Academy of Aesthetics Arts and Sciences A.O.A Scam Artists! Very deceptive and a complete waste of money! Allows harassment and discrimination!! Chandler, Arizona

The Academy of Aesthetics is such an unbelievable joke. First off, they way overcharge for their courses. Just look at the tuitions of other aesthetics schools (I wish I had) Their classes are pathetic and useless, you don't learn a thing. Students sit around in the lounge doing nothing while the instructors go play on myspace and take pictures of themselves. All day you end up doing one facial and having one done on you, that's all they do, and sometimes they don't even do that. Then you sit around all day doing whatever you want. They rarely sit in the treatment with you either. You're students and you're working with chemicals, and could seriously damage someone, but no one is there to supervise you. My skin is STILL damaged from chemical peels they should have never done on me due to my skin color! This is why the school has such a bad reputation!!!

Next, the school is so filthy it's repulsive. The first and most prominent complaint I have is that the owner, Liz, waxed a student's pubic hair and double dipped each time (unbelievably unsanitary), then left the wax out for other students to use on their faces!!! There's just no reason for that! They also rarely change the bedsheets on the treatment beds, and I saw several students grab dirty blankets out of the hamper and put them back on the beds because they didn't want to take the time to wash them.

I was harassed and abused daily at the school by other students, but school "officials" did nothing. They were mean to me too!! I was called various names, and insulted beyond belief. It was such a horrible experience that I became depressed and developed really bad anxiety. After a while I dreaded even going there, but I decided to stick it out since I had been enrolled for a while and was close to finishing. I was threatened, discriminated against, and singled out nearly every day I spent there.

I had notified the owner that I had gotten into a car accident and hurt my back, but they still wanted to put me on trash duty when I couldn't even lift the heavy into the dumpster. Their pushing me to do that injured my back even more, but they didn't care. They didn't assign me another chore until I went to the doctor (which I didn't even have the extra money for) to get a note saying I wasn't physically able to do that specific chore. So I had physical damage to my body on top of the abuse I suffered.

I had the flu at one point and instead of protecting the other students, they made me come in anyways. I was coughing and sneezing everywhere, and was so sick I was dizzy and could barely stand up. They still forced me to stay, and threatened to expel me if I didn't.

They also claim to help with job assistance. Their idea of assisting you find a job is printing and posting "jobs" they find on craigslist.

I had models come in on model day, and the owner completely freaked out and started a yelling match with them for absolutely no reason. Liz completely disrespected, insulted, and offended my guests just because she didn't like me. She made it VERY clear every chance she got that I wasn't liked. When I came in the next day, they presented me with some sort of contract saying I'd be terminated if I didn't agree to rules specifically and only applying to me. They had a bunch of nasty things to say about me. They made up a bunch of very offensive lies about me. Offensive isn't even the right word to describe the things they said about me, it was much, much worse than just offensive. I couldn't even believe that anyone could be so cruel to someone!! No professional school in the world would do something like this!!

 They said I had numerous absences, which I didn't. There were a few days when I was just too sick to make it, and I called to let them know. Why would they want me to come in when I'm contagious anyways!? They wanted to expel me for these absences, but other students missed many more days than I did. There was another student there who missed almost every single day due to a medical problem, but never did anyone say a word to her. When I confronted Liz (the owner) about it, she said they had worked out an arrangement with her!!  How do they justify doing this for one student, but not another?

I never got to do or have most of the treatments they do there either, I was totally ostracized. So I paid for products and treatments that I never even used. Their makeup class is ridiculous too, and everyone complained about what a waste of money it is. You're taught makeup that makes you look like a clown. If you did the kind of makeup on someone that the school taught you, they'd probably laugh at you. You'd never get hired as a makeup if you depended solely on what the school teaches you. What they "teach" you is absolutely worthless.

As for the contract they wanted me to sign, I told them that I wouldn't. Then Liz told me I couldn't come back until I did. I wasn't about to sign it, so they never allowed me back, and I was out of $12,000 with no aesthetics license. They say I withdrew but I didn't. They forced me out when I only had 80 hours out of 600 left to go!!! Why on earth would I withdraw with such a short amount of time left to go!?!? What kind of school would do that to a student?!?!?

Every single student there complained about the school incessantly. Everyone thought it was a waste of time and said so all the time, when the instructors weren't there of course. The instructors complain too- about their students! I witnessed so many times where they talked badly about students, then smiled in their face. How sickening is that?

I ended up filing a complaint with the board of cosmetology and the school was forced to pay a fine for having an unsanitary environment, and for lack of supervision of students. What does that say about them? The board doesn't fine places if they're playing by the rules.

To terminate someone's enrollment because of personal dislike is not only extremely unprofessional, but it's also unethical. The owners and instructors never did a thing to protect me, and never stopped any of the hazing I endured day after day. They make all the concessions in the world for students they like, but if they don't like you you're S.O.L. Of course I'm sure they'll try to say I'm lying, and say these things didn't happen, but they did. The truth will come out eventually. This school is a disgrace and should be shut down. Choosing to go there was one of the biggest and most expensive mistakes I've ever made.They promise to offer you such a quality education, but you'll never get it. They simply don't care. They just want your money. Seriously, DO NOT go to school at A.O.A. I promise you'll regret it.