Over a 12-month period, approximately one in four adult Australians used either acupuncture (9.2%), chiropractic (16.1%) or osteopathy (4.6%) at least once. It is estimated that, adult Australians made 32.3 million visits to acupuncturists, chiropractors and osteopaths, incurring personal expenditure estimated to be A$1.58 billion in total. The most common conditions treated were back pain and related problems and over 90% of the users of each therapy considered their treatment to be very or somewhat helpful.
Source
ubmed.
After a years worth of diagnosis for a stomach complaint I finally got the diagnosis of IBS (fun!). There's not really much in the way of medication to help with this, just an amendment of diet etc.
However, I decided to try and see what the Dr & Herbs Chinese medicine place can offer me as they had big posters in their windows stating they can cure IBS!
I went in and booked an initial 6 week treatment on acupuncture, herbal teas and tablets. After 1 week of the teas, tablets and one session of acupuncture they said that my condition was worse than they thought and that I should have another 6 weeks of treatment taking my total to 12 weeks. They basically said that without this I wouldn't get better. The total cost to me for this 12 week treatment so far is £900.
Now, six weeks in I have noticed no difference. I asked my doctor what his thoughts were on alternative medicine and he said there's no proof that it works and there could be side affects etc. With this info and the fact that I am really busy at work at the moment so struggle to find the time to set aside for acupuncture (I have only managed to have 2 sessions) I have decided I don't want to continue with the treatment and want my money back for everything I have paid but not used (6 weeks of tea and tablets and 10 sessions of acupuncture). This is around £600. I went to the shop today and they seemed like they wouldn't even consider giving me my money back. They kept saying "you'll be better after another 6 weeks just wait and see" and "your doctor doesn't know what he is talking about, everything we give you is fine". In the end I had to leave as I needed to get back to work.
What I want to know is what is my right to a refund. Surely I am entitled to the money I spend on the treatment I haven't used. Looking at reviews of the chain of shops there is a lot of talk of difficulty getting money back and overselling and forcefully selling items to people who are in a position to try anything to get better.
It's not the money that's the problem, I can afford to write it off (although a bit of extra brass in your pocket is always nice) however it's the principle.
What are your opinions?