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I was contacted by Jhing of Dermclinic this morning (Oct. 6, 2011). She actually contacted me way back Saturday, October 1, 2011 but I was not able to take the call and she texted me an e-mail address instead. This week is really hellish for me work-wise so I wasn't able to follow up my complaint using the referred e-mail address.

Anyhoo, Jhing asked me what my problem about the deal was and I explained to her what I mostly described here. She told me that 30 shots per UA is ridiculous since that's way too many for the skin to handle. My boyfriend (and some random blogs and a commenter) also noted that 60 shots for one session is uber.

Well, that's cool but what I still don't understand is how two separate people from Dermclinic SM City Cebu told me in two separate occasions that per session can use up to 60 shots per arm. And remember how the person with a white coat and whom I assume is a dermatologist told me to bring ALL of my vouchers on the next visit? Well, if 60 shots per arm is too much then why tell me that. Ugh, so inconsistent/ridiculous/dangerously misleading.

Anyway, Jhing said that the 60 shots may be a per-package thing and they might have misunderstood my question. While I totally disagree since the doctor asked me to use 6-7 vouchers in one visit, I just let that comment slide by because I'm tired and I was late for work.

The cool thing though is Jhing offered me a deal that is hard to refuse. She told me that I can..

use one voucher for one session just to see how things would go. If I am not satisfied with the service, I can always inform her and she'll give me all of my money back. Including the first "test" session.

Well, that's very nice and I was really pleased with how things went. She also facilitated the reservation by forwarding my number to the Dermclinic SM City Cebu staff who called me a few hours later. I have an appointment next week!

A few more hours after the call with Jhing, Catherine (I think) from Cashcashpinoy also called me to follow-up on the Dermclinic issue and asked me how things went. So I told her that everything's good, for now.

All in all, my complaint was addressed in a little over a week (9 days, or 7 working days to be exact), and even faster if I had answered the call last Saturday. hrhr. That's a pretty speedy resolution with which I am very pleased. However, this really isn't fully resolved yet in case I opt for a refund so we'll see how this adventure goes!

Toodles.

Cashcashpinoy is not handling my request for refund very well. They've had the gall to:

• Block me from their Facebook page. Very classy.
• Blatantly lying to me about the sessions:

Cashcashpinoy Sucks

Don't buy it from Cashcashpinoy. Because at the end of the day, they cannot guarantee what their merchants promise and you cannot trust what they write even if its in black and white.

My Letter to Cashcashpinoy

You simply cannot ask us to renegotiate the terms of the voucher each time we face the merchants themselves. The voucher business is based on trust. Without it, I'm not sure I will purchase from nor recommend your website in the future.

No Guarantees from Cashcashpinoy

Consumers are not protected by the party that brokered the deal, Cashcashpinoy. The most that Cashcashpinoy will do is forward complaints. If you have issues, then you are on own. Imagine if its an isolated case and you are dealing with a large company, good luck getting a feedback, let alone a refund.

Caveat Emptor: Group Buying Sites in the Philippines

Also, it was only when we called that we were told that booking was only for a 15- or 20-minute treatment per session. The 90-94% savings ain’t true. It wasn’t pointed out on their website that it was only a trial treatment!

Unreachable Cash Cash Pinoy 1

Cash Cash Pinoy seems to have gone the extra mile shielding itself from complaints from customers.

UPDATE:
October 6, 2011 - I was called by Jhing of Dermclinic this morning and she offered me a reasonable deal which I accepted. Read more here.

Their deal information explicitly stated that for P595, you will be getting P3500 worth of service, which meant an 83% worth of savings. This "discount" is the bait that made people buy more than 1,900 vouchers to avail of their promo. I bought 7 vouchers myself, which  amounted to Php4.1k.

I set an appointment last Monday, September 26, 2011 for my first (of seven) sessions of NuLight IPL Hair Removal Treatment. When I got there, the dermatologist explained to me that I will only be getting 10 shots of the IPL treatment (5 per underarm), instead of the 60 shots (30 per underarm) that regular sessions go for. I was like, WUUUT, since there was not a word in the deal that Cashcashpinoy posted that mentions this catch. When I purchased the vouchers, it was in the knowledge that I will be getting one session worth P3500 with an 83% savings, which basically is 60 shots of IPL.

This is really sick and disgusting. The Department of Trade and Industry explicitly states that "Sales talk should not misrepresent the product or service" which means that no concealment, false representation, or fraudulent manipulation should be done in any form of advertising.

To quote the article posted in DTI:

"What does concealment, false representation, or fraudulent manipulation mean? The law cites several examples such as the following:

• A consumer product or service has the sponsorship, approval, performance, characteristics, ingredients, accessories, uses, or benefits it does not have.

Retailers are encouraged to promote transparency to consumers among their ranks. All information about a product or service, especially those that concern pricing and quality, should be disclosed to the consumer."

I read everything in their deal information and never did they mention about this 10 shots per treatment. This is a gross exploitation of deals and promos. The law explicitly states that everything about a product or service should be disclosed, especially if there's a difference in the quality that would explain the mark-down in price.

What's even more gross about this is when you calculate the price per shot. I'm a nerd when it comes to deals and savings and calculate up to the last cent. Here's what I came up with:

PHP3500 (regular price) / 60 shots = PHP58.666

PHP595 (deal price) / 10 shots = PHP59.50

So... not only were consumers tricked into buying something not worth 83% of savings, THERE IS NO SAVINGS AT ALL.

I asked the dermatologist about why this was not stated in the promo and she admitted this by blaming the marketing department of Dermclinic. That's understandable (lol not really) but what's insane is that they expect me to go on with this craziness; even having the gall to tell me that if I want to avail of the full treatment, I should set another appointment for another day and bring all of my seven coupons.

LOLWUT?

I'm getting this shit refunded. If they give me a hard time, I'm planning to bring this up to DTI and have a lawyer friend get this resolved.

UPDATE:
October 6, 2011 - I was called by Jhing of Dermclinic this morning and she offered me a reasonable deal which I accepted. Read more here.