Email/phone agreement by a Hypnotherapist

halibut2209

Short version is, nothing was signed, nothing can be sued for.

BUT, the reality is that you may get threatening phone calls or letters saying they'll sue you etc. Please please just ignore them. It will be a scaremongering tactic and nf the ridiculously unlikely event they take it further, it will be laughed out of court before you can say Paul McKenna.

Please promise that you'll just drop it and ignore anything they say. And if you need future reassurance, bookmark this page and come back.

There is plenty of legitimate help out there for weight loss. The nurse at your local GP should be the first port of call. The important thing to remember is that the only person who can help you with weight loss is YOU. Believe in yourself, set yourself targets and goals, stop buying junkfood in your weekly shop. Find other outlets. Hell, even invest in a Wii console with Wii Fit. It's much better than hypnotherapy.

We have boards here where you can get encouragement from others who have both been through what you are going through, and those who are currently going through it. Peer support is SO much better than trying to go it alone, and infinitely better than trusting those who only have their own pockets in mind.

I wish you all the best, and I really hope for your sake that you take our advice to heart. You are so much better than this

Whittleme

unholyangel wrote: »

Has she presented you with terms and conditions of any kind? What was the exact date you agreed to take her up on the service and made the first payment? How did you make that first payment? Did the invoice she gave to you give a VAT registration number?

How exactly did you come across her business? Does she have business premises or work from home?


Realistically, it is more likely to be her that owes you money. And if you wish to investigate this option further, a call to trading standards or consumer direct would not go amiss.

Thank you for your reply.

No she has not given me any kind of terms and conditions ofr me to read or sign. Everything has been verbal and on email/text.

I paid her £200 on the 22nd of Dec via BACS. I assumed my 'sessions' would be the start of the theraphy. Which was to start on the 19th of Jan.

Yes she is VAT registered.

She has a business premises.

Again I foolishly searched online for someone who seemed reputable, without getting any recommendation. I have looked for reviews for her online and there are none. I am so stupid should have done my homework first. I have learnt a big life lesson today!

I will most certainly contact trading standards and consumer direct tomorrow, thank you for that!

Whittleme

Qwiksilver wrote: »

Your welcome Wittleme.

Let me add one thing. In no way shape or form is this your fault. You made a decision which appeared to you to be the right one at the time. This creature is exploiting you and using your vulnerabilty to extort money from you.

Do you know from any of her e mails if she is a member of any profesional organisation?

Thanks for being so kind.

Going by her website she is supposed to be a 'leading professional' in her field. I was taken in.

Alarm bells did ring when she was sending me texts asking how I was on Christmas eve and on new year's day... she says that these were her way of working with me and checking up on me! All I replied was I was fine..... what can you tell from that?

But Qwiksilver it is my fault my poor husband is going to have to pay for my stupid mistake if I don't deal with it. I don't work I look after my young son. If he loses his job I don't know what we will do if this woman persues me for the money.

Whittleme

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Keep a diary of all contact with this 'therapist'. Don't contact her, wait for her to contact you. Note down the tenor of all conversations. As you have not even had the first session, you can justifiably claim that the therapeutic relationship is broken down anyway.

Oh no it's too late! She said that if I didn't email her to say I will phone her on Monday the 9th then everytime she chased me the bill would keep going up. So I wrote back and said I would speak with her on Monday... that's when she gets back from holiday.

I am scared if I ignore her this situation will get worse and I will owe her even more money.

I can't stop crying, what have I done?

unholyangel

halibut2209 wrote: »

Short version is, nothing was signed, nothing can be sued for.

BUT, the reality is that you may get threatening phone calls or letters saying they'll sue you etc. Please please just ignore them. It will be a scaremongering tactic and nf the ridiculously unlikely event they take it further, it will be laughed out of court before you can say Paul McKenna.

Please promise that you'll just drop it and ignore anything they say. And if you need future reassurance, bookmark this page and come back.

There is plenty of legitimate help out there for weight loss. The nurse at your local GP should be the first port of call. The important thing to remember is that the only person who can help you with weight loss is YOU. Believe in yourself, set yourself targets and goals, stop buying junkfood in your weekly shop. Find other outlets. Hell, even invest in a Wii console with Wii Fit. It's much better than hypnotherapy.

We have boards here where you can get encouragement from others who have both been through what you are going through, and those who are currently going through it. Peer support is SO much better than trying to go it alone, and infinitely better than trusting those who only have their own pockets in mind.

I wish you all the best, and I really hope for your sake that you take our advice to heart. You are so much better than this

kinect for xbox is better! its what the wii should have been zumba is particularly good.

OP, i'm going to pmail you in a minute Nothing bad, i promise.

halibut2209

Whittleme wrote: »

Oh no it's too late! She said that if I didn't email her to say I will phone her on Monday the 9th then everytime she chased me the bill would keep going up. So I wrote back and said I would speak with her on Monday... that's when she gets back from holiday.

I am scared if I ignore her this situation will get worse and I will owe her even more money.

I can't stop crying, what have I done?

Please PLEASE ignore her. She really is a scam artist. The best ones disguise themselves in "websites" and the like.

She has NO legal right to demand money from you, and she is preying on your vulnerability. Please do not give in. Just ignore her. IGNORE her.

As I said before, come back here for reassurance. Post the crap she is saying to you. She is trying to steal your money. Don't give it to her.

halibut2209

Let me try something.

If I told you that you had to pay me £10 everytime I replied to your posts, would you pay? Of course you wouldn't, but that's exactly what she's trying to do.

Qwiksilver

You are not the first to make a mistake and you will certainly not be the last.

Please follow the above advice and i am sure it will all work out fine for you. If you pm me her site link i can check her out for you. If she is a member of a profesional body then her current behaviour will almost certainly be in breach of their guidelines.

Please do not worry (easy for me to say). The people on these forums are fantastic and will help you through this.

Whittleme

halibut2209 wrote: »

Short version is, nothing was signed, nothing can be sued for.

Thank you so much for your kind advice.

I did do a search about not signing anything but have read that if there has been contact via email etc that it will probably count as a contract esp as she has sent an invoice and I have paid a bit of it.

Apart from our mortgage I try so hard to make sure I don't spend more than we have, and we cut a few things back to allow for this theraphy as I didn't want to get a loan but it is likely that my husbands job will go so I know we won't be able to afford to pay her.

I will take all your advice and ignore her and I will contact the people unholyangel mentioned so I have some back up if she emails or contacts me again.

Yes you are very right about other ways of losing weight. What pushed me over the edge was my blood pressure nurse told me if I didn't lose weight soon I would be putting myself in danger and I've got a young son who relies on me, I couldn't bear the thought of not being there for him. I will find other ways.

Thank you again so much I really appreciate it.

Whittleme

halibut2209 wrote: »

Please PLEASE ignore her. She really is a scam artist. The best ones disguise themselves in "websites" and the like.

She has NO legal right to demand money from you, and she is preying on your vulnerability. Please do not give in. Just ignore her. IGNORE her.

As I said before, come back here for reassurance. Post the crap she is saying to you. She is trying to steal your money. Don't give it to her.

I am overwhelmed by all of your wonderful advice. Why didn’t I come here before? Thank you all so much.
I will ignore her, you know my husband told me to do this but I replied anyway about calling her on Monday because I feel so guilty that I have brought this horrible situation into our lives. When all he does is support me I have to bring problems in because of my insecurities about myself.
I know you say she has no legal right to demand money from me but have I made some sort of legal contract with her by agreeing verbally and on email that I want her to help me? Even though she has done nothing really to help but apparently I have taken 1 and a half hour of her time at £1500!! I still can’t believe that part.
I will ignore her and see what she threatens me with next. Nice way for a therapist to behave eh? I really am shocked at her reaction to my plight.