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Report: #1244604

Complaint Review: Sentient Medical Technologies - Kamas Utah

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  • Reported By: Kimberlee — Gilbert Arizona USA
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  • Sentient Medical Technologies 128 West 320 South Suite 106 Kamas, Utah USA

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(My opinion is based on my past experience.)

 

March 2013:    I purchased a Star lux 500 from SMT.

April   2013:    Star Lux 500 arrived.

June    2013:    Used for the first time on a client; It works but was VERY loud.

April   2014:    Major troubles: Touch Screen abruptly stops working in the middle of a client treatment (less than a year of use).

April  2014:     Star Lux 500 sent to Utah( at a cost of about $5000 not to mention loss of revenue) to be fixed( Calibrated is what I was told), maintenance was done; but the issue of the Touch Screen was not found and I was not informed.

June   2014:     Star Lux 500 returned to me after “calibration of Touch Screen” and Maintenance.

Sept.  2014:     Touch Screen went out again( putting me in a situation where I had to inform the days clients that the laser, once again, wasn’t working);  only at this time when the technician was reading the report on the maintenance of my Star Lux 500 was I informed that the issue had not been found; the Tech was at a loss and after quite a while of trouble shooting and me refusing to send the Laser again up to Sentient did the tech then try one last thing, and that was it. He stated that sometimes the lasers shake the microchips loose and that this was a poor design flaw in this particular laser;

Nov.  2014:     I turned on my Star Lux 500 and Error 24 appeared on the screen and would not work (I once again and for the final time, informed a client that my laser was not working). After trouble shooting with the aid of my owner’s manual and the same SMT technician as I had with the previous issues no resolution was found. The technician thought it might be the water filters (the laser would have shown a different code for that) and after I stated that the water filters were changed as part of  the Sentient Maintenance (done the previous April while it was in Utah for the Touch Screen) the Tech confirmed that the filters were changed then; the Tech stated that he was at a loss, would speak to another tech and call me back; once he did he stated I could send it back to Sentient because he didn’t know what else to tell me.

Nov. 2014:      I told the tech. that I could not run a business with this laser and  all its issues and that I wanted Sentient to buy the laser back as I felt it was defective based on all the issues it experienced in the brief period I had actually had it in my possession, he stated he felt sorry for all this and that he would inform his boss and the resale department of my request; I had called an upper management member at the company that I had access to ( I had his cell and office number because of past issues discussed with my Star Lux 500) and the sales woman who sold it to me and informed both of them of my desire to sell it back; the upper management member didn’t return my call; I was only able to reach the saleswoman after numerous calls, she stated she would relay my request.

Nov. 20, 2014: Officially closed my business.

January 2015:  After still not hearing anything from Sentient I ordered new water filters and found, as I suspected, this didn’t fix the Error 24.

Jan. & Feb 2015: I contacted Sentient and was told in no uncertain terms that they would not buy it back  but may agree to sell it on consignment in the future for about one-third the price I purchased it from them at.

March 2015:    After sending a letter to the upper management member and receiving no response I hired a local Laser Tech company to tell me what was wrong with the Star Lux 500 and fix it to resell. The owner of the laser tech company stated the following about my Star Lux 500; “For me, the condition of the pump was easy to diagnose because it was locked-up and no primary coolant flow was present.  After I removed, disassembled, freed the pump armature and lubricated the bearings and seal, the pump ran once again and the system operates without error.  The pump will most likely not last long because of the prior damage and it does currently make considerable noise”, “After removing the pump assembly I did notice ‘staining’ on the housing plate directly under the pump/motor union.  This indicates to me that there was coolant leaking from the pump assembly.  However, it does not indicate how long the leak existed”.

March 2015:    Hired an attorney to relay the information found by the owner of the local laser tech company to Sentient. In light of the findings of the major issue found in addition to the numerous previous issues Sentient has still refused to buy back the issue riddled Star Lux 500 I purchased from them at the price I purchased it for, based a business on and closed a business because of.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 07/27/2015 11:32 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/sentient-medical-technologies/kamas-utah-84036/sentient-medical-technologies-smt-beware-of-sentient-medical-technologiessmt-i-do-not-1244604. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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Updates & Rebuttals

REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
2Author
3Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#5 Author of original report

Final Thoughts Expressed on this Disagreement Here

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Wednesday, August 05, 2015

This has become a "he says, she says" issue. We both disagree with the facts and could go back and forth more but I don't believe we will reach a compromise. I am a small company, was a small company and would not be able to afford a court situation so I will state my last opinions of the prior Rebuttal from Sentient here. 

No lying was done in my last Rebuttal but I did remove partial names, partial contact numbers and company titles from the original complaint which I was informed could be defamation. The facts as I see them, with my documentation did not change.

1. I disagree; 6 months or so AFTER Use.

2. No; Taken advantage of because the laser I bought should have not had such issues 6 months into it's use. I was a new company so it was not used very often at the beginning compared to larger establishments.

4 I disagree; The issue was NOT about funds but reliability of the laser to consistantly be with me and perform.

5. I will admit Sentient has trained their customer service representatives very well in what to say to potential customers.

6. Once again, my lawyer has contacted them as recently as July 2015

Thank you for reading this complaint, I appreciate that there are such sites and social medias to express ones concerns and complaints, especially for a small business. Thank you.

 

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#4 UPDATE Employee

Rebuttal to Rebuttal

AUTHOR: Office Manager - (USA)

POSTED: Wednesday, August 05, 2015

 Again, the customer not only provides answers that support our position, but also admits to lying and posting statements on line that could be considered defamatory.

1.  The laser was absolutely in proper working order when it was delivered to the client.  Our company videos every laser functioning properly right before it is shipped, and this is no exception.  This laser was also sold to the client at a fraction of the price of purchasing new.  The client received an excellent laser at a fantastic price.  No problems arose until one year after purchase, and the problems that arose were quite minor and normal.

2.  The repairs and calibration were indeed offered and done at a discount, even though the laser was 6 months past the 6 month warranty expired.  Customer states she felt as if she was being taken advantage of due to the fact that we actually expect to be paid for repair services. 

3.  The touchscreen was calibrated and functioned properly when the laser was sent to us for repair.  The touchscreen functioned properly for her until the chip became loose, which was also fixed.

4.  It is very unfortunate that the customer had to close her business.  We are totally dedicated to the success of all of our customers, and we believe that we can only be successful if they are successful.  However, this customer did not have any funds budgeted for repairs or downtime, which can indeed happen with a complicated machine such as a laser.  We provided discounted services and free calibration in an effort to help this customer survive.

5.  Customer admits to entering into a chat with one of our reps where she hides her identity and lies about a ficticious co-worker's laser.  Customer asks leading questions in an attempt to get us to say something she can use against us.  By her own admission, she gets no such pleasure.

6.  No, it is stated that April was the last correspondence to us from the customer's lawyers.  Customer did not read the prior rebuttal properly. 

We did indeed let the customer know that we would reserve the right to defend ourselves in a court of law if she did not remove the online statements that we felt to be defamatory.   Customer herself admits in her rebuttal that she posted items that could be construed as defamatory.  Customer has also posted untrue statements about our employees that have since been taken down.  

We fully welcome a chance to defend ourselves in a court of law in this matter.  Our company sold the customer a great laser for a great price and provided discounted and free support well after the warranty period expired.  We fully welcome any legal action against us related to the laser sale, and would greatly appreciate the chance to officially set the record straight.

7.  Customer states she feels taken advantage of.  Our company sold her a fantastic laser for a fraction of buying new, then provided a level of support well above and beyond what we had originally agreed to in our contract.  Customer closed her business and proceeded to threaten us with an online tirade if we did not buy her laser back from her.  That is called trying to take advantage of someone.

 

 

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#3 Author of original report

The Facts as I see them.

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Tuesday, August 04, 2015

I will just Rebute the points the Sentient Employee addressed.

1. True but a warranty is only good if the laser is in proper condition when it was purchased. 

2. The services were not OFFERED at a Discount. Only after I stated my case, explained that I thought they were taking advantage of me and that I didn't have the money to send the laser up to them as I had just spent all my funds opening a business based on the laser did they finally give me a slight discount. 

3. The Touch Screen may have been calibrated but the issue was NOT found and/or repaired. That was the reason the laser was sent to them in the first place. I lost on revenue for the time the laser was gone and had to take out a small loan to get the laser "repaired". The issue arose again while with a client and only after hours of my business time, my refusal to send the laser back AGAIN  & the tech being at a loss was the issue found. More revenue lost.

The Employee stated that the manual states that the laser needed maintenance every 3-6 months. I did contact a representzative of Sentient and was told since the laser had not been in use for 6 months that this was not needed as this time prior to the issue above.

4. True

5. I did call Sentient's chat. No luring was involved just questions I should have asked prior to buying from this company. The problem is that based on the customer service representatives answers I still would have probably purchased from them and ended up in the same situation.

6. It is stated that April was the last correspondance from me regarding this matter. This is untrue. There have been correspondance between my lawyer & theirs on a couple of occasions. The last contact being July 20th where Sentient stated that they would "take me to court"  if I didn't remove my defaming comments and stated in a last ditch effort to prevent this from happening Sentient would offer to sell my laser on consignment for $14,000 in addition I would have to sign a complete release of all claims to SMT including taking down any comments they deem "disparaging".  I did remove a few pieces of information that I did find could be construed as defaming. I did post a new complaint with that particular information removed, shortened and made the complaint more to the points of my concern.

7. I did provide my complaint on social media about Sentient and their treatment of my situation because I felt that I was a small business being taken advantage of and felt my experience was worthy of sharing.

Thank you for Reading.

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#2 UPDATE Employee

Response from our company

AUTHOR: Office Manager - (USA)

POSTED: Tuesday, August 04, 2015

 The timeline provided in this complaint is actually a testimonial to how our company goes above and beyond the call of duty for our customers.  Here are the facts of what occurred which can be found in the timeline of the complaint-

1.  Customer purchased a Starlux 500 that was delivered in April of 2013 with a 6 month warranty

2.  Customer had touchscreen issue in April of 2014.  Laser is 6 months out of warranty at this point.  Our company performed maintenance at a discount and calibrated the touchscreen for free, even though the warranty was expired.  The coolant pump and filter are serviced and replaced for the first time since customer took delivery of the laser.  The Palomar Starlux 500 manual states that this must be done every 3-6 months.

3. Customer had another touchscreen issue in September of 2014.  Our company spent hours on the phone attempting to diagnose problem, and again did not charge the customer, even though the warranty was expired.  Ultimately a loose chip was discovered, reset into place, and the touchscreen functioned properly again.  This is a relatively common but sometimes difficult to discover problem that is common to this model of laser.

4.  In November of 2014, customer closes her business and attempts to get us to buy her laser back from her for the price she purchased it for. 

5.  A few months later, customer enters a live chat with one of our representatives, pretending to be someone other than herself.  Customer attempts to lure our rep into incriminating himself or the company.

6.  In April of 2015 we are contacted by customer's attorney and answer questions about this matter.  We have since heard nothing from her counsel.  It is our opinion that because we not only fulfilled our obligations to the customer, provided discounted and free support, and conducted ourselves in a professional manner, that there is absolutely zero grounds for legal action against our company.

7.  In July of 2015 customer decides to lash out via social media and internet complaint boards where anyone can post anything they want without any sort of filter, no matter if they are in the right or the wrong.  We believe she is very much in the wrong.

Our company believes that if our customers are not successful than we cannot be successful.  We strive to provide the best pre-owned lasers at wonderful prices to our customers, and to support those customers after their purchase.  We have bought, sold, and repaired thousands of lasers over the last 6 years and have a huge amount of happy customers.  We have an A+ rating on the BBB and are a member of the DotMed100 because of our commitment to excellence.  We look forward to creating thousands of more satisfied customers.

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#1 UPDATE Employee

Sentient always goes above and beyond for its customers

AUTHOR: Office Manager - (USA)

POSTED: Monday, July 27, 2015

 The timeline provided in the complaint clearly demonstrates how our company went above and beyond to make our customer happy.  Here are the facts of what has happened

1.  Customer used the laser without reporting an incident until over a year after purchase

2.  In April of 2014, our company provided discounted service and free calibration on the laser, even though the laser was out of warranty.  We were not obligated in any way to provide these discounts, but wanted our customer to be happy

3.  In September of 2014 a problem occurred with the touch screen.  After diagnosis, a very easy solution was found and the screen was fixed.  We did not charge the customer for this, even though the warranty period had expired, because we wanted a happy customer.

4.  In November of 2014 customer closes business and begins process of trying to get us to buy the laser back as she no longer needs it.

Our company provided support services at discounted rates and/or free, in order to keep the customer happy.  We are never happy to hear that a client is unable to profitably run their business, but we cannot buy back lasers in these instances, nor does any other company in the industry.  We made an offer to help her sell her laser on consignment, which would require the time and effort of our sales team, yet this was not enough.  The customer threatened us with complaints on the internet if we did not buy her laser back for full price.  We did not give in to this situation, as we considered it blackmail.  We will not be blackmailed.

 

Our company believes that if our clients are not successful, then we cannot be successful. We have bought, sold, and repaired thousands of lasers, IPLs and RF devices and have thousands of happy customers.  The timeline provided in the complaint is in reality a testimonial to how we bend over backwards for our customers.  All issues with the laser were minor issues and they were fixed for discounted pricing or free, even though the laser was well past the 6 month waranty we provided.  Unfortunately, by not caving in to outrageous demands after a customer no longer needs the laser, we have become the victim of internet attacks, where there is no filter, no judge, no jury, just a place that broadcasts anthing that somebody wants to say.  We are proud of our A+ rating on the BBB, a place where these claims are actually vetted, and are also very proud of our DotMed100 rating, a mark of excellence in our industry.

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