Shelley Riley, Body Wraps Plus salon owner stole my money without providing services and knew about the dangerous risks with the services provided Fort Worth Texas
In March 2008 I received an e-mail from Shelley Riley, the owner of Body Wraps Plus, with an advertisement of half priced body wraps scheduled or purchased March 27 through March 29th. I scheduled an appointment that Saturday afternoon for a body wrap and bought an additional three wraps that day thinking it would save me alot of money in the long run.
On Mar. 29th I brought my mom, my husband, and my six month old son with me to the treatment. After being pregnant for nine months and at the time still nursing my baby, I thought getting a body wrap would be the best way to treat myself to a couple hours of relaxation and pampering. After all, I rarely did this for myself before I had the baby and with the postpregnancy weight gain and fatigue, I was excited for the day to come.
I asked Shelley Riley to answer all the concerns and questions I had before the wrap. Since I was nursing I wanted to make sure it was okay for me to go ahead with the body wrap. She promised me a slimmer overall appearance, that I would lose inches all over my body, that I would feel more energy, and that the mineral solution they used was all natural and healthful to the body. I believed Shelley Riley.
I went home not feeling good or bad about the wrap but I went ahead and purchased 3 more wraps in advance. I charged it to my checking card in the amount of $281. I didn't get around to making another appointment soon after that but I was still consistently getting e-mails from Shelley Riley with special packages for spring and mother's day, etc. I decided to set up an appointment Nov 4th. However, when I called the business number it was disconnected and no longer in service. That was when I got suspicious and started doing research on the internet.
I looked online for another number to Body Wraps Plus and couldn't find one. I became resourceful, called the Curves that was in the same shopping mall and right next door to the body wraps salon, and asked them to kindly go next door to see if they were still opened and if they had a new number I could reach them at. I got the new number but it turns out that the girl I spoke with on the phone said Shelley Riley went out of business and that the new salon, Wrap Me Now, was not in any way affiliated with her. Apparently when Shelley Riley closed down Body Wraps Plus, she sold the rights to her customers e-mails to Wrap Me Now. I have told the owner of Wrap Me Now, Nicole, to call me as soon as she got back into town. I am awaiting her call.
As I googled Shelley Riley and Body Wraps Plus I came upon this website, ripoffreport.com. It is absolutely horrifiying to me what I read about the body wrap. The solution they use is filled and contaminated with high amounts of mold, bacteria and yeast and have at one point even been contaminated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a potentially deadly bacteria. It sickens me to think I came in contact and nursed my baby boy right after the wrap.
Shelley Riley has given her own testimony as to the concerns she has with the body wrap on Feb 12th 2008. How dare she continue to sell a product that was a danger to me and countless other people during the following month of March, April, May...... And she says she can sleep at night now that she is not in the business any longer. And that she has been ripped off by the Slender Wrap system. What about me????? Did you not rip me off??? The same way you got ripped off you ripped me off. Where is my money? Who do I go to for recourse? It's like the pot calling the kettle black!
I called Washington Mutual and they said they can't help me because I can't file a claim 60 days after the transaction.
I got Shelley Riley's home number through the white pages and tried calling her. The number is busy every time. If you read this report Shelley Riley I am asking for my money back. I am a hard-working mother and I deserve to not be scammed like anybody else. You can reach me at (((email redacted))).
Nancy
Arlington, Texas
U.S.A.
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Older and wiser
Beaumont,Texas,
U.S.A.
My Deepest Apologies and Regrets
#2
Wed, August 26, 2009
To Nancy in Arlington, Texas and anyone else that may have a similar situation, I would like to offer my sincere apology for any anxiety or losses you may have suffered when I closed my body wrap salon. It has been over a year since I closed, but I just today ran across this report and I would like an opportunity to explain the situation.
First of all, I want to reassure you, Nancy that you did NOT come into contact with any contaminated products when you came into my salon. I actually learned about the possible contamination of the Suddenly Slender products in November of 2007. Another Suddenly Slender Licensee was investigating the company and she came across the FDA reports indicating there was a consistent problem with the manufacturing process and the products were not deemed to be safe. When I received this information, I immediately stopped using the Suddenly Slender products. I destroyed everything that had been manufactured by that company and began using a body wrap product called Skinny Skin.
At the time, I was operating as a Licensee of Suddenly Slender out of Clearwater, Florida and was under a very strict contract with the owner, Victoria Morton. This contract stipulated that I, and any other Licensee that used a body wrap product other than Suddenly Slender, would be sued for breech of contract....for no less than $100,000.
For this reason, I was unable to openly admit to using another, safe product. It was a "Catch 22" situation. I and several other Licensees were trying our best to force Suddenly Slender to change their manufacturing process to meet FDA standards and produce safe products....yet we were unable to admit that we were no longer using these products for fear of being sued and losing everything. Those of us who were really pushing the issue received threatening letters on a regular basis from Ms. Morton's lawyers, so we were having to tread lightly and cover our behinds as much as possible.
To my knowledge, Suddenly Slender has not made any changes to their manufacturing process and most likely still produces questionable products. As a result, many of the Licensees have stopped using the Suddenly Slender products and it is taking its toll on the company. In the past year, Victoria Morton has vacated her headquarters and is now operating the business from her home. Her "business address" as listed on her web site is actually a dilapidated, abandoned storage building!
I also want to explain the need and reason for the closing of my salon. My parents, who lived six hours away from me, were having a great deal of health issues during the months prior to my closing. An emergency situation arose in June of 2008 that required me to be with them for an extended period of time and I had no choice but to close the salon.
I contacted one of my competitors, Nicole of Wrap Me Now in Fort Worth, told her of my situation and arranged to sell my business to her. She paid me 50 cents on the dollar for all of my equipment, furnishings and supplies. She also bought my client data base, which is very common, and agreed to fulfill any outstanding obligations/contracts I had with my clients. I turned over all of my client files to her so she would know exactly who had bought wrap packages, how many wraps they had already received, and how many they had left to receive.
I sent an email to all of my clients at the time to explain this situation to them and to refer them to Nicole and Wrap Me Now for any future services. Why you did not receive this email and were not aware of the situation, I have no clue. You were apparently receiving emails from me at least through May of 2008 (Mother's Day) and I closed the salon in June. Possibly you overlooked that email or changed your email address during that time and did not receive it?
After being gone for a few weeks, I started to receive word that Nicole was not meeting her obligations and was refusing to provide "free" services to my clients who had prepaid as you did. She was actually denying any affiliation with me at all and pretended not to have any idea why my clients were coming to her and expecting to receive the remainder of their body wraps at no additional charge. Her failure to live up to her end of our business agreement has left many people feeling as if I personally had taken advantage of them and let them down.
As soon as I realized what was happening, I did seek legal counsel to explore my options on how to remedy the situation. My only choice was to take her to court and force her to fulfill her obligations to me and to my clients. Unfortunately, retaining an attorney to fight this battle for me would cost much more money than I had available to spend and I was advised that it could remain in court for years before being resolved.
So, who got ripped off? You and I both did! What recourse is there for either one of us? At this point in time, none. I know this doesn't make you feel any better about your loss, but I honestly do hope and pray that you understand the situation now and can forgive me for trusting the wrong person and for making a bad decision that cost us both.