ComplaintsforCool Renewal Spa

• Initial Complaint

  06/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My experience with Cool Renewal Spa has been disappointing, to say the least. During my initial consultation on September 9th, 2023, I spoke with ******, who assured me that Cool Sculpting on my bra line would yield favorable results despite my previous unsuccessful experience with Light RX. She downplayed any concerns I had and assured me that any rare adverse effects, like Paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, would be addressed promptly. However, she failed to mention that some individuals may not respond well to the treatment.After paying for two sessions and undergoing treatment on October 7th, 2023, and subsequent visits, I saw minimal improvement. Despite expressing my dissatisfaction and requesting a refund, communication from the spa was lacking, with promises of follow-*** consistently unmet. When I finally spoke with the manager, *********, she acknowledged the lack of noticeable change but cited their policy of no money-back guarantee.Furthermore, the owner's assertion that I received "double the value" due to receiving four treatments instead of two is unfounded when considering the negligible difference in results. Even with the claim that CoolSculpting eliminates up to 20% of fat per session, the cumulative effect of four treatments should have been substantial, which clearly wasn't the case.The lack of transparency and accountability is evident in their sales tactics and failure to provide adequate information during the consultation. I am formally requesting a full refund and urging the implementation of a new protocol requiring customers to acknowledge the possibility of no results upfront. The high-pressure atmosphere during the consultation, coupled with rushed disclosures, mirrored a disconcerting time-share scenario.Cool Renewal Spa's history of inadequate customer service and evasion of responsibility is concerning. It's imperative that they address these issues promptly to restore trust and ensure the satisfaction of their clients.

  

  Business response

  06/13/2024

  We can confirm she is a customer of our business the vast majority of her statement are correct, with some notable exceptions.  During every consultation, all of our technicians cover off on 5 main points: 1) what is Coolsculpting, 2) is the customer a candidate for Coolsculpting, 3) risks and benefits of Coolsculpting, 4) describing the CoolSculpting sessions. and finally, 5) our Cool Renewal Commitment. This last point is the most relevant to her complaint as this is where we discuss what happens, if we don't get a great result after the completion of the individualized treatment plan.  In simple terms, we don't guarantee Coolsculpting works for everyone, but we do enough screening up front and only treat people that we believe will get a great result.  Our technician believed she would get a great result and built a 2 session treatment plan. ******************** completed her treatment plan and didn't get a great result.  This is where our Commitment comes in. Because she didnt get a great result and we agreed with her on this point, our Commitment says we will retreat her for free.   Which we did, two more times actually. After the 4 session, you can see a change the area treated.  It's not the best result we have ever gotten, but every fatty tissue in every body is unique and that's we can't guarantee results.  All we can do is our best to get the best result available with the tissue we are working with.   It is also important to note that prior to any treatment is performed on a customer, the customer is required to read, review and sign our treatment consent form.   On this consent, we spell out numerous things but the relevant items include our detailed Commitment and our "no refunds" policy.   ******************* signed our consent and initialed next to these two points. I have included a pic of her consent with her initials for these two items. ******************** was most definitely informed about our policies before her treatment and we therefore disagree with her complaint.

  Customer response

  06/18/2024

   
  I am rejecting this response because it does not state in any disclosure a limit to the amount of treatments until results are seen. The staff themselves admitted to not "less than desirable results". Cool Renewal as a whole now has a plan in which Unlimited Cool Sculpting Packages are available starting at $2,000 (see attached photo). To the consumer, that means that the company themselves know that one or two treatments won't be sufficient. To reiterate, the person I had my consultation with did not tell me once that there was a chance this wouldn't work, even after telling her that I had similar treatments with a different technology. It is extremely disappointing that the staff and owner admitted the results weren't great, and I was asked to spend another $500 for more treatments. 
  
  

  

  Business response

  06/19/2024

  There is nothing in her response that is factually correct. There is no such thing as a Similar treatment with a different technology. There is no treatment like CoolSculpting a fat freezing technology - and that is why CoolSculpting has a patent on fat freezing.   Trying to compare a HEAT based treatment to CoolSculpting is ridiculous.
  We have attached a photo of our commitment which outlines how the program works and what we do if we agree that the patient didnt get great results which she signed.  In summary it states that if you follow the treatment plan and dont get a great result, we will retreat the area at no cost to you. The word retreat is singular (and used multiple times) and we only offer ONE free retreatment.  We made an exception in this case and retreated her TWICE for free because we changed the applicator placement in an effort to get a better result, but in most cases this isnt an option.
  ******************** purchased 4 CoolSculpting cycles at $600 per cycle for a total of $2400 in 9/9/23. Starting in May of 24, we began to offer a different CoolSculpting Package that doesnt count cycles and is sold by the area of the body.  We tried to offer her the new Unlimited package on the Back Fat area with a significant credit towards the current treatment price ($2700) based on what she had previously paid.  She rejected that offer.  
  
  To reiterate: ******************** sat thru a 30+ min consult on CoolSculpting where we always discuss our Commitment and the retreatment process. ******************** read and signed the CoolSculpting consents that outline all things related to CoolSculpting including the Commitment and the no refund policy. We have treated thousands of patients and we go thru the same process every time to make sure these facts are known BEFORE purchase/treatment. The signed consents are validation that the patient has been informed and acknowledges this fact. The exact purpose of a signed consent is to avoid misunderstandings, complaints and scams.

  Customer response

  06/19/2024

   
  I am rejecting this response because:
  The business's response is not only patronizing but also not entirely correct. The treatment I was comparing Cool Sculpting to also involves temperature-based methods purported to reduce fat in specific areas.

  The statement about "re-treating the area at no cost to you" is a matter of semantics is misleading. If it's meant to mean once, it should say once. Additionally, the unlimited package was not promoted on ************ until May '24, subsequent to my last visit.
  

  I was asked to pay an additional $500 for further treatments during my last office visit, a proposition which I declined. At no point was I offered the unlimited package with any form of credit. Had such an offer been made, the business would have clearly specified the amount of the credit in their response rather than ambiguously referring to it as "significant."

  
  To reiterate: during my consultation, I was assured that I would achieve results. There was no mention whatsoever of a "no refund policy"; instead, I was led to believe in the likelihood of satisfaction. This assurance of satisfaction is what persuaded me to sign the consent form, trusting that the company would honor its commitment, rather than resorting to semantic technicalities and making it seem as if they did me a favor when their treatment didn't work. 

  

  Business response

  06/24/2024

  There is nothing to reject.  These are facts.  No one ever said we would refund money back if there wasnt a result.  What we said was that we would follow our Commitment.  That is what we did and the patient agreed that we did exactly that and retreated two more times.  The patient signed a consent acknowledging the Commitment, which we fully satisfied.  The patient signed a consent acknowledging the no refunds policy.  Period.  End of story. 
  
  Not that it matters, the Unlimited package wasnt available for sale until May 1st and we actively began marketing it on that date.  We actually had an event in late ***** were we talking about it but we were legally unable to sell it until May 1st, but that doesnt mean we didnt have months to plan for it.   
  
  I have been nothing but pleasant with this patient on the phone and on this forum which is more than I can say for their interactions with me and my team.  She hung up on me mid-sentence during our phone call and based on that conversation and what my team has relayed to me about your words and attitude is consistent with my experience with her.  I hope this patient has a great day and please do not ever come back to our offices.  My team has strict instructions to immediately dial 911 if you ever do.  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩