I went to Dr. Tobinick at the Institute of Laser Medicine in December, 1997 for laser hair removal on my face. His office did the hard-sell: claiming permanent removal with 2-years of no re-growth as proof. I was told that I was a good candidate but it would take 4 treatments instead of the usual 3 treatments.
From December 1997 to June 2001, I received 10 treatments on my face. He personally looked at me a total of 2 times. I gave up beta keratin for years and even bleached my skin to assist the process. Every time I called for a “touch-up” his office demanded more money and warned me that “next time” I would have to pay full price or go through consultation again. I usually paid but managed to get some discounted and an occasional free visit.
I paid over $2300 for the treatments and the hair did not go away permanently. In fact, I never went more than 6 months without re-growth. I eventually resorted to waxing again due to cost and inconvenience.
This summer, I thought that by now, Tobinick must have the processed working properly and called to make an appointment. I demanded that the visit be free, considering my history. I was told that I would need to speak to the Office Manager – someone new and with whom I had never met or spoken. I called regularly for a month before I got to speak to her, at which time she claimed that Dr. Tobinick’s office never claimed permanent removal and that they had been more than generous with me in discounting my previous treatments. I informed her that since she was not in the room at the time of the sales pitch then she had no business telling me what was claimed, I also reminded her that the office’s radio advertisements claimed permanent hair removal as did Dr. Tobinick’s patent requests on each laser machine. She then said that they were choosing to no longer treat me, and upon me threatening legal action for false advertisement and fraud, she claimed the statute of limitations had expired.
So aside from warning the general public of what a fraud Dr. Tobinick is, I’d like to know:
Is there a statute of limitations for a claim of “permanent hair removal”?
Any feedback would be helpful. THANKS!