www.fotodepilandbeautypanama.com
fotodbp@gmail.com
Teléfono: 225-0711.
Calle 43 con Justo Arosemena. local Nº 4. Bella Vista.
Panama City, Panama
http://es-es.facebook.com/pages/Fotodepil-Beauty-Panam%C3%A1/139381532803830?sk=info
Dealing with this so called salon was a nightmare for me.
Turns out I had ordered 2 different ofertas from them without knowing it.
With one oferta I ordered 3 & the other one I ordered 2 sessions, so I spent a bit of money with them.
From the minute I started dealing with this company, it was one drama after another. Mistake after mistake & I was going there to relax, not become stressed.
First there was no stool. Any good salon should always have a stool for shorter people so they can climb onto the table without a struggle, & Panamanians are short by nature.
I thought I was getting the leg rejuvenation treatment, so I was surprised when she started doing a back massage on me. We even asked about it & she said this was part of the treatment, so who am I to argue about getting more than I thought I was going to get.
I had brought my own all natural pomegranate scrub as I didn’t know what they were going to use & I needed to use this up, so she spread it all over my back.
She also spread some milk thing on my face & then told me to go wash myself.
Marie the homeless woman was with me translating.
Marie had gone to the washroom, so I was left lying on the table naked (they don’t cover you up in Panama) waiting & waiting & waiting, which seemed to take forever.
When Marie was FINALLY done, I started heading towards the washroom, but as I was going (running around naked because they don’t even bother to help you to the washroom, don’t even bother to give you a robe, I had to ask for one because you may soon realize, the majority of Panamanians have no common sense.), I started to question Marie saying “they BETTER have hot water.”
If you don’t already know, Panamanians don’t believe in hot water. They think because it’s hot here it isn’t necessary which of course isn’t true.
While I don’t need steaming hot (some days I do), I do need at least warm water.
Marie asks if there is hot water & we are told NO & this is when I start to lose it.
There was NO WAY I could take a cold shower. Talk about ruining what was sort of a relaxing experience.
They wanted to heat up water in the microwave & I had to laugh LOL, what are they going to do? Pour scalding water over me while I stand there? It would take forever to get the right combination if they were even smart enough to mix the hot with cold. Then I’d have to wait until they did this over & over & over again, as it would take a long time to rinse off a heavy scrub from the entire body.
Then I finally have to accept the fact that I’m going to have to somehow rinse myself off, as the people at the salons are complete morons. That’s when I notice that the towel I was given is filthy dirty. That led to me getting more upset.
Who the HELL gives a person a dirty towel???
When I ask for a new towel, guess what I’m told!!!
They have NO CLEAN TOWELS left.
Can you believe that?
I’m standing there with a hand towel, not even a real bath towel, & they have NO CLEAN ones available.
I have to go searching myself in one of the other rooms to find washcloths <sigh> that I see are clean.
So I stand there bitching, as I was REALLY upset now, taking a cold shower quickly trying to rinse off the scrub.
Then Marie went to ask if the treatment was done because I didn’t think it was, but we were told it was.
When leaving I wanted to refund, but the arrogant girl at the front was like… “we can’t give you a refund because the treatment cost so little as it is.” I asked to speak to the manager, there was none, then asked to speak to the owner. I was told they would give him a message. That whole conversation took over 30 minutes because of Marie’s mental issues (didn’t know about these at the time).
The next day I didn’t receive a call from the owner (of course) & so Marie called & got his name & cell phone number.
I forgot his name, I think it starts with an “E”. He speaks English, & works a day job out in the canal. Turns out, he & one or two others own this salon. I got the impression the salon was ONLY owned by men which is very very strange.
The other owners are off in Europe he tells me, so he’s managing everything himself & it’s his fault there was no hot water, the machine had to be fixed or something, he tells me.
As for the dirty towel, he says it was from mud, it wasn’t dirty, just stained. Not sure I believe that one, but I could never know for sure.
No explanation as to why there weren’t any clean towels around other than they just ran out because they were so busy.
I told him that I was pretty sure I didn’t get my full treatment & he said he would check into that for me & get back to me, but he never did. I looked at what I was supposed to get with that treatment & of course I was correct, it was more than just a body scrub & a cream or cleanser on the face.
That’s when he told me I had 2 different types of treatments.
So after several days went by I finally book my second treatment with them & I asked for the leg treatment this time.
I said I wanted his best girl & he assured me the hot water would be fixed by that time & it was.
This treatment was better.
My only complaint had nothing to do with them, but rather with the leg treatment which was quite interesting. It’s called preso-plus & it’s a machine that massages & squeezes the legs. The problem is, it can get very hot after a while & I was on there for a good 30 minutes & was starting to get claustrophobic, but it helped my legs which impressed me.
On our way out, I had Marie tell the girl that we hadn’t gotten our full treatment last time (it was supposed to be a facial peel & aromatherapy which I never received), so I wanted to re-book that appointment & I did.
Next drama… I was JUST about to tip this girl when she tries to charge me tax LOL I’m like WHAT??? Why do I have to pay tax? She said it’s not included in the oferta. I’m like no one ever told me that, I’ve never had to pay tax at any other place.
I asked her to show me where on the oferta it says that & she picked one up, read it & couldn’t find it, so she dropped trying to get money out of me.
I felt like I was once again being ripped off by Panamanians.
Needless to say, she never got her tip.
I tried to call the owner, but every time I did, he didn’t pick up, nor did he bother to return the calls.
For the next appointment I had taxi issues, so I never made it to the appointment. Marie showed up at the salon & called me wondering where I was at 5 minutes after my start time. I didn’t know how to tell them I couldn’t come since I don’t speak Spanish, so I was waiting for my taxi driver to come so he could call them.
She told them & I made sure she apologized on my behalf.
I asked to rebook & they said they were fully booked up until the following Tuesday at 8:30 pm which I thought was very strange that they would take an appointment that late, but I vaguely remember they are open until 10 pm.
The following week I made my way into the city for my appointment, made sure I had a taxi who would actually show up on time & take me, & just as I got there, the girl is walking out the door locking the place up talking in Spanish saying they are closed.
I’m like WHAT???
I just wasted taxi money & an entire trip into the city & you aren’t seeing me for my appointment????
I was furious. What kind of micky mouse company is this?
So I complained to oferta & spoke to Rebeca who asked me if I wanted a refund.
I wanted her to complain to the owner, but I guess that wasn’t going to happen. I asked myself if I really wanted to go through this stress every time I went to this place, so I said just refund me. I was disappointed, as I really wanted the preso-plus leg treatment again.
I ended up getting a refund from oferta, but it took almost a month to get it. Their lack of customer service at oferta is another issue altogether I won’t go into right now.
Of course I was honest & told them to only refund me for the sessions I hadn’t received.
What a nightmare.
I wouldn’t recommend Foto Depil & Beauty at all. They put on a show with their somewhat expensive looking layout (their couch is terrible, it’s so low to the ground I almost fell when I went to sit on it), but they have no clue what they are doing & their customer service is terrible.
There doesn’t seem to be a manager around to manage these girls either.
Michelle