My first impression of Lauren Grote was that she was disorganized and not very professional in responding to phone calls and e-mails. It took her 2 months to send me a receipt for some additional sessions I purchased which, unfortunately, have since become the point of contention and the reason for my complaint. By the way, it took her the same amount of time for me to receive the audio recording of our first session.
Foolishly, when my first session was over, I opted to buy 3 other sessions at a "special" rate of $200 even though I was doubtful that this therapy would help me.( I had purchased a Groupon coupon for this initial visit, desirous to test the waters of hypnotherapy for phobias which plagued me.) Later on, when I thought about the situation,I felt that this path would be a waste of my money. Lauren did not manage to hypnotize me that day nor did she even begin to address any of the issues I had expressed. So I contacted Ms. Grote and requested my $200 to be refunded. One of the reasons I gave was my frequent travels which would preclude my being able to attend the sessions regularly. To this she responded that I could have telephone sessions but after consideration, this was not possible either. "Please just refund my money; I have changed my mind!" I do not like to insult anyone gratuitously so I did not want to admit that I doubted the efficacy of her therapy.
Initially Lauren agreed to the refund so I waited patiently. At least one month had lapsed since the first request and her agreeing to the refund. Since nothing was forthcoming, I persisted with e-mails and phone calls. (I am still thinking I am dealing with an honest professional.) Finally, Lauren responded and told me that ; in fact, she could not refund the money because her cancellation policy was a maximum of 48 hrs after purchase and I had waited about five days. No such so-called policy was ever discussed at time of purchase; it was evident that she was making up the rules as she went along which I found unacceptable and less than honest.
Lauren repeated the offer to have some telephone sessions which I had told her before would not work. Moreover, at that point , after all the time I had spent trying to get her to respond, any therapist/patient potential relationship had been compromised. She was inconsistent and I had lost trust in her skills, in her professional approach to clients, and most of all, in her integrity.
My request for a refund began in April 2014 and to date I have had no further contact from Ms. Grote, despite phone calls and e-mails. Totally ignoring the situation speaks volumes about her professionalism and honesty, both of which are non-existent. Caveat emptor: do not entrust your mental health issues to this flim-flam charlatan. Legal proceedings are underway and both the BBB and HHS have been contacted.
HypnoTherapy Of San Diego, LLC Reviews
My first impression of Lauren Grote was that she was disorganized and not very professional in responding to phone calls and e-mails. It took her 2 months to send me a receipt for some additional sessions I purchased which, unfortunately, have since become the point of contention and the reason for my complaint. By the way, it took her the same amount of time for me to receive the audio recording of our first session.
Foolishly, when my first session was over, I opted to buy 3 other sessions at a "special" rate of $200 even though I was doubtful that this therapy would help me.( I had purchased a Groupon coupon for this initial visit, desirous to test the waters of hypnotherapy for phobias which plagued me.) Later on, when I thought about the situation,I felt that this path would be a waste of my money. Lauren did not manage to hypnotize me that day nor did she even begin to address any of the issues I had expressed. So I contacted Ms. Grote and requested my $200 to be refunded. One of the reasons I gave was my frequent travels which would preclude my being able to attend the sessions regularly. To this she responded that I could have telephone sessions but after consideration, this was not possible either. "Please just refund my money; I have changed my mind!" I do not like to insult anyone gratuitously so I did not want to admit that I doubted the efficacy of her therapy.
Initially Lauren agreed to the refund so I waited patiently. At least one month had lapsed since the first request and her agreeing to the refund. Since nothing was forthcoming, I persisted with e-mails and phone calls. (I am still thinking I am dealing with an honest professional.) Finally, Lauren responded and told me that ; in fact, she could not refund the money because her cancellation policy was a maximum of 48 hrs after purchase and I had waited about five days. No such so-called policy was ever discussed at time of purchase; it was evident that she was making up the rules as she went along which I found unacceptable and less than honest.
Lauren repeated the offer to have some telephone sessions which I had told her before would not work. Moreover, at that point , after all the time I had spent trying to get her to respond, any therapist/patient potential relationship had been compromised. She was inconsistent and I had lost trust in her skills, in her professional approach to clients, and most of all, in her integrity.
My request for a refund began in April 2014 and to date I have had no further contact from Ms. Grote, despite phone calls and e-mails. Totally ignoring the situation speaks volumes about her professionalism and honesty, both of which are non-existent. Caveat emptor: do not entrust your mental health issues to this flim-flam charlatan. Legal proceedings are underway and both the BBB and HHS have been contacted.