There are a few things that keep Therapeutic Touch Massage & Wellness Center from scoring better…read morethan 3 stars and they should become apparent as I go through my story.
I first became aware of TTMWC (what a mouthful of an acronym!) through a Living Social deal for a couples massage. Since I'm always on the prowl for that kind of thing, I jumped on it after ascertaining they could were open on the weekends (I've been burned before by buying deals only to find out the only hours these places are open is during the weekdays, during regular working hours).
So after buying the deal, I called the number provided to make an appointment. No answer. Ok. I called again later. No answer. I must have called about 5 times during the course of a morning and afternoon during normal operating hours only to get voicemail each time. Fine. I left a message saying I'd like to make an appointment with my Living Social voucher.
I did not hear back from them until 8 PM the following evening. And I missed the call because I was out to dinner. We played phone tag like this for 3 days straight, until finally, finally, I happened to be near my phone and willing to answer it at 7:30 one night. After some schedule checking an appointment for a Sunday morning at 11 AM was set. The lack of initial response (or even ability to return phone calls during normal business hours was strike one, though).
Appointment set, my boyfriend and I arrived right on time for our massage to the little office complex that was loaded with chiropractors, masseuses, acupuncturists and other pain manangement/ relaxation businesses. I will say that although the outside is nothing to look at, Therapeutic managed to make the inside serene and appealing. The lighting is lower, the walls are painted a darker hue giving it a cozier feel, there's soft music playing and comfortable seating throughout the establishment, and the staff was friendly when we met face-to-face.
After we filled out our info sheets, we were shown to a secondary sitting room where wine, cheese, and crackers were available for us. The wine was of the cheap variety (but what can you expect from a massage place), the cheese and crackers reminded me strongly of Lunchables I'd eaten as a child at school, and oddest of all, there was a video playing on a TV of platypuses and other marine animals swimming around. I guess it was supposed to be soothing - it just seemed a little odd to me.
We waited about 10 minutes then our masseuses Dion and Tamara came to get us. I had Dion, my boyfriend had Tamara, and after disrobing and settling onto the tables, they re-entered our room and got down to work. Dion did a good job - he oiled me down well and for the most part did a Swedish-style massage of long, flowing strokes. It wasn't the best massage I've ever had - he worked out some of the knots I'd accumulated in my shoulders, but not all. Also, with some massages I've been to the point of pain(the good kind of pain though) as other pressure points are worked on, but I didn't experience any of that here either. If I had the chance between a massage or not, I would still certainly opt for one - even a less vigorous, tension-reducing one.
And in the end we were shown out, given bottles of water to help flush out those toxins (including the little bit of alcohol we'd just imbibed), and off we went.
Like I said, I'll always opt for a massage if the deal is good, but the lack of professionalism setting up the appointment, the sub-par wine offerings, and the less than stellar massage all added up to a lower score for Therapeutic Massage. It was fine, but I won't be back anytime soon.
