Strella MedSpa

This facility (located across the river, which necessitated cost and time of travel) posted an offer through Groupon for full leg permanent hair removal for $1,200 (half price). I called the facility for more info and had difficulty reaching a human being -- ended up leaving a VoiceMail message, then got a return call. I contracted with the facility directly via telephone and authorized an America Express charge. It took longer than I anticipated to get an appointment. I specifically asked to be contacted if there were any cancelations, but this was not done, despite the fact that I later learned that there had been a cancelation. I continued to have the same difficulty in reaching the facility by phone, always having to leave a message for a return call. When I went for my initial appointment, I verbally contracted to have my upper lip area done for an additional $100. I endeavored to get this done for no additional charge -- after all, I saved the facility $600 by making the original arrangement NOT through Groupon -- but the officer manager would not even consider doing so, repeating that she was already doing me a favor by "only" charging me $100. Although I showed up for my appointment on time, I did have to wait ~15 minutes. Subsequently, there was another similar Groupon posting at a different facility that was very close to where I work AND the dollar amount of the offer of $299 (for full legs) was literally 25% of the one at Welcare; although the offer for upper lip was $149 (compared to $100 at Welcare), the total of $448 was 34% of the offer at Welcare AND the location was much more convenient (and the phone was/is always answered by a human being). I did process both Groupon offers at the new facility and attempted to reach Welcare for cancellation and refund. Worse than previously, I left several VoiceMail messages, then finally had to send an e-mail before I received a return call. The office manager refused to refund me, stating that a "no refund" policy is on the website. I said that I had not ever visited the website, that ALL communication, including the payment arrangements, were via telephone. At my insistence, she spoke with the owner, then called back to advise that no refund would be made. Unfortunately, because I had bypassed Groupon, I had no recourse there. Fortunately, I paid via American Express, through which I contested the charge. In the meantime, I had my first appointment at the second facility, where the technician advised that (1) the procedure is laser hair "reduction," not "removal" and (2) the procedure DOES NOT WORK on thin, light-colored hair such as I have on my upper lip (I was quickly and easily refunded by Groupon for this) -- i.e., Welcare improperly accepted my money for this. Ultimately, American Express informed me that Welcare never responded to its multiple inquiries and I was refunded $1,083.33 (I still paid Welcare $216.67 for a single visit -- and paid the other facility $299 for 6 visits).