The Metropolitan Institute For Plastic Surgery

This place is a joke. Refused to honor my Groupon! They should be ashamed of themselves. Zero stars.

WOW!!! Just called to redeem my Groupon. They are no longer honoring the deal.
The receptionist stated that I can get my money back from Groupon by calling the 800# on the website. I then asked how soon I could come in if I paid the regular price and his response was «within a week»…
That really sucks!

This practice has now been renamed Ruff Plastic Surgery for some reason, but they’re still honoring the laser hair removal Groupons. I’m double-​posting this review (I put it under Ruff Plastic Surgery too) because I’m not sure which one people are more likely to read:

I started going here when Ruff Plastic Surgery was still called The Metropolitan Institute of Plastic Surgery, for the Groupon laser hair removal deal. My first actual lasering appointment (not the consultation) was in December. At that time, I had to wait 45 min to get into my appointment and the laser technician seemed a bit frazzled. I was getting my bikini line lasered, and they had none of those paper panties. I was wearing boy-​shorts, so I ended up having to awkwardly scrunch up my underwear with my hands so that the tech could get the laser where it was supposed to be – I wasn’t about to just whip off my undies lol.

Anyway, the second time I went was after the office was renamed to Ruff Plastic Surgery. Much to my relief, they’re still honoring the Groupons. The second appointment went much better than the first! I was called back within 5 – 10 min of arriving, the tech was friendly and competent, they actually had those little paper panties this time, and it hurt LESS than the first time, despite the intensity being ramped up a notch. So overall, I’m happy with my experience so far. At least I never had any mixups with my appointment times or anything. Hopefully my remaining four visits will be as good as the second one.

Got a Groupon for this place. Gotta say… that based on comments on the Groupon site for this place, I may have had an atypical experience. I think it’s because I called this place almost immediately after getting my Groupon… so I probably got my appointments in before most others.
I had low wait team in making appointments and waiting room area time. My treatment has been an unbelievable success so far and the staff have been adequately nice.
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SERVICE
My first time going for an initial consultation, the waitstaff treated me like they were on a workstudy program. They chatted with each other and seemed to neglect the customers. However, they hired new staff to accommodate the booming business from Groupon and the new staff are bomb diggity.
The person that treated me is super nice, matched my level of chattiness so that I would feel comfortable, and continuously asked if I was okay. She also gave me her individual contact information and has been easy to contact after the session.
This place was easy to contact and everyone (sans a couple girls at the front desk during my initial visit) is super friendly and patient.
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TREATMENT
I had laser hair removal service. I had previously tried another laser hair removal service, and while that service helped a little, in retrospect I think they just tried to get my money.
I actually think this place hurts you less in the treatment. I also have had AMAZING results. The other places stopped showing me results after my first treatment and this place helped me remove more hair than all of my previous treatments combined. Like the other hair-​removal service, the treatment was pretty quick.
Unlike the other hair removal place, the laser process was very unexpected. The first laser removal place I tried felt like a microphone slowly moving over a lubed up area… kind of like what doctors do to get sonograms for pregnant ladies. Here, I felt like this laser clamped your skin, like a hand squeezing patches of skin inside a clenched fist, thereby pulling in your skin closer to the laser. It’s a weird feeling, but it DOES NOT HURT as much as the other place I mentioned. The other place felt like a laser shooting little fireballs to your hair roots. This place feels like pinches to a wide area of skin as opposed to normal tiny pinches between two fingers.
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LOCATION
Clean-​looking, next to a Trader Joe’s on a busy corner between Foggy Bottom, Georgetown, and Dupont. Great location.

I had reconstructive surgery here and I am so so so happy with the results. I literally cried when I saw the beautiful work that was done on me. A few months after my surgery, I saw that they had a groupon deal. Of course I bought it! Had several treatments done so far and I’m super pleased. I have to disagree with some of these other comments. The customer service is wonderful! Yes, the first appointment took some time to get (which should be EXPECTED since 2465 were sold), but it didn’t take very long at all. It was fast and easy to set up my other appts afterward. After my successful surgery and laser treatments, I am now super loyal to this place! I will continue recommending this place to all my friends :)

Oh fellow DC Unilocalers, I hate to say this — but if I could, I would give this place a 0. Indeed it looks as if I was one of many who bought the ill-​fated Groupon. When I called to schedule an appointment, the staff kindly informed me that they could not see me until January because they oversold their coupons — this was in September :)
I found it odd that they insisted on having a consultation before an actual laser appointment. I explained I had already undergone laser and could just go in for a treatment. I have had laser at plenty of other reputable places and the consultation is always prior to treatment but not separate from an actual appointment. After negotiating, I scheduled the soonest session — in April 2011.
I called last week to check on the appointments only to find they have since changed names and did not pick up during business hours. Based on other reviews, I decided to get a Groupon credit and spend that hard earned cash elsewhere. Such a pity Metropolitan Institute, we could have been so good together.

I was lucky and schedule all 6 of my appts on my first visit. However, my 3^rd visit the tech did not show at 9:20 and the receptionist told me «well your appt was for 9» as if 9:20 wasn’t late. I had to reschedule for today. They called me 4 minutes before my appt was to start (i was about to get off the bus) to say the tech was stuck on the metro. Yeah, here’s a hint, if she’s not there 15 – 30 minutes before she is supposed to have clients, call themm cause she’ll be late. Reschedule again for next week. Fingers crossed.

This place & their Groupon offer is a complete joke. After buying the groupon in June, I called a month later to schedule an appointment and was told I could come for a consultation and treatment on November 30^th! Disappointed, I understood that they had sold a lot of groupons and I must be patient. Patient I was until they called my 30 minutes before my appointment to inform me that I can now complete my consultation online and that they are canceling my appointment. Once I fill out their online form, I will be contacted in 4 days to be informed of my appointment date for my first treatment in APRIL or MAY 2010. What a joke. Honestly if the customer service is this bad, do I really want to let them laser me? I dunno.

I have so far had a terrible experience here, and wouldn’t recommend anyone wasting their time here. I too bought a Groupon for 6 laser treatments — I was one of over 2,000, though they only had a few technicians when they went live with the discount.
I initially left 4 unreturned phone messages before I reached a receptionist. On my first appointment, 2 months from getting a hold of the receptionist, I waited over an hour to be seen. For my hour-​long wait, I got a five-​minute pseudo-​consultation, though I had had laser treatment done before. I had to put up a fight to get my first treatment then and there rather than book another appointment. The laser treatment took all of 3 minutes.
On my second appointment, I showed up and found that they had booked me for a different day. I handed over the appointment slip they gave me when I booked the appointment, to show that it was their error and not mine. Again, I felt like I had to put up a fight to get a treatment. Again, I had to wait over an hour to be seen.
This Groupon entitles me to 4 more treatments. I left two messages saying I couldn’t make the appointment in the end of December (2 months out) and need to reschedule. Something tells me I’m not going to get through all the treatments.
I wouldn’t go back. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. Even at a discount, it isn’t worth the time and frustration.

After 2 months I finally had my appointment and had a very pleasant experience with my technician Melissa. She gave me her business card and said I could email her with any concerns, that was very impressive! I too bought the groupon and I guess I was lucky because I haven’t had any problems with my appointments and never wait more than 5 min when I arrive.

I agree with Lauren M. This place sucks. I also purchased their Groupon in JUNE and the first «consultation» they would give me was until NOVEMBER. They wouldn’t even let me schedule my appointment until AFTER the consultation, which probably means I will have to wait another 5 months to get an appointment.

Terrible Customer Service:
So I purchased their very cheap Groupon to have laser hair removal performed… so far I’m wishing I saved my money to save myself the hassle of dealing with a place that can’t accomodate what they sold. I was debating about the purchase because they sold so many, so I called and asked if they would be able to get me in for the initial consultation by the end of the week. The woman assured me that was no problem at all and they had appointments available Friday, but refused to make an appointment before I purchased the Groupon… fine, I purchased it and called back the next morning to schedule my appointment. That person explained that they were booked solid for consultations through the end of July/​start of August… wha??? (this is at the end of June) So, no appointment from that phone call either, since they were only taking names and numbers to call back for scheduling because they had soo many people to schedule. It’s a week and a half later… do you think they’ve called to schedule me? Sure haven’t and this is only for the initial consultation… I can just see the difficulty in getting an actual appointment for the hair removal. Keep in mind this Groupon must be completely used by the end of June next year, but the 6 laser sessions require 3 – 8 weeks between each one. Well, I guess I’m hoping mine don’t require 8 weeks between each one b/​c that means I’m out of luck to use up what was advertised! So far Met Institute, your customer service sucks.
I plan to post updates… this better improve.