UPDATE! There’s been a turn of events and the beauty salon (Elevatione) has decided to take legal action against me, they want to sue me for defamation because apparently what I’ve written in my blog post is untrue despite supporting evidence of other women’s reviews.
LATEST UPDATE: When I challenged them to go to court after locating and contacting several other women who have had the exact same experience, all who were willing to make a statement in court, Elevatione’s legal team decided to turn away with their tail between their legs.
Make your own mind up by looking at reviews on Google Reviews and Trustpilot: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/elevatione.com
It’s been a while since I have pampered myself. Having just moved to London 5 months ago it’s been needless to say a little crazy and I must admit that I’ve been neglecting my beauty spoils a bit. Not only that but let’s get real, good beauty treatments come at a price, UNLESS you buy an almost too-good-to-be-true voucher from a promoted sales ad on Facebook, right?
You know how they say when something looks too good to be true then it probably is. There is nothing more truer than these words. Let me tell you a little story about how I unknowingly got caught up in one of the most aggressive sales pitch I’ve ever seen! The type of aggression where they almost didn’t let me leave without buying something!
One day browsing through Facebook I saw one of those sponsored posts come up on my timeline where you could get an oxygen facial at a fancy Mayfair beauty salon called Elevatione Time Stops worth £200 for just £20! I wish I could remember what the name of the Facebook page was promoting it so that I could mention it over here… Obviously my initial reaction was what a great deal it was and that I wasn’t going to resist taking this offer. A lot of the times new brands or companies reduce their prices significantly in order to get their name out there and build a reputation which is why I didn’t look too much into it at the time. I also had a quick browse on their website and they seemed pretty legit.
When I got there the therapist said that I first needed to pay for my treatment before I received my facial. I was then escorted to a “back office” type room where I sat across from a gentleman who processed my payment. I didn’t think too much of it at the time but to think of it now it was more of an “accounts” department. Every beauty salon I’ve ever been to processed their payments in the front by reception AFTER your treatment was done which made me question how this salon runs their business.
Once payment was completed off I went for my facial! The therapist explained that they would first do the one side of my face so that we could put my skin under a microscope to compare how my untreated skin looked compared to the treated side. Already red lights started going off as this is NOT how facials usually go and all I could think was: Bitch, just finish my damn facial already! Despite my increasing annoyance with how my time was being wasted, I let this therapist have her way.
We then went to another room where the microscope equipment was, before I even sat down the woman operating the machine says: Wow I can see you have an instant eye lift! Little did this poor woman know that my left eyebrow is slightly higher and more arched than my right eyebrow making it look lifted… I feel like she’s in on it too and is encouraged to tell clients how she’s noticed an instant improvement on the treated half of your face. You know, it just adds to their bullshit approach. So first she put my untreated side of my face under the microscope which ran through their very own skin analysis system and obviously my skin was in an absolute terrible condition. According to their skin analysis my skin looked a lot older than my actual age. Then we put the treated side under the microscope and to my “shock and amazement” my skin looked much better hydrated and youthful! WOW I can’t actually believe they thought I was that stupid to believe their computerised skin analysis system was telling the truth! We all know that it’s built that way to make it look as though their skincare products are miraculous…
Once that was done we went back to the treatment room where the actual aggressive sales pitch started, well it felt like that to me in my own personal opinion. My therapist began telling me about this skincare program that they have for me that will combat all my skincare problems.
Me: Wonderful! How much does it cost?
Her: 3000 pounds.
Me: Uhm, excuse me?
Her: Yeah but its such a good investment for your skin and it will last you an entire year.
Me: I cant really afford that so I’m going to say no.
Her: Well what if I could reduce the price for you? Because you’re one of the lucky ones chosen out of thousands of woman that showed an interest in this promotion, how about we give it to you for 2100 pounds
Me: Still, again, I cant afford that sorry
Her: Well how about we split the payment for you over 12 months. We can allow you to pay it off interest free and it will only end up costing you x amount per month *see where the back-office department comes in now*
Me: I just came for a facial, I had no intention on purchasing anything today, and really, I only just started working so I cant say right now whether I can fit this monthly payment into my budget.
Her: You know what Tarryn, this isn’t a usual thing that we do but because you are really passionate about your skincare and we believe these products will definitely solve all your problems, we’ll give you a further discount AND allow you to pay it over 24 months
Me: So basically I’m going to be paying for products over 2 years but the products are only going to last me 1 year? So I’ll be paying for something for a whole year even when its finished?
Her: Yes but the results last for at least 3 years
Me: Hmm, again, as I mentioned before, I’m not here to buy anything today. I just came for my facial.
Her: Let me go get my manager quickly
Me: *thinking* FFS I know the “call my manager for a better deal” trick
Manager: So I believe you’re interested in what our products can do for your skin… I’m prepared to give you my managers discount, with extra treatments and a smaller deposit to pay. In that way its only going to cost you x amount per month which really isn’t too bad.
Me: As I’ve just mentioned to Miss Therapist, I just came for a facial today and didn’t plan on buying anything. I’ll go home and I’ll have a think about it but I will not be making any decisions today thank you.
After fighting off this manager and therapist for what felt like ages, the manager eventually leaves the room so that the therapist can finish up the other half of my facial. In addition to that, I could see an immediate change in attitude in my therapist and I felt like the other half of my facial was done very half-heartedly with little to no effort from her side. Now I’ve had my fair share of facials before and they usually last between 35-45 minutes and then you’re out. My facial at Elevatione went on for a solid 2 hours! In my opinion it felt like 2 hours of torture into buying their products and a complete waste of my time and money. And here’s a truth bomb – the facial wasn’t even great! You’d think for a salon in the heart of Mayfair that you’d be getting a quality service, but all it really is, is a wolf dressed as a sheep.
Little did they know, I’ve worked in cold hard sales before and I know every trick in the book, every way how to handle an objection so I could see all the warning signs that I was only there for the sales pitch. I actually don’t even think they give a shit about the treatments for their clients, I think they mainly just focus on product sales in order to run a profitable business. Unfortunately for some clients they don’t have the same sales knowledge as me and have been caught up in this aggressive sales technique. After feeling very disappointed in what had happened that evening, I went home and started researching reviews on Elevatione and what I found I couldn’t have been prepared for. Here are some very recent reviews from past clients:
I noticed that a lot of reviews were either reported by Elevatione (probably because others had called them out on their bullshit too) so those reviews were not visible, or the review was updated to a 5 star rating. Again probably due to aggressive bullying from their legal team who threatens everyone with a lawsuit. Or in this case the bad reviews actually stayed up because there is some truth behind the situation. They even reported my review on Trustpilot.com but after sending Trustpilot my proof of payment they put my review back on as they could see that I was a paying customer despite Elevatione claiming that I wasn’t.
Either way I don’t agree with the way Elevatione promotes their products to their clients and if they really wanted to push for product sales then they should send reps out into the market to promote their brand instead of harassing paying customers that just want a relaxing facial. I actually walked out there feeling stressed as I had to fight them off at least 5 times before I could finish my facial. Call it what you want – intelligent selling, aggressive marketing, whatever you want. After my experience at Elevatione they’ve definitely lost my respect and if they continue the way that they are they’ll soon run their reputation into the ground too.
And just to support my opinion of how dodgy they are, I’ve just seen that on their original Trustpilot profile, they’ve changed the name to Smooth You – Town Spa and then RECREATED another Elevatione profile just so that all the old negative reviews wouldn’t show up. Here’s a link to the original account: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/smoothyou.co.uk
DISCLAIMER:
As my rights state, I have the right to express my true and honest opinion where it acts on the matter of public interest as per The Defamation Act 2013: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/26/contents/enacted
If you’ve fallen victim to this horrendous business please email me or leave a comment down below. Together we can bring them down for good and no legal team will be able to stand up against us. If you think about it, imagine the damage costs they’d need to pay out to every individual that has lost money at this company, they wouldn’t dare…
I had a similar experience in a beauty salon here in my country (every celebrity visits this salon so it must be good I thought), I got a call that I won a voucher for laser treatment and I would redeem it whenever I wanted,I booked an appointment and went there and by the time my appointment started, three people came to see me (the manager, the sales assistant girl and afterwards, her boss) trying to sell me the whole laser treatment for a year (I live in Cyprus and I cannot do laser in summer nor in spring since the sun can be harmful in laser treatments) so basically I would pay treatments for a year and do them from October to March only. Are you kidding me? I left in the middle of my treatment cause I was in pain. She didn’t care nor she said anything to me, I left and never looked back! x
Yiota
Author
Oh no what a horrible experience! You know with todays effective marketing tools I just don’t get why brands and businesses still feel the need to use aggressive marketing techniques such as these. I hope you were able to write a review about them somewhere such as TrustPilot.com to help warn other from not going through the same thing xx
I did, I wrote a review on a page on facebook and I was amazed by how many girls responded saying they had the same awful experience.
Thanks to your post I Didnt get scammed
Tarryn,
I appreciate your right to share the horrible experience you had in one of our franchisees locations. In fact, I thank you for bringing this to our attention, since it’s hard for brands to know exactly what goes on in every single franchise, and often even in their own stores and offices. Bad employees exist in all companies, and unfortunately, sometimes we only hear about it from customers who were wronged.
On behalf of the Elevatione Brand, I’m sorry for how you were treated. I’m sorry your experience was one that felt too salesy, pushy, and had the exact opposite effect it was should have had.
The centre you visited in London is a franchise, one of two locations, and operate by their own and license our name and sell our products. As your article showed, we’ve had multiple complaints from those specific locations and are working diligently with the owners of that franchise to fix them, and if not remove our products and brand from it. The website you posted is Elevatione.uk, ours is https://www.Elevatione.com or https://www.Elevatione.co.uk.
We are scheduled to be opening our own location on Oxford Street in London, and I’d be more than happy to try and have you visit free, and experience what our brand really stands for. In addition, if you’d contact me via email at Mark@elevatione.com I’d be delighted to send you some products for free for you to try, and see what you think of it.
Once again, so sorry about the poor experience, we hope to have this corrected in the near future, so that others like you don’t get the wrong experience.
Sincerely,
Mark H
Elevatione Brand Team Support
Author
Thank you Mark for the gesture, but no thanks.
You and your solicitor have caused me nothing but stress and headaches while I try to learn as much as I can about defamation law in a short space of time all the while tracking down and contacting all the women who left negative reviews so that I could get them to make a legal statement if we went to court. We were ready for court, in fact looking forward to it because going to court would mean this story would hit tabloids and Elevatione would be brought down in the public eye.
However you say all of this while your solicitor James Naylor from CG Naylor is threatening to sue me for £20,000 in apparent loss of income? He’s also ordered me (not asked me) to issue a formal apology for writing about my honest experience yet here you are the one apologising. Sounds like double standards to me…
Thanks but I won’t be taking you up on your offer,
Tarryn
Wow T this is one fine pickle I hope it’s sorted soon and I hope u are ok good luck.
Author
An absolute horrific experience! Once I have the legalities out of the way I’m definitely publishing their name again to prevent this same thing from happening to anyone else.
It sounds like they are running an absolute sham, then attempting to bully anyone who speaks up about it – good for you for standing-up to them! I can imagine it must be a very stressful situation so sorry you have to experience it.
Well I mean we’re not allowed to call it that… pathetic really that they have to stoop down to intimidating and threatening paying clients to clean their slate!
Thanks to social media I’ve found the other women who’ve also posted bad reviews so we’ll be ready to take the stand if and when need be.
When we win this case, and we will, I hope this will teach a lesson to other companies to take constructive criticism and improve on their flaws, instead of trying to brush it under the carpet.
It’s stressful yes, but somebody needs to stand up and have a voice for these women, even at the cost of my sanity
I feel bad for you sounds like this whole thing spiraled out of control a bit. But I’m curious you start out by saying it was an offer too good to be true. Lots of companies do things like this. In the US for example you can get free Disney tickets or major discounted Disney tickets at loads of resorts if you sit through a 2 hour pitch on time shares. No spa is going to give you a quality facial for 20 pounds which is what like $30? So what if they tried to rope you in? Sure it’s cheap marketing but a cheap facial is kind of a dead giveaway I’d think? It’s so common these days, in brutal competitive markets. Idk maybe on our side of the pond things are just less polite and we kind of expect a sales pitch when you get an extreme discounted coupon of sorts.
Hope it all settles down and quiets down, seems like a silly situation at this point to be in for either of you.
Hi I had the same experience today I went for a promotion on Instagram and as I came in I was asked to prove my identity and was charged £40. I had more than 1 hour talk about my skin which was so bad and unhealthy with large pores and dehydrated the skin analysis shows pigmentation and my whole face aged and unhealthy. Then I was offered to buy a package for £3,,800 at a reduced price of £2,500 if I purchased it straight away and a monthly installment which I did not plan of complete con. The therapist was really pushing me to take it. Luckily I did not take it
Hi Fawzia, . I fell victim to the exact same pushy agressive sales pitch and parted with £155 plus the £45 facial promotion. I then was persuaded to take an instalment plan despite me saying that I couldn’t afford it. The exact same sales pitch was used on me and I was told my skin was 10 years older than my actual age and therefore this treatment was a way to reverse this and was a ‘real investment for life.’ The problems started when I went for my second treatment which was going to be carried out by their ‘top therapist’ when I was expecting the girl who had spent the two hours with me , and had sold me her ‘I am your personal call me anytime I am your speial therapist’ pitch etc etyc when now I realise she was just a sales rep. the receptionist told me that she wasnt actually working that day yet turned up in the treatment room ‘to learn and observe’. I then had my face cleaned and my skin started to react, turn bright red and started tingling. I do not have sensitive skin and this has never happened with any product I have ever used. The therapist then spent the next half an hour trying to calm it down with cold treament, blue led etc. I was ignored at the reception despite being visibly upset as I was going on a date. My face did calm down, but when I got home I decided to cancel my plan as I was unhappy with the whole experience. I have since spent alot of time calling, emailing and still nothing! I was asked to provide photos of my skin which of couse I hadn’t taken any at the time. This was actually irrelevant as I was in the 14 day cooling off period regardless of what happened to my skin. I have contacted my bank now but there is £155 for which I have received nothing. Looking at the dates of these reviews they obviously dont care about negative reviews and are still using the same tactics as they did 5 years ago!
Omg, I should have read your review earlier. I had the same experience on Saturday, in a different country, but I believe their sales teams were trained that way. I went in and they said they will show me how well it works on half face before introducing me to treatment.
So right after they did it, the therapist said she could give me a discount package because we are not as rich as movie stars. She just plunges some figures into the calculator, then she said “look, you are only spending $200+ per month, so much more affordable than any facial out there”. So I thought it’s good, you know, $2400 for a 1-year package. Then she ask to go by the card, I said let me know the price. She just went on talking and took my card to swipe without my permission. For f–k sake, it’s $7000. So I was in a rage. I argued and said she should have told me earlier. Who in the world at my age could afford this?
Then she said sorry, goods sold are un-refundable but honey you will find out how well it does and it lasts for 3 years. She said $7000 is just the base price, we are giving you another $15k products for free but you will need to come back for skin analysis fortnightly as sponsored modelling which is BS! So I reported to the police for my consumer rights, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work well at my place. I am dripping with hot blood now. Never ever get into this store again! They are bloodsucker!!!
Hi may I know where it happen, as i going through similar experience and my case is still waiting to be solved
Hi Tarryn, I came across your blog as I was trying to get on elevatione website to write a review. I fell victim to the exact same pushy agressive sales pitch and parted with £155 plus the £45 facial promotion. I then was persuaded to take an instalment plan despite me saying that I couldn’t afford it. The exact same sales pitch was used on me and I was told my skin was 10 years older than my actual age and therefore this treatment was a way to reverse this and was a ‘real investment for life.’ The problems started when I went for my second treatment which was going to be carried out by their ‘top therapist’ when I was expecting the girl who hadspent the two hours with me , and had sold me her personal call me anytime I am your speial therapist etc etyc when now I realise she was just a sales rep. the receptionist told me that she wasnt actually working that day yet turned up in the treatment room ‘to learn and observe’. I then had my face cleaned and my skin started to react, turn bright red and started tingling. I do not have sensitive skin and this has never happened with any product I have ever used. The therapist then spent the next half an hour trying to calm it down with cold treament, blue led etc. I was ignored at the receptionI despite being visibly upset as I was going on a date. My face did calm down, but when I got home I decided to cancel my plan as I was unhappy with the whole experience. I have since spent alot of time calling, emailing and still nothing! I was asked to provide photos of my skin which of couse I hadnt taken any at the time. This was actually irrelevant as I was in the 14 day cooling off period regardless of what happened to my skin. I have contacted my bank now but there is £155 for which I have received nothing. Looking at the dates of these reviews they obviously dont care about negative reviews and are still using the same tactics as they did 5 years ago!
Oh man, I had a experience with them too, but in Zürich. This sales guy ushered me in to try a Facewash-I felt why not, it looks like a nice legit place, and almost all stores in Zürich have given me respectful and professional treatment. But he was so, SO close and aggressively flirty the whole time-in a way that was clearly just a sales thing and made me very uncomfortable. He makes so many comments, but when I say I really won’t be buying anything because I am on a budget, but I will keep the wash in mind later on after my salary, he just pretends not to hear me-and gets very pushy and aggressively tries to sell me things, giving me “amazing deals” and “wanting to help me fix my issues”. At this point I am extremely uncomfortable and just want to leave, but he stops me despite me saying this TWICE. He pays half the price and pushes me to go with this deal, which I do. I have CPTSD and Anxiety and I couldn’t take it. I just bought it so I could get out of there. Ended up scrambling to pay for food my last week of the month because I payed 300CHF for a freaking facewash- which was not allowed to be returned, even unopened. The experience gave me more than one anxiety attack, and I definitely will advise people to stay away after seeing how common this experience is at their locations.
New Scam Alert!!! Elevatione Spa in West Palm Beach!!!!
Oh My Gosh, I wish that I saw your review earlier, the Elevatione Spa in West Palm Beach, Florida is a total fraud. I also got scammed! I responded to an Ad on Facebook (No more needle), offering special promotion facial for $59.99, when I went there, the name is Elevatione Spa, it looks like a legit spa, decent place, very nice, I took pictures. Any way, they declared the facial is $89.99 not $59.99 as advertised, I still I went along with that because I normally pay about twice for regular facial. To be honest, the facial was done nicely; the esthetician, Marcela was very sweet and kind, she discussed, treatments products and perfectio machine to use at home etc. Fast forward, when everything is done, I ended up with a silver plan (the lowest) which is about 2k. Truth be told, I came in for a facial so off course, I didn’t have that kind of money. Marcela asked about my credit and I said I have perfect credit and next thing I know, I got a 6.5k credit limit with Cherry (first time user/ never heard of them). At any rate, took the device and products home and they scheduled a consultation with Marcela for first treatment, I went there and she did a micro needling etc. Again, my face didn’t look as pretty as the first facial, but I was told it’s expected. Anyway, she asked that I buy turmeric soap which I did and start using the device and products for maintenance etc. After the first use of the device, my face developed a reaction, got a bunch of pimples, I sort of waited and tried it another day, and it’s the same thing. I called the spa and said, this isn’t for me, and this is what happened when I used your device/products. They asked that I came in person. I saw the esthetician Sofia who is extremely rude and pushy compared to the one who did the initial facial (Marcela). At any rate, Sofia took a picture of my face and told me it what it is, there is nothing they can do for me, once I walked away, it’s on me. She said to wait a few days, to not use their device or products, and if the problem persists to see a dermatologist. I am talking in one-week timeframe this all happened and 2k vanished with no support from the Elevatione Spa. I reached out to a Shawn (he is supposed to be a business contact for the spa), he listened to me and promised to call me, heh heh, nada, lol, he never did. I also send an email to Mark, I never got any response either. Over the weekend, I got a text from Cherry about upcoming payment, and I replied about my disappointment with the practice and how they frauded me 2k, they reached out to me, their representatives are nice and professional, it is a shame that they are associated with Elevation fraudulent business practices. They attempted to reach Elevatione on my behalf, but their hands are tied for they are only assisting with funding etc. Like I said the Cherry team provided awesome top-notch customer service, no complaints there. I will continue to make payment with Cherry because I have excellent credit and don’t want to mess it up; however, I am seeking legal counsel because this company is a fraud and total scam. I don’t have no signed documents, I never got any emails on how to use the products etc. They have people writing positive reviews, it’s all lies, you get body scrub to write positive reviews LOL. Again, thank you for sharing your story, sadly, I fell victim of Elevatione spa scam. God don’t like ugly, they can’t go on scamming people like that, that’s not right. Elevatione Spa is not about services, it’s a marketing scam to sell their devices and products period. Sending blessings/thanks again for posting this 😉 Ms. K
Well i had the same experience here in KL malaysia branch,they insist me to pay before starting the facial and as i fully aware their tricks which i can easily say no to their cleansing gel which they are trying to sell for 600rm=113£ ,oh miss i can give you my staff disc for 30% more.well they are bunch of scammers!!
I just had the same experience too..
They offered me free basic facial to test.
When I came to their saloon, they do the skin test etc. and suggest me to add on a few package which is quite affordable..
Then when the treatment start, everything when smooth until suddenly 1 lady (the therapist said she’s the manager) came in and try to sell to me the product worth 12k! OMG! Then when I said I can’t afford it, she reduce the price to 7k..
I try to reject so many times and they seems not.let me go..
Then they persuade me to buy 1 mask that cost me 1k..
Because of I don’t know what way can I do to escape, I just agree and pay 3 instalment for that price..
I’ve been ‘trap’ with them from 11am to 2pm! Crazy!
They promise that if I purchase the mask they will give me 2 slot free for facial treatment with gold 24k mask which worth 15k for free..
I just pay the product and go..
Hell no! I will come back for the ‘free’ facial from them.
Terrible experience with this company..
I think this is how they train to push sale their product..
How I wish I could read your blog before I go to the spa.
Anyway thank you for telling us about this scam company..
I pray that you will win this fight with them.