Complaint Review: Lauren Frances -

The Man Magnet Weekend fell very short of what was promised in the itinerary and online. I asked for a full refund and a copy of my request is below detailing my experience.. Dear Lauren,  I am writing you to request a full refund of $4,500.00 for this weekends’ Man Magnet. I feel that I did not receive the services for which I paid. The weekend fell grossly short of my expectations based on the activities as outlined in the program itinerary and as pitched to the Mama Gena Goddess Group. (I have attached an overview copied directly from the website screen shots attached. and the itinerary emailed to me.) The following is what the weekend promised: Man Magnet Makeover Day! Salon, Shopping & Cocktail Party! Man Magnet Photo Shoot & Dinner Vision of Love Day Profile Writing & Cyberflirting Secrets Below is a summary of the reasons for my disappointment and why I am requesting a full refund.

1.) From the itinerary – Remote Pre-Styling Consultation: “You will get a fabulous and targeted 40 minute phone consultation with Lauren to discuss your hair, makeup and review your current wardrobe selections for the upcoming the Man Magnet Photo Shoot.” (a) My phone consultation was was exactly 12 minutes long, not 40-minutes. (See attached screen shot). Engagement for the full 40 minutes would most likely have avoided the disastrous "shopping safari," which I’ll explain later. (b) During the above mentioned phone consultation I was informed that I should set aside $1,650.00 for five hours of private coaching. This was highly unnerving and off-putting. It was never advertised that there would be additional costs. I was given a sales pitch to spend more money in addition to the $4,500.00 weekend session--which had not even begun. (c) I was, however, able to give my exact sizes and my desired clothing budget of $1,500.00, but that was about it.

2.) Friday - “Today we're going on a fabulous shopping safari!” (a) Monif C. (monifc.com) – is a store for morbidly obese women. I am familiar with this and similar stores given my weight history. The store sizes according to their corporate published information begin at 1x and according to their website, the models are wearing 2x. Seeing as I supplied my size information during the telephone call and again on a questionnaire that I filled out and returned on Thursday, December 3rd, I don’t understand why we would shop at this store. (Several years ago when I was almost 300 pounds, I wore a 2x. Then when I was down to around 225 I went down to a 1x. Now, at my current weight of 180, I am a size 12/14 and a 32 jeans. Despite the fact that I was a bit insulted, I was a good sport and tried on a couple of items which, of course, turned out to be way too big. Individuals who are experienced with plus size clothing stores understand that a 14/16 plus size is not the same size as a 14 regular. Monif C was an ineffective and wasted trip for me.) (c) H&M - I was told by Sharon that we were being taken to H&M for plus size jeans. Again, I do not wear plus size jeans. I supplied my jeans size, so this was more wasted time. (I think there are better places for plus size jeans and plus size clothes in general other than H&M). I find H&M clothing to be of poor quality and prefer to have a few nice things rather than a bunch of cheap pieces, but again in my 12- minute consultation we were not able to cover this type of critical information. (d) Bergdorf Goodman – This store is at the other end of the spectrum. I stated my budget was $1,500.00 and gave my sizes. Most of the designers at Bergdorf’s include sizes ranging from 00 to 10. A few will go to a 12. There were only three items for me to try on. The sales associate, Tina, told me that they only had one pair of jeans in a size 32 for $188.00. She was supposed to pull clothes for me but instead rudely sent a random person to tell me that she did not have anything in my size. (Why was she so rude? Given the Lauren Francis brand, I would think they would have treated us with the utmost respect. Especially, if the shopping day had been prearranged.) Rudeness aside, even with a 40 percent off sale, Bergdorf's is outside of my budget for the four different looks I needed. Again, this was a disappointing waste of time. At 6:30pm I suggested (why I have to give shopping suggestions in a program I’ve paid for is also suspect) that we go to Bloomingdales or Saks where the prices are more in line with all of our budgets. We arrived at Bloomingdales shortly after 8pm and got a bite to eat on the 7th floor at Forty Carrots. (Lunch had been cancelled due to poor time management.) Most of us had not eaten since our 9:30am breakfast at Laduree. The store is on holiday hours and closes at 10pm. Shopping there was extremely rushed. The focus on finding things for each look for the photo shoot was lost. Although I was able to pick up a couple of nice pieces this trip was also failure. I ended up returning most of what I bought. The wasted time at H&M and BG would have made it almost impossible for any group of women to assemble four different looks in 45 minutes.

3.) We were to be partnered with a "Man Magnet Wing Woman" and a cocktail party was to be included in the $4,500.00. Neither of these happened.

4). Also included in the $4,500.00 price for the weekend was the Vision of Love Bootcamp Day on Saturday. According to the program we were supposed to work on our online dating profiles, which included selecting a profile name, writing the contents of our profile and cyber flirting. (In fact, I brought my laptop for this distinct purpose.) However, we did not do any of these things. Instead, what we did amounted to a very sad, depressing afternoon of “heart wound” discussions where women shared their saddest heartbreak stories. It was as if this highly valuable and fun portion of the Man Magnet program had been cancelled and replaced with "Sad Story Time."

5.) We were supposed to have a Flirting in the Field session and a Dinner at 7pm but after the depressing heart wound stories I guess the other women were not in the mood to go out to dinner much less flirt. Dinner was cancelled and so was Flirting in the Field.

6.) There was some confusion as to where we were meeting on Saturday at 9:45am. The itinerary instructed us go to Thompson 60 Hotel in Soho next to the Hudson Hotel. Living in NYC and having been to both locations, I knew that some wasn’t quite right with the location and asked for clarification. It wasn’t until 8:30am that morning that Lucie called to give the correct location. You followed up with me at 9am and you still did not have the correct hotel information. I had to inform you that the correct location was The 6 Columbus Hotel not Thompson 60. I felt awkward having to give the organizer the name of the location where we were to meet but rather than lose trust or faith, I attempted to set this aside as "stuff happens." 4.) Photo shoot day. I have participated in multiple photo shoots with some of the best photographers in both the music and real estate businesses and have a very clear understanding of photo shoot standards and procedures. This is another valuable portion of the weekend, but it was handled so poorly I have little doubt that when I see my photos they’ll hardly be usable. (a) I was instructed to arrive at 9am for styling. I was told there would be a rolling rack.

When I arrived, there was no rolling rack for my clothes. I had to ask multiple times when they were bringing it up. They brought it up a little after 12pm. I expected them to be prepared with enough rolling racks for everyone and perhaps name cards on them indicating where each person was to put their belongings before we arrived as is done with professional shoots. (b) There was no actual hair and make up schedule. I was sitting getting my hair styled when you approached me and said, “I thought you were doing your own hair?” I paid $4,500.00, which we were told included a hair stylist. Why would I do my own hair? (c) I did not end up in make up until almost 1pm. The make up artists were ill prepared because they did not have proper lighting. They had a single construction Bayco Lamp, which is not used for makeup for obvious reasons. (d) My first shot was an outdoor shot that was supposed to be finished before the lunch break but ended up being done when everyone else was on lunch break. Cherie never took my lunch order. I only realized that lunch orders had been taken when I saw them arrive. I was also not included in the afternoon coffee order either. I only realized that coffee had been ordered when she came back while I was getting my hair done. James was sweet to find me some coffee. (e) Although I liked the beige oversized sweater with the boots and would wear it out in real life, I am not confident that the first outfit photographed well. They did not do a test shot to look at everything to make sure it looked good, so I have no idea. It is standard practice to do a test shot, especially when there are professional stylists and makeup artists present. When I walked off set I realized I was wearing a black hair rubber band on my wrist, but no one caught it, so my photos will likely show me wearing it or it will have to be photoshopped out. (f) According to the itinerary, we were supposed to finish by 6pm and have a pizza and champagne party. We did not finish until almost 10pm so there was no after party-pizza or champagne. I had really been looking forward to the weekend and had high hopes that my $4,500.00 investment would be well worth it. I was so disappointed that I didn’t receive everything that the itinerary and your website promised for this weekend event. In light of the reasons above, I look forward to receiving a full refund from you in due course. Thank you in advance.