Hundreds of women claim they've been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after paying for specialist beauty treatment that never went ahead. Customers who booked appointments with three branches of Skin HQ in Bolton, Manchester and Camden, say they've still not seen their money - despite booking treatments months ago.
The company, which was launched in 2020, claims to be expert in "all things skincare" and offers discount packages for laser hair removal, HydraFacials and other cosmetic work. Scores of reviews warning people to avoid three branches of the company have been left on Trustpilot in recent weeks, saying they've been "impossible" to contact.
A Facebook group has attracted nearly 300 members. A spokesperson for Skin HQ apologised for the "disruption" caused to customers and said their business had been affected by an online smear campaign and burglaries at clinics in Manchester, Bolton and Derby.
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"Due to these circumstances some clinics have closed but we are working to get them to re-open with the help of some of our franchise partners who will take over the clinics. We deeply regret the disruption caused to clients and are working really hard to try and get matters rectified," they said.
Despite publicly announcing that branches in Manchester, Bolton and Derby had closed down, at the time of publishing, it was still possible for customers to book and pay for treatments on the company's website. A spokesperson for the company told the M.E.N that some clinics are open - which are still accepting sales. They added that they have plans to "reopen" branches which have been forced to close.
But when the Manchester Evening News attempted to call the direct number listed on the company's website, we were met with a message saying the number was "temporarily unavailable." Skin HQ said this was because staff are "catching up" with missed calls and calling clients directly.
Trading Standards at Manchester City Council have confirmed to the M.E.N that they are aware of complaints made against Skin HQ, and are "making enquiries" into them. A spokesperson for Action Fraud also said they had also received reports from customers of Skin HQ which have since been passed on to Greater Manchester Police for investigation.
Payment app Klarna confirmed they had seen an "increase in the number of disputes" made against Skin HQ and have since terminated their partnership with the company as of March 25. Responding to Action Fraud and GMP's involvement, a spokesperson for Skin HQ said they had been the victim of "misinformation spread online," and are currently taking legal action to deal with "slander" and "defamation" against their business.
"The people spreading this misinformation are trying to cause as much damage as possible. This is a form of slander and cyberbullying and they are trying to use the authorities to damage us further," they said.
"At that point I felt really uneasy"
One customer claims she lost £1,000 after paying for a block of laser hair removal treatment that didn't go ahead. When she attended a clinic in Camden for her first appointment, she claims the shutters were down.
She claims to have phoned the company 30 times but said that nobody answered. The woman said she was finally contacted and told to apply for a refund from her bank - but says this still hasn't been processed.
Responding to this claim, Skin HQ said they were "unable to confirm if this claim is true" and added "there have been many fake reviews online." Sian Donald, 27, booked six sessions of laser hair removal at the company's Manchester City Centre branch on St John Street - which has now closed down - at a cost of £650.
She claims she was never able to attend any of the appointments and was refused a refund from the company. She says she has only been able to get the money back with the help of her bank.
"I booked with them in January as they were doing a sale and they were really promoting it. I booked laser hair removal because that is what they were really pushing," she said.
"It's a really big company and I looked into them before I booked. When I looked at the reviews on Treatwell they were really good. They were on Klarna as well so I assumed they were a decent company.
"When I booked I didn't really get a confirmation. I just received an email saying someone would be in touch to book an appointment but nobody ever did get in touch.
"I didn't really think much of it but then I was starting to get a bit annoyed because you couldn't get through to them. Finally they did come back to me and booked me in for the start of February."
Sian said she booked a half day off work, but 20 minutes before her appointment was due to start she claims she received a call from the clinic saying the laser machine was broken. "They told me I needed to call HQ to book and at that point I felt really uneasy. It was all really unprofessional. I spent the next four days trying to get hold of them," she said.
"I emailed them and sent them a Whatsapp but it only came up with one tick. I managed to get through to another clinic and they said a lot of the clinics had closed down and Manchester was one of them.
"She actually told me not to take another appointment and to ask for a refund. I then noticed they'd uploaded a refund policy on their website saying you could only get one for health reasons.
"I sent a long email asking for a refund and was then told I had to fill out a form. They responded saying it wasn't for a medical reason and I couldn't get a refund.
"I contacted Citizens' Advice and they wrote an email which I sent to the company. I received a response saying the refund would be processed in 30 days but they never did.
"Luckily I went to my bank and they refunded me but I think a lot of people haven’t been as lucky. The whole thing has just been so stressful."
Responding to Sian's claim, a spokesperson for Skin HQ said: "We have seen that a Sian Donald did spend £595 for her laser hair removal at SkinHQ.
"Unfortunately due to the clinic closure we were unable to continue the treatment. Her bank has taken the charge back and she has received the money back in her account. We apologise that we were unable to provide Sian with the treatments that she expected."
Miss Donald is just one of hundreds of unhappy customers who have left reviews on the company's Trustpilot page. Several negative reviews are currently appearing every day.
Responding to a number of reviews on Trustpilot, a spokesperson for Skin HQ said there had been "misinformation spread online" which had caused "mass refunds."
"Since then there have been a high number of burglaries across our clinics which has limited us from doing treatments and resulted in clinics closing," they added.
According to Companies House the business was launched in May 2020 and was still listed as 'active' on March 30. Skin HQ has received a number of accolades including awards for International Business of the year.
"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry"
Maria Napolitano, 34, claims to have paid £477 for six sessions of laser hair removal at Skin HQ's Manchester branch. She had received two sessions and had an appointment booked on February 25. But, five days before, she claims, the treatment was cancelled.
"I received an email on the 20th saying that my therapist was no longer available. It said to call a number to rebook an appointment which I did, but without luck," she said.
"I live two minutes away from the clinic so I thought I would go there after work. When I arrived I used the intercom three or four times until a lady from the business on the ground floor came outside. She said she'd been instructed to give the number for their Ashton or Bolton branch if a customer showed up.
"To be honest it didn't look right and I wasn't happy as I would have struggled with having other sessions outside the city centre. I called the Ashton clinic and there was no answer from Bolton."
Maria claims the member of staff at the Ashton clinic was "very vague" and stated that the Manchester clinic was going to be closed but that she could offer the treatments instead.
When the Manchester Evening News visited the Ashton-under-Lyne branch, we were told they were not connected to any activity linked to Skin HQ limited and operate as their own separate franchise. Maria went on to say: "The next thing I thought to do was to request a refund as I couldn't get any more sessions. The person behind the email refund address told me the only way to get a refund was if there was a health reason," she said.
"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I told him the clinic closing down wasn't my problem and I was entitled to a refund. I still haven't received any of my money back."
Responding to Maria's claims, a spokesperson for Skin HQ said: "We have checked that Maria Neapolitano did have two treatments cancelled but after this did complete all of her treatments according to our records. We have requested further information from her related to her claim." Ms Napolitano disputes this claim.
Claire Johnson, 38, claims to have booked a block of 12 laser hair removal sessions for £664 at the Bolton branch in October 2021, but claims she was only ever able to attend the clinic for a patch test.
She said she visited the branch last weekend as a Google search revealed it was still open, but said when she arrived the clinic was shut and nobody was there. When the Manchester Evening News visited the Bolton branch on Thursday 31 March, the clinic was also closed and nobody could be seen inside.
"I managed to get quite a good deal on the website and I know quite a lot about laser hair removal because I'm qualified to do it. I've seen the company's adverts for quite some time," Claire said. "They looked reputable; they have Facebook and Instagram. I'd seen the clinics and the one in Manchester was in the Arndale and to me it looked professional."
Claire said she went in for her patch test which was "fine," and was due to have her first session on November 28. But the day before she claims she received a call saying her appointment was cancelled.
"I wasn’t in a position to make another booking because I was driving. She called me back later and I asked her to send me an email and I said I’d email her," she said. "I emailed her with some dates and they never came back. I left it for a bit because I was busy with my life but when I emailed again they said the booking system was down.
"I thought it was really strange and I carried on trying to contact them and just couldn't get through. In the end I contacted my credit card company about it and they are going through an investigation."
After failing to get a response from the company, Claire said she searched the company on Facebook and Trustpilot. She said after reading the reviews it "hit her" that something wasn't right.
"The alarm bells started ringing"
In response to Claire's claims, Skin HQ said: "Claire Johnson was a client of SkinHQ Bolton. Due to the burglary SkinHQ Bolton is currently closed.
"She used her credit card company to get her money back and her credit card company has claimed it back from us. We are so sorry we could not complete Claire’s treatment as planned but due to unforeseen events it was not possible.
"The Bolton clinic is closed due to there being a burglary in the clinic. She did purchase the treatments. We have no emails from her trying to book any further appointments apart from her first appointment and from our phone records we have not seen missed calls."
Another customer, who asked to remain anonymous, claims she paid £995 for a block of laser hair removal and HydraFacial in Camden, but was also only ever able to visit the clinic for a patch test.
"I have never bought anything like this before so it was a real investment. It's a huge amount of money and now they are impossible to get hold of," she said.
"The first red flag for me was when I went for a patch test. That was the only time I had contact with them. The patch test was fine and I asked to book my laser treatment at the same time as my facial.
"They said they didn't actually have the HydraFacial machine yet but told me they would contact me when they did. I thought that was a bit weird but I didn't think too much of it.
"After that I didn't have an appointment for ages as they said they were really booked up. I tried to change my appointment before but I couldn't get through to anyone."
The woman said that when she turned up for her booking, she found that the shutters were down and the clinic was closed. She claims she tried calling around 30 times but nobody picked up.
The customer went on to say: "The alarm bells started ringing at that point. I sent an email and didn't get a reply. I went on their Instagram to leave a comment and I noticed people had been saying similar things," she said.
"The following day my comment was deleted. Skin HQ finally replied to me and told me to get a refund from my bank but I haven't been able to get it back yet." A spokesperson from Skin HQ said they were unable to confirm whether these claims were true.
What the company say
In a statement, a spokesperson for the company said: "SkinHQ was a brand which started in Manchester and grew across the UK and internationally. We had a vision to make it more accessible for clients to be able to get afforded skin treatments.
"The events that have occurred since early this year have been completely unexpected and not something we were prepared for. You can see the wave of negative reviews started from February. We found many to be fake and Trustpilot removed them.
"Our team has been left understandably really shaken but we have not given up on our vision. We will get the clinics open again. We will not run away and will make sure every client has the opportunity to get the treatments that they originally planned to receive at a SkinHQ clinic. Any clients that have been affected and require support can they please email in on info@skinhq.co.uk."
A spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: "We can confirm that complaints have been received in regard to this business, and that Trading Standards will be making appropriate enquiries."
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: "Whenever Action Fraud provides GMP with information it is recorded and investigated, and any potential victims contacted."
A spokesperson for Klarna said: "We continually monitor customer disputes, and after seeing an increase of disputes being made against Skin HQ in the past few weeks we asked the merchant to make some changes to improve the customer’s shopping experience.
"Skin HQ were unable to meet our requests which meant that we removed their ability to offer Klarna as a payment option on the 25th March. As of that date, no customer has been able to pay Skin HQ using Klarna.
"We’re already helping customers who have previously raised a dispute. Any customer who used Klarna at Skin HQ before the 25th March and is not happy with their purchase should raise a dispute with us by logging in to My Klarna, choosing the Skin HQ purchase and selecting "Report a problem."
"We will look into each case, and ensure all customers are satisfied with their experience, offering refunds where appropriate. There’s more information on how we protect our customers in instances like this on our website.
"Since 25th March, we have asked that Skin HQ removes all Klarna branding and references from their website. Again, I would like to emphasise that it is not possible to pay for any treatment on this website with Klarna since the ability to offer Klarna as a payment option was removed nearly a week ago. We will continue to monitor this merchant's website to ensure that any mention of Klarna is removed."
A spokesperson for Trustpilot said: "To clarify, flagged reviews remain online for the duration of investigations by our Content Integrity team - unless flagged for being ‘harmful or illegal’. The ability to flag reviews is available to both consumers and businesses, and all flagged reviews are assessed fairly and equally by Content Integrity specialists.
"Once the investigation is completed, the review will either remain online or will be taken offline depending on whether the report is valid or invalid. We have an automated detection system in place which identifies misbehaviour and abusive patterns in use of the reporting tool, and SkinHQ recently received a warning for abusing the reporting function since it is a breach of our Guidelines for Businesses.
"We are continuing to monitor the business’s activity on the platform, and should this behaviour by the business continue, we will take appropriate action according to our Action We Take policy. This may include restricting their access to the reporting functionality, and/or placing a Consumer Warning banner at the top of SkinHQ’s Trustpilot page alerting consumers to the business’s misuse."
Responding to Trustpilot, a spokesperson for Skin HQ said: "As mentioned previously we have been a victim of a malicious attack to the brand and the staff. Trustpilot has given a warning due to so many flagged reviews but as you can see we have had so many fake reviews it is important that we make sure the reviews are genuine.
"Fake reviews sharing lies have an effect on genuine clients who may be worried already. The authenticity of the reviews are paramount during this difficult time.
"To prove if a review is genuine we request for Trustpilot to provide the person's contact details and name so we can not only check if the review is genuine but also reach out to the client and provide the support they need.
"The client can also remain anonymous but prove to Trustpilot's team that they are a genuine client. When the review is fake they cannot prove they were a client and have had a genuine experience with SkinHQ.
"We thank Trustpilot for making a concerted effort in ensuring the integrity of genuine reviews are maintained and those that are maliciously intended are removed."
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