Man loses hair but keeps money
July 21st, 2007
SURREY - Rezgar Palani had already lost his hair, and he didn’t want to lose his money too.
A provincial court judge ruled this week that the Surrey resident, who spent more than $4,000 on hair treatments, will get his money back, less the $701.70 he used in drops and shampoo.
The judgment, by Judge Nancy Phillips, was dated July 17, but Palani didn’t know about it until The Sun contacted him Friday.
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“I’m just feeling great,” Palani said. “I lost my hair anyway so why would I lose my money?”
John Slamko, who represented the clinic at the hearing, said Friday he had not heard about the ruling.
“[Our treatments] work for the vast majority of people,” Slamko said.
After three months on a prescribed regime with International Laser Clinics — which offered a money-back guarantee when he signed up –he saw no improvements, Palani said.
According to the judgment, although Palani, 25, a Kurdish immigrant, testified he is of “limited financial means,” he paid the clinic $4,309.50 in February 2006 to treat his hair loss.
He attended the clinic weekly from Feb. 4, 2006 to July 15, 2006, using a portable laser as required. The court found he also applied 25 to 30 drops of the $150-per-bottle formula daily.
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When Palani asked for his money back, he was denied. They showed him two photos as proof that the treatment was working, but Palani said there was no way to prove it was his head in the pictures.
Doug Slamko, marketing director for International Laser Clinics, said the technology used by the company “is effective for the vast majority of people.”
Slamko said Palani was beginning to get a response, but stopped treatment after six months instead of the year that’s required.
“In any service business, no matter how successful you are, there’s always going to be a small percentage of people who can’t be satisfied,” said Slamko.
He said the company has thousands of clients in the Lower Mainland.
Judge Nancy Phillips found the photos — black and white photocopies with hand-written notations — were “poor quality and problematic.”
On the other hand, she was impressed Palani’s efforts.
“I was impressed with Palani’s eagerness and desire to remedy his thinning hair,” she said, “and find he was highly motivated to follow the $4,000 treatment he bought from the defendant and that he did so reasonably.”
She concluded that Palani met the requirements for a refund, less the cost of the products he used.
“I heard no evidence that would allow me to conclude anything other than that Palani had done what he could to make himself eligible for the refund,” she said.
Palani said he was happy to learn he would be refunded.
He also got his hair. Palani said he ended up paying $14,000 for implant surgery.
Entry Filed under: Hair Loss News
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