Hydrafacial Lawsuit Alleges Syndeo Spa Machine Crippled by ‘Critical Design Flaws’

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges The Hydrafacial Company and The Beauty Health Company have failed to disclose to spas and aesthetic salons nationwide that the purportedly industry-changing Syndeo facial machine is plagued by several critical design flaws that cause persistent clogging and heavy, loud vibrations, among other problems.

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The 22-page lawsuit was filed by a San Jose, California spa and tanning salon and its owners, who allege the costly Syndeo machine they bought from the defendants began to fail almost immediately after purchase. The filing claims that the alleged design flaws cause the Syndeo machine to routinely clog up, which prevents it from providing enough suction to work as intended on customers. Per the suit, the machine also exhibits “heavy vibration and emit[s] loud noises,” which the lawsuit stresses should not be the case for a machine intended to be used in a spa environment.

Further, the Syndeo machine problems include part non-conformance, difficult bottle insertion, waste and leakage, faulty handpieces and screens, and rattling trays, the suit adds, emphasizing that low flow and clogs are the “[m]ost vexing” issue with regard to functionality.

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The filing accuses Hydrafacial and The Beauty Health Company of hiding from customers that the Syndeo machine, which reportedly retails for tens of thousands of dollars and applies customizable serums tailor-made for each customer’s skin, is prone to “widespread malfunctions” for which no permanent fix exists.

Moreover, the case chides Hydrafacial and The Beauty Health Company for their apparent failure to provide any refunds to customers who purchased the defective Syndeo machines, offering at most replacement machines allegedly hampered by the same or similar problems.

Per the complaint, Hydrafacial treatments are popular in the aesthetic field and use unique technology to cleanse, exfoliate and hydrate the skin. A Hydrafacial treatment involves a multi-step process that vacuums out impurities, removes dead skin cells, and infuses the skin with nourishing serums, and can address fine lines, wrinkles, acne and other skin conditions, the case explains.

According to the suit, the replacement machine the plaintiffs received began to exhibit the same malfunctions plaguing the original device shortly after it arrived at the spa.

“The failure of Plaintiffs’ second Syndeo machine has left Plaintiffs with an unusable device for which they paid approximately $30,000,” the suit states, adding that the spa’s business and reputation have been harmed as customers on whom the faulty Syndeo machines were used came away with “an unacceptable spa experience.”

The case relays that at the end of 2023, The Beauty Health Company lost roughly half of its market value after its earnings release, with its CEO admitting publicly that the cause of the drop was “attributable to the costs the company recorded as a result of the systemic defects plaguing the Syndeo machines,” the case says. Last November, Beauty Health Company CFO Michael Monahan admitted that some spa customers dealt with “frequent treatment interruptions and issues,” including “distractive noises and difficulties in bottle insertion,” as well as low-flow and clog issues that crippled the Syndeo machines, the filing shares.

Though Monahan claimed that the defendants had finally fixed the systemic problems with the Syndeo machines by releasing a 3.0 version of the product, “that too proved to be false” as the machine still suffers from the same defect, the case alleges.

“Indeed, online message boards and fora are replete with postings from affected Syndeo machine purchasers, including owners of the Syndeo 3.0, who continue to experience the same machine failures. Upon information and belief, the replacement machine that Defendants provided Plaintiffs was a Version 3.0, but that machine failed just as badly as the original Syndeo machine Plaintiffs had.”

The Hydrafacial class action lawsuit looks to cover anyone in the United States who purchased one of the defendants’ Syndeo machines.

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