Matt showed me several products and red light therapy and said he could offer me a decent monthly rate on their facial services, and the products would be free. I explained I was a student and didn't live in the area or drive. He compromised by setting me up with a plan that was "$160 anytime I came in for a facial and only when I came in for a facial", meaning my card would never be charged otherwise. What I found later was this ridiculous year-long, monthly installment plan with another service called split-it. I don't know which company is worse. As I left the store with my bag, I saw that TWO CHARGES for $1912 were made to my credit card. I quickly returned to the store to inquire, and he said these were temporary first-time authorizations and would disappear within 24 hours.
I came back for a facial after Christmas because honestly I didn't trust these guys and I was worried they would charge me before I came back. Everything was fine, but my skin gradually got worse with the use of these products and I stopped using them immediately.
I am a Masters student and do not drive. It is difficult for me to get to the South Shore Plaza. One of my cards was suspected of fraud after another charge in the city, which I had to cancel right away. A couple weeks pass as I start classes, and I get an outrageous $1600 charge on my credit card, overdrawing my balance for my school account. This company, split-it, is apparently not that official because any emails they sent went straight into my spam folder automatically. It was only upon scouring my email account did I find any emails about issues charging my card. I am not sure how they found my new Credit Card details, but that is also up for debate. I have spoken to my Uncle who is a lawyer, and he explained that only authorized monthly subscriptions can search and use replaced credit cards in the system. I never authorized monthly payments. As this salesperson, Matt, explained, I would "only be charged whenever I came in for a facial". That is the only reason I even signed up for this service in ANY capacity because I had control over the payments.
These salespeople are incredibly sketchy. I started reaching out a week ago today once I checked my credit card statement because I cannot pay my monthly school bill. I called both split-it and the store. I tried to find a better contact for a manager of some sort on their site, and they are apparently "independently owned" which, again, supports the scam and crazy operation they have going on. I have spent some time researching this location specifically and the company and have found very similar stories to mine. Hundreds and thousands of dollars missing, and no support offered.
Since I started calling last week, I was trying to work out a plan with a Support person named "Samantha" to "rework" whatever "payment plan" I had until I could find a better solution, as there was still an outrageous $1600 bill on my credit card. I spoke to her a handful of times last week, and asked her several times for a contact number for her as her number was always blocked whenever she called. She disappeared since we worked out a "plan". The new plan was to authorize the $1600 charge for a different credit card I had, which was a hybrid Bank of America debit/credit card (I only have two at the moment, and the $1600 charge from my old card has STILL NOT DISAPPEARED). Apparently, split-it does not approve hybrid credit cards, which is my only other option. Now, I need a new "permission" to refund the $1600 card from my old card so that I can have a "temporary" authorization for that amount. In the mean time, I have tried reaching out to EVERYONE I possibly can to no avail. I am terrified of physically going into the store because I saw two complaints online that someone called the police on customers for a similar incident.
Since they have stopped replying to my outreach, I am escalating further with my credit card company and law enforcement. I truly cannot believe this store is still in business. read more