ComplaintsforAll Things Vain LLC

• Initial Complaint

  01/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On September 24, 2023, I paid $375 to the business mentioned for three facial sessions with my normal esthetician, ******. I used one of those facials on November 4, 2023. I had a second appointment scheduled on December 9, 2023. At 7pm on December 8, 2023, I received a text message from the spa owner, ********, letting me know that my appointment the next day was cancelled. She told me that she would call me on December 9th to reschedule. She never called me. On December 20, 2023, I reached out to ******** via text message asking when I could expect to hear from someone since I still had credit with the spa for two facials. At that time she informed me that ****** no longer worked at the spa. ******** tried to reschedule, but made numerous excuses for why I had not heard from her like she promised. ******** mentioned being a single mom and how this is her busiest time of year and how she is booked for months. She also criticized ****** for taking time off of work. As a client who simply wanted a phone call back and an explanation for why her appointment was cancelled, I felt ******** was being combative and wasn't simply taking ownership for failing to call me when she said she would. When I expressed that to her, she proceeded to be rude with me and escalated the conversation. She blocked my phone number and then texted ****** making comments about me not being in a financial position to afford her spa so hopefully ****** could better accommodate me as a client financially now that she no longer works at ********'s ********** more than financially capable of affording the spa and have spent close to $5,000 there on services with both ****** and ******** in the last 12 months. These comments are rude, unprofessional, and completely uncalled for. This is not how you treat clients as a business owner under any circumstances. I would like my credit card refunded the pro-rated amount for the two facials I have remaining.

  

  Business response

  01/21/2024

  Ive owned All Things Vain Medi Spa for 10 years and I have never had a complaint filed against my business until this absurd and fictitious one made by ******. This is nothing more than a ***** and vengeful attempt to smear my business because ******* little friend ****** no longer works for me at my spa. Thats what this is aboutand thats ALL this is about. That said, as juvenile as I find this to be, I do have a tremendous amount of respect for the Better Business Bureau and the benefit it has for both consumers and small businesses so I will respond here for that reason only. 
  
  ****** used to go all the way downtown to get discounted student services from an esthetics school and that is how she met my former receptionist ******. ****** was attending school in hopes for a career as an esthetician and once she completed the basic program ****** was more than happy to follow ****** to my high-end medical spa which is located  up the street from where she works. As a professional courtesy I extended special pricing for ****** because she was ******* only client. ******* first purchase at my spa was for a buy-one-get-one-free facial for which she only paid $150.00. To be clear, facials at my spa are not $75 and never have been. I went to great efforts to help ****** grow her clientele and a year later, ****** was still ******* only client. Ill let that fact speak for itself.
  
  ****** wasted no time getting on MY books for her only second visit to my spa and I let her take advantage of numerous specials and discounts similar to the rates she would have at a school. One of her first treatments with me was rang in by ***** as a BOGO that we had ran for Black Friday even though this purchase was made in March. ****** continued to come to my spa for over a year saving hundreds and ultimately thousands of dollars in services rendered. Specifically she has spent $3000 with me for medical esthetics that wouldve normally totaled over $4000 and she has spent about $1300 in services with ****** for basic spa treatments that would normally be priced at over $2000. Sufficed to say ****** has been a very happy client at All things Vain. She has had over 14 treatments in the year shes been frequenting my spa and has never complained even once. She has never been canceled on with the exception of the one time she is referencing here due to a staff change made about 2 weeks before Christmas. 
  
  Yes Christmas is our busiest time of the year, like most spas, and me explaining that to ****** didnt deserve the hostile response I received from her via text. I first reached out to ****** with a phone call to let her know her facial with ****** was unfortunately canceled. She did not answer. I went further and text ****** from our mobile business line which is directly connected to my personal cell phone. She was understanding and told me I could call her when it was convenient for me. Our spa is closed on Sundays and Mondays and no I did not have the opportunity to call her on my days off, but I did move some appointments around to try to accommodate her facial, a facial I normally dont even perform as the owner and a medical esthetician. A WEEK AND A HALF went by and instead of ****** simply calling the spa line directly on our main line she instead sent me what I consider to be a pretty rude text message. 
  
  As expected, ****** was clearly upset ****** no longer worked at my spa. I called her again, and again she didnt answer, but continued to text me. I have included copies of every single text exchange for your reference so you can see the complete fabrication that I was ever rude or unprofessional to ******. I offered her NUMEROUS options, not excuses as she claims. I offered numerous days and times I had opened up for her because they were exact, or similar times to her previous visits, and she declined and wanted a Saturday appointment. She again mentioned I shouldve called her on the day I said I was going to call; I worked until 8 that night. I AGAIN apologized and even offered to open the spa JUST FOR HER on the Saturday before Christmas even though we were closed, to try and accommodate this facial. She again declined. I offered days and times for when we reopened after Christmas, she again declined. ****** again focused on me not calling her that DAY I said I was going to call. No reasonable person would behave this way. At this point it was obvious this wasnt about a facial, or me not calling the exact day or time I said Id call. ****** is simply upset her friend doesnt work at my spa anymore and attempted to create and manufacture an issue that just wasnt there. I chose not to engage in this silly back and forth any further and wished her Merry Christmas. I ultimately had to block her from continuing to text my cell phone. 
  
  ****** also wrote the egregious lie in this complaint that I owe her over $4000 dollars which is absolutely absurd and grounds for a libel lawsuit. She knows she only has two half-off facials left from the 3 pack she purchased last year, which were only $125 dollars. I have enclosed a copy of that receipt as well. She has never called or emailed the spa asking for a refund so I find this whole complaint a sad attempt to attack me for no reason other than some personal vendetta in hopes to make her friend feel better. 
  
  Again, I have included all of mine and ****** text exchanges (our only communication related to this claim) and am looking forward to the Better Business Bureau reviewing them. 
  
  To ****** directly, you inserting yourself in ******* previous work-related issues is not doing her, (or her career), any favors. She tried to be an esthetician at my spa and it didnt work out, period. I do not need to go into all of the details of the constant complaints, the services Ive had to re-do or the messes she left behind. Honestly, you forcing me to defend my business and revisit these issues involving her isnt helping her in any way. She would be better served to move on and hopefully get continuing education or experience, and we certainly wish her all the best. I need you to move on as well and if you need a check for those two half-off facials please do email me your address and I am more than happy to send you a refund. Hopefully that will help.

  Customer response

  01/28/2024

  There are numerous statements in the business response that are false. I did not regularly drive downtown to receive discounted services from ****** while she was in school. I met ****** when she was in school at Aveda when a friend gifted me a spa day there for my birthday. It was the one and only time I received services from ****** there. Every other time that I booked appointments with ****** was after she had graduated from school and was working at Jeanettes spa.

  The pricing ******** is claiming she offered me as a courtesy is also false. Yes, I took advantage of monthly specials that the spa ran and friends and family pricing that ********* allowed ****** to extend to me. But these werent special just for me and if ********* was not okay with that pricing, she shouldnt have offered it.

  I also never requested to be reimbursed $4000. I was simply stating the amount of money I had spent at her spa over a 12 month period since she felt the need to send text messages to her former employee ****** making comments that I couldnt afford her ********* happy to provide proof of these messages if necessary. My issue here is that as a business owner, she made disparaging comments about me and her assumptions of my financial situation. I am a senior level manager and a fortune 100 financial firm. I did not give my business to ****** because her services were discounted. I gave her my business because I saw a young girl who was starting out her career who had a strong work ethic and cared immensely about her clients and I wanted to support her. I have a right as a client to choose who I do and dont support with my business. 
  ******** is missing the point here. It was never about the money. It was about the rude and false comments that she made about me and how she treated me when ****** left the spa based on her false perception of my financial situation. No client should be treated like that by a business. 
  I do not feel comfortable with the business having my home address so I am fine with not receiving a refund from them. My hope is that the business owner can learn to treat all people, regardless of her perception of them, equally and with kindness. 

  

  Business response

  02/16/2024

  I dont understand why this is still going on and on its ridiculous. This was a client who was upset her friend no longer worked at my business. She claimed in her response that shed met her only once. Complete lie. She was her only client because she met her when she was a student at school and she followed her here to my spa. 
  

   I showed you evidence from our text messages exchanges that I was neither rude nor unprofessional as she claimed in her complaint to you and I  went out of my way to accommodate her and even offered to open my spa the Saturday before Christmas even though we were closed. She was unreasonable in her responses as anyone could see if they read them. In our initial exchange she said and I quote call me when it is convenient cuz at that point she didnt know her friend no longer worked for me so she was nice and understanding like any NORMAL client would be. Well I had oral surgery the following Monday (on a day when my business is closed) and was out several days and was surprised my pain and recovery was so substantial so no that was not a convenient time to reschedule her facial on my days off. She text me a week and a half later and her attitude had shifted drastically. She knew ****** no longer worked here so she was upset. She continued to text and berate me so I finally blocked her number. She couldve emailed our spa or called the front desk to ask for a refund or whatever but instead contacted you just to make her friend, a disgruntled former employee, happy. That is what all this is about and I am appalled you are allowing it. I offered her a refund as you can see in my response and you can see in her response she denied excepting the refund for $125 dollar discounted facial. This is absolutely absurd. She and my former employee continue to harass me instead of simply moving on..and I will not tolerate it anymore. I would like to add another response or have this one posted.
  Thank you

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