Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/10/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My wife and I purchased several gift certificates for Sudbury Skin Clinique at various charitable and fundraising events over the years (all of which were attended by Dr. ******** We put the amount on my wife's account in the amount of $1500, to avoid misplacing or losing the physical certificates. My wife and I have had multiple visits/treatments at this establishment. They were either covered through insurance or gifted by Dr. ****** herself. Our balance should remain the same. We had not been since pre-Covid, so I had called last November 2023 to check on our balance and book an appointment. I was told there was no balance whatsoever. I requested a phone call explaining where the funds went but did not receive a reply. My wife called twice in the Spring (2024). The first time, she was told the same. The second time, my wife explained things more specifically, such as Dr. ****** is aware of the certificates that were purchased, that treatments were gifted from Dr. ****** herself, and was told all previous visits showed how much they cost and the amount was taken off our $1500 "tab". Essentially, we were charged for what should have been free. Again, the balance should be there in full. My wife requested a call back in explanation, and again no call was received. We are confident this is simply a clerical error, as all staff at Sudbury Skin Clinique are friendly and professional. We would just like to have our balance adjusted to the proper amount.

  Business Response

  Date: 15/10/2024

  Hello,

  Mr. ***** ******* contacted me (**** **** office Administrator) via Messenger on my personal
  account in November of 2023 and I responded with a breakdown of his wife Mrs. ***** ********
  account. Which I will break down below. Please note this previous communication is no longer visible in
  my Messenger account. It has been deleted and not by me. I can no longer find it in my account. I should
  have taken a screen shot and put in patients chart; I did not as I did not think it would come to this.
  

  I then received only 1 message after November 2023 that Mrs. ******* ******* called on April 8, 2024.
  I was not in the office that day. It is charted in our electronic medical records (EMR) messages. I did not
  respond to her as this had already been discussed with her husband in detail.
  

  Mrs. ******* had a $500 gift card she purchased from a silent auction charitable event in 2014 that ***
  ****** donated to. She also received a $500 credit personally from *** ******* for her birthday in ****,
  because they were good friends.
  

  Both were added to her chart in our EMR (electronic medical records) for a total of $1000 on January 15,
  2016. A copy of the gift certificate from the charitable event is scanned in her chart. We have no other
  records of any outstanding gift cards.
  On January 20, 2016, she used $307.36 towards *****, Invoice # ******. She had a remaining credit of
  $692.64.
  

  Furthermore, *** ****** offered Mrs. ******* laser hair removal at no charge again, just because they
  were friends. The average treatment package plan per body area is usually 5 treatments, and common
  areas treated are axilla, lower legs and bikini.
  

  Mrs. ******* did take full advantage of this kind offer doing well over 5 treatments per area. When this
  issue was brought up of an unused gift card from 2015, *** ****** was not aware of the extent that Mrs.
  ******* had taken advantage of her offer of laser hair removal. I took it upon myself to summarize it.
  

  From Oct 18th, 2016, to March 8th, 2018, Mrs. ******* received 27 treatments in different body areas
  with a total value of $5,350. One would assume that this amount would more than cover the gift of
  $500 she had received from *** ******.
  

  All this can be provided as proof from our EMR which has recorded encryption that can show that these
  entries were not altered with.
  

  These values do not include other free services that *** ****** gave Mrs. ******* over the years.
  December 3, 2014 ***** and filler training (approx. value $ $1450)
  January 11, 2016, started ****** Zwave treatments. Did 8 treatments total (approx. value $200)
  February 8, 2016 - Silk Peel ($150 value)

  As you can see Mrs. ******* has benefited greatly from *** ******* generosity over the years, due to
  their friendship.
  

  Unfortunately, Mrs. ******* unfriended *** ****** in September 2021, thus ending their friendship, but
  still appears to expect more free treatments.
  

  Nevertheless, we would be happy to honor the $ ****** for the gift certificate that was purchased at a
  charity event in 2014 and that we have on record ($500 - $307.36 invoice #****** = $******).

  Mr. ******* states they had $1500 in credit. I can validate the $1000 claim. However, we do not have a
  record of another $500 gift card in Mrs. ******** name or credit to her account. If she has another gift
  card from a charitable event, it was not presented to our office. Nor do these events notify us of who
  the recipient is. In good faith, we will honor it if she has physical proof of the gift card but only with an
  online store credit for product.
  

  I feel it would be in both parties' best interest that she does not seek any further services in office.

  Please note that these gift cards were donated to charities on our behalf, the moneys used to purchase
  these gift cards at these events go directly to the charity and not to our establishment and they are
  rarely claimed at the full value of the silent auction prize. We are happy to provide these gifts cards to
  support these organizations (over 100 organizations/events in the last 15 years) and have always
  honoured them to the full value amount on the card that was donated.
  

  We have also never had a better business bureau complaint in 18 years for that matter.

  I would also like to note that other than the gift cards, Mrs. ******* has not spent any money directly
  at our clinic ever.

  The value of all treatments offered to Mrs. ******* equate to $7150.00 in addition the services offered with gift cards.

  With permission from Mrs. ******* or if legally required we would be happy to have our EMR service
  provider provide you with a full log of Mrs. ******** chart.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/11/2024

   First and foremost, *** **** **** ******** sister and office manager) claimed there was no amount remaining on my wife's account when I contacted her last year. My wife called twice this past Spring (phone records) and was told the same both times.  The second call was when she was informed in detail that all treatments that had initially been gifted to her had been inputted or changed to be marked as full priice.

    My wife and I both attended two charity events in Sudbury, *******, where certificates were purchased. One was a Euchre Night at the Legion, the other was a ******************* charitable event at the *****************. Each certificate was for $500. (Total $1000) 

    My wife also attended a Ladies' "Country" Cancer Event at Verdiccio's where she purchased another $500 certificate. This brings the total amount to $1500, not including the $500 birthday gift/ credit. 

    The laser hair removal treatment was gifted for her birthday (it was 10 sessions for her full body- not each individual session for a different body part, as is being claimed, making it sound like a multitude of services and charges). ********* ***** can attest to this fact, as she was present when the sessions were gifted.

    Another year for her birthday, she received a silk peel and facial. **** ******** can attest to this because she felt slighted having not received anything for her birthday, which is right before *****, and contact Dr. ****** about it (later receiving her own service as a gift).

    The ***** and filler were offered for free as well as "training," and before and after photos were taken in lieu of payment, as was the agreement. I was present for this. The same goes for the ****** Zwave treatments, as it was new at their office at that and my wife was asked if she would like to volunteer as someone to try it out. ********* ***** was also a volunteer for this procedure.

    All gift cards were relinquished at the same time, though they are claiming only one was given.  Again, I was also in attendance for two of the three events where certificates were purchased. 

    Claiming 27 treatments makes it sound as though there were that many different procedures done, not multiple laser hair sessions (one gift) and multiple ****** Zwave treatments (volunteer). All other claims made towards **** or myself, bear no standing on the definition of a gift.

    The fact that all treatments that were originally gifted to ***** are now marked as charges on her account proves that changes were made to her chart/records. To claim my wife "did take full advantage" and "appears to expect more free treatments" is slanderous and false. We are asking for what is right, honest, and what is owed to us both.  Being that *** **** has declared, "[she] feel[s] it would be in both parties' best interest that [*****] does not seek any further services in office," it is fair to request a cash refund or certificate in the proper and full amount owed.

  ***** & ***** *******

  Business Response

  Date: 13/11/2024

  We have proof in our records of a gift certificate from the "Euchre tournament hockey team fundraiser in 2014" that was given to the front desk staff in 2016. It was applied towards ***** services (not training) by ***** ******* for $307.36 Jan 20th, 2016.

  She was also given a hand written birthday card from Dr ****** (they were good friends) for a value of 500$, Dr ****** can't remember the date of this but it was noted in her account- Jan 15th, 2016. So there would be a balance of $******.

  Dr ****** offered Mrs. ******* free laser hair treatments which were started in October 2016- She does not recall saying a specific amount of treatments ie 10 treatments for full body. This was not in exchange for any services it was just Dr ****** being generous. Certainly, generosity between friends is not bound by law.

  The total amount done would be a consumer value of $ 5 350.Had she had to pay for it, she would have been given a friends and family discount of 20% which would be $ 4 280.

  Any reasonable person would assume, this would more than cover the ****** balance remaining.

  Mrs ******* was not charged for any treatments in the previous response except the one ***** session that was not a training or complementary treatment. We simply wanted to highlight this as we feel, Dr ****** has been more than fair with Mrs ********
  It is possible she may have won silent auction items at other events such as those mentioned ie. ******************* (date unsure,would need more detail) and the ************************* take ********* was on October 12, 2018) as claimed, but these were never brought to the clinic to be redeemed or entered into her file.

  Mrs ******* has not been to our clinic since March 8th, 2018 (the last laser hair removal visit).

  How can Mr ******* claim All gift cards were relinquished at the same time, when the Verdicchio event was held on October 12, 2018 more than 2 years later?

  There is no record of them coming to the office after March 2018 to have the gift card transferred to credit on Mrs ******** file. The Verdicchio's event was definitely an electronic card which would have needed to be validated by our system for tax purposes. Loadable gift cards have been in use in our office since October 2016. There is no record of them redeeming these cards to be transferred to credit in their chart.

  We can provide proof that that gift card has not been redeemed and still has an outstanding balance of $500.
  Furthermore, there is no cash surrender value for these types of donations/gift certificates. I have attached a copy of the back of our gift cards that states our gift card policy.

  Dr. ****** gives out many silent auction prizes for fundraisers and cannot recall if Mrs. ******* was indeed the recipient at either of these events and neither do ********* ***** or **** ******** after discussing this with them. The charities do not notify us of the winners. 

  So when they called multiple times, myself nor the receptionist would have been able corroborate their claim as they were not purchased directly through our clinic.  They would have had to have brought them in in order to put that credit on file. We would have had to clear the cards prior to crediting them to chart.

  It is the responsibility of any recipient of a gift card to bring it to the clinic as proof.

  If the complainant has tangible proof of payment/purchase, copy of receipt which would have been issued by the event for tax purposes or the actual gift cards of these events as would be standard practice for any gift card, Dr ****** will honour the value remaining in question from either or both the ******************* and ************ events.

  They can email these directly to the BBB and we will issue a new gift card that can be used for redemption of product purchases over the telephone with the cosmetic receptionist; no in person services or cash.  Items can be viewed online on our website or they can have a phone consult with one of our technicians.

  The items will then be delivered to them by ************

  This will be done on condition, that the complaint is withdrawn.