WARNING: Groupon teeth whitening

brook2jack

Read this from their website http://www.wowwhite.co.uk/business-opportunites/

It is illegal for anyone but a dentist or hygienist/ therapist working to a dentists prescription to carry out this work, yet pay £999 and they will sell you the kit to start your own business franchise. You could be a binman today and a "qualified tooth whitening technician" tomorrow. I think you can guarantee it won't be a dentist doing this. Ring up and check also ask what chemicals they use, how they assess you are dentally fit enough to have teeth whitened and what cross infection prevention measures they have.

MarsdenCuckoo

Thanks, guys; appreciate your comments. Will do.

(I need a front cap replacing and 'makes sense' - yes/no? - to have my teeth whitened before having it done.... again, if there are any comments about that I'd appreciate it too. I know absolutely nothing about this subject matter but have read that sensitivity can be a problem afterwards.)

brook2jack

Read this http://www.gdc-uk.org/Newsandpublications/publications/Publications/GDC_Tooth_whitening_leaflet%20(2).pdf
And more importantly speak to your dentist before you do anything.

MarsdenCuckoo

Thanks again for that. I did speak to my dentist last year about having them whitened there but they had stopped doing it at the time (for some reason - they wouldn't elaborate). Seems they are now offering the service again but only home whitening kits with quite a high price tag!

They agreed that it would be a good idea to have them whitened before replacing my front cap i.e. rather than afterwards (obviously) but I have been going in circles since!

brook2jack

At the time a year ago there was uncertainty about the legality of even dentists using peroxide toothwhitening substances. However trading standards and the EU have now clarified the legal situation and so dentists are offering tooth whitening again.

Research shows home whitening with custom trays gives the best,reliable,controllable results and so most dentists use this system. Most will supervise whitening over several visits,adjusting concentrations as necessary and making sure the whitening is done in a healthy way.

Obviously a dental surgery with qualified professionals working to exacting cross infection controls and clinical standards providing a legal service is going to be more expensive to run than a booth in a shopping centre or hairdressers run by someone with no qualification other than the money to buy the business and providing an illegal and potentially damaging service.

Toothsmith

Just worth posting this again about the prosecution of a non-dentist 'tooth whitening technician'.

http://www.gdc-uk.org/Newsandpublications/Pressreleases/Pages/Court-imposes-fine-for-illegal-tooth-whitening-.aspx

Court imposes fine for illegal tooth whitening

A Devon-based, ‘cosmetologist’ has been successfully prosecuted for offering tooth whitening treatment and ordered to pay a total of £1,872.
Tooth whitening is the practice of dentistry and only those registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) may lawfully offer it as a treatment.

On Thursday 22 December 2011 Mr Carl Espano, of 29 Western Road, Torquay, Devon, TQ1 4RJ pleaded guilty at West London Magistrates’ Court to practising dentistry when not registered with the GDC, contrary to section 38 (1) and (2) of the Dentists’ Act 1984.

He has been fined £1,000 and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge. He has also been ordered to pay full costs to the GDC of £857.

Mr Espano, in mitigation for his actions, raised the House of Lords judgement in the case of ‘Optident and Another v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Another (2001) UKHL 32. However, the magistrates’ appeared to give this argument little or no weight when determining his sentence.
The Magistrates told Mr Espano:

“This is a serious offence, particularly for potential victims as you didn’t have any indemnity in place for any damage you might have done to any teeth. In addition, should you have damaged the adult teeth, a patient only has one set. Accordingly we view this as a serious offence.”

Chief Executive and Registrar of the GDC Evlynne Gilvarry said:

“We are committed to taking action against people who offer tooth whitening unlawfully. They are a risk to the people they treat and it is our duty act to ensure public safety.”

MarsdenCuckoo

Thanks again, guys; I love MSE forums!

Gather this wowwhite.com group have 400 sites and they lay claim to:

"We proudly represented 10 years younger- The Channel 4 cosmetic show…

All locations on our website have fully qualified staff. If the
location is not listed and you are unsure, please call us to verify the registration"

All sounds very laudable but am soooo gullible.....

Good/bad?

PS: The offer is on gumtree

thechef89

POISON__PIXIE wrote: »

Hey guys,

I had the same issue yesterday and sent both Groupon and Pure Smiles several emails. Groupon have yet to reply, however, I did post and comment on several posts on their Facebook fan page.

They did reply to a post on there. Pure Smiles did reply with a standard auto reply, this was to my first email addressing my concerns and had included my name:

"Dear Customer,

Thank you for your email. Please be assured your whitening kit is
ready to be dispatched. We look forward to inviting you to our shop
imminently. Please check back soon.

Pure Smiles".

I replied again and received the same message. I replied again and was then emailed the poorly worded message they had displayed on their website:

"DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING RESPONSE TO OUR GROUPON DEAL AND THE
RESULTING VERY HIGH VOLUME OF PEOPLE ACCESSING OUR WEBSITE
SIMULTANEOUSLY TO REDEEM GROUPON VOUCHERS OUR WEBSITE HAS ENCOUTERED
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES AND IS TEMPORARILY DOWN.

PLEASE REST ASSURED OUR TECHNICIANS ARE WORKING HARD TO RESTORE
SERVICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, FOLLOWING WHICH YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
REDEEM YOUR VOUCHERS.

PLEASE BEAR WITH US AND ACCEPT OUR APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE
THIS MAY CAUSE

PURE SMILES".

When I replied to that, I asked how we could access the site if it was 'down', and why they were sending out automated responses which were written so poorly and full of spelling mistakes. To which they replied:

"it's a landing page till the dedicated server is restored

where are the spelling mistakes?".

Again, written by a moron with a poor grasp of the English language. I then replied again stating that it was clearly a scam and I was reporting them. They then replied:

"its not a scam? DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING RESPONSE TO OUR GROUPON DEAL AND THE RESULTING VERY HIGH VOLUME OF PEOPLE ACCESSING OUR WEBSITE SIMULTANEUOSLY TO REDEEM GROUPON VOUCHERS OUR WEBSITE HAS ENCOUTERED TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES AND IS TEMPORARILY DOWN.

PLEASE REST ASSURED OUR TECHNICIANS ARE WORKING HARD TO RESTORE SERVICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, FOLLOWING WHICH YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REDEEM YOUR VOUCHERS.

PLEASE BEAR WITH US AND ACCEPT OUR APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY CAUSE

PURE SMILES".

Why would they reply to me with "its not a scam?".


I have just read this thread about others having this problem with a very similar previous deal. If you have a look at the Groupon Facebook page I linked above, you will see how many people are complaining about not receiving refunds for deals which have gone wrong. Groupons terms and conditions, section 5.4 outline your cancellation rights. I decided, given how difficult it is to obtain a refund from them, I would place the order on the Pure-Smiles site, I paid via PayPal, so I am protected if I don't receive the order. Luckily I paid for the deal with credit card and can claim on that if need be.

I did have a look at the Pure Smiles terms and conditions, after I placed the order. I am a law student, in my penultimate year and (without blowing my own trumpet) have won several awards for achieving the highest grades in my year, I have studied consumer and contract law, and can categorically state that, the vast majority of those "clauses" make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

If we don't receive our goods, Groupon are in breach of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and we can claim the money back. I also work in a law clinic and will drafting a letter to send to Groupon on Monday.

To be honest, I am really angry with myself for getting into this position in the first place, I should have known better, however, many of my friends have used Groupon frequently and raved about how good it was.

I am actually in shock that they responded like that. What is even more shocking is what you mentioned about the poorly written automated message. You'd think that a company like Groupon with it's reputable image would work harder to avoid these types of situations at all costs. The person who is responding to you should be fired or reprimanded harshly. I have personally never had an issue with Groupon, but I will definitely be thinking twice and doing more research before purchasing another deal off their site.

brook2jack

Marsden cuckoo

The bottom line is unless they are dentists they are not qualified. They advertise selling franchises to anyone who can stump up £999 , so on the face of it this is a business illegally providing toothwhitening.
Phone and check it is a dentist who will asses your oral health before whitening and a dentist, dental therapist or hygienist who is working to a dentists prescription who will do the treatment.
There are many businesses providing illegal tooth whitening and gradually more are being prosecuted. You may want to read a thread on pearl national on this site for some of the problems caused by illegal whiteners.


PS: The offer is on gumtree[/QUOTE]

MarsdenCuckoo

Thanks, B2J; appreciate your help. Will call them tomorrow and see what they say.
:beer: