Should I make a complaint about this woman?

[Cantbebothered31]

I won some free beauty treatment on Instagram for a clinic, should've known it was too good to be true. Upon arriving I was told by the aesthetician that not everyone is suitable for the treatment (skin treatment).
She then told me that there were various offers on at the clinic atm and asked if I had any problem areas. I told her I was keen to remove the acne around my chin area.
She then took a photo of me and blew up my face on a big screen. Then, without me asking, she started telling me all the cosmetic work I need doing.
She told me that I've got facial sagging (I'm barely over 30, how much sagging can I really have?) That my face isn't symmetrical (is anyone's?)
Smokers' lines (I've never smoked in my life) dark circles, my top lip is uneven, and so on.
I didn't ask for her opinion on any of it. How saggy am I really going to be in my very early 30s?
The only good Feedback she gave me was on my acne. Of course I was then their 'perfect' candidate for filler at £700.
I wasn't a suitable candidate for the free procedure, how convenient.
Then they had the cheek to ask me to leave a review.
Luckily I'm not taking to heart what she said. I bet a supermodel could've walked in and they'd find something to say she needs doing. However I think they're really rude and irresponsible. Someone very impressionable and with low self esteem could hear that and believe everything they say, and shell out for work they don't need.
I know this is how they make money, what would you do? Report it?

"Complain to who?" - well the Advertising Standards Authority was set up to deal with exactly this sort of thing! www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/promotional-marketing-prize-draws-in-social-media.html

Originally of course it was for press and print but now they cover all media.

Yes we “won” a photo shoot with one free photo many years ago. We asked them to choose the best picture and let us know when it was ready to collect. They insisted that we’d have to come back for a viewing of all the photos, which we knew would be awesome and hard to choose just the one. In the end we didn’t go back as we couldn’t trust our willpower to say no, the packages they were offering were so expensive I’d probably still be paying it off 9 years later.

I’d say you are amongst many winners, none of which will suit the free treatment.

I think you can complain you didn't get your prize but every time I go for an eyebrow wax they tell me I really should also get my upper lip and chin doing, plus tinting, roots dyed etc. it's normal for them to try and upsell but I'm sorry you were upset

Did they not offer something else to match value of what it was you had won??
That's what you'd expect really

It's like almost any beauty treatments - totally unecessary and only existing to rip off the easily led. I'd bet a lot of money there is absolutely nothing wrong with your face, like the vast majority of people's. No-ones face has perfect symmetry and everyones skin sags, gets lines etc - if we're lucky enough to live that long.

doesnt matter if your paying and then they say do you want me oto do your chin etc

this was meant to be a free treatment from a competion the op wasnt going to pay

a reputable beautician won't do this nasty upselling. Trained not to be unproffessional, and make people feel shit about themselves. Assuming they are actually beauticians, and not someone who has done the one day course for whatever it is, and has a certificate from the business who sell the equipment.

OP, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. If I were in your position I'd leave an honest review on the lines of what previous posters have suggested - if only to warn other people against falling for the same hype. This sounds like a classic example of the warning If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

The 'prize' was one of those scams which isn't about a free treatment and free advertising for them. You've been used and scammed.

The point is to flog you something.

Its well known with 'free' photography sessions.

Leave feed back. SCAM SCAM SCAM.

You were told you won something that you were then told you can’t have. Complain to advertising standards authority and write a review on Facebook, Google and trust pilot. Do not let it go. Say exactly what you’ve said here. This business just wants to con people into buying unnecessary treatments but doesn’t want to let them have any that they won legitimately.

With what PPs said, leave a review. Don’t worry a smidge about it as long as it’s factual.
you won’t return to this place I assume so who cares!

Definitely report it to the police and the NHS. Call them before some poor woman gets taken advantage of tomorrow.

^ This is perfect.

I'd also contact the competition organiser (if it was someone different to the actual clinic) and say you weren't able to use your prize, and it was just a sales pitch.

Is this a competition run by the clinic, so a promotional competition to drum up business? If so, you can report it to the Advertising Standards Agency. There are rules around this kind of thing and they're responsible for enforcing them

asa.org.uk

This is awful ! What if it was someone who took that to heart . I would leave an exact and factual review - cheeky bugger of a company !

No such thing as a free lunch🙄
Be more cautious with any future 'prize' offers - this kind of marketing isn't uncommon.
Leave honest, factual reviews wherever you can - if the clinic answers every negative review with "no idea who you are" anyone that does their homework before accepting the 'prize' will get the message.

You entered a competition and didn’t receive a prize , I think that can be reported to advertising standards etc

also defo leave a poor review for both them and the competition site to save another person a wasted bus fare into town

Plus surely if you won the prize they would have posted your name on social media as the winner, or you’d have an email or fb message. Put a screenshot in the review

Absolutely do leave a review - although it will probably get deleted.

As an aside, this is why I no longer go for facials. The critique you get in order for them to sell your products just isn’t fun, so I just do it myself at home.

You were naive to think you were getting something for nothing. These companies are there to make money not dish out freebies.

This is all about your hurt feelings because they were desperately trying to flog you procedures for things you didn't think you needed.

Ignore them and next time pay for a proper consultation with a company that doesn't rely on instagram "competitions" as a way of getting clients.

On no, that sounds horrible OP. I’m glad you haven’t taken it to heart. As you say, they are trying to sell their services by pointing out normal things that probably everybody has on their face to some degree and trying to get you to pay to ‘fix’ it.

I know it’s not the same thing but I once went to a new dentist and instead of the simple check up I wanted he told me all this stuff about how my jaw isn’t aligned properly and he could fix it by doing a complicated sounding procedure where he would have to break my jaw and realign it. I was completely bamboozled. None of my previous dentists had mentioned anything wrong with my jaw, and suddenly I was being offered what sounded like complex surgery to fix something that had never been an issue for me. Strange! Obviously I did not get it done.

What on earth would the NHS want to know for?

Pleased to say I've left a factual poor review.

Report the trading standards. This isn't a competition!

Pleased to say I've left a factual poor review.

Good for you!