I have had an extremely unpleasant experience with Solar Dimensions as a company. I purchased the Platinum membership on 03/01/2014 and the terms stated: 'A 3 month minimum (plus initial activation fee) is required on all Platinum [memberships]. Your 1st month's prorated dues will be charged on the first billing.' As my first billing was charged on 03/01/2014, I would expect March to be month 1. I travel for a living and was leaving town 06/01/2014, returning only sporadically through the end of September. As I believed I could cancel after I paid for the month of May, this seemed to work perfectly. When I visited the salon towards the end of May and requested cancellation of my account, the girl behind the desk was systematically unable to complete my request. I was provided the number for Colleen Vale, Corporate Office Supervisor, to discuss this further. When I called and spoke with Colleen, I was informed that the month of March counts as the 1st month that is prorated into my initial billing and therefore was committed through the month of June and could not cancel until the final draw was completed. I informed to her that this was not explained to me when I opened my account and I was told my commitment was for only 3 months, thus available for cancellation after May. She expressed her understanding that the contract could be misunderstood as such and offered to credit my Solar Dimensions account for the June payment and freeze my account until my work travel died down. Considering a ‘prorated’ payment is to account for a partial month and my contract started on the first of March, I was not pleased with this resolution but felt it was not worth the fight. I asked if I needed to send any sort of reminder or follow-up to ensure this was taken care of (as we spoke near the last day of May and she could not complete the transaction until after the June draw) and she said no, that she would take care of it. I’m fully aware that the mistake I made is trusting her word and I should have followed-up. After returning from my travels, I noticed that a draw had been made on my credit card for ‘Solarium’ for the month of October. When I further investigated, I noticed that the account was never frozen and Solar Dimensions had inappropriately created unauthorized charges for 4 months of services ($78.88 x 4 months = $315.52) to which I did not agree. I immediately called Colleen and at first she stated she did not recall our conversation and that she searched her email and couldn’t find anything evidencing our conversation. She then retracted that statement, saying that she did remember speaking with me but because she could not find anything in writing regarding the freezing of my account, she couldn’t do anything retroactively. When I questioned why she wouldn’t honor an agreement she acknowledges that she made, I was offered a partial credit. I continued to express my dissatisfaction and asked to speak to her supervisor and the final offer was a credit to my Solar Dimensions account (not my credit card) for the 3 months I was traveling but because I am in town and can use the month of October, they wouldn’t credit the 4th month. I then expressed my extreme displeasure with this proposed resolution as I was falsely misled to believe that my only financial commitment to Solar Dimensions subsequent to June was $5 per month to freeze the account but instead $315.52 (not including the month of June that I am still against) was forcibly relinquished. During this phone call, Colleen stated that I need to email her in regards to cancelling my membership but I had to ask for Colleen’s email address 3 times and the phone call almost ended prior to her providing me with this contact information. After asking several times to speak with Colleen’s supervisor, I was informed that she is unable to give out her contact information but she would have the Jennifer Smith, District Manager, contact me. I will continue to persistently work my way up the chain until I feel an appropriate resolution has been reached. After consulting with a contract lawyer and re-reviewing both the contract and my credit card charges, I firmly believe that Solar Dimensions falsely misled me and should credit my credit card, not my Solar Dimensions account, for the months of June, July, August, September and October totaling $394.40. I have never had an experience with any business as greedy as this one and feel they should be ashamed of how they are conducting business. I highly recommend avoiding any binding agreement with this company or trusting the word of any employee. After running a quick search, I found 3 stories similar to mine (please see links below) so this is obviously not their first offense. I fully intend to put my story on as many social media outlets and review sites as possible, and if successful resolution is not achieved within the company, I intend to dispute the charges on my credit card, report them to the better business bureau, and take legal action. This type of business practice is unacceptable. http://www.yelp.com/biz/solar-dimensions-atlanta-10?hrid=9QjswJUBBEGKdp9FSh6jlw http://www.citysearch.com/profile/4083****/alpharetta_ga/solarium_alpharetta.html http://www.yelp.com/biz/solar-dimensions-atlanta-13?hrid=HXo-YZDwl73w7CSiaDDq6w
Alex Royter is the owner