Laser & Dermatology Institute (LDI) review: Unprofessional Conduct 37

I believe these people are truly angry and have every right to be. I also believe that it s impossible for any establishment to have perfect 5 stars. As we all know we do not live in a perfect world! And I also think it's suspicious that people got on here to read these reviews and attack people they don't even know or have not experienced what she experienced. They could be shields for the doctor's office I don't know all I know is it seems a little suspicious to me. Any reputable establishment would not have their employees whether it's office help nurses manager or salesperson place fake reviews. Anyone with any intelligence or common sense can read through some of those reviews.

Most of these comments are from many years ago, has any one been there lately or had a treatment from any of the 3 locations?. I would like to know what was your experience like. I don't want to waste my time if the place still as bad as it seems to be.

I went to LDI institute for bags under my eyes. I was also told by Judson, ( who is not the doctor) that I would need three treatments. (How did he know? ) I went for my first treatment, which Nurse Teresa did and not the doctor and she gave me a 2 minute treatment. I asked when would I start to see some results. She said it took 11 months to see results. I wondered if everything would miraculously disappear only after 11 months. I went for a second treatment and Dr Rispler stepped in for one minute, never spoke to me and I had a second treatment. The two treatments were painful.
I then called the office and said my procedure was not working. They said that if it did not word they wouldn't be in business. I then went for my third treatment and told them it was not working. The Doctor came in and told the nurse to give me the maximum treatment. I was told to come back in 2 weeks. I told them that my eyes looked exactly the same as when I came in. I was into them for $6000. They looked at me, shrugged their shoulders and told me to buy 2 very expensive creams (over $180), and they would see me in a year. I believe I have been shammed .I have learned a very expensive lesson. So do not go to them for under eye bags. They will just take your money with NO results.
Learn from me.
Joan F

Thank you for all of your posts! I almost went to the Covina office today... I got to the office a little early and for some reason I decided to search for LDI reviews... OMG! Complaint board, Yelp and other sites almost 100% negative reviews! I mean scathing reviews... I can understand having "some" negative comments but it seems all of you have the same story to tell... Honestly, it frightened me! As I sat in front of their office I called and cancelled my appointment (15 min before my appointment)... whew! Again, thanks for the reviews and saving me!

Hi,
After having a consultation yesterday at LDI, Beverly Hills, I went online to check reviews, and was NOT surprised
to read about so many similar experiences.
After hearing many radio advertisements my sister and I made an appointment for a free consultation.
We are in our 50's and are interested in having laser treatment for fine lines. My sister went in first and around 10 minutes later
I was called in. A middle aged man in a suit and tennis shoes with a clipboard comes in.
I tell him I want my sister with me. He says no, and something about the privacy act, I tell him it is my sister and I want her here.
I can tell he is irritated with me, he says he’ill check and leaves.
He comes back and says he is going to do the consultation and my sister can come in later, (which never happened).
He proceeds to write on his clipboard, without even studying my face,
$900.00 eyes for one treatment, $2500.00 for 3 treatments, and $9500.00
for the whole face.
I am thinking this sounds very expensive.
I ask how long do the results last. He says after a year you come in for a touch up.
I think it odd that he does’t even really look at my face and evaluate what needs to be done. I ask him if he is a doctor, he says no, he is the doctor’s assistant.
I also ask if he assists in the procedures and he says no.
I say to him you are a salesman. I tell him I want to talk to the doctor and he asks
If I want to have the procedure done, I say no.
He says you talk to the doctor after you agree to the procedure and sign a contract.
I told him I would need to do more research and get an opinion from a medical doctor not a salesman.
I felt more like I was buying a new car rather than having a medical consultation.

For those of you who had a positive experience, great!

But for those of you who call the reviewers who had a bad experience, liars, who are you judge another’s experience?
Makes me wonder if they were written by LDI staff or investors.

I have the same bad experience like over here in Covina, College Street location, the receptionist put me in a room, and 15 minutes later a salesman came in and started talking me about the cost, it would cost me he said10, 000 and persuade me to apply for a credit card a plan that would help me pay for it he said, I would have the cash money to pay but he already judge me, and persuade to apply a payment plan which is a credit card I felt insulted, I was never even seen a dermatologist, its all about the money, maybe I am going to see a dermatologist and ask about skin resurfacing and not fron LDI though haha, oh please be aware people. My advise is when they put you in the room and the salesman came just leave right away.

OMG this place is seriously outrageous! I walked in today with acne and acne
Scar issues. Don't take my testimony in any wrong way because I do have the monetary
Means of affording this. Each laser treatment cost approximately 3, 000 dollars. I was told by a sales guy
I needed between 3&4. I never saw this famous Doctor who is advertised everywhere. Now what I find outrageous
Is how these people expect to get a considerable amount of money from u, without even seeing a doctor. It was fast, short and very cut and dry. I was not even able to finish asking questions that were a concern. I was willing and able to start any procedure right then and there, but to be completely honest I was discouraged and disappointed on how these people's business ethics work!

"Patients can start customized treatment plans right after the initial free consultation time without having to wait to schedule another appointment." BULLLL[censored]. WE DROVE ALL THE WAY FROM GLENDALE, A TWO HOUR DRIVE THROUGH THE TRAFFIC TO SEE SOME MAN IN A SUITE CIRCLING PRICES. I HAVE SPENT OVER 10, 000 DOLLARS ON MY FACE THE MONEY WASN'T THE ISSUE. A MAN RUNS IN CIRCLES 9, 500 AND TELLS US TO CALL US WHEN WE WANT TO PURSUE T HE LASER. WITHOUT ANSWERING ANY OF OUR QUESTIONS WE WERE BOMBARDED BY THIS RUDE MAN THEN PUSHED OUT THE DOOR. ITS A SCAM, ITS ### AND THOSE GOOD COMMENTS ARE FROM THE ###ERS WORKING AT THE OFFICE. DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE WHO SAYS A GOOD THING FROM THERE. I WAS HOPING I CAN START MY ACNE TREATMENT TODAY, THE DAY OF MY SO CALLED ### FREE CONSULTATION BUT NO, THEY THREW ME OUT THE DOOR AND TOLD ME TO MAKE ANOTHER APPOINTMENT WITHOUT SEEING THE DOCTOR, FINDING OUT A PLAN OR ANYTHING. THIS GOES TO SHOW NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE THIS IS A SCAMMMMMMMMM

today i went to LDI for that free consultation. the night before i was reading all this bad reviews about LDI.. but i wanted to find out for my self! They where certainly right. I had the worst experience of my life, they have the worse customer service and are completely unprofessional. i felt like i was being rush into something with out even knowing anything about it or asking the questions that i had. i asked to speak to the Dr. and they said i couldn't. they told me i had to take care of the financing first and the go back when i had the money for it! i felt degraded and it was a waist of my time. i would never recommend anyone to this place i rather have my skin problem than to go there ever again. they did not even say thank you for coming. the man who i spoke to was so rude and after he walked me out he just turned around and disappeared! i don't even know how this place is still in business. they are way to expensive and they don't care about helping you out! one last thing the facility is so old and dirty the elevator did not work when i went i had to go through the stairs that where filthy!

I took my 17 year old son to the LDI in Beverly hills and yes some of the things that are listed here are true like the guy that came in with the price, I went ahead and signed the paper for the treatment and after the 1st treatment I can see GREAT RESULTS on my sons face. I beleive that the people that are in disagreement never actually tried the treatment. I am very happy with the results so far. I will try coming back here and post later after the treatment is completed.

I heard about LDI on the radio today. So so glad I read this. Thank you for sparing me the grief. I will not be going there.

I agree with the complaints...after reading most of them; I can't believe they are still operating in the same manner. I went to the Covina office, which by the way its an old and crappy building, and had the same experience. As soon as I enter the office I had major concerns about having any type of procedure done there. The office looked old and tired and the staff seemed like they have never tried any of their treatments, none of them seem to have good or well taken care of skin. After a few minutes, they asked me to wait in a room for a consultant ( I think they meant to say an ex-car salesperson). The little office was dirty and smelly, by this time I was 50% sure I was not going to get anything done there. Well, the ex-car salesman came in and asked what type of procedure I was interested in (which is a treatment for my oily skin) he looked at my skin from 4ft away and within a matter of 30 seconds he diagnosed me a treatment that would cost $12, 500.00! (Did not way what treatment...just quoted me the price). Now, I am 39 years old with good skin and look younger than my actual age. The ex-con...sorry ex-car salesman stated that I may not need the full treatment but that I was better off getting the full treatment done any way. Hummm, I don't need it but I should still pay for it...interesting?! While he was trying to get me to commit to that amount...I kept trying to ask questions about the treatment...but he wanted no part of it. I finally gave up and said NO, not interested in paying that amount, he quickly got up and showed me the door. That was by far the worse and weird experience I have ever had at a consultation...omg! Can anyone recommend a good dermatologist?

Same exact thing happended to me at Irvine office. Salesman in a suit looked at my face for 2 seconds and told me how much it would cost me. Then "in between the lines" he immediately asked if I have that much money. Thousands I'm talking about. Then he wanted me to commit right there and then to go for it. When I started asking questions, he got snippy. No printed price list, no list of procedures you will get for the price, how many, how long it will take, no explanations. They expect you to pay thousands of dollars based on 2 min talk with a salesman. And I'm pretty easy person to get sold, but this?
I'd rather pay reasonable amount ($40-$50) for a 15min of real consultation, then getting so discouraged at the FREE consultation, it is almost insulting. I don't want to brag, but the cost of the treatment will hardly affect my finances. However, if I give someone thousands of dollars, I need to make an informed decision and feel treated nice (not like a princess, just with respect). When I said I want to think it through, the saleman opened the door, like the other people here described, and said I could leave via the back door, which exits to the back parking lot, strange.
I went to the appointment pretty much ready to have the treatment started, based on the good looking website and cust service on the phone, but not interested any more. And the worst part about it is, that the treatment, equipment, doctors and nurses, themselves might have been the best ever! But no, thanks.

I agree with this. My wife saw Dr. Rispler for a consultation. He was so unprofessional. He himself was unhealthy looking both physically and emotionally. He just cares about money and nothing else. He staff was grumpy and rude. Don't even think about going there.

This is pretty insane. I'm so glad I read all of these reviews before considering anything. I can't even believe a company like that could continue to exist for so long. There are some serious flaws in the system.

With that being said...has anybody found a acne laser group that IS honest, well mannered, and effective? It'd be great to find a place to go to :/

hahaha! to those who disagree, i must say that you work for that crook Dr. Rispler or the heck his name is!
he is a toug, a theif!
i went there for acne hearing about his stupid location from kissFM!
he came to the room with his fat nurse for 2 min (i'm not kidding) EXACTLY 2 min! looked at my back, i only had 6-7 spots/red for pimple! i'm not a severe case however i wanted those to go away, he looked and said in a retarted manner to his nurse, " 3 appointments " and left! then listen to this, he has this [censor] looking old fart, dressing like a CEO for wallstreet!, calling himself " personal assistant", came to the room, with sum [censor] paper in his hand !( pretending to have some note in it, probably a pic of his wide [censor] butt was on that pic"., told me, " ok, for your face and back, with the discount if you start treatment today, your fee will be approx $9500"! hahahahahhahah
i looked at him, and said i dont' have acne like severe cases, i only have some red spot that will not EVEN count to 10, and this is your price?! LMAO!
he said yes!
ohhh by the way, the laser machines in those operatories looked like antic [censor]! so freaking old and out dated that i'm sure will cause cancer on anyone who is exposed to them!

b bye Dr. Thief! just dream about stealing from me you old [censor]!

I agree with the complaints because some of the things mentioned did in fact happen in my experience at the Covina office:

1. They had me sit in a room.
2. Doctor came in (now I wonder if he was a real doctor).
3. Doctor asked me what my concern was and I told him I want the acne removed off of my face.
4. Doctor looked at my face for about 5 to 10 seconds, grabbed my right hand and pointed to the skin between my thumb and pointing finger, and then told me that the skin on my face will look similar to it after the treatment.
5. I was expecting a more convincing explanation about the process, what it does, effectiveness, etc. so I asked about them but he only guaranteed to me that it works.
6. I asked him how much and he explained the number of sessions and after treatments and that it will all cost me around $4, 500.
7. There wasn't any door slammng but certainly there was rudeness from the doctor. He wasn't very attentive to my concerns and it felt more like he was just trying to make a sale and get out of the room.
8. After 5 minutes I was out of the consultation room.

BOTTOMLINE: I guess I am smart enough to know not to shed out $4, 500 for someone who only wants to invest 5 minutes of his time to convince me that his product works.

I am a physician and am not here to self-promote. If anything, I am a student of medicine and one of life. Medical practice in Southern California is competitive. Every discipline is represented by countless doctors. There are over 27, 000 licensed physicians in LA county. Only in Los Angeles do we encounter "Octomom", Mickey Rourke-type facelifts, and Heidi Montag-esque never enough surgery. Unfortunately, medicine is big business. It is easier to run a "fly-by-night" scam than it is to practice legitimate medicine. If you don't trust me, visit the radio and billboard practices. The bigger the ad campaign, the more likely it is that you will pay cash or credit for something that may not only be unsatisfying, but can prove dangerous or even fatal.

Witness:

1-800-get slim (ads pasted all over billboards and busses):

/URL removed/
http://www.meltingmama.net/wls/2010/03/1800getthin-in-deep-doo-doo.html

Rodeo Drive Liposuction:

http://www.mydralanbittnerstory.com/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123483369375096025.html

Full Body CT:

http://www.corp.ca.gov/ENF/pdf/s/scantech_complaint.pdf
http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/dimag/legacy/dinews/2003102701.shtml

and now LDI:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/laser-and-dermatology-institute-of-california-beverly-hills

Please protect yourself. These people and others are predatory businessmen who care nothing about you. If you have no credit or no money, they detest your presence in their office. The large ad campaigns often cost well into the 6 figures per month. Someone has to foot the bill. That someone is the unsuspecting consumer.
Find a good doctor from a personal referall. Ensure that they are Board certified:

https://www.abms.org/WC/login.aspx

And has a clean background:

http://www.medbd.ca.gov/lookup.html

If they are good, be loyal to their practice, and they will be dedicated to your health (And they won't ask to swipe your credit card at the door).

A rant from a concerned physician

Thank you so much for all the comments. I will not be going to LDI after reading how rude and expensive it is. 10K? that's crazy for laser...I just as well have a boob job then nobody would look at my face.

also the comments that praise the place in two complaints on this board are done by the same users, and the users only commented on these complaints. i think this says what their practices are like.

i noticed a pattern with LDI complaints. there's always someone defending LDI who had sucess with the same story (another derma is putting it up).

REAL dermatalogists who don't steal money, don't have the time nor the incentive to put up fake comments.

LDI who steals money has staff that goes around writing good about itself, and blames it on other dermatologists.

DONT TRUST COMMENTS THAT PRAISE LDI!

Wow thank you all for all this advise! I too was considering going to LDI before I came across this complaint board and now I wont be wasting my time or money there! Thank you once again! I'll take my money elsewhere.

I had the same experience except worse! I am a 22 year old full time working and full time college student that supports myself. I have suffered with a minor acne problem for a few years now. Now that my acne has calmed down i figured it would be a good idea to seek laser treatment. I have done extensive research and heard about ldi on one of my favorite radio stations. I decided to set up a free "consultation" and knew that it was going to be expensive, but since this is something I have been wanting to do for a long time I have saved a large amount of money to put towards this treatment. Ok to get to the point...basically they took me into a small room and asked me to remove my make-up and told me that the doctor's "assistant" would be in shortly for my "consultation". I was extremely gung-ho about the process. A man maybe in his 50's came in and wrote the prices on a piece of paper. He told me it would cost $8500.00 total for 3 treatments if i paid upfront, or $12, 0000.00 if I did a pmt plan. I then proceeded to ask him questions about the treatment and how it worked. I asked simple, basic questions. He then insulted my intelligence by telling me that it was beyond my learning capability and he felt that going into detail about the lasers would just confuse me. I kept asking my questions and told him that I was not going to jump into something without knowledge of what I was paying for. I could tell that the doctor's "assistant" was becoming extremely uneasy with my questions. He then yelled at me and pointed to his face and said that I was the one with the problem on my face and not him. I then asked if he was an assistant or just a sales guy. This ticked him off! I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared to be in that small room with him. He then told me that I needed to leave the building and tried to kick me out of the office, but I left willingly. When leaving out of the small room, he proceeded to tell me that I wasted my time because Hispanics like me would not be able to afford it. I was completey dumbfounded! I bursted out in tears because I have never been treated like that and I was caught completely off gaurd. I walked into the waiting room, and asked one of the nurses if I would be able to file a complaint. The doctor that is so highly talked about then came out saying to call the police on me. I stood there confused because I did not know why he would do such a thing, I mean in no way was I a threat to anyone there. He then yelled at me telling me that I was rude and I needed to leave before he contacted the police. I left in tears, confusion, and felt completely insulted. This "doctor's assistant" apparently thought he was better than me and I could not afford the treatment. When little does he know I have a very good paying job and I work literally in the same vicinity as the Irvine office. Also, my parents did not raise a fool. I am not going to stop by just placing this comment. I am looking into what I can do to fix this problem with LDI. I am not even asking for anything, and I definetly do not want anything at all from them. The fact that they could be so cold-hearted shows what kinda business they conduct. And if I am not able to do anything about this company, at least I can rest assured knowing that God punishes those who deserve punishment. As for the comment that is saying good things about LDI, its funny why someone who has already done the treatment is going on complaint boards. I think its LDI trying to save themselves...but i hope that we dont stop here because this is how crooks get away with things like this. But like I said before, God deals with everyone and even if they just get a slap on the wrist, eventually it will come back to them.

Thank you for taking the time to read my comment. I am sorry for those who had a simalar experience. I hope future goers of LDI's look into what they sign up for before they commit to it. Bottome line...I would never, ever refer anyone there and I am going to make sure others out there are aware of their business conduct!

I agree with the complaints! This place costs a ton of money and the doctor doesn't even do the procedures. I also paid $8, 000.00 and had two treatments. When I got worried about the next two major treatments I called to question a refund. They of course said no, the free consultation would cost 1, 000.00 and the two small treatments would eat up the rest of the 8, 000.00 already paid. So that was it. Money gone, they only give you 6 months to get everything done and when that runs out the money is theirs also. I feel ripped off and mad at L.D.I. Wish I had gone online before my visit and payment. Good luck to those new patients...

To cammy -- If you had a great experience, that's great. I agree with the post above. If I went somewhere and had a great experience and someone else had a bad experience, I wouldn't start throwing accusations around and call the other people liars. No one is perfect and no business is so perfect that every single customer is satisfied.

If you want to talk about your great experience there, great. But how quickly you get nasty and start calling ANYONE who posts a complaint about this business as liars makes your review HIGHLY suspicious.

What boards like this do is help people see when there is a negative trend occurring in a business and so they can compare their experience to others.

People can read this board and then if they go to LDI and are given rude, fast treatment and quoted 8, 500 for 3 treatments and then promptly scooted out the back door when they are taken aback at the price, then they know their experience is not unique and there are MANY others like it.

And might save a lot of people time, gas and parking if they know they are not interested in paying that kind of money.

Thanks i am reading your comments!
I have seen adevertisiment from this LDI somewhere and I decided to find out on line.
You save my time and money. Thanks!
I hate those kind of peolpe.
People should became doctors to help patients no to be millioneres. What you described sounds like a show, so desperate to sell you something. Too bad.
Also, we do not need to see many "people" before talking to the doctor. That way, they are an average of 5 people that have to get our money (added to the treatment costs), when it could be just the secretary and the doctor (and no a nurse and a selling guy). It shoulld be just a consultation.
Those costs you are mentining are craizy, too high.
I know i have not gone to the LDI, but with what you are wrinting it is enough for me to say THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOU EXPERIENCES.

laguy OMG! I was in the same Beverly Hills office with you today and ... DITTO! The place was wall to wall people everywhere and the guy in the suit came in and very quickly told Me the EXACT same thing -- that I would need 3 treatments of 3500 each or 8500 for the package.

What a coincidence that we both just "happened" to need the exact same thing! NOT!

The second I heard 3500 I said, "Way more than I was expecting." And he basically said. "Well, we're always here." As in, OK. Fine. Didn't care.

And I got the same "you can leave out the back." He couldn't get Me out fast enough.

Same thing-- no "thanks for coming, etc." Just -- "You can leave out the back."

Seems like a numbers game. They get enough people through the door, some will bite.

I was happy to leave. Had to pay 7.50 for parking and I figure I got off easy. 8, 500? You've got to be kidding Me. I am having breast augmentation and lipo in Beverly Hills and that is only 11, 500!

OMG this is too funny, the same thing happened to me today 07/09/2009

i got in to a terribly busy small office where everyone seemed rushed and stress, I went into a room and talked to a nurse I guess who asked me what I was in for and what i was using

next thing you know this guy in a suit comes in, does absoutely nothing but look at my face and tells me I would need 3 treatments that cost $3, 500 each, but I could do it for $8, 500 if I paid cash since i `said i would not finance

when i tried to ask about the results being permanent or if i would need more treatments in the future, he became snippy and said i was in a doctor's office and that there was no guarantee, i was like OK, i will have to think about it, thinking "what a bunch of crooks"

he opens the door and says you can leave through the back, i said no thanks, i have a friend waiting outside

i still want to this but will NOT do it with these crooks, I am sure I will get a better deal elsewhere with more professional people