WARNING: Groupon teeth whitening

starlite_2

After they have roundly ignored my many emails of complaint I am quite amused to have received this email from Hollywood White this morning.

Hi there

As you may have noticed we have migrated our website to a new platform which makes everyone's life just that little bit easier.

Our new website is at http://www.hollywood-white.biz

You will instantly notice that the site is crisper, easier to navigate and more importantly from a custoemrs point of view you can now track the status of your order.

As soon as you make an order you will receive an email with your order number, when the order is dispatched you will recieve a shipping email to let you know that your purchases are on the way.

And if at checkout you register you can login at any time to check what is happening to your purchase.

We have also added an interactive Support Centre which we hope will answer most people's questions - if not don't worry we are continually adding to the posts so hopefully your burning questions will be answered soon!

As a little thank you to all our past customers we would like to offer our popular Whiten at Home 1 Person Kit at a discounted price of only £19.95, this is a £50 discount of our standard retail price - please feel free to forward this email to your friends and family so they too can benefit from thsi time limited special offer.

To gain this discount you'll need to click on the following link:
http://!!!!!!!/ifrcea

Finally we now accept payment by all major credit and debit cards via our Merchant Partner HSBC Merchant Services.

Again thank you for your customer, we hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards

The Hollywood White Team

pfleeds

found it
bought it
received it
used it
happy bunny!:p

cmh30

Hi

Is anyone able to tell me whether any formal qualifications, permissions or licences are required in order for a hairdressing/beauty salon to provide teeth whitening treatments which involve using the laser method of UV lamp and different types of peroxide bleaches?

I have telephoned numerous regulatory bodies today, including the local City Council, the Care Quality Commission, Dental Services Division in England and the local PCT and the result appears to be inconclusive.

I too have had a bad experience as a result of a Groupon voucher, although luckily for me I escaped without actually having the teeth whitening procedure carried out.

I cannot believe that the law in England and Wales does not provide for this sector of cosmetic dentistry to be governed and regulated. Can any Tom, !!!!!! or Harry simply set up in business and provide teeth whitening, botox, fillers and such like and hold themselves out legally to be an expert in this field?

Look forward to hearing your replies.

jugglebug

cmh30 wrote: »

Hi

Is anyone able to tell me whether any formal qualifications, permissions or licences are required in order for a hairdressing/beauty salon to provide teeth whitening treatments which involve using the laser method of UV lamp and different types of peroxide bleaches?

I have telephoned numerous regulatory bodies today, including the local City Council, the Care Quality Commission, Dental Services Division in England and the local PCT and the result appears to be inconclusive.

I too have had a bad experience as a result of a Groupon voucher, although luckily for me I escaped without actually having the teeth whitening procedure carried out.

I cannot believe that the law in England and Wales does not provide for this sector of cosmetic dentistry to be governed and regulated. Can any Tom, !!!!!! or Harry simply set up in business and provide teeth whitening, botox, fillers and such like and hold themselves out legally to be an expert in this field?

Look forward to hearing your replies.

Hi
This is an area where there is much misinformation and confusion, along with contradictory eu and uk law.
In a nutshell the EU have recently clarified their law on the use of peroxides to cosmetically whiten teeth and it is categorical that the supply of these chemicals can only be legal after the examination of the patient by a dentist.
The general dental council of UK has always believed this to be the case and has successfully prosecuted non dentists for carrying out tooth whitening under the law governing the illegal practice of dentistry.
The CQC don't have a view as their remit does not cover purely cosmetic procedures.
The PCT has no view on cosmetic procedures either as they are not part of the NHS
The council and trading standards etc vary wildly across the country as basically some feel they have more important things to be doing. (Tell that to the folks whose teeth and gums have been damaged by barely trained staff who have been led to believe what they are doing is legal and safe)
Research shows the lamps are mainly a gimmick, they certainly are not lasers no matter what the adverts say.
At the most they may heat the whitening agents a little, and probably dessicate the teeth a little which will lighten them, but only for the length of time it takes for them to rehydrate.

brook2jack

In a nutshell it's illegal for anyone other than a dentist to assess someone as suitable for toothwhitening, illegal for anyone other than a dentist or a hygienist/dental therapist under a dentists direction to carry out whitening.

Here's a link for anyone considering tooth whitening or who wants to make a complaint about damage sustained whilst having illegal tooth whitening . http://www.gdc-uk.org/Newsandpublications/Publications/Publications/GDC_Tooth_whitening_leaflet%20(2).pdf

notappy

Might as well add my own experience with this bunch of thieves and crooks, that's Groupon by the way.

Bought a teeth whitening deal for my wife in October via Groupon advertised by a company called 'So White' based in Milton Keynes, paid £99 for '£500 value', between us we have emailed and phoned about a billion times (always an answer machine & no-one has ever returned one call). It is now 6th Feb, the offer runs out on 25th April and I have basically assumed I will not see the money now. So ...

1. I am going to devote my life to putting the maximum amount of negative press about Groupon as possible via forums like this, blogs, Farcebook, Twatter, etc. I don't really care about So White as I put the blame squarely at the feet of Groupon -the response from Groupon on the occasions I have contacted them has been 'just keep trying, they must be very busy'. Yeah, right. Groupon took my money and I've had nothing in return so the problem is theirs. They have actually started advertising the same deal again recently, beyond belief.

2. I am also going to contact as many local Milton Keynes and surrounding areas social websites to tell them that So White are crooks and Groupon are thieves.

3. Obviously I will tell as many people as possible all the same stuff directly as word-of-mouth still probably works in this new age.

4. I will need to write letters to the national and local rags with all details.

5. I guess I should also report it to the police as a crime, since that is what it is essentially.

6. I will send letters to Andrew Mason (Groupon CEO) constantly until I receive a suitable response, preferably a refund so I can just take the money and never have to deal with them ever again and dispel them into the dark recesses of my mind where only the brave dare to tread.

God I despise this company.

MarsdenCuckoo

Didn't buy the voucher this thread is about but am seriously considering the current offer with a company www.wowwhite.co.uk - quote:

One hour teeth whitening service
Qualified and professional dentists
One of the largest teeth whitening companies in the UK
Advanced and harmless laser whitening medical technology designed to causes no damage to either the structure of the tooth or the gums
Location

WowWhite.co.uk
www.wowwhite.co.uk

Sorry to divert the thread (the offer today is for £400 worth of in-house laser treatment for £75), sounds a good deal but does anyone have any experience of this company?

Thanks for any/all input.

MarsdenCuckoo

Didn't buy the voucher this thread is about but am seriously considering the current offer with a company www.wowwhite.co.uk - quote:

One hour teeth whitening service
Qualified and professional dentists
One of the largest teeth whitening companies in the UK
Advanced and harmless laser whitening medical technology designed to causes no damage to either the structure of the tooth or the gums
Location

WowWhite.co.uk
www.wowwhite.co.uk

Sorry to divert the thread (the offer today is for £400 worth of in-house laser treatment for £75), sounds a good deal but does anyone have any experience of this company? Thanks for any/all input.

MarsdenCuckoo

Ooops, sorry for double post (I forgot to subscribe to the thread).

Thanks again peeps.

jugglebug

Not a company I have heard of to be honest. Odd seeing as they are so large :rotfl:
Interesting that they are so proud to be registered with the health care commission seeing as that body was abolished in 2009
Taken from their website

treatment to make sure you will get the best possible treatment by an appropriate technician or dentist.

Legally there is no such thing as a whitening technician. If they are not a dentist, or a suitably trained Hygienist or therapist, working under the prescription of a Dentist this is illegal.

Our trade marked products are FDA approved and 100% safe

That's nice. They use something approved by an American body that has no power on these shores. CE mark?

If you have an over night home kit that comprises of a mouth guard that is filled with gel and worn over night, this can cause gum disease and should be avoided!

Utter drivel!
In fact these can sometimes improve gum health as the oxygen released from the gels actually can promote "good" bacteria over the more harmful ones.