Oct 7, 2008 4:20 pm US/Pacific
Call Kurtis: Rubbed The Wrong Way
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
A Sacramento woman wanted to use her gift card for a spa treatment.
When the spa closed its doors, she called Kurtis Ming.
The spa never told its customers it was closing its doors.
Instead they said they were quote "regrouping."
Debra Mounkes works at a real estate development company in downtown Sacramento.
"I do the accounting, secretarial, front desk, a lot of their banking," says Debra.
Last summer, she got a gift card from her co-workers for a spa treatment.
"I opened it up and oh, my gosh, $200," says Debra.
Debra got a massage at The Way Within Spa Retreat last August, using up $80.
She still had $120 left on the card.
Then in June, she got an email from the spa, saying "This is a tough time for The Way Within. We need time to regroup. We need to relocate."
"That just kind of made me a little suspicious... a little bit, wait a minute, I don't know where you're going to open up," says Debra.
Debra called the company but the line was disabled.
When she emailed them, she got an automated response, saying they would inform customers about their new location by the end of July.
A month later and after a couple more emails, still no word.
"Just makes me angry that people can do this, I know times are hard, but be honest with your customers," says Debra.
Debra says she was worried the spa wasn't going to reopen.
"So I finally said enough is enough and I called Kurtis," says Debra.
We got a hold of the spa owner, Belinda Pate.
She tells us she had planned to reopen but is now going through personal financial problems and is losing her home to foreclosure.
She also says she's sorry she can't refund any of her former customers' money because she has no money left.
Debra sympathizes but isn't happy about losing $120.
"I guess when you get a gift card, you better go in and take care of it, right then and not let it drag on for any length of time," says Debra.
The only option Debra now has is to file a small claims case.
Because the ruling is good for 10 years, Debra can get her money back if the spa owner gets out of financial problems.
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