pay money to know laser settings

hi everyone, I’ve posted on here before a while back about my horrible results with laser hair removal for my face. Well it’s been a few years since then and I saw a groupon for 6 laser treatments at Aura Skin Spa in S.F and I figured I would give laser a try one more time but this time for my underarms.
I’ve gone for 3 sessions so far. Last time I went in I asked them what settings have been used on me and their response was that I need to write a letter to them in order for them to release my “medical records” which includes the laser settings. So I went home and wrote them. I get an email back telling me that they will send me a copy once I pay $20. My question is why do I have to pay them $20 in order to know what settings are being used on my body. They won’t tell me until I pay them and I have never heard of anything like this before.
Does this sound right to you guys? How should I go about dealing with this?

That’s silly and outrageous. Unfortunately, under CA law, I don’t think it’s illegal. Maybe you should try calling the front office, and see if they will give it to you over the phone. If that person won’t, you could try calling back another time and seeing if someone different will give it to you for free. Last option is to go for your treatment, and then look at the machine after you’ve been treated and write down the settings on a piece of paper.

Sounds wrong to me from a consumer standpoint. It also concerns me that they might not know or have a clue what they are talking about. I always ask the settings as I am being worked on and I write it down myself just for my own record. I often like to ask them why they select a particular setting and i can usually get an idea of the extent of their knowledge and passion.

Since this topic has been brought up, does anybody know if the laser machines keep record of the history of each client or are only some of them capable of it?

I’m guessing they want you to pay for their time to get that information? Maybe there is a printing fee? They can run their business the way they want to.

Hahahah it is not right. When I wanted to know my laser settings, I just walked over to the machine and looked or asked my derm and she told me.Your clinic sucks.