Skin Vitality Medical Clinic

On May 26th, 2018 I went to the Skin Vitality Clinic at 11 Yorkville Ave, Toronto to ask about their Coolsculpting and Venus Freeze procedures. Following a consultation with ***, in which I declared all medical conditions, including a recent diagnosis of skin cancer, I was talked into a prepaid agreement for future treatments, totaling $1908.88 including taxes. This was paid immediately by credit card.

On June 2nd, 2018, I returned for my first treatment, and during further consultation, they said they could not perform the services and procedures due to my skin cancer.

They said they could not do anything for me at the clinic that day and I was given a phone number and email of the person to contact for a refund.

The contact is *** phone number XXX-XXX-XXXX email ***@skinvitality.ca

After repeated calls and emails to ***, and an acknowledgement that she has sent this to be processed "urgently", I have not been refunded after more than 1 month has passed.

I feel that I had prepaid for a service that was never provided and should be entitled to a full refund.

My experiences with skin vitality have been satisfactory until the beginning of April 2018. I opted to have cool sculpting- something I'd never tried before. After a consult with the nurse and a small fortune charged to my card, I was excited and ready to go! I booked my full day and met with the practitioner where I was asked if I had any hernias. I wasn't 100% sure so she told me she was unable to perform the procedure and suggested I see a doctor to verify. I did, that day. I had an ultrasound and was told I had an umbilical hernia. With doctors note in hand, I requested a refund. Obviously, this made sense as I could not get what was agreed to done. It took over a week to get a response from "customer service" if you can call it that. This was mid-April. It's been more than a month and a half and I still have not received a refund nor am I able to get a response from customer service. I've since been charged over $400 in interest

In January 2018, I went into the Skin Vitality office in Richmond Hill for a free consultation on cool sculpting. The sales person was really great in selling me the services for &7,000 - she was great at selling me on the professional caring and pain free services the company offered with RNs and doctors in attendance at the clinic - as a diabetic this was really important to me. I attended my first treatment a week later to find out that these were all lies and that the treatments were very painful and no doctors or RNs were on premises. With no follow-up from the clinic - I contacted Sarah P to let her know about the lack of support I received from this office and technician and she was very apologetic. 6 weeks later I returned for the final treatments and mentioned to the Technician I still had severe pain in my stomach area...she told me this was normal and that the 2nd treatment would be better. We proceeded with the treatment against my better judgement and almost passed out in the room from the pain - I asked for the nurse and to have the treatment stopped - she insisted that I should finish the treatment as it will be difficult to get future appointment. She placed a cold compress on my head and left me in the room by myself. I was scared and my anxiety level was really high as I felt throughout the treatment as if I will pass out in the suffocating room. There was no medical professional on premises at the time.

Below is my letter from two weeks ago to Sarah P - for which I have had no response.

Hi Sarah,

I am now responding to your email as I have been terribly ill since my last treatment. As mentioned to you, my 2nd treatment resulted in severe pains for which I had 4 visits to the hospital and have had several specialist appointment to figure out why the treatment received would result in such extreme pain. I am now on a daily regiment of medications to help alleviate the horrible pain which I have as a result of the treatment.
I have been in contact with my lawyer and he has asked me to reach out to you with regards to this matter to see what you are willing to do to compensate me for the lack of results and the now 4 months of suffering since my 1st treatment.

Sarah, I feel that your sales person and technician were only interested in my money and not in truly helping me with getting to my goals. I am a woman of 160lbs who have lost 40lbs to diet and exercise and just wanted to have a better appearance - I was told by your team that I am a great candidate for this treatment and that we would get great results with minimal discomfort which was not true. I was told by your sales person that I could work during my treatments which was totally not true - in fact, I almost passed out during my treatment.

As discussed with you, I will settle for a full refund of these services and a written apology from your company for the lack of caring for me as a client and putting my life at risk during these treatments.

I would like your insurance information as I will be filing a claim with your insurance company.

Kindest regards,

Donna R

I had purchased 50 units of Botox at Skin Vitality and am very happy with the results.
I was greeted by a not so friendly receptionist. I received numerous forms to fill out.
I was seen by a professional office manager.
I was seen by a RN who explained everything to me and asked me if I had any questions.
They honoured their discount from the previous week.
The place on Bayview and Hwy 7 was very clean.
I would definitely go back.

I visited Skin Vitality at their Yorkville location on Feb. 8 at 6:30pm to get *** treatment. I was required to see a consultant *** first and she pressured me into purchasing a service called *** for approx. $1600. I was told I had 4 days to decide if I wanted to cancel the service. I agreed to purchase this and it was charged to my ***. Approximately 10 minutes later I decided I did not want the *** service and requested my card not be charged. I was told by *** after I was made to wait 20 minutes that it was too late to reverse the charge, and the charge was going to head office even though it was after 7pm by this time. *** gave me a number to call at head office, which was not actually a number at head office when I called. The person on the phone said she has nothing to do with charges and hung up. I finally tracked someone down, her name is ***. She told me it would be no problem to get a refund, and it could take up to 20 days for it to appear on my visa statment. It's been over 45 business days now and I have not received a refund. I emailed *** twice in the past few weeks and she is no longer responding to my emails. She did not give me her phone number.

I booked for the free consultation for the fraxel treatment, with a "professional" technician(or that what they promised with) turned out that she doesn't know much about the basic information that I should get before proceeding with the treatment! When I went for the scheduled appointment, they chargered me 650$ as soon as I entered the clinic, just to be told by the technician that I cannot do the fraxel treatment because the information I got at the free consultation was not enough, and that I have to go back to the creams I was using for at least two more weeks, they also informed me that I will have acne breakouts from the treatment heat, and that I will have cold sores breakout that might spread to my face!!!(as I have a history of cold sores, something that I mentioned in my file at the first visit to the clinic) if I didn't take another cream for the cold sores three days before and three days after the treatment( of course I wasn't informed about that too at the "free consultation")!!!! Something that scared me so much and totally put me off, I also got really upset that I was not informed about all the side effects before paying the money????!!!! At least to have the luxury of choosing to proceed with treatment or not, instead of being forced to get it especially now that I already paid for it!!!
When I got out I asked them to refund back my money, first they refused than when I insisted the lady at the reception tried to refund it but it got declined, she told me to get in touch with Sarah(the customer service manager) who was a complete disappointment didn't give me the money, and offered me 200$ to use toward the treatment that I don't feel safe anymore to do!! When I sent her back thanking her and asking for my money telling her that the stuff were totally unprofessional and that I don't want to deal with the clinic she stopped replying to my emails altogether!!!!!!
*** even if you see a reply form the clinic to that post trust the several reviewers that mentioned that they will stop replying to your call and emails, and know that they will never refund your money, don't pay them till you are sure that you will 100% get the service.

On February 3rd 2018 my daughter and I visited the Port Credit location
to check out the botox promotion that was happening. The representative that we were speaking to advised that I would need more of a filler than botox and tried to upsell me. she then called in another lady named *** who advised I would need a filler plus *** treatment for my face. She advised there was a promotion going on as I told her the treatment was too expensive.

*** spoke to both my daughter and I about the *** treatments, I told her I had done *** treatments before and my face was severely burnt and turned dark because of it. My daughter also advised her of This and we really didn't want to go through with this procedure. She advised this was not an issue and there would be no burnt skin or any down time. She was very pushy even though we told her we couldn't afford she started talking about financing and the promotion that was going on and we could save $600.00. She was quite convincing in assuring us I would be looked after.
I went home and thought anout it on February 8th I called the office to speak to *** anout a refund, I was told she was out of the office and was on vacation and it was beyond the time to cancel. Which at that point was only 6 daysI *** tried to speak to other representatives but no one could help.I went to my first appointment and I was late abbout 15 minutes and on top of that I had to wait as well for the person doing the treatment. She came down to tell me I was late and would not be getting my treatment despite her making me wait as well. This is not a location that is close for me
To get to, it is quite far. I was really upset about the whole situation from the beginning to this point. She said she would do it when I expressed how hard it was to get there and that I again wanted to
Cancel. She gave in and did the consultation she advised there would be downtime due to swelling and other side effects. Again *** said there wouldnt be. Spoke to *** and no hp
Product_Or_Service: *** treatments
Account_Number: ISF-XXXXXX

The clinic has sold me products that no one in their clinic is able or willing to inject during my multiple attempts to schedule appointments.

The vial of filler has been waiting for over a year and is worth over $700. I no longer wish to do business with them and after several calls and emails I am getting no where and can not get my money refunded.

On November 20th 2017, I schedule an consultation appointment to get details on the cool sculpting services offered by skin vitality. I met with ***. She seemed fairly nice and stated if I had any other questions about their services to send an email or call her at anytime. Upon leaving she said to reserve an appointment to have the procedure done as they are running out of availability and it could take a while to reserve appointments, I told her that was ok I would call back to book an appointment however she was persistent and I agreed to book an appointment after agreeing she mentioned to reserve appointments we need to make a downpayment of at least 50% the quote she gave me was over $2000 for the service. I told her I cant pay that kind of money without having a discussion with my partner, I only came to the consulting to gather information about the procedure and will discuss with my spouse to see if its something we want to do - *** said she understood so she will have me make a smaller downpayment of $300 and if my spouse have any concerns or questions to call her. Ususally he wouldve accompanied me but he had to work late so I went alone. *** accompanied me to their receptionist/cashier at the front and I paid the $300 as requested and magically an available appointment showed up for Nov 29th and her earliest prior was Dec 2 2017 so she scheduled me for Dec 2 2017 as I told her I wasnt in a hurry I need to speak with my partner plus the 5 day cancellation would be too close. I had asked should I changed my mind what is your cancellation policy- *** said to me 5 days prior to appoinment the receipt I got says full amount to be refund for all appointments canceled 24 hrs before the scheduled date.
On November 22nd 2017 sent *** an email after calling her twice and leaving a voice message and getting no response. See email below and she never replied so again I sent same email on Nov 26th 2017 by then I was very concerned.
On Nov 26 after not hearing back from *** I called the office and asked to cancel the appointment and I was coming by that evening for refund, lady whom I spoke with said " I will cancel your appointment however we do not refund from our location the refund will be from head office I said but I paid using a debit card she said a check would be sent and she hung up. I got a call few days later confirming my apt for dec 2nd so I said I had canceled and waiting for refund. She said ok I will cancel but you need to speak with *** from head office regarding refund and was given her email ***@skinvitality.ca and I emailed her on nov 30th she replied Dec 5th only to apologize about *** but no mention of refund. I sent another email about me canceling and refund status on Dec 6th she replied "We will make an exception and refund your deposit.What method of payment was used?" I responded and its now Mar 16th 2018 and no reply, no check received and they wont return any calls. I have several email from speaking with their customer service, etc. Every person ignored my request for refund and was told not to come to office as no refund can be done their one person called as *** as soon as I mentioned I emailed you she laughed and said *** will respond to my email she is a different *** then hung up. Ive made many attempts but no resolution.

Forwarded message
From: ***
Date: Wed, Nov 22, 2017 at 11:15 AM
Subject: CoolSculpting Appt. ***
To: ***@skinvitality.ca

Hello ***,
Good day,
Thanks for having me in on Monday for consulting regarding getting a coolsculpting done. The major concern my fiance has at this time has to do with excess skin and flabby skin after treatment. I never did ask that question, could you address this for me please?
I wont reschedule apt from Dec 2nd 2017 as yet, as my partner still does not think I need to get the procedure done.Looking forward to your reply.

I had a consultation for a *** facial in January 2018 with the medical consultant. I was very happy with all the information she gave me. I went home, thought about it long and hard and decided to email her to schedule an appointment. She told me, in order to secure a spot, I had to leave a $150 deposit, so I did on February 6th. My scheduled appointment was for March 8th, but I had a family emergency I had to take care of so I emailed her on February 28th to cancel that appointment. I emailed her on March 5th wanting to book another appointment for the next available Monday or Thursday because those are the 2 days off I have during the week. No response from the medical consultant. I sent a follow up email March 13th just ensuring she received my previously email about wanting to reschedule. She quickly responded with "We only do *** on Wed, you would have to take a day off" I was never told that service was only done on Wednesday's or else I wouldn't have put down the deposit. How was it possible for me to have an appointment on a Thursday previously? I asked for my deposit to be refunded and was given an email of a girl who deals with this matter. I emailed her March 14 at 9:45am to get this matter resolved. I still have not heard from her or the medical consultant regarding my refund. Now I feel like I am being swept under the rug, and being ignored, which truthfully I am.

It looks like I will have to submit a small claims court case in order to get a refund for the *** that I did not use due to potential side effects from a medical condition I have. I purchased the product for $1109.66 including tax. At my Nov 3, 2017 appointment, I declined the treatment. Since then I have emailed Sarah, Director of Patient Care, and left two messages. On Feb 1, Sarah advised me that she had asked Accounting to do the refund and would follow up with them. Since then, I have left her two messages on Feb 20 and March 14, and have never received a reply, nor has my refund been processed. This is no way to treat a long time customer! In court, I will be seeking the refund of my money, interest on that money, my salary for the day to attend court, my time for dealing with this issue, and court costs. It will cost money for the corporate paralegal to attend court, as well. This is absolutely terrible customer service; clearly Accounting is either not getting the message or they are ignoring the request for my refund. ***

Otherwise, the staff at the Ajax location are absolutely awesome, and the customer service there is excellent.

After an initial consultation back on December 16th, this company cancelled four appointments and continued to fail to meet customer requests. In fact, all agents at the Skin Vitality office in St. Catharines, Marie in accounting, and Sarah P. have all confirmed that services were cancelled. Yet, payments continue to be withdrawn from my credit card. Even today, at 4:20 pm they confirmed that all paperwork was completed. I contacted the finance agency to get the matter resolved and still have not been refunded or cancelled. As of 7:08 pm tonight, Sarah P. finally made contact again but denied any of the previous contacts or information even though she left all the information and details in the email discussion thread. No services have ever been rendered nor will be rendered.

Not enough people take the time to share positive experiences. In my opinion it is just as important to share an experience that has exceeded my expectations as it an experience that did not. I came to Skin Vitality to prepare for my son's wedding last summer. This was an extremely important event for my family and I wanted to look my best for not only my son but myself as well. My initial consultation was very thorough - I left feeling as though all of my questions were addressed. I ended up undergoing a few different procedures (all noninvasive) to refresh my appearance (mainly my skin). Visit after visit I left feeling impressed with the staff, service and results. The nurses and administrative staff go above and beyond what is expected. I truly enjoy coming to my appointments. Kudos to the Skin Vitality team - you have made my "revitalization journey" a fabulous one!

On October 23, 2017 I had an appointment and spoke to *** about some options for skin treatments. We decided that some laser treatments would be best and I signed a contract to have a series of 3 laser treatments, after I got home I decided that I hadn't even had a skin analysis and did not feel comfortable moving forward. During the signing of the contract I signed three "old school" credit card slips run through a machine. I had trouble getting *** to respond to my email requests to cancel the contract and finally did get a response from *** that was within the five day(if it was not cancelled within five days I was on the hook for the whole amount). I am not sure if it is legal but I was charged $200 to cancel the contract but frankly I was just glad to get out of the contract. When I received my mastercard bill in December 2017 I had been billed one of the three installments of $428.56 on Nov 27th as my first appointment in my contract was scheduled for December 1st. I immediately contacted my credit card company and requested that they cancel that card and issue me a new one. I sent an email to *** letting her know about the billing error and requested a refund. I received a call on December 18th from someone named *** or *** phone number XXXXXXXXXXX and she stated they would fix the error that she hadn't been informed of the contract being terminated but the person who resolves these issues was on holiday until the New Year, so it was left they would return my call early in 2018. I waited until Jan 16th and then called the Ajax number again and spoke to *** or *** who had no recollection of our conversation but took my new credit card information and assured me it would be taken care of. Last week I received my credit card statement and still there has been no refund. I want this taken care of. ***. Please help me to get this situation resolved. ***. ***
Thank you for any help you can provide.

I had a consult for cool sculpting on my chin Jan. 12 and on line it was described as cheaper and less invasive than other treatments. Jan. 12 I had a follow up with my oncologist at the *** in St. Catharines at 1 pm. ***. My sales rep at skin vitality on Vansickle rd at 2:30 Jan. 12 advised me to get 1 cool sculpting and 10 *** Freeze treatment. Id never heard of *** Freeze. *** said I had to pay the whole amount in advance. I found it very odd plus the back of the invoice form they asked me to sign was in a very small font which I could not read without my reading glasses. I did more research that night and found that cool sculpting causes inflammation to achieve results and *** freeze low level radiation. Both of these are bad for someone who has a compromised immune system from going through *** cancer surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and 5 yrs of Tamoxifen and Anastrozole. I spoke with my oncologist and she advised against the treatment. I emailed *** to cancel my treatment and refund the $2,486 to my ***. I then spoke to him on the phone Monday Jan. 15 and he said he had submitted the request and that it takes time. Any other company would issue a refund the day requested. Online I found reviews with the email ***@skinvitality.ca as ma agement to contact if you have an unresolved complaint so I emailed her last night. I think it is *** when I *** it, from the Ajax location. I am waiting to hear back from her as *** no longer rsturns my calls. My *** bill is due soon and if I pay this and after get a credit which will need to be refunded to me. Even the back of the form says in small print which I read when I got home that if within 5 days before treatment you cancel you get back your refund less $250. They havent even refunded that much. I think they should be refunding all of it. The rep was a smooth talker talking me into the *** freeze in addition to the cool sculpting when I hadn't had any chance to check into its safety or reviews on how well it works. From many reviews it seems to show little or no results and only last a month or 2 so needs to be repeated regularly which guarantees them a lot of procit. I have gained some weight as my oncologist told me I would between the steroids and the tamoxifen and was trying to tighten up my chin to how it was pre-cancer treatment. ***. Can you help me get back my $2,486 from the StcCatharines Skin Vitality location.

I visited the richmond hill branch on January 10th. The consultant who called Aueelia is so unfriendly and reserved. She pushed customer to buy the package, and denied her promise after you got the package. I will not go to dishonest richmond hill clinic again even though wasting left credit

I'm sitting inside the clinic at the moment and can't get over how excellent the customer service is here. All the staff here are friendly. Every time I come here to do my Fraxel treatment I never have to wait, my jacket is always taken to be hanged up and I am always offered tea and coffee. So far I find the treatments working and looking forward to seeing my results.

Awesome service! The nurses are wonderful. I have been coming to this clinic for years and have always been pleased with my results and the level of service received. I work in the industry and can tell you that this is one of the best clinics in the GTA!

Not unlike all other complaints I had to have a physician correct my lips. *** can be dissolved- my lips? Nope. They had a 50% off sale *** for lip augmentation. They used EIGTY ONE BOTOX UNITS ON MY FOREHEAD, causing hooded eyes and severe under eye wrinkling. They agreed, recorded by MasterCard, to provide full credit, over $4,100 and I paid $1,000 debit card.
For all cases unresolved please contact Revdex.com. I am suing for the $420 plus HST by a physician who could only try to correct, not dissolve ***. I had 3 hard lumps 4 weeks after. They rubbed against my teeth, causing open sores. Antibiotics.
Get a doctor; when doing my lip injectionnS, she reached into a fridge half way through. Only one side of my lips were plumped, the other FLAT. THEY HAVE PHOTOS. Would you want to go back? I had so much Botox I had hooded eyes and severe wrinkling under my eyes. They create a need for further services. XXX-XXX-XXXX to join the cause and end these complaints once and for all.

On September 26, 2017 I purchased a service from Skin Vitality, Oakville. On September 29, 2017 I went to receive my service and was told that I would not get the results I wanted with the product I purchased, but a refund would be provided. On September 29, 2017 I contacted *** to organize a refund and was told a refund would be issued in 5-7 business days. I have contacted various members of Skin Vitality and and not yet received a refund to date. I contacted *** on November 9, 2017 *** along with notifying my credit card company and small claims action.