I hate leaving negative reviews, but I really feel Happy Feet deserves this one. Let me first say that I went there last spring and had a WONDERFUL experience. The visit I had yesterday was the complete opposite.
I called ahead to request an appointment for a deep tissue massage at 1pm. I told her I had a Groupon, and the lady on the phone told me, "No problem".
I arrived a few minutes before 1, was taken into a room by the woman in front, got ready, and laid down on the table. First negative: I used a terry-cloth towel (not a sheet or blanket) to cover me up. And it did not cover me up. Fortunately, it was not all that cold yet.
After a minute, the older lady from out front came in with a younger lady. They were speaking in their native language, and I figured they were just communicating that I was there for a deep tissue massage. The older lady left, and the young one proceeded with a very gentle massage with my towel still on. After a few minutes, I asked if she was going to use oil or lotion. Well, she did not speak any English. That's fine, because the older lady came in a translated. The young lady resumed with lotion and I could hardly feel a thing! After a minute, I asked if she could use more pressure. Again, the older lady came in translated, and then showed her how to do it!
I told the older lady that I had come in for a 60-minute deep tissue massage, and I didn't want to be the person that she trained her young assistant on. The older lady apologized and told me that the man who does the deep tissue was busy for the next 20 minutes. But she assured me that it would be worth the wait. The young lady then proceeded to give me THE WORST foot massage for 20 minutes. No pressure, no relief...Just a waste of 20 minutes. The room was also getting colder. I asked for a blanket, and received another towel.
So now it's 30 minutes into my 60-minute deep tissue massage, and "deep tissue man" comes in. He is the exact opposite of the young lady. I felt like I was being steam-rolled. I am BRUISED today from it. This guy was using his whole arm to steam-roll my back. Several times I asked him to "take it easy". (SIDE NOTE: let me just say that I LOVE deep tissue massage; I have had several. I know how it should be done. The idea is not to make it as painful as possible! Deep tissue massage is a science and an art. It involves TARGETED pressure at specific points, designed to remove the "knots" from your muscles. While it is sometimes painful, it is a "productive" painful, not a "let's see how much pain I can cause this woman" painful.) This process lasted for half an hour.
So I'd gotten my 60-minute "massage", but did not get what I had come for.
When it was all over, I dressed, went out to reception, and the older lady asked "how do you feel?". I told her that I was not happy with the massage; that the first 30 minutes were wasted, and the last 30 minutes were not the type of deep tissue massage I was used to. A good business would probably - at this point - offer a gift certificate. Instead she asked "would you like to leave a tip?".
Uh.....I really did not know what to say at this point. As nicely as possible, I said "thank you, but I don't think I will be coming back." She apologized - and I really think she was sort of sorry.
So that's my review. Everyone was Very nice, and I am not complaining at attitude or anything like that. But the service was definitely not what I wanted. And they made no effort to try to keep me as a customer. Hence, my 1-star review. read more