WorkingWithMonolids: Euroskinlab DESTROYED My Face (RESOLVED!)

UPDATE:

After I uploaded this, my friend contacted me saying she knows someone from Euroskinlab who could help me out. Her friend connected me with one of their shareholders & and someone from top management, and we had a meeting on Aug 9. The meeting went very well, fortunately.

They apologized on behalf of the team, since there was a communication screw up and what happened should not have happened.They say upper management have discussed this since 2 weeks ago (so around July 22-29) and planned on reimbursing me. Unfortunately, they were waiting on their legal team to draft up the agreement and they apologized for not updating me during the process.

They've reimbursed me for the cost of getting this treated with a doctor I trust, so I'm really happy with their shareholders & management team.

______________________________________

So. Let me detail my nightmarish experience with Euroskinlab, a member of Euromedica....if you prefer a video, you can watch here:

May 16

Got invited to try a facial with Euroskinlab. They offered a cortisone injection for my cystic acne. I've been treating my cystic acne this way since I was a teenager and never had an issue before, so I went for it.

1-2 weeks later

Started noticing a slight dent. Thought it was in my mind or it'll go away, so I didn't worry. It kept getting larger.

1 month later

The dent is very noticeable and getting worrying. Planned a trip to Singapore to ask Dr Yong what's causing it. Still thought it was aging related at this moment.

29 June

Saw Dr Yong, he confirmed it was caused by the acne injection and it's because they used too high of a dose. I immediately contacted Euroskinlab, but the salesperson said she needed to check with the doctors and they were currently on leave thanks to lebaran. I was fine with waiting until the holidays are over, so I didn't contact her again.

Translation:
Good evening, is it a hole like from an acne scar or something else?
The clinic happens to be close until July 3, and I'm only in on July 8..I'll have to check first and ask the doctor if it's really from the injection from Euroskinlab.

Translation:
Me: The dent is larger than acne scarring. I've checked with a doctor and this is from a wrongly administered injection.
Her: Sorry in advance Ms. Francesca, none of our doctors have caused scarring from the injection before. I have to ask the doctor and check your data first. As far as I know, acne injections are just normal injections and nothing complicated.

Translation: Morning Ms Francesca, ok, I'll check first on the status...
But the clinic is only opened on the 3rd, and I'm only bak at work on July 8, so I'll ask the doctor about it then ok..

July 10

Checked on the status since I haven't gotten a reply, and was asked to come in to the office. Got an appointment for July 11.

July 11

So far, everything's kinda chill. The first person I met is the saleslady I normally talk to and the doctor that injected me. I like the doctor, she's nice, and I think it's a goof up anyone can do. She was honest about how I just needed time to heal, but she suggested a laser treatment to reduce the redness. I told her I wasn't comfortable with anymore treatments with Euroskinlab, and wanted to stick to Dr Jonathan Yong in Singapore, because he's been the one making my skin look amazing for the past 2-3 years.

What kind of annoyed me was her insistence that this has never happened before. Look, you messed up, apologize and offer a solution. Don't try to act like the patient you messed up is some kind of crazy exceptional case.

They brought in another person, I'm not sure if she's a doctor as well, but she's from Singapore. She apologized again, and this was when I proposed that if they were truly sorry, can they reimburse me to cost of treating this? She immediately told me that the only solution they can offer was that I get further treatments from Euroskinlab. I told her that I'm not going to trust Euroskinlab with my skin again. What if they mess up my face again?

She left and brought in someone from management and this person was the worst. She was apologizing effusively and was all smiles, but kept interrupting me while I was talking and pretty much went along the lines of how they will not compensate me for any treatment, unless I do it with them.

I repeated my point again. And this is where the service got really bad. She tried implying that since it's been so long since it happened, there was nothing they can do. I interrupted her and gave her the chronology.

She asked Vera if they took pictures of my face, if there was pictures of the acne. Great. Now they're trying to weasel out of admitting it's their fault again. Fortunately, thanks to beauty blogging, I took pictures of my face daily, so I can actually show them many, many pictures of my skin, before,and after the treatment to corroborate my story.

No dent so far.

Dent started appearing and kept getting deeper.

This is where I'm really pissed. What if I'm just some normal customer who isn't a beauty blogger and doesn't have pictures of my face daily? Would that mean they'll just shrug and say, "Too bad! Can't prove it!"

Wtf.

Anyway, she threw the responsibility back at me by saying that there's nothing she can do until I get a letter from Dr Yong stating what's wrong, how my face can be treated and how much it'll cost. Only then, we can move forward with our conversation.

July 12

Sent the letter from Dr Yong. Waited for a reply.

July 20

Asked about what the status is since it's been a week and there's no reply from them. I was told I needed to wait another week for their manager to call me, because s/he is in Surabaya and I'll have to wait for him/her to return to Indonesia. Obviously, I got upset since it turned out they haven't even talked to their management. I asked her if it would be faster if I called them out publicly, and that's when I got 2 phone calls from them.

The first phone call is from the rude lady I dealt with before. She was very rude, defensive and sarcastic. She insisted they already offered to make it right by offering further treatments at their clinic. I repeated to her again that I'm not comfortable returning to their clinic when they've messed up such a simple procedure.

The second phone call is from a very sweet woman and I feel bad for her. I told her that I understand her hands are tied, and I don't blame her personally for this. She insisted she wanted to see me in person, but I told her I busy and would be traveling soon, so I told her she could just talk to me over the phone. She insisted it would be better to speak in person. I asked her if she could guarantee that Euroskinlab's position will change if I met her in person, and she couldn't.

She then told me she wanted to see me to check out the damage. I told her I've sent a picture since June 29, and I've already gone to Euroskinlab in person and met 3 different people. She seemed surprised about that and told me she'll look at my files to see the picture.....which annoyed me because it meant that no one bothered giving her my files. Does Euroskinlab destroy faces so often that it's not a big deal?

July 21

Euroskinlab finally sent an official response:

Translation:

Thank you for your trust in our services at Euroskinlab (ESL), Iskandarsyah branch.

With regards to the information about your skin condition (right cheek) that you experienced after receiving treatment, the Euromedica Management would like to extend our apologies for your discomfort and will take this into consideration to improve our service quality.

With this letter, we also wish to offer a solution to fix this issue by inviting you to drop by our clinic. Our team will wait for your earliest availability so we can resolve this at once.

We greatly hope you will confirm soon. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact our Customer Care call center via xxxxx.

Here was my reply:

Hi,

I've already gone to your clinic on July 11 and met your doctors. Is there anything different planned for this visit? I don't have time to keep traveling to your clinic, especially when no new information or resolution comes out of the meeting.

I've alerted you to the issue since June 29. I was informed everyone was on holiday, so I didn't mind waiting until July 11 until I could meet the Euroskinlab team. I met 3 people who all told me the same thing —that Euroskinlab will only offer further treatments in Euroskinlab to fix the crater you put on my face. The 3rd person I met even questioned why it took me so long to contact Euroskinlab & whether the crater was already present in the first place. Fortunately for me, I had pictures to prove my story.

I am NOT comfortable receiving further treatments from Euroskinlab, especially since laser treatments and fillers carry higher risks than the cortisoid shot you messed up. I rather go to my own doctor and reimburse the costs with Euroskinlab.

I was told that any decision from Euroskinlab is dependent on a letter from my doctor, which I got and sent the next day on July 12.

I received no update until I contacted Euroskinlab again on July 20, 8 days later. I was informed that management was in Surabaya, and I'd have to wait another week for any decision. Only after I threatened to take the story public did I finally get 2 phone calls.

The first was from the same rude and racist woman who kept interrupting me and telling me that I could pick one of Euroskinlab's foreign doctors to fix the crater on my face. As if Indonesian doctors are somehow subpar. I kept stressing that accidents can happen, but what matters is that you take responsibility for them. Yet Euroskinlab refuses to do so, and it even took you took another day (23 days after I informed you of the problem & 10 days after my visit to the clinic) before you even issued an official apology? Does Euroskinlab destroy their clients' faces that often, that this is something that does not concern you at all?

The 2nd lady who called me was lovely and she wanted to meet in person. I informed her that my schedule is currently packed and I do not have time to meet her in person, but she's free to talk to me over the phone or over email. I also informed her that I do not see the point of another meeting if Euroskinlab will simply reiterate the same points.

Yet here is the apology email you sent, asking me for another meeting. I will only attend the meeting if Euroskinlab offers the solution I initially proposed, which is to reimburse me for the cost of fixing the crater you put on my face, with a doctor I trust.

Now it's no longer about the money. I'm just horrified by the terrible way you treat your customers, and I really want to go public with this story to prevent more women from getting their faces destroyed by your clinic.

-Francesca

July 26

Everything was silent until this day, when they asked me to send me their ID. They cannot offer me a good reason for why they need my ID, and it's sketchy as hell.

Translation:
Good evening Ms Francesca, if you're not busy, can you send me your id..we really need it for our data. Thank you

I just need your government ID, because it's needed and it's now one of our requirements

The ID is one of the requirements so the process will be easier

We're looking for the best solution for Ms Francesca...so it can be a win-win solution