Complaint Review: Image Medical Spa

Terrible and overpriced.  They quoted me $120 per session to remove a 4.5" by 1.5" (inch)/”medium” sized tattoo and said it would be around 6-7 sessions, maybe an additional session or 2 to completely clear the skin.  The tattoo is just a single word, so they’re not actually treating the entire area, but the price is based on the measurements of the widest and tallest parts of the tattoo (how convenient). 

The first 2 sessions were a waste of time and money; nothing happened. The nurse that performed the 3rd session mentioned that they had not been using a high enough setting, since there were absolutely no visible changes.  After raising the setting, the tattoo started scabbing (which is supposed to happen) and I began seeing results.

By the 7th treatment, I had a pretty good idea of how the laser removal worked.  I was familiar with the process and could tell it was being done poorly.  The tattoo didn't even scab or have "pin point bleeding", which they had explained in earlier sessions, was an expected result that indicated the session was effectively removing the ink.  I returned for another treatment and that same person performed the session, but even worse than the previous time.  When the laser discharges, it only covers a tiny spot, so it's imperative that they thoroughly target the area, moving the laser little by little.  She used a lower speed to discharge the laser, which she later claimed gave her better "precision" and helped treat more of the area.  This is actually the opposite, if the laser is discharged 10 times versus 5 times, during a 10-second interval, 100% more of the region will be coated when it’s discharging at the faster rate.  The point of increasing the speed of discharge is to ensure a more continuous coverage and avoid missing areas.  I watched as she missed over half of the tattoo because the laser was not discharging fast enough and she was quickly moving through it- the entire session didn't even last 10 minutes.  Since she was randomly zapping parts of the tattoo, there was no way of tracking what she had gone over and there were areas she just completely missed.  I brought this up and she said the entire tattoo had been treated, which is why the skin was raised (swollen).  Each time the laser is discharged, it only targets a small area of the skin, but the surrounding area will also swell (that's the point of swelling; it’s the body’s natural response which causes the surrounding cells to dilate in order to protect the wounded area).  I mentioned this to her and she said only the parts that were struck by the laser and absorbed the ink would swell.  This is not just scientifically erroneous, but it was clearly disproved since there was swelling around the tattoo, where there was no ink, and was not even treated directly with the laser.  Like last time, there was no scabbing, you could barely tell I had anything done, I didn’t even need to cover the tattoo after treatment. 

It’s also important to note that every time I went for my appointments, there was at least a 20 minute wait (one time, I waited over 40 minutes), and this is just so they can spend 5 minutes applying numbing cream, which then requires another 30 minutes to take into effect before they can actually perform the treatment.  They could easily apply the numbing cream as soon as you get there to significantly reduce the waiting period, but they're clearly not concerned about your time, given that on 2 separate occasions, I arrived for my scheduled appointments (which were confirmed the day prior) and they weren't even there to perform the service (I live over an hour away).