So Vain laser clinic review: Bad Service 62

As above, I purchased the IPL from them and it didn't work. I have tried to contact them on at least 6 occasions over a 2 week period to discuss my concerns. They haven't returned my calls or answered my voice mails about the treatment. Unfortunately, I feel I have no option left but to complain on here :-(

I had IPL from them and it didnt work.

Thanks so much for the warnings. Just saw a deal on groupons and was thinking of purchasing a voucher but thought I'd google the So Vain business first. Lucky I did! They're definitely NOT getting my business now.

Haaaahahaaaaa you dumb dumb scragggs at So Vein your name is mud it is clear you are a pack of weasels trying to leech every cent you can for no or low service games up losers your shop will close within 6 months I'd say ... Suck ### you toe ragz !

Will never use So Vain EVER, EVER, EVER! A so called clinician at the salon BURNT my husbands back while aiming to use the laser. My husband clearly told her, if not yelled at her, that it was hurting him and he could smell his skin burning...but she just kept on going until an area the size of a mans hand was burnt! There was no after care provided at all...not even a cold compress. Upon trying to contact the owner, Gerry, it took her 2 whole weeks to return our calls, and all she did was claim that upon signing her so called "disclaimer" form, her hands are washed of the matter. She even had the nerve to state that the burn was superficial, when she hadn't even seen it! I'm appalled by the lack of care and courtesy at this pathetic excuse for a business. WILL NEVER GO THERE AGAIN AND WARN OTHERS NOT TO EITHER...save your skin from being burnt and then being abused by the staff afterwards.

I know for a fact one lady who was not anonymous who dealt with the feral owner herself infront of other clients, infact the whole scenario has been mentioned here already. Run a better business and play fairly by the rules stated on the voucher. Also refrain from yelling to clients in front of other clients as this is not endearing either. Another lesson to the owner: good news travels fast, bad news even further and faster. This board has nothing to do with starting a vendetta but simply helping other people to not be scammed into spending their money on a business that doesnt deliver what it promises. No one should have to deal with such a rude and unprofessional owner such as the one running So Vain.

If you purchase a voucher which has conditions, it's up to you to make sure you follow them. If you're not willing to do that - and then whinge - you really need to grow up!Excuses like "I couldn't get them on the phone" are just piss poor excuses.

BUT if you make an appt and get there on time to find the salon closed without explanation, the salon needs to make it up to you. And if you're not getting products/service you've paid for, you have every right to complain under consumer law.

If you have a genuine complaint the owner won't acknowledge, fair enough to complain on this or any other website. But you shouldn't be allowed to do this anonymously as you must be acountable for your actions. Losing business because of someone who cannot follow rules, with a vendetta, is NOT fair.

OMG! Thanks for the heads up guys. I live within walking distance of this business & was planning on going in to have some unwanted hair lasered for my mum & I. I was planning on paying full price so its a good thing I looked at this site. Boohoo to them!

Wow already in less than a week so many complaints! It seems like she's annoyed she couldn't use the old "sorry its expired" speil so instead she's just going off at everyone. Just thought I would let you guys know that there is a beauty deal website on Facebook thats lists all beauty deals nation wide and ive posted a warning on their wall as well as a link to this board. I want as many people to know about So Vain and their false advertising as possible! Spread the word people!

This will probably come as no shock but I too have been treated poorly by the skanky blonde at So Vain. She has refused to honour my voucher even though it has still not expired. If she is so fed up with coupons why is she telling people another one will be out?! I will be contacting Scoopon for not only a refund but to also report her as I hope she is black listed so that she is prevented from putting up deals on other sites. She is basically a crook with a horror head and potty filled mouth. She thinks that for $59, customers should only be entitled to one session...THEN ADVERTISE THIS AND NOT $500+ worth of treatment! Please DO NOT GO HERE! The fact that she yelled at another customer in from of more coupon customers just proves what little regard she has for people and that she has no decorum or class... granted thats obvious just by looking at her brassy hair and caked on face. I reiterate, please avoid So Vain at all costs!

I have to say that i agree with many of the comments that have been listed above my comment about So Vain. I’ve experienced a similar situation to what has already been mentioned. I purchased a $59 scoopon voucher which entitled me to up to $550 worth of laser treatments, I had made a set booking once I purchased the scoopon. Than on the days of my appointment I than had received a phone call that I had to reschedule my booking because the manager was unable to come in on that day because she had gastro or some sort of illness, by all means that is fair enough if that was the real reason to why I had to rebook. So therefore I rescheduled my appointment to get my treatment, when I went in for my treatment there was a dispute with the blond lady which I think is the owner with another customer. She had such a fowl mouth screaming from the top her lungs full yelling at the client and was saying that she is sick of these cheap scoopon clients. The lady was stunned by the behaviour of the manager and the language that she was using to deal with the situation. She has no professional qualifications with customer service, I own a boutique of my own and that is no way to approach anyone that comes through the door, no matter what the situation or problem is. There are different approaches that can be used to satisfy both sides of the party. After I completed my appointment i went to make another appointment and than i was told that i was unable to get another one because they were fully booked out and they couldn’t really do anything about it, than the blond lady butted in and said that i should have made future appointments. The blond lady needs to really pull her head out of her ### and stop dealing and treating her clients with this type of manner, then and there i just wanted to tell her ugly blond slutty head where to go, but i would never lower my standards to someone like that, who obviously has no life and has nothing good going for her. Another false thing that I have noticed within the salon is with her false advertisement, she displays in her salon that the treatments for hair removal is with laser. When I went into the room for my treatment I than found out it was IPL. Laser and IPL are two different methods of hair removal, I spoke to my husband who is a lawyer and looked into this problem more, especially considering the other negative feedback that was given about this salon. He had informed me that legal action can be taken place. Salons like this with owners like the blond lady should be shut down and not even be up and running. So I do warn ALL people out there who are considering going to this salon NOT TO! You will be wasting your time and money going to this salon. My girlfriend was also informed when she went in for her treatment, that there was going to be another cheap amazing deal for laser treatment that will be coming out soon. So all people beware on what your buying, not just from this salon but from all salons around Melbourne that do these cheap deals and what there main aim is!

The owner of this business lies & talks over you as soon as you confront her with any negative feedback on the service at her shop.She cancelled my appointment & when I called back to re schedule she told me that she only had room for a 15 minute booking when my cancelled appointment was for a full leg which takes much longer than the allocated time. I was told by the owner that I only paid $59 & that she was not making money from scoopon customers. I then told her that it wasn't my problem & wanted the deal I payed for & she lost her mind, yelling, screaming, swearing. I work in retail & have never witnessed such bad treatment of a customer in my life. The owner of so vain is simply rude, self centred, & just a bad egg. I will tell everyone I know to stay away from so vain & not purchase any deals no matter how tempting.

My daughter and I both had appointments booked for the same day however when we arrived at So Vain, the salon was closed. Initially when we made the appointment we asked the girl if they would be open on Cup Day and she said yes and proceeded to write the appointment in their book. After waiting for half an hour we called and left them a message, it has been 4 days and still no word from So-Vain. They have not called either of us on our respective mobile phones. Today I actually went into the salon and spoke to the lady who had made my appointment. She pretended not to know what I was talking about. I asked her why we had not received a call to to reschedule our appointments or to even inform us that the salon would be closed. She did not apologise and I told her that this was simply appalling service to not inform your clients. At this time the manager butted into the conversation and said that she had called me using a private number. I told her that I had not received any calls as I had been waiting by my phone as I wanted to reschedule. She then proceeded to tell me that they had many clients to call so that they may have missed me. I then informed her that my daughter had also not received a phone call. She then said, "I'm tired of coupon customers expecting too much." We are only expecting what you have advertised. That is all. If she can not and will not comply with the terms that she has stated then that is misleading and a complete breach of the ACCC law. I should also add that our vouchers are both still valid. I have since checked that she obviously doesn't give good customer service as she has done many deals on various websites as there must be very few people choosing to go back to So-Vain thanks to their incompetence and complete lack of customer service. For anyone who is looking for a genuine and reputable clinic to go to, please steer well away from this pathetic "business" (seriously how many well established businesses have you come across that calls clients on a private number?" and instead choose Obagi or Clear Skin Care Clinic. Both have amazing, intelligent staff who go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction is met 110%. I thought I would give So-Vain a try due to locality however I don't mind the extra half an hour to St Kilda or South Yarra if I can get great service.

I had also booked a scoopon deal that is NOT expired and had an appointment however when I rocked up to my appointment at 12.30 surprise! No one was at the salon, they were closed. I had not recieved a call from them to cancel my appointment, i've since left 2 messages and 4 days later I have still not been called for either a reschedule or apology. This includes not being called from their private number... that in itself should serve as a warning to others, what sort of reputable business has a private number? Granted the owner doesn't seems like the brightest person as she believe that paying $59 is good enough for one treatment yet if she truely believes this then that is what she should advertise not $550 worth of treatments. She also does not seem to grasp the concept that people will come back due to exceptional service.I am pleased to know thought that it looks like i'm not the only person to receive such appauling service from this poor excuse for a business. Perhaps she should be contacted with lawyers who can inform her about false advertising as that is what it is according to the ACCC new laws that have been introduced as of January 2011.

I really think only that one person is writing exactly the same post. I always receive emails from scoopon but up till today So Vain advertised the best deal so far. For something like $59 I got $550 worth of treatment of my choice. The thing is if your 'voucher' that you bought was expired, if you do not understand what this word means please check out this link I have conveniently provided http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/expired . I live in Port Melbourne which is known for the beauty salons but I travel about 40 minutes for any treatment I need ESPECIALLY photo rejuvenation. My scarring on my skin was so severe, with one treatment the results were amazing! I never thought my skin could look this amazing especially with only one treatment. I still have a few more treatments to go but I honestly cannot wait to post my before and after photos on this board. The salon in itself is so cozy and the interior design is immaculate. Their service isn't like other salons, they are really friendly and treat their staff as their friends not just clients. By the way photo rejuvenation does not take longer then 5 minutes unless you face is as big as an elephant. I honestly could not believe the comments I saw, I completely disagree and these comments are VERY misleading. Out of the thousands of customers they have, not to mention the clients who have discovered such an amazing salon through their amazing deals, there is bound to be unhappy customers but they should have a valid reason not that they couldn't get a treatment due to having an expired voucher. I know this is the case as I have had a whole heap of treatments including laser and rejuvenation and I couldn't be happier. Every time I go there the salon has a load of clients and they like myself are very happy. So stop giving misleading information, I have had treatments here and I travel and take out hours of my day just so I can receive their treatments when I could easily go to any other salon in my own area. That's all :)

Getting an appointment at this place is an achievement in itself. I was really un happy with the results. I left my laser hair removal appointment with hair on my legs! Furthermore, at another appointment to laser off some scars, I was left burnt with scars that are now much and much bigger then what I began with. No apologies from So Vain though.

I also didnt have a great experience with them. 3 lots of photo rejuvenation with no result at all. The owner took 7 minutes to do my whole face! Not going back.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha OMG you tight ###! for $59 you sit there complaining, although cotradicticting yourselves, would you drink expired Milk? Expired = Void! Who has the time to write all this ###? Notice these people who complain are all expired vouchers? hahahhahahhahahhahahahhaha Tight ###! Talk about squeezing blood out of a stone! The service I had was damn exceptional! GET A LIFE OR A ROOT!

I have the same grievance against So Vain as suffered by Nevaagn, it's almost as if I wrote the original complaint.
Firstly, I bought a voucher in good faith to use within the time allotted (which incidentally was only 3 months). However, I was unable to get through on the phone when calling to make an appointment (this was about a week after purchasing the voucher), and eventually gave up and put it aside to try again later when I would be able to get through on the phone.
When I next picked up the voucher it had been expired by one week, but I called So Vain and spoke to a person in the salon who said their boss would not honour it. I left a message for the owner/manager to call me, and after a week I phoned back again as I hadn't heard from them. FIrstly, when I spoke with the owner she disputed that she hadn't phoned me back, she said she had a blocked number and didn't leave a message (firstly - as a business owner, who has a blocked number, and secondly - why not leave a message?).
She informed me that they wouldn't honour the voucher as they had another voucher offer on another daily deal-type website that day, and I could go there to buy a voucher and use it to get some services. Seriously - why would I throw more money at her to get her services, when she's already treated me with disrepect?
The other important thing to notice is that they advertised "permanent hair free" results - but I know from already having several IPL treatments at another interstate salon, that one session is not sufficient, you need about 6 sessions and need to space them out by about 4 - 6 weeks each time. So - when you buy a voucher for $550 worth of treatment, as I did, you get a single opportunity to go and have the work done, which in fact will not permanently rid you of unwanted hair, it's only the first in a long series of treatments you'll need to get results. The other thing to keep in mind is that no-one in their right mind would pay $550 for the treatments they advertise on a deal such as this - all salons such as these offer deals and large discounts to this price as enticements, because they know it's ridiculous to pay so much money for this service when competition is rife inthe industry.
The owner was extremely rude on the call and kept informing me that So Vain look after their customers, and asked whey she would want to treat me for free (she argued that the deal website wouldn't pay her after the expiry date for redemptions). I reminded her that I'd paid for services at her clinic, and considered myself a customer, but that now I'd never go there. She didn't seem to be able to appreciate the concept of goodwill - that the purpose of these deals is to allow people to experience the salon, and then if good service is provided, that they would go back there and pay full price, and most likely tell their friends. She also wasn't savvy enough to realise that bad news travels faster than good and the power of consumers.
With IPL and laser treatments always being heavily discounted (the business has low barriers to entry and she's competing against every beauty salon with an IPL machine, including some large franchises, and even at-home machines now available on the market), there is even more incentive to demonstrate exemplary customer service skills, so she has failed this test.
The owner had the gall to tell me that I obviously didn't know anything about business and besides patronisingly calling me "darling", talked loudly over me and eventually hung up in my ear. Wow - how's that for poor treatment of her own customer!
I am sure that with an attitude like this, that So Vain will go out of business soon enough, but this is a lesson of Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware .
I contacted the daily deal website and told them of my grievance - they put a credit for that amount in my account. I was very impressed they took this seriously and I will be a return customer of the deal website, but will tell anyone who's willing to listen about the poor experience with So Vain.

I hear you Nevaan, I was only a few days outside my expiry date, and they would not honour it. They just take money and give such little time to use such a voucher - we are all busy people. You know, honouring such a voucher could have led to a lot more loyalty and business from me in the future - now I won't go near them.

Wow Zoe! I was planning on getting my girlfriend a Scoopon voucher for ‘So Vain’, but screw that idea in the ear.

Reading the OP’s post I assumed that this was just another disgruntled customer (every business has them). Then I read your response… Lawyers? Are you ###ed? You would have been better off apologising and offer for Nevaan to contact you directly to resolve her gripe.

Now people like me are going to see your post and just assume that you’re a pack of knobs.

Dear Nevaan
The reason your voucher was not honoured is becausee you came 3 months later after it was finished! I heard about you! So vain Laser Clinic goes above and beyond any customer services and treatments. People like you that buy cheap vouchers and want to squeeze blood out of a stone are not needed for any business! Out of 1500 customers who bought the deal you are the only one who complained because you wanted to get a free treatment basically!
These vouchers have an expiry date and it is printed in black and white! Read it!
To give such a cheap deal and have the beautiful girls at so vain go through all your treatments and then say you were not happy just because you could not be bothered coming in when you were supposed to is ungreatful! You are defaming their name and you will hear from their Lawyers very soon!
People like you should not be allowed to purchase any deals for any business! You are rude and insensitive!