Laser center client wants a refund
Largo, Florida ? Erika Malast spends her days styling hair.
For a woman who’s been in the hair business for more than thirty years, she’s had the worst time getting rid of her own.
“We don’t want to be hairy. We’re women. It’s a cosmetic thing. We’re women,” Erika told us.
As a woman in Florida, she says, it’s hard to be hair-free without working at it.
That’s why Erika plunked down more than $2,400 to get laser hair
removal at Speed of Light, a clinic in Largo specializing in smooth
skin.
“I wanted to get laser hair removal. You know, legs, bikini, arms, whisker removal here or there,” she said chuckling.
She hasn’t laughed much lately, though, considering the fact
that the painful treatments she went through didn’t take. Patches of
light blond stubble are still all over her knees and legs after eight
months of treatments.
She says what frustrates her the most is that she paid in full
and never got a refund, despite an ad claiming free touch-ups for two
years. She says the clinic used faulty equipment and told customers
they were closing to fix the problem machines.
That was back in April 2007.
They never re-opened and the owner, Kimberly Johns, filed for bankruptcy.
That’s when Erika called Tampa Bay’s 10 News. “I don’t know
where else to turn or what to do. She got me for my money. I want my
services or my money back.”
Johns cited family reasons as the reason she closed. She also
agrees with the claims of faulty equipment, but says she wasn’t the one
who purchased it. She told us her partner at the clinic “screwed her
over.”
Johns added, “Everyone had their treatments refunded. If they
didn’t read the fine print, I do apologize. Don’t [expletive] with me!”
But, Erika tells a different story. She says her money was never
refunded. In fact, she’s been trying to get it back for more than a
year, even sending certified letters to Johns, with no response.
When we spoke with Johns Monday night by phone, she told us
she’s willing to talk about the problems the company had, but was
having a bad night due to a fight with her husband.
She says the closure of the clinic was not her fault and told us the customers were taken care of in the end.
Melanie Brooks
Tags: hairremoval, beauty











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