers, as many of them have been fired due to the clients you have seen on the news report. These managers were ringing up clients for thousands of dollars EVEN WHEN THE CLIENTS WERE NOT PURCHASING TREATMENTS. Yes it could have been a better medspa, and now without the old managers, they ARE better.