I love the spa! To me, it is the best way to spend a day. I was devastated when Spa Ethos closed at 4th and Yew in the spring of 2008, and pleasantly surprised that Solarice Wellness Spa quickly moved in. But when I got the news earlier this week that Solarice had also closed up shop I was devastated. The fact I have two gift cards for the place only added salt to the wound.
Effectively immediately, Solarice is closed for business. As many of you likely know, they offered numerous Groupons for services over the past few months. The good news is that if you have yet to redeem your coupon, contact Groupon and they will provide you with a refund.
Last modified: October 26, 2011
my son bought me a gift certificate from them on sept 27 for a birthday present. they never told him that they were closing in a matter of days! i’ve tried getting in touch with them about this but they have turned off their voice messaging and dont return emails. i’m disgusted with their ethics with this. what a rip off they are!
If it was purchased on a credit card, you may be able to get your money back. I contacted Visa and they requested something like this article printed off, and your card number, name etc. They said they would likely reimburse the card. Hope that helps
hi I purchased a gift certificate 1 day before they closed. Needless to say I feel ripped off!
I read the notes above, can you please advice me on how to contact Group on?
Thanks
Groupon is easy to get in touch with. Just check your receipt. I would also be wary of any of these Groupon offers, especially if a company is doing a lot of them. Ultimately, they will become overwhelmed and their level of service will suffer. isn’t there another spa kitty corner to where Solarice was?
I too am saddened but mostly annoyed as I have/had a $200 gift certicate that was not purchased on Groupon. As a mother to a just turned 2 year old, going for a pamper was going to be a real treat. I have contacted the city, Better Business Bureau of Van and the purchasers bank and NOTHING can be done. Pretty frustrating!!!
They’re bankrupt. Even the staff had no idea they are shutting down the doors. 30 people out of jobs now … so sad
Hi there,
I got my moeny back last week, approximately $400 which I purchased from my VISA as prepaid for five RMT services. You need to contact the credit card company and ask for the Dispute Department, let them know what happended and they will provide you a case number. Make sure you fax them your VISA statement showed the date of your purchase and a email that you received from Solarice showed that it was closed. You MUST provide proof of payment and support details. After I talked to the VISA company I also fax them a letter and told them about what happened. Good thing that I kept a record of what I had used up on the RMT and the remaining balance of unused dollars.
Within two weeks I got a refund back on my VISA account.
GOOD LUCK and learn not to do this again.
I also bought a gift certificate for my girlfriend for a sum around 200 dollars for this. I bought this on my Debit card though can the bank do anything? Or am I screwed?
I was also reimbursed by Visa, relatively easy process as described above.
Is the Solarice in Whistler still in business? Then I could use my gift certificate on my next visit there…
Any update on this. I too bought a gift card on my line of credit and they refuse to issue a refund.
their website is still active – but the numbers both for Whistler and Vancouver no longer in service….too bad
Whistler closed a week before Vancouver, no one knew about that in Vancouver. The owners just screwed everyone
I just walked by ‘solaris’ today…..shows that a new spa is moving in…’spa on the rocks’. there are temporary signs up. The other solaris location is closed too. Guess we will have to wait and see who moves in, but it looks to be a new company.
What about on Debit card. I purchased a gift card for my best friends birthday 4 days before it closed. Which still makes me mad
maybe the new spa will honour all the gift certs you guys have
who is taking over the spa
Spa on the Rocks will be the new spa opening in the Solaris location. They have a location in West Vancouver too and seem to be well established. Probably have a website. I will check.
You all are very fortunate that Visa refunded your money. I bought mine thru Mastercard & they have told me I am out of luck, that they will do nothing since its a gift card. I even suggested to them that Visa provided refunds as a service to their customers & in the future I’d be better off buying gift cards thru Visa AND the person to whom I was speaking agreed!!!! Couldn’t believe it!!!
anyone know is the new spa taking place of solarice on 4th will accept any gift cards as any kind of payment?
I just wanted to provide an update on my original post. I stopped into the new spa today and it turns out they will be accepting gift cards from Solarice. This is great news and will certainly make a returning customer out of me!
Hello everyone, I’m a local freelance writer doing an article on daily deals (Groupon, LivingSocial, Ethical Deal etc.) and how they affect local businesses. Does anyone know how I could get a hold of the Solarice owners? I want to interview them for my article.
Other small businesses should know what the risks of offering daily deals are. I hope to write an article that will be informative, one that might save other businesses from some strife.
Please contact me at gainsaywhodare@gmail.com
I am sad that solarice has closed also however at least we still have Beverly’s Spa on 4th … there Great !!! had a fantastic pedicure last week with them…:)
Consumers out there are starting to learn that businesses pushing heavy Groupon, Living Social, etc are often closing their doors. Do the math. The business gets half of the already discounted offer. It’s profit losing and a last ditch cash grab for a lot of them.
Buyer beware.
I just called Spa on the Rocks to see if they were still accepting Solarice gift certificates. Unfortunately, they are no longer able to do this. The receptionist told me that they had done this when they first opened, but apparently in January they had 30,000 come in (I had to ask her to repeat the number because I couldn’t believe it!). Understandably, they can’t take them any more, but I’m pretty upset that I have a gift certificate for over $300 that I can’t use! Even more frustrating, the Solarice website doesn’t say anything about a closure, and it appears that you can still purchase and book services online! Has anyone had any luck with reimbursements from Mastercard?
No, unfortunately I have had absolutely no luck with a claim from Mastercard although my mother, was lucky to have purchased her gift card through Visa and had no issues getting a refund. The person to whom I was speaking at Mastercard was totally unsympathetic