If you're here because of groupon, do yourself a HUGE favor and turn back now. (The groupon was $84 for 2 facials or microdermabrasions OR $43 for 1 facial or microderm)..
i made the mistake of calling before purchasing & Laura asked that I pay her in store so she wouldn't be charged fees by groupon, which didn't seem like a problem to me. I told her over the phone it would be one for me & the other for my bf. We both would get "microdermabrasions" that would last less than 30 minutes and were less than mediocre. I chose microderm bc she said "she doesn't do extractions EVER" which to me, was a HUGE red flag and basically the main reason i get facials bc I can simply cleanse/exfoliate/mask and serum myself at home.....??
15 minutes in to my microderm I knew it was a mistake bc she was already finishing up!!! i was mortified. It began with a cleanse, then the microderm which lasted no more than 2 min, a "face, hand, and arm massage", which KILLED me bc not only did she barely use any lotion, but she patted my arms off with a DRY RAG (as if it even needed patting off or was supposed to feel 'relaxing', as opposed to a hot wet rag which is standard even at a cheap nail salon?!... it was abrasive, unnecessary and uncomfortable)! she finished up with a cream and had me inhale peppermint as if it was groundbreaking. i laid down at 1:05pm and it was over by 1:29pm. I honestly wanted to leave half way through, but I could already tell she was pulling some sh*^ and didn't want her to try and charge me full price for one crappy microderm.
After mine, I let my boyfriend pay for both of us before his service, and half way through his micro he texted me saying she walked out on his session!!! he told me she said she'd be back and told him "whatever lotion she just put on needed to sit for a while"......!!? How unprofessional!
Here's the kicker: she charged his card $98 WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING when the groupon we agreed on was for $84..... AND WE WERE ALREADY DOING HER A FAVOR BY NOT PAYING THROUGH THE APP!!!!! I was livid! It's so ghetto and sneaky!
I was down the street as he was leaving and confronted her about the $98 dollar charge and he texted me saying she's trying to tell him "If i were you i'd just leave it at $98 and consider the rest a tip".......!?!?! um THE NERVE?! The thing is, I WOULD have tipped $20 if 1. it was ATLEAST 45 min. 2. if she HADN'T unprofessionally assumed a tip, and 3. Sneakily charged a price that was never previously discussed! I called his cell right then and had him put me on speaker. after calling her out on straight up scamming us, her reasoning was ridiculous as she said "well one micro derm normally costs $90 something so since theres two of you its this much".... But how does that even make sense when you're offering ONE MICRODERM FOR $43 on groupon!?? Meaning we could have each bought the groupons separately for $43 ($86 combined) and it STILL wouldn't have been $98 dollars!!!!! honestly, it's so embarrassing for her that she felt like she needed to try and sneak extra money after already sneaking around groupon, and giving us the weakest possible microdermabrasion in san diego.
The best part is that she kept saying "Its just $14 its nothing to me honestly". Before hanging up the phone I simply said "Ok great! Since the $14 is nothing to you, why dont you go ahead and refund that now, and we'll call it a day. I'm still not sure how you felt it was appropriate or professional to charge us $98 without saying a word, when one single microderm is $43 on your groupon, but you're going to refund the $14 and we'll pay the $84 as WAS MENTIONED during my session AND over the phone prior to our arrival, and we'll leave it at that. Thanks for your time and have a nice day." Such a waste of time and money. It's truly SAD when you try and hook a local business up by not going through the app, saving her the 10-20% fee, to end up being taken advantage of! Not only financially, but service wise as well. read more
