I received an email from American Laser Center in November as well as a phone call telling me I had filled out a contest form on-line and won a $300 gift certificate toward services. They told me they would schedule a free consultation, so just to check it out I went to the West Palm Beach location on Friday November 30 where I met with Ashley Broniszewski, the clinic manager.
After the sales pitch and after telling me the price with my 35% discount if I do more then one area, and throwing in an extra $100 off if I commit that day, she asked if I wanted to do it. I wasn't born yesterday, it was obvious she had a script with all the offers but I anyway said I might be interested in the procedure. I explicitly asked her about the scheduling before committing to anything and she assured me they will work with me and squeeze me in whenever is convenient for me. She asked me to make an appointment or have my first session right then and there. I told her I wasn't ready to have my first appointment and told her I was going to call her on Monday when I see how my week is going. I also asked whether there was a physician on staff, and she assured me that the manager (she) was medically trained.
When I called on Monday, which was the next business day and asked for an appointment for that week, I was told that everything was booked and they can schedule me in 3 weeks. I was in complete shock and I refused the appointment. 10 minutes later I called back to cancel the package realizing that I am dealing with crooks, however no one picked up the phone so I left a clear message explaining I'm cancelling and why.
The next morning I called and no one answered the phone again so I called the main company number and asked to speak with a customer service rep. I was transferred to a voice mail where I left a message. I also send an email to the person who contacted me in the first place telling me I have won $300 towards the services and explained I was cancelling. I haven't heard back from anyone so I called back the customer service the next day, got a voice mail once again and left another message. I also emailed the initial contact person telling her how unprofessional she was not to get back to me.
The following day I received a response email from her telling me that there was nothing she can do but assuring me that she forwarded my email to the customer service department where I will be taken care of. Needless to say no one ever called me. I called back again and told the girl answering the phone to transfer me to an actual person and not to a voice mail because I needed to talk to someone immediately she transferred me to a voice mail and so I left my third message.
The next day I went back to the West Palm Beach location and told Ashley that I demand a cancellation letter wiping off all my charges. She said that the regional manager was supposed to call me nonsense, no one ever called. Finally she said she had to call her regional manager because from now on that's the person in charge and there was nothing she could do.
She got that person on the phone and supposedly she was just about to get on a flight (I've noticed that is a common excuse in all the complaints how convenient!) and she promised she was going to call me when she lands 90 minutes later. I explained to Ashley that I will be on my cell phone the whole day and that I need her regional manager, Jaclyn (no last name given), to call my cell and once again left my cell phone number even though they had it on file. Jaclyn did call - 4 hours later and she called my house not my cell. I called her back the next day; she didn't pick up the phone, left her a message and never heard back from her or anyone else for that matter.
I informed GE money that I've cancelled the charges and filled out the paperwork to dispute $2,431, however they keep sending me monthly statements. They got paid, so they refuse to assist me in recovering the losses.
I HAVE TURNED THEM INTO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU on January 26. I spoke to the BBB yesterday and they informed me that there's been no response whatsoever. It's been 2 months now.
I will be contacting THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE as well as a number of consumer advocacy agencies and the media so I can get some attention to this behavior. I am ready to take this to court and I will if I don't get a satisfaction from the company in the next few weeks.
I wasted so much of my time, it makes my blood boil. I don't appreciate not being able to start treatments at my convenience; I don't appreciate not being told that the office was supposedly so busy when I was there and I saw it with my own eyes - no customers in a completely empty office, - not once but twice. I was told not to worry since they can always see me because they are there to accommodate me;
I don't appreciate paying almost $2,500 for a year in advance and then not being accommodated; I don't appreciate not being able to reach customer service people ever; I don't appreciate that after 3 voice mails left for the customer service department no one ever found it necessary to get back to me; I don't appreciate Ashley washing her hands and telling me someone else (regional manager) was supposed to call me; I don't appreciate my emails being ignored; I don't appreciate the regional manager Jaclyn calling me on my home phone when I made it clear I could only be reached on my cell phone not to mention she never ever called back again which is obvious she didn't want to talk to me to begin with
After doing an extensive research and reading story after story I found that this company continually subscribes to fraudulent and deceptive practices all over the country, and should be forced to stop and go out of business. STAY FAR AWAY FROM ALC! Beware and do not fall for their malicious scheme. Take your business elsewhere.
I have never received any treatments, services or products and canceled within my 3 day right of recession. The law states that ALC had 10 days to refund my money. They did not.
This is clearly a company that does not care about ethics or customer care and obviously never heard of the concept that is much cheaper to keep a customer, especially if it's a happy one, then to acquire a new one. Word of mouth is the most powerful, effective type of advertising and I'll do my best to let the world know that ALC is just a bunch of crooks. American Laser Center should be prosecuted, shut down and ordered to pay damages to every single one of us.
0 comments